Transcript for:
Guide to Starting an Agency Business

whatever way you look at it an agency is one of  the best business models for new entrepreneurs   right now you don't need experience you can work  from anywhere in the world and it only takes weeks   and in some cases days for you to start earning  money now with the increasing popularity of this   model and the recent rise of AI it's hard to  know how to cut through the hype and actually   get started so in this video you're not only going  to learn how to get your feet off the ground as   an agency owner but you're also going to have all  the tools you need to sign your first four-figure   marketing client and deliver an incredible service  to them this first client can be the first step in   helping you quit your job or even put a down  payment on your dream house or car some start   an agency because they want more time some more  Financial Freedom others just want to take back   control of their life whatever your reason this is  your chance to make a change but if you're serious   about getting started you need to learn from  someone who's actually done it before that's where   I come in my name is Jordan platten and I scaled  an agency from zero to seven figures in under   three years and I still own that agency to this  day it's called excellent dot Co now I don't even   work in this agency anymore I just steer the ship  and my team have the rest covered in fact I spend   most of my time helping other aspiring agency  owners reach their goals whether that's making   100K a month and traveling in the world like Adam  or building a seven-figure Enterprise like Lucas   but the first step is actually getting started  and getting out of the loop of procrastinating   on it according to wealth research group 98 of  people will never accomplish their goals in life   do you want to add to that statistic well let this  video be the final one you watch before starting   because it's the final one you'll need but I'm  going to warn you despite this this is not for   everyone successful agency owners are consistent  they are resilient and they are driven by their   goals and to make a change of in their life if  you're looking for a get rich quick scheme they   simply do not exist so if you want a miracle  cure you should skip this video and continue   the loop of binge watching but if this resonates  with you and you're committed to taking action   then continue watching because this video today  might just change your life so step one grab a   pen and paper get rid of all your tabs and focus  step two I want you to write down in one sentence   your why why are you watching this video why are  you interested in launching an agency now don't   overthink this your why will change over time  but for now just write down the first thing that   comes into your head for me when I first started  I wanted more time freedom but I also wanted to   stick a middle finger up at my boss who doubted  me now step three comment on this video that why   I want to hear it and every one in 100 people will  be randomly selected to win a coaching call with   me where I'll personally help you through these  initial stages now I usually charge thousands for   one-to-one coaching so this is your opportunity to  get it completely for free so again comment down   below with your why and once you add it you might  as well smash the like button hit the notification   Bell so you get notified every time we bring out  new content so what actually is an agency and what   services do they offer well it's simply a service  based business it's person a which is you going to   person B which is a business owner and offering  a service to help them increase their monthly   Revenue now there are a bunch of services you can  offer to achieve this the most popular being paid   advertising on platforms like Facebook but there's  also content creation email marketing SEO and even   web design in my agency we specialize in paid ads  on Facebook but also Instagram but we didn't start   like this I didn't even have a clue how to run  Facebook ads when I signed my first client so I   had to learn on the job now you can learn from  my mistakes today because it's really not that   hard to learn a service from the start in fact if  you want to you could even hire someone to fulfill   services on your behalf and I'll explain how later  on ultimately your service depends on what kind of   client you have lead generation or e-commerce  lead generation clients are businesses that   sell a service like landscapers or beauty salons  e-commerce companies are those that sell products   online and want direct sales like Nike or Adidas  for example at my agency we work with Ecom Brands   although honestly I would not recommend this to  New Start agency owners it'll be a damn lot easier   for you to start with Legion generation and that's  exactly what I did the key is you want a simple   service that makes it easy for you to track return  on investment for your clients it's easy to keep a   client that pays you 1K a month when you can show  them clear as day that you've generated them 20   new customers worth 10K but we'll get on to that  later for now you might have a couple of questions   so let's smash through those first before we get  into how to get your first client well what if I   only have a few hours in the day to work on this  is it still feasible yes absolutely but you get   out what you put in if you have less hours to  input into your business because you're working   full time or you've got kids you need to look  after that's fine but it's just going to take you   a bit longer to get your feet off the ground now  when I first started I was working a full-time job   and so I focused on my agency in the early morning  and in the evening and that didn't stop me getting   to where I am today well if it's so easy why don't  business owners just run paid ads for themselves   well business owners just simply don't have the  time or the knowledge they are too busy actually   running their business so they would rather pay  someone who knows what they're doing and has their   expertise used to run their ads on their behalf so  that'll cover the basics and we'll