BEST Marketing Agency Services to Offer (MAKE CLIENTS BUY From YOU)

Speaker A: What are the strategies that are going to get you the best results?

Speaker B: I mean this is subjective but like, what would you say, like, are the best services to offer?

Speaker A: With Google Ads, the variable for success

Speaker B: is more should I be doing this? And you're like, you already know the answer is a hell no.

Speaker A: There's this thing that I live by which is that you can do anything, but you can't do everything.

Speaker B: Big question for you. Here we go. If you were to start an agency again today, 2024, what would you do? All right.

Speaker A: Hey there and welcome to the podcast. Today we're talking all things marketing strategy, marketing service delivery, if you are a marketing agency owner, uh, but also if you're a business owner listening in, what are the strategies that are going to get you the best results? I think, uh, I think we've got a lot to uh, unpack here today, Dave. I'm excited to get going buddy.

Speaker B: Yeah, awesome topic. And like you said, there's a lot to unpack with this and it can spill over both sides whether you own your agency or you own a business. So yeah, so much to go through. So let's dive in.

Speaker A: Right on. Yeah. I think the thing with um, with agency services and with uh, marketing strategies in general is that as, as we're obviously going to cover as we go through here, there's just so many uh, and we get asked like every single day, what, what's the best one here? What should I do with this? Uh, is this a good idea? Is that a good idea? And obviously we have those like tried and true and proven strategies, but we've also got these kind of new shiny objects that come onto the scene. Anything basically related, uh, anything that has to do with automations, anything that has to do with, I don't want to say like the lazy way of marketing, but essentially a way of like outsourcing your uh, your deliverables and your decision making. Which sounds super appealing on the surface. Right? Like how great would that be to do nothing and just make boatloads of money. And I think the uh, the secret really is, is finding that balance between what are the services that are going to get you the best result, that are going to take the least amount of time, but also that aren't going to sort of like draw of, of the people that are just trying to do the least amount of work and do nothing because then you're in this sort of, this a uh, competition against all of them who are trying to really just scrape the bottom, um, for, for nothing. And then yeah, you come off as everybody else. So anyways, rant over, let's dive in. What do we got?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I mean, just to dive back into the little run a little bit is like, there is so many different services and everyone talks about automation and AI and when, you know, I've spoke to clients and they're like, I just want it to be automated. I don't want to do anything. I'm like, doesn't, um, you can do certain things to a certain extent, but you do have to choose a service. And you know, a service that I chose was, was Facebook ads. And like you just mentioned, it's like, we've also got to look at all the services and look at like the time that we put in and how easy it is to get the result and then look at the profit at the end of it. Because if we don't look at that, you could end up, you know, I've had clients where I'm like, I'm spending hours and hours on these campaigns and at the end of the month I'm like, I'm not profitable because I've spent mhm, 50 hours trying to do this. So I think that's super important. And then another thing to think about is because you're going to be doing this quite a lot is you've got to enjoy that service as well. I think, you know, when I set up my agency, I was like, yeah, Facebook ads, because they're easy and we can get results and, and within a year I was like, I hate Facebook ads.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And I know you feel the same, so I think that's something to always think about as well. Like you're not going to love everything, don't get me wrong. But like, don't go into a service that you don't like because one, you're not going to want to do it. Two, you're not going to want to learn and master it. Um, and I think that's really important to think about.

Speaker A: Yeah, right on.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. It's funny because it's like I've got, I think I have a love hate relationship with pretty much every advertising platform out there. Uh, because when things are good, you feel untouchable and you're like, I'm the greatest marketer in the world. And then the algorithm shifts or the account goes sideways. You're like, I am the worst person that ever existed. And so you just like, you go through these mood swings. But I think what's, what's important that you touched on there is that we want to look at the, the fundamentals, say behind it. Because, yes, we want to like what we're doing, clearly. Um, but there's a couple things there. First of all, it's, um. I don't know, how do you say this? It's really enjoyable to be making a lot of money. Like, it's just, it's just a really good feeling. And, um. And I don't know if it matters if I was, like, digging ditches or like, putting up a roof. If I was making the kind of money that I'm making now by doing those, I'd probably find a way to enjoy them. Uh, they're just fun. On the other hand, you could do the most fun thing in the world, but if it's draining your energy and you're not making any money and you know about all the time that you're putting into it, that kind sucks too. The other thing is that a lot of these services, they've got the fundamentals behind them. So whether we're talking Facebook ads, perfect example, you can, you run Facebook ads if you know how to do advertising, but then you can also do Google Ads and YouTube ads and Instagram ads, Snapchat ads and TikTok ads and all of the other ads because you, you know the fundamentals. So if a platform goes away or they change an algorithm, you can just pivot and move on to the next one. But again, the big point, and, um, I think this'll, this'll kick us into some of the tactical stuff, is that results are really all that matters when it comes to marketing services, marketing strategies that we wanna use. Um, I'd like to say that, yeah, it's important that you have fun and all of that, but, like, that's, that's a personal thing. We'll, we'll talk about that later. Like, what's really important is that you get results, right? Like, marketing is a strategic investment to grow the business. So if you're doing something and it's not making you or your clients money, something has to change. You need to either get better at the service, you need to find somebody else to help, you need to adapt it, or you need to, uh, abort it and find another one. Because that may be the wrong service for that niche, for that business, for you, for your unique skill sets, for the industry you're in, and so on.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. So, I mean, this is subjective, but, like, what would you say, like, are the best services to offer? And again, I think that's like, it's not just gonna be like, oh, it's Facebook ads. I think it's going to be subjected to like the niche and, and kind of like you said, results and also profitability. But if you were gone to your head and you were like, okay, what services are the best, what would you say?

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, good question. There's a lot of guns in my head these days.

Speaker B: It gets the best answer of you, that's why. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker A: I think I need to change neighborhoods. I'm not feeling safe so much. People keep asking me these questions. So yeah, exactly like you said, totally dependent on, on niche and market in that. That said, that's such a cop out answer. So there really is best services to offer. And I think I'll give kind of the criteria that I'm looking for first and then uh, we'll pick the services that kind of match that up. M. So the criteria that I'm looking for, and this is going to be from the context of if you're a marketing agency looking to offer these services to your clients. So if you're a business owner looking in as well, this is going to be helpful because the best service for you. Ideally we're going to operate on the same page where the agency is picking the best service for you. But it's important for you to know the difference and what an agency may be looking for so you can decide if that's something that you really want. So as an agency, what am I looking for? I'm looking for something that is, uh, measurable so that I'm able to put in an input and get out an output. That way I can tie the results that I'm generating to my work. So bad examples of that would be things like content marketing, web design, a little bit, um, anything that isn't able to offer a really clear and direct tangible roi. This doesn't mean that content is bad and you shouldn't do content. You should, they're great services. We can talk about the nuances later. Um, but, but it's harder to do where something like advertising, where there's like I ran an ad, I got this lead, whatever it is, any kind of direct response marketing things I'm a big fan of. Uh, next, I need it to be scalable so that I can do it for one company to a very large extent or I can do it for multiple businesses, which is going to allow me to make a whole lot more money. So if I'm finding things that are just chewing up all of my time, let's say I was running like a BO custom content Creation agency where everyone was different and they had all these needs and they serve different markets every time. We have to reinvent the wheel, which means that it's just a complete drain on your energy and you just can't scale that way. Uh, next I would want it to be fun, so I would want to find something that lined up with my natural skill sets. Now the beauty of marketing, and again, the reason that I really do genuinely feel this is the greatest industry, job, profession in the entire world, full stop, is that, well, not only is it lucrative and profitable, you can work from anywhere and do all these things, but also you can work from no matter if you're right brained or left brained. Are you, are you creative, are you analytical? It doesn't matter. There's something there for you. So if you're incredibly creative, we can find copywriting, we can write, uh, the copy for the ads, we can create wild and complex funnels with retargeting sequences and all of that. If you're analytical, set up the trackings, you can set up all of the pixels, you can make sure that the funnel's optimized, you can look at the data like there's, there's so many different ways to engage. And marketing really is that marriage between both of those. It's uh, it's like the art and the science of how we react and what we do. So I'm looking for that too. Uh, what else am I looking for? I'm looking for something that is easy enough to do as well. Uh, and this is because marketing changes, algorithms adapt, platforms change. So I don't want to be spending every single day having to constantly retrain and relearn and go through everything. I need to be able to get up to speed relatively quickly. So we, what does that look like? Well, for a local service based business, someone that like books appointments, think of med spas and plumbers and chiropractors and roofers and uh, uh, accountants and lawyers and things like that. Appointment based type. It's really hard to argue with uh, what I call the Google Trifecta. So this is like Google Ads optimizing a Google business profile and then doing organic SEO rankings for the website. And if you do this right, you play your cards right, you can get your clients or your business a spot in all three of those locations. Sometimes you can even have a couple organic rankings down below because you can rank a homepage and rank a services page as well. Now because of the amount of people that go to Google with search intent looking for A business looking for a solution to a problem. This is one of the highest ROI activities that you're going to be able to deliver. Now, the ads are going to be easier to track, uh, because it's going to be a direct. Like, we got this lead, we got that. But you can still track organic SEO through rankings, through website traffic. Same with Google Business. So that's one of my, if not my top choice for it. Uh, following that, possibly we'd be looking at Facebook ads or Instagram ads, but again, these are a discovery platform, which means that, like, no one shows up to Facebook or Instagram in the morning with a credit card in hand looking to buy something. So the intent isn't there, which means that you do have to be more creative. See, with Google Ads, the variable for success is more your knowledge and your understanding of the platform, which can be learned. Like, it's. It is not a crazy, complicated platform. Like a good four to eight hours, and you know more than like 90% of people about Google Ads. Facebook and Instagram ads, on the other hand, the variable now is the creative. So what you say, how you say it, the structure of it, um, same thing goes kind of like with YouTube ads. It's like the placements are relatively simple. Um, targeting is relatively simple. We can use keywords, we can use placements, all of that. But the creative of it, how you say it, how you deliver, when we're adding video to the mix, it complicates everything. So, yeah, Google Ads, Google business profile, um, organic. I think that's probably my main thing that I would push people towards.