continue as we   progress through the video but if you have any  more questions drop a comment down below right   let's talk money how much can we actually charge  our clients well with an agency we get paid based   on value not on time at a regular nine till five  we're often paid an hourly rate for the time that   we are working but this makes it very hard for  us to scale our income as there are only so many   hours in the day now as an agency owner we charge  based on how much value our service can bring to   our clients and naturally as your service gets  better you'll get paid more here's a screenshot   of payments from one of our clients totaling  42 000 that's for one month service now that's   unrealistic for new starters but it's a taste of  what's possible when you work hard but you need   to walk before you can run and as a beginner the  majority of your clients will be on fixed upfront   monthly retainers ranging from 500 to 1 000 in  fact if the opportunity is good some of you may   even sign your first client on a pay after results  basis the most valuable asset you can get when   are starting is a solid case study so don't let  money blind you in the early stages that's a   sure way to fail now once you get the first client  in you'll be surprised how quickly you can start   gaining momentum take Charlotte for example she  hit 10K a month in reoccurring Revenue just 10   weeks after signing her first client and on that  note let's move on to how you can get one so how   can we find our first client and who exactly  are we looking for well my best advice is to   start local and Branch out around you later this  is because being local will act as you're in it's   an unfamiliar ground for business owners to be  open to a meeting with you now I'm sure there are   some potentials fleeting through your mind right  now but how would you choose which ones to reach   out to First well first you need to pick and Leash  a niche is simply another word for an industry for   example Home Improvements or beauty now pick one  to three niches that you would like to start off   with and don't overthink this sometimes the  ugly niches are the blue ocean opportunities   like skip hire for example ultimately your  first pick doesn't really matter too much you   just need a place to get started it so don't  hold on to it for too long for me personally   I pretty much freestyled my first few clients  I signed up a restaurant a home furnishings   company a kitchen and bathroom showroom and even  a jeweler now I overshot it and I had to learn   new strategies for each new client that I signed  that's why I'm telling you to keep things simple   so we've got a niche in mind what's your  offer going to be an offer is a solution   that you share with your potential clients  something so irresistible they can't say no   it's not your service but it's the result of  your service for example the majority of you   signing off your service will be lead generation  but your offer will be something along the lines   of I'll generate you more qualified leads which  is a lot sexier than I'll run your Facebook ads   but this isn't irresistible yet because there's  still a risk for the client so if you really want   to get ahead you need to add a risk reversal I'll  generate you more qualified leads or you don't pay   now as you gain more experience and once you've  worked with a couple of clients in the same Niche   you'll learn the specific result that Niche can  expect from your service maybe you work with a   couple home extension companies and you've noticed  you're generating between 10 and 20 New Leads per   month on average your offer can now evolve to  something more quantifiable like I'll generate   you 10 to 20 new qualified leads per month or you  don't pay now that and there is resistible offer   and it doesn't matter what your service is you  may be watching this with a different service in   mind like content creation and that's great just  make sure you create an offer for it based on the   result of the service before you start reaching  out to clients and on that note how do you reach   out and get your first meeting well there are  a number of different strategies you can use   and the process is called Outreach now the most  effective Outreach strategies are cold calling   DMS and email in that order now don't worry if  you have no sales experience 99 of the people   I've taught didn't either and that didn't stop  them from getting clients let's go for it okay so   let's say you're based in Manchester in the UK and  your Niche is ascetic clinics we're going to go to   Google and type in Manchester ascetic clinics head  over to maps and we're going to see a long list of   all the aesthetic businesses in the Manchester  area these are all potential clients for your   ascetic marketing agency if we go up to the top  we're going to take one of these we're going to   look at the details here we're going to head over  to Google Sheets or any spreadsheet editor and   create what's called a lead list this is simply  a list of all the potential clients we're going   to reach out to later so we're going to enter the  business name the website location phone number   and email address if we can find it and then what  we need to do is find the owner's details we need   to find out who the decision maker is so when we  contact them we know who trying to book a meeting   with let me explain why this is important so if  you were to call out Manchester Aesthetics and say   hey can I speak to the owner of the clinic please  the receptionist or as we call them the gatekeeper   is going to presume that you're going to sell  something right the likelihood of them putting   you through is very slim whereas if we go through  the effort to find a business owner's details   let's say their name is John Smith and we say hey  Pop me through to John please then we're assuming   familiarity the gatekeeper is going to think that  we know John and therefore we're much more likely   to actually get hold of them and we're going to  secure so many more meetings from our lead list   so let me show you how you would find the business  owner's details so let's say we're doing this for   this