Speaker B: Yeah. Wasn't SEO a the first ever agency that you, you created? Was it the Google Trifecta that you did?

Speaker A: Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was sort of. I started like, my first one was this, um, like, hodgepodge of everything. So it's like I'd wash your car and walk your dog and build you a website and. Like this. Yeah, exactly. Adam's Roofing services. Don't hire me. That's a bad, bad day coming. Um, but, yeah, I would just do anything. And obviously I didn't know much about that at the time, but the first, like, where things started to get traction was web design. And so I started building websites. Uh, and I thought it was important. And it's funny because this is like over a decade ago and fast forward to today, and people still don't fully understand the importance of a website. Like, you do need a website. So if you're working with clients that don't have a website, they need that first. Like, we're going to need a website. Shocker, right? Shocker. So I did web design, but, uh, then I real that I could build these beautiful websites but nobody would find them. And so I was like, this doesn't make any sense. We got to get them some traffic because otherwise, how are, how is this work going to even get noticed? So that led me down the path of SEO. And yeah, that kind of opened up the floodgates because, like, once I got SEO, I was like, oh, man, I see how this works now. I want more. Uh, and then that led into the advertising and then all of the other things that come along with it that led to the social, that led back. But yeah, SEO is still a very powerful driver. It's funny, even today, I don't think it gets the respect and attention that it deserves because it's one of those, like, less sexy topics. So it sounds like a really nerdy thing like SEO, Search engine optimization. Ma sounds too complicated, too hard, too nerdy. I'm going to do Facebook ads and social media, and I'm going to make TikTok ads and Instagram reels and do all these cool, pretty fun things, which are absolutely very cool and very pretty and very fun. But, like, from an ROI perspective, man, you claim one of those top rankings on a search engine for a decent keyword. It's like your business changes. Um, in fact, I did SEO on my own agency websites, and that's how we ended up getting a ton of traffic in the early days, like, it was just an incredibly lucrative service to have.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think the kind of misconception or misunderstanding, uh, with SEO is, well, it takes a long time. Like, it can take time to rank, which is true. Like, it can take 3, 6, 9, 12 months to get that top spot. But I think now with direct response marketing on Facebook and Instagram and YouTube, it's as similar. It's probably not as long, but it's not as easy as it was back in the day. Like when we first went to Facebook ads. Yeah, you could launch an ad and probably get a client within seven days. But now you see, you launch an ad, you go in straight cold, and you're competing with all of these other businesses that it takes longer. So if you actually looked at your Facebook ads and so how long does it take me to actually get a client? It might take two months, it might take three months. So I do think that's now caught up with, like, the SEO side of things. And it's not as appealing to go to Facebook and spend all this money because you can't get clients straight away anymore. So, yeah, I think that's, that's an interesting point.

Speaker A: So, yeah, on that note, actually, Dave, it's funny because, like, with, uh, with SEO, we can actually get results depending on competition. And I think, like, we can often, um, we used to do this all the time. Is like, we'd find a really low competition keyword that would be like, hanging out on the second page and we'd throw like, literally one link to that keyword and we'd be on, like, first page in 24 hours. Like, just obscene now. Useless, totally useless. But at least it demonstrated, like, this is what we can do and here's how we can do it. But yes, with Facebook ads now and like, with all the ad costs rising and it's going to continue to do so, yeah, you do need to spend time optimizing your offer and your funnel and your message and your ads. You've got to split, test it. And not to mention every single month that you're doing that you're. You're paying to test. And I think it's, it's a little bit of a different, um, mindset when if you go to a client, you're like, look, most of them understand the concept of SEO is going to take two to three months to try to get a little bit of traction. So they view that as kind of an investment. But if you go to the same client, you're like, I'm going to spend three months of your ad budget and just blow it. Learning stuff. They're like, you're gone the next day. Like, that's not happening. Again, this is the importance of, like, having a single niche and having a focus. And, and because that way you're able to replicate things, uh, more and more. But yeah, people look at ads often as, like a silver bullet. It's like, this is going to solve all of my problems. I, uh, heard a great quote. It was like, we're not, we're not going to solve this with a silver bullet. We're going to solve this with a lot of lead bullets. And, uh, and that's kind of how I look at Facebook ads. It's like, yeah, we're going to spend a lot of time copywriting market research, looking at the targeting, looking at the placements, looking at, are we going to do campaign, um, budget optimization or ad set optimization? Are we going to split it up this way? Are we going to have 3 ads per ad set or 2 ads? Are we going to there's a lot that goes into it.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. So I think we covered like what to obviously what are the best. Um, we've also kind of covered kind of what to avoid. Um, because you mentioned like, you know, we've spoken about you've got to enjoy it, you've got it, it's got to be profitable, it's got to be scalable. So obviously the opposite to that. You would avoid that. Um, and then we've con. We've also kind of touched on like what to consider when choosing those services. Again, that kind of all fills into like what's the best. Um, but what we guess we get asked this a lot and um, we definitely get asked this a lot in the agency because the uh, agency accelerator. Because when you're first setting up an agency, you do have to tap into your network and sometimes your network can be outside of your niche and outside of that niche means offering different services. So like to anyone that's listening that's starting a new agency or has an existing agency, like what would you say to them? M and said well, can I have multiple offers? Can I offer different services? Like is that a big no, no. Or is that something that we could, we could look at doing?

Speaker A: Yeah. Oh man. It's such a, um, it's such a tricky question because I think these are, this is one of those situations where there's like good, better, best, right? So it's like what the best case scenario is that you've got one niche, one offer, you're all in on that, your life becomes easier, your profitability goes up, you make a lot more money. But if you're just getting started and uh, and you're, you're going down that path and somebody comes out of left field and they're offering you thousand bucks, two thousand bucks, five thousand buc do this other thing. Like it'd be crazy of me to, to say no. Just ignore it and keep focused on the, the prize. It's like you, you take the money, you do the work, you, you're gonna gain valuable experience. Uh, you're gonna be able to apply the learnings there. Hopefully you enjoy it. Uh, you learn something that you either like or don't like. So I think the, the answer here is that you wanna stay focused on the most strategic and clear cut path for you. So it's like, let's pick a really good niche, let's be solid about it. Let's make sure that we've done our due diligence, we've gone through our so it's like it checks all the boxes so that we feel good. This has the capability to make millions of dollars a year. Right. Once we've got that and we believe in it, then we start doing all of our outreach and we start focusing on serving them in the best way we can. But if other opportunities come up along the way, you've got to weigh those out, um, against this, like, long term sort of view. So it's like, again, if we think about the Eisenhower matrix of like, important, urgent, where they fall in, staying on your path is important, but like, getting cash flow in is kind of urgent and we kind of have to take care of that as well. Right. Like, otherwise we don't really have an agency. We just have an expensive hobby that destroys our lives. So it's like, we need, we need money. So, yes to accepting things as they come in. Just keep an eye on, um, keep an eye on the prize and make sure that you're not deviating from doing other kinds of things. And also when you're looking at different opportunities, whether it's working with clients outside of your main niche, whether it's looking at offering different services, uh, make sure that they are checking a few different boxes of like, they either have to be giving you incredible experience, they have to be paying you a lot of money, uh, or they have to be just an incredible amount of fun and like, pick two of three. So it's gotta be fun and make you a lot of money, it's gotta give you experience and be a lot of fun. But if it's like, if it's missing it and you're not gonna like it and it's not gonna pay that much money, yeah, you're, you're really better off to like, use that as fuel and motivation to just go do more outreach, uh, get back out there and try to find more of your ideal clients.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's hard sometimes when you get that offer and you're like, oh, this is a client and I can add X amount to my business, but I think sometimes you could, it could actually be more detrimental to take that client on, suck your time and lose a lot of money. Whereas if you could just go and get another client, take your system that you've already got, that is scalable, apply that to that client, get them results, go to the next one, you can make a lot more money and, uh, also save yourself a lot of headaches along the way.