business here we're going to open up the  website and generally we're going to go on the   about page oh who is this okay we've got Sue here  the owner of Manchester assess it clinics okay   this is actually a little bit unfair because  this it's not always as easy as this guys um so   we've got the first name there I'll see if I can  find Sue's second name as well go over to Google   I've actually found her on linkedins I'm going  to open that up and we can I can show you how   to reach out to her in a moment but I just want  to make this fair for the purpose of the video   uh let's say we've got skin Viva clinic and we go  over to Google this is another way that you can   find business owners details so skin Viva Clinic  owner what have we got go on Google go down about   us our team okay fine see about us page okay fine  here we've got who is this why is this in the way   got some text in the way I'm going okay Miranda  Atkins skin Viva director fine so I found someone   else so we've got the business owners details  how do we then reach out to them so what we   would do is we would go on Sue's at LinkedIn  or her Instagram or wherever we find her and   we're going to first of all send a connection  request and then we're gonna hit send message   now on LinkedIn we have to add a subject line so  we want to make this something thought-provoking   like quick question for Sue and then we are  going to use my two-stage DM formula which is   number one a personal compliment okay so we're  going to say something that we can only say to   sue something if you can copy and paste this send  it to 10 people and it means the exact same thing   it's not personal enough have a look on Sue's  website social media and we're going to show   her that we're making the effort to only reach out  to her and she's not just a number in this massive   Outreach machine next thing is we're going to ask  a curiosity question okay so we're going to ask a   curiosity question something related to our offer  or our service a question so irresistible lets you   absolutely cannot leave it unanswered great I'm  going to follow the same format when it comes to   email as well now many agencies will stop at this  point because many agency owners are lazy but you   are not and so what you're going to do is you're  going to go ahead and actually call Sue as well so   cooling is up to four times more effective at  securing meetings and emails and DMS so you want   to make sure that you are using it as part of your  strategy in fact I uploaded a video on YouTube   recently where I called up 16 aesthetic Linux and  booked in two meetings and it took me less than   two hours to do this now no this is intimidating  for many of you guys cold calling always is for   people when they're first starting out I was  terrified when I first started but trust me   it's something you get better with at practice and  you're going to scale your agency so much quicker   if you use it as part of your Outreach strategy so  let's say we do cool suit what's the format we're   going to follow well the first thing we want to  do is let the business owner know who we are and   that we're going to be quick we need to defuse  them that their time is not going to be wasted   we're then going to ask our curiosity question and  after that simply ask if they've got any time over   the next few days for a quick 15-minute meeting  it's very important you book in a meeting this   is the ultimate goal of absolutely all of your  Outreach we do not want to pitch on the phone DM   or email or be pressured to go for any details  like price or anything like that you're going   to be unprepared and it's just going to fall for  flat on its art so it's very important we schedule   in another time where we can be prepared to go  through a proper sales process and it's as simple   as that now look you might not get a meeting  from your first few outreaches you might not   even land a meeting from your first 20 outreaches  but trust me sales in the numbers game and the   more you do the better you'll get and the higher  your meeting set rate will increase over time but   I've got a golden tip here for you always use a  multi-platform strategy when outreaching and what   I mean by this is don't just stick to one strategy  emailing dming or calling right because at the end   of the day not everybody responds in one place for  example let's say you needed to contact your five   best friends you probably wouldn't just call them  all right because you know one of them never picks   up the phone instead one uses WhatsApp and the  other one prefers text and this is the exact same   for our prospects so we need to hit them from all  angles so you're going to land your first meeting   how do you then close them let's go through the  meeting strategy now a few years ago I created   a free Stage Formula that can be used to close  any agency client and since then it's been used   to make millions in new agency revenue and it's  evolved a lot over the years now it can be used   on video call Via Zoom or even in person in fact  in-person meetings are even more effective than   video because you have physical energy on your  side too now the three stages of the strategy are   discover present and close let's start off with  the discovery stage this is all about building a   relationship and gaining ammunition for later in  the meeting so start off with some light small   talk and then open them up by asking so what's  the reason you accepted this meeting today now   they'll start to reveal all their problems to you  so we need to ask tactical questions to keep them   on course what we're really trying to establish  is their current position their desired position   and all the roadblocks they're standing in the  way so practice active listening acknowledge   their words and show a genuine interest in the  problems that they're facing as a business you   want to ignite that burning hunger in their belly  as an entrepreneur that reminds them of why they   started the company in the first place and we also  want to ignite new two goals and ultimately make   them believe that we are the person that's going  to help them get from point A to point B so that's   