Speaker A: So, yeah, yeah. I think what people fail to understand a lot of the time is that and Again, this is the reason that we do stick with like a single niche. Is that every new niche and every new service and all of that, you don't just go out there and do it. There's a learning curve to it. So you're not just working for a new client and an extra. I don't know, say they offer you a thousand bucks. It's like, it sounds great, but you're gonna have to put in all of this time and energy in learning this. And unless that's something you're really passionate about and you're just like, I really actually think I want to go in this direction instead. Yeah, you take your eye off the prize and then you're going to lose ground in the other areas. Ground that you could have been, could have been gaining to a, uh, significant competitive advantage by being more focused. Yeah, focus really is the name of the game.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think that applies to, like, if you've got an agency, so you've got 10 clients, 15 clients, and one of your amazing clients comes out and says, hey, like, you do Google Ads for me, but can you do like my website and update my website again? I think you've got to apply the same principles and say, like, is this worth my time? Am I going to learn something? Am, um, I going to enjoy it? Like, I get it all the time. I get asked to like, update websites and I'm like, yeah, I hate doing that too. I don't want to write the copy. And so it's not fun. I'm not very good at it. Um, and also it's probably not going to pay me. And it's a one off fee as well. Like, that's the thing. If it's one off, then is it worth it? Like, if it's not recurring and growing your monthly revenue, then it might not be worth it.

Speaker A: Yeah, very much so.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Like, what we're always looking for is sustainable monthly recurring revenue so that we can build our agencies that way. So it's going to be significantly better to have a client that pays you $2,000 every single month for 12 months than it is to take a one off client at 3,000, 4,000, $5,000. That's going to totally distract you from what you're doing. Take away a week, two weeks, maybe a month of your time. Um, because what we've got to remember is that there's an opportunity cost, an economic term for it, which is like, every decision you make means something that you can't do. Another expression is like, every, Every yes is a Million nos. Right. So it's like when you're saying yes to something, you're saying no to any single other possibility that could have occurred during that time. So I'm not saying don'. I'm just saying you've got to be really selective and you've got to, you've got to kind of have an honest heart, um, to heart conversation with yourself. Ideally a mentor, a coach, someone that you, you trust and believe in and be like, hey, should I be doing this or should I just stay focused? Like, and again, yeah, use that as motivation to just push yourself more towards, um, where you really want to go.

Speaker B: Yeah. The amount of times that I asked you that back in the day, I was like, should I be doing this? And you, like, you already know the answer is a hell no.

Speaker A: Yes. Yes, exactly.

Speaker B: You want it, don't you? You just want to like, oh, I could take, I could do that. And then it plays to your ego a little bit and you're like, oh, I could, I could, I could do that. Everything.

Speaker A: Yeah, there's this, um, there's this thing that I live by that is, uh, a hard truth about not just, not just business, but also life, which is that you can do anything, but you can't do everything. And so we've got to be selective and we have to decide, okay, cool, I literally can't do everything. You could, you can have billions and billions of dollars and you cannot do everything. We're physically and time limited in what we're able to do. So it's like, okay, well then what is the priority? To me, and I think this again, if we really kind of take it high level, big picture stuff, it's like, what's my goal? Why am I doing this in the first place? Like, why did I start an agency? What do I want to do with my business? And for most people, most of the time, time freedom, location freedom, financial freedom.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: So the three freedoms, Time, location, financial. So is this opportunity going to move me closer to my end goal of time, location, financial freedom? Um, location, time, freedom, financial. We got it all, all the freedoms. Is it going to move me closer. Yeah. So many freedoms. Or is it just going to like sidetrack me and take me down this crazy rabbit hole that I want to do? So yeah. Derek Sivers, the, um, founder of CD Baby, wrote a book. It was hell yeah or no. And basically we have to use this filter. It's like it's either a hell yeah or it's a no. I appreciate if you're just getting Started in your agency. Maybe just like a mild, muted. Yeah, might be okay. Uh, because again, it's like we need, we need the cash flow to actually sustain the business, but we have to make sure it doesn't suck up, up all of our time and, uh, and divert you from where you want to go.

Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. And I really like the equation of, like, fun, um, like, make. Is it profitable? Will it make money? And also, like, will I learn something? And I think that I've been asked many times of like, uh, and we see this with a lot of, like, the new agencies getting started and they say, like, I could take this client on, but I don't know what I'm doing, or I can take this client on, or I'm not very good at this skill. And I think applying that kind of question or that, you know, you're asking yourself, should I work for this client? And asking yourself, okay, I'm not very good at it, but if I can, if I'm going to enjoy it and I can go and learn how to do that skill, and then that skill can be applied to multiple clients, then it's a hell, yeah. Like, go and do that and learn it. Because again, I didn't know Facebook ads, I didn't know, uh, anything to do with funnels, I didn't know anything to do with tracking. Um, but I went out there, I enjoy that stuff. So I learned it. So I think, think if you feel like in that way and you feel like you're like, you know, you don't necessarily. Sometimes you want, you don't want to take that client on because, you know, like, it's going to make you nervous. You're going to have, like, sleepless nights. You're gonna have to learn a lot. It still can be good to push yourself through that boundary and go, do you know what? I'm going to take this client on. I'm going to deliver this service. I'm going to learn, because you're going to know more than the client. And I think that's key as well. But applying the equations and just, uh, questioning yourself. You might look like a madman if you're talking to yourself and asking these questions out loud. But I think it's super powerful and super helpful, uh, when checking whether you should take those clients on. Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. Well, again, it really comes back to, like, what are your goals for it? And what's going to be the best path, uh, to push you there. And I think also a secret that probably not a lot of people are willing to, um, willing to talk about is that there's nothing that we do that's rocket science. Like, it's just, it's really. Oh man. Like, how do I, how do I say this without, without putting. This isn't like the self deprecating humor too much, but I don't, I don't want to beat us up too much, but it's like, like um, I'm a pretty normal guy and um, and there's nothing that I'm doing that is uh, like brain surgery level. I got a buddy who's got like a PhD in rocket science stuff. He's so smart, incredibly smart. You don't need that. Like, it's, it's, it's funny actually trying to like have a conversation with him. Cause I was like, man, it must be frustrating talking to like anybody else because you're always at this level. I was like, we don't need this level. What we need is, we need a level of tenacity and persistence and commitment and dedication, um, empathy, caring, um, be a good person, have some ethics behind it, make sure you're making morally good decisions and then you can learn literally everything I've said since day one. Great marketers are trained, not born. That is very much the case. I got into this not even knowing what marketing was and just slowly put together the pieces from there. Yeah, so learn web design, then learn SEO, then learn about ads. Uh, as long as that's going to take you in the right direction.

Speaker B: Yeah, and I think that's super interesting as well because like a lot of agency owners go, okay, well I've started with Facebook ads. Ads, and then you're in that bracket. But then you get further down the line and you might not want to do that anymore. That's okay. You've learned the principles of marketing. You can apply them to any platform. Um, whether it's paid advertising or organic, like, doesn't matter. But again, you don't necessarily have to like start and finish in the one service. You may expand, you may get rid of some.

Speaker A: So yeah, actually on that note, Dave, that's a really good point and a good segue. And to keep us on the line of like, best services to offer, what often ends up happening, which is a huge mistake, is people will come in with an agency, um, and they will have a service that they're offering and they'll be unclear about their niche or their market. So what they'll do is they'll join, they'll be like, yes, I do Facebook ads. I'm like, Great. Who you do it for. And like, well, we could do it for them. We can do it for them. And that's the complete opposite way that you want to do things. You want to start with your niche first. And the reason is, is because it's a lot easier to fall in love with, uh, people and with an industry and with a niche than it is to fall in love with something like, say, Facebook ads, which we've already talked about. We've got a very, very mixed. Poor Facebook ads, a very mixed relationship. But, but, like, if you love. I don't know, let's say we're doing, um, automotive detailers and, and your. You've got a buddy that's got an auto detailing shop and you like it and it sounds really interesting. And you, like, your friend would be crazy to go to him and be like, yeah, I do Facebook ads. Do you want some Facebook ads? It's that expression of, like, when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Well, what if. What is going to sound weird, but, like, what if he's not a nail? What if he's a screw or a bolt? Like, what if he needs Google Ads? Or what if he does need a website? What if he needs SEO? What if he needs, um, a video strategy? What if he needs this content? All of these things are going to help you do the best service for him or her. And they're going to make sure that you're doing what actually matters, which is getting results. That's it. That's all that matters. They don't care what you do or how you do it. They care about getting actual results. And if you can be the one to demonstrate that, then we just sort of line up the services that are going to get, um, us there in the fastest, most effective way possible.