the discovery stage next we have the presentation  stage and this is where we connect our offer to   the specific problem that the client just outlined  now this doesn't always mean literally showing   a presentation sometimes you might just screen  share a specific case study or just speak through   your offer in fact it doesn't really matter as  long as what you present matches the client's   problems let's say you're in a meeting with an  aesthetic clinic and your offer is likely to be   lead generation so you could show the client some  of their competitors who are already running lead   generation ads this will create a hunger for  them to beat them right then proceed to show   them the estimated results that Facebook predicts  you could generate for them in the ad manager now   don't worry if you don't know how to do that I  didn't at the start either no one does I'll come   on to Service delivery later but first we need  to secure this client we need to gain permission   to sell so once we've presented our solution ask  the client do you believe this would help begin   to solve your problems if you get a yes awesome  proceed to close if you get a no then dig into why   and ask the question again so the final stage  the close it's time to State your price and   then you're not going to say anything I don't  care if you're sitting there in silence for a   minute straight don't say anything the moment you  speak after you state your price you're justifying   yourself and you're going to lose all the trust  that you've gained in the previous stages of that   meeting let them say the first word now they may  come back with some kind of objection with some   question of some sort and at this stage you can  handle that objection I always say that the real   sales start after the first objection I welcome  them and it's a chance to cement the relationship   and make it even stronger do not be afraid to push  back now this is a bit of an art and honestly it's   just something you get better at with practice and  eventually you'll quite enjoy it but when you do   get that yes you want to book in another call for  as soon as possible this is called the onboarding   call now on this you'll gain all the information  you need to start working with with the client   so booking an onboarding call take their mobile  number say goodbye and then set up a group chat   to send their agreement link into and that's how  we get our first paycheck now it's your choice how   you actually take the money the easiest way is  with a processor like stripe or PayPal but you   can also just arrange a bank transfer now if for  whatever reason we get a no and we can't handle   their objections do not be disheartened in fact  you need to get used to this because as an agency   owner you're going to hear more no's than you are  yeses as especially when you're first starting out   we need to be resilient and need to understand  that nodes are just a learning opportunity and   we can assess what we need to do differently next  time around the more meetings you have the better   you're going to get now the final thing on the  Note again your first client is sometimes the only   thing we can do to push a client over the line is  offering pay after results this is simply where   you work for the client for free for a period to  prove that you can get them results and when you   do then they pay you now I believe that this is an  excellent way to gain experience and secure your   first case study and that's even more valuable  than Cash In the initial stages now if you do   offer pay after results make sure you only do it  for two weeks as that's more than enough time to   get initial results now not all of you will need  to do this in fact lots of you will have clients   paying right away but remember to think long term  think like a business owner okay we're getting   somewhere now it's time for results how do we  deliver our service so we've got two options   number one you can fulfill the service yourself  you can learn Facebook ad for example and deliver   it on your own or number two you can Outsource it  to a freelancer and they can fulfill the service   for you now let's start with the second option  first which is outsourcing if you wish to hand off   Service delivery from the start the best places to  look are freelance website like upwork and Fiverr   although make sure you vet people there are tons  of Freelancers on these websites so it's important   not just to hire the first person that you find  now if you do this make sure you also give trial   tasks to test the skill level of your candidate  before you let them take over your client accounts   but personally I believe it's better to learn how  to fulfill these Services yourself first because   if you understand your service inside and out  you'll be able to sell it much more effectively   and the more service confidence you have the  higher the client fee you'll be able to secure   and the longer your clients will stay with you for  example here's one of our clients who has spent   a total of seventy one thousand pounds bus over  the past 12 months and here's a list of all the   payments they have made to us and here's another  that's spent over 100k with us and all of their   payments you see when you really know what you're  doing your clients will be happy to pay invoices   again and again and again and that leads me  on to my final question I have for you today   do you want to take the stairs or do you want to  take the elevator do you want to stumble through   this yourself watch loads of videos from a bunch  of different people and read books and blogs to   pave your own path or do you want to follow a path  that's already been laid out and has already been   proven to work hundreds of times already because  if you want to take the stairs your logical first   step is go in and watching my latest Facebook  ad training video on YouTube although this is   just the first step of many ahead of you on that  path and the truth is if you get any of the areas   wrong that we've gone through today you will end  up wasting months and months of time wasting a   lot of money and wasting energy on trial and error  and most people in