Speaker B: Yeah, you made a really good point. Because I do think, like, you've got to look at your niche. And then services, it's not like, like, what are the best services? And then I'll go and find the niche. It's like, you've got to love that niche. You've got to want to work in that niche. So, yeah, um, awesome point. So big question for you. Here we go. So if you were to start an agency again today. Yeah. 2024. What would you do? And don't tell me, like, you're going to be a. You're going to do Google Trifecta for roofers.

Speaker A: That's. Oh, man, there goes that one. So good. Good question, Dave. I guess that I got. I got a clarifying Questions do I have any of my previous skills or knowledge or am I starting was like fresh. I'm just like, new guy, don't know what I'm doing, never done it before.

Speaker B: Gonna go new guy. Because whilst you say you're not something special, you're a very good marketer and you've put a lot of reps in. So yeah, you're new, you're fresh. Um, you've not done marketing before, you've

Speaker A: just, okay, brand new. So I'm doing marketing. Well, first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to try to find um, someone that I can run this by to figure out what they think I should do as well. Um, that was a mistake that I didn't. Luckily I read a lot of books and listened to a lot of podcasts in the early days, but I didn't reach out for mentorship for like the first year or two. I did for to business people but not to like specific marketers. And um, and there's a very big difference between like getting specialist advice from a marketer and like getting generalist advice from a business person who's a sort of calm, basic view of marketing. So I'm going to try to talk to them and figure out what they should do. Uh, then I'm going to definitely have to pick a niche. And so we're not, we're not doing SEO for roofers or anything like that, but I will try to pick some kind of industry, some kind of market that's going to have repeat, uh, that's going to have a high ticket price that's going to be able to justify the cost. I'd like if they get most of their traffic from some kind of search, um, so that I can actually control that in a way. Uh, then once I've got that, oh man, it could be anything. We could do. Restaurants are typically lower tickets, so I don't enjoy that as much. But we could, we'd uh, start there, I'd be happy to do that. Uh, and then from there I'm going to probably look at what they're currently doing to get customers and clients and like what I could do to improve it. So let's pick a restaurant because again, normally not my favorite one because the ticket price is a bit lower. So like 40, 50 bucks, 100 bucks kind of on the high end, but there's still things we can do. Um, I'm going to probably try to get them some Google reviews because that's going to be really simple, low hanging fruit with almost no skills required on my part, um, we're going to leverage software we use high level for this. I'm going to go to them and say, hey, we're going to try to get you more 5 star reviews for your restaurant, which we know is going to help them not only rank higher, uh, but also convert more of the people that go check it out. So that one's easy. Second thing I'm going to do is probably, uh, optimize a bit of their social media. I don't think a lot, but like for a restaurant, probably Facebook. Uh, more so I might, I might look at Instagram, but because Facebook has kind of that local aspect built into it, I can optimize the presence with, um, we call them citations. So name, address and phone number, make sure that it's clear there. Make sure that they're posting stuff on a regular basis, like minimum once a day. Here's the hours, here's what we're opening, here's happy hour, here's this, here's the other thing. And then I'd probably get them to start doing some kind of mini promotion. Free appetizer, free drink, free desserts, Some kind of voucher that I could put out on social media, use a little bit of a code so they'd be able to track that to my efforts. So I'd be like, hey, it's Adam's drink voucher or whatever it is. Dessert voucher. Come in and ask for Adam's dessert vote. Don't ask for Adam's dessert voucher. Getting disappointed again. Uh, but then at least they'd say, hey, we got like 17 of Adam's dessert vouchers. And this was a dessert and they'd already had dinner. So therefore we had an ROI of this. We paid Adam X. Uh, and then I'd be able to take that. I'd get the case study, I'd get the testimonial from them, and I'd go leverage that ideally with a restaurant in the same kind of style. So it was like a fusion restaurant. I'd go to other fusion restaurants. If it was a Chinese food restaurant, go to other Chinese food restaurants. And I try to find out and be like, look, I'm becoming the main, go to fusion restaurant marketing guy. Here's what they say, here's this. And I would just keep leveraging that. Uh, up, up and out. So, yeah, I think that that answered it. We'd start with reviews, then we'd do some kind of social media stuff. I'm gonna say stuff pretty Generically, because I don't think most people are doing it well. So just like literally anything. And then I'd probably add some kind of a promotion to it so that they could at least track that to, uh, my efforts.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I like it. And I think something. And you made a really good point there is sometimes you. We want to give a niche what we think they need, but actually having a conversation with that business owner, you may identify that, like, there's things that they're just not doing. They may have an email list that they've never used. They may have phone, um, numbers that they've never broadcasted to. They may have offers that they've never kind of used and, um, set up correctly. So I think sometimes having that conversation with someone, um, and listening to them and hearing what they've already got and assets they've got and what they've tried before and what they haven't tried can then, you know, you've got the niche. But now you need your services, and then they can tell you what they think they need. And from a marketing perspective, you can understand and say, no, you don't need that. It's not going to work. But that can then help you come up with these services as well.

Speaker A: Uh, yes.

Speaker B: I think, especially when you're getting started, if you can do that for someone for maybe a low price or, um, you know, beta offer, or even if you know someone in that industry. That's what I did. I just started, like, with a friend and I was like, hey, let me help you. Built up the skills because he's not paying me anything, so I don't have to, like, necessarily if. If it doesn't work. He's not, he's not any less off. But I got to kind of figure things out. And then I got a result. He got a testimonial and then that moved for referral. And then actually he started paying me and things start to skyrocket from that.

Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. You trigger something for another service. Uh, acrc, um, Automated Customer Reactivation Campaign. So for the restaurant, for anyone, really, if they have an existing email list, phone, uh, number list, which they do because people take reservations, we basically go through and we send a, uh, automated SMS to those people saying, hey, we've got a $20 gift card here. A couple $20 gift cards left over. Um, do you want me to put your name on one? Wow, that thing prints money. Like, that is like our go to secret sauce. Can't believe I forgot it. I'm glad you prompted me with that one. The other thing that I would do is. And this is sort of the more advanced Adam speaking with my experience now, but, like, one of my magic bullets that I do is, uh, anytime I'm working with a new client is, I'll look at their last or I'll ask them, even over the last 12 months, what were your two highest earning months? And they'd be like, well, December was good and March was good. And they're like, cool. What did you do during those two months? M. I'm like, well, we ran this promotion and we did this thing, and I'll be like, cool, let's do it again. And they'll be like, oh, that's a great idea. And it's shocking. Um, we do this as entrepreneurs and business owners all the time, where we'll do something really, really well, and it'll get great results, and then we'll go, cool. What else can I do now? Let's never do that again. And it's. It's insanity. Uh, so I'll just really go through and find the things that were working really well and then do them again and try to improve on them a little bit. But, yeah, I think between. Between all those. Oh, man, we just. We just made some restaurants a whole lot of money.

Speaker B: Yeah. So simple. Love it. Well, I think we covered off everything to do with services. Uh, obviously overlapped a bit of niches as well. So, yeah, hopefully everyone found that, uh, informative, useful. Like, said you could apply that to your agency, but if you're a restaurant business out there, then, yeah, you could definitely.

Speaker A: Yeah, you could run with it. I think the beauty of kind of most of the things we talked about today is that they really are. Are kind of like those core universal services that you can offer or use. In fact, what's really funny is that what, uh, what people may have noticed is that we didn't once mention AI. We didn't once mention anything fancy or sexy or fun or new. And it's not because we don't know that they exist. It's just because I think the filter that we use, at least, is that it has to work for most people most of the time. And when we start moving down some of these other paths, um, they don't work for most of the people. They work for some of the people some of the time in certain ways with certain understandings, and that's okay to play around with. But if you think about, like, the 80, 20 of getting results, we want to spend 80% of our time on those things. That are going to get the best results and then spend maybe 20% messing around with this and that. And we'll try and play over here, but if you focus on the core proven fundamentals, principles, the things that have been around and have stood the test of time, yeah, there's, there's. It's almost inevitable that you will succeed and will get positive results from it. So, Dave, thank you. As usual, my friend, great insight, great ideas, and, uh, we'll talk to you, uh, we'll talk to you again there soon.

Speaker B: All right, speak soon.