that position eventually then   get to the point where they then give up and go  straight back to the position they started in or   worse and that's a very frustrating path to take  I've tried it that way and it's incredibly tough   and that's why the final key to success is to  invest in a mentor and take the elevator skip   years of learning curve and be mentored by a real  active agency owner that scaled from zero to to   seven figures and not just myself but hundreds  of other agency owners from all stages of their   journey within our private Community without  Jordan's guidance teaching and advice I would   be lost in life the community he put us in is so  positive that's what Jordan teaches he gives you   a shortcut it's all the condensed knowledge that  you need to know that the successful people teach   if you listen to them speak ten Grand a month 10  grand a month in my social media marketing agency   which has allowed me to not work a nine to five  I'm a member of the six-month mentorship program   and I'm one month in and I've already signed two  clients now you know Jordan's really laid out   this course in a well-structured manner meaning  that everything's in order agency owners of all   ages from all over the world some just starting  others making hundreds of thousands per month the   most successful agency owners out there have  had a mentor guiding them through the process   this always reminds me of a story I tell people  who are thinking of going at it alone with trial   and error if you were to build a house that you  wanted to live in for many years to come a home   keeps your future families safe would you try  and build it yourself because that's the cheapest   option even though you've never built a house  before Imagine by doing that it'll put you in   an even worse position and you'd have to hire  another Builder to just fix the mess anyway so   waste time money and it leaves you with shaky  foundations that cannot support you well it's   the exact same when it comes to building an  agency wouldn't you rather work with someone   who's built hundreds of agencies who knows exactly  what they're doing and has a system for doing so   of course you would trying to cut corners and  costs will only leave you banging your head   against the wall over and over again so how much  simpler would it be for you if you invest in a   mentor to work with you who can lay out each of  these steps on how to do this how much faster do   you think you could achieve results now over  the past few years I've personally invested   hundreds of thousands of pounds of my own money  in training and I wouldn't be where I am today   without investing in mentorship so that's why I  set up my own program the affluent Academy where   I can show you the exact route to not only signing  your first client but tens of clients the exact   words to say and every tool and resource you could  possibly need how to build an incredible Team how   to eliminate yourself from the day-to-day and  of course how to generate exceptional results   for your clients you can literally copy and paste  the exact ads I've used to make millions in return   on investment so if you value having someone  experience alongside you guiding you every step of   the way to getting results if you value that over  just picking the cheapest course out there because   there are so many of those then you understand why  this is so important it's the difference between   those who fail and those who succeed now I get it  this isn't something that's easily accessible to   everyone and that's why I provide so much free  value on my YouTube my mental ship does cost   money and it adds a few extra thousand to your  starting investment but if you have savings and   you can afford the investment it'll be one of the  best business decisions you ever make now I know   one of the things that holds most people back is  they think okay that's great Jordan you'll show   me how to do it but will it actually work for me  and I thought the same in the past we've all been   there okay naturally skeptical so let me quickly  introduce you to a couple of my students this is   Kieran he started an agency whilst at University  he had no experience now makes over 80k a month   and spends the majority of his time traveling  this is Jamie and Tristan again zero business   experience and since working with us they've  scaled an agency from zero to over 60k a month the   best content agency in New Zealand this is us all  hanging out at our Mastermind in Mexico earlier   in the year where we hosted 14 agency owners at  six and seven figures most of which started with   bus from zero now if you put your mind to it  maybe I'll even see you at one of these future   events but first you've got to get started so I've  set aside a limited amount of time every week to   speak with you personally about how to get you off  the ground and if you'd like some help on how to   sign your next few clients and start generating  Revenue quickly we're here to support you but I   have to clarify at this stage you must have an  existing income stream or Savings of some kind   of side to support your business to get it up and  running so if you can't financially invest in your   agency at this stage this mentorship program isn't  for you and you should stick to my YouTube content   but if you are ready to take action and start your  agency right now just like the members I've shown   you through this video then my team can give you  a 30-minute strategy session during a free call   we'll discuss where you're at whether we can  help you and if we both think that it's a good   fit we might offer you the opportunity to join  our program now we are application only and will   never say yes to working with someone who we don't  genuinely believe we can help so at this stage if   you want more information let me explain to you  how it works so the program itself is 12 weeks   although if you wish to progress faster or slower  we'll set out a bespoke path for you at onboarding   now during this process you'll work through our  video training course whilst having the support   of weekly one-to-one called with a mentor to help  you implement you'll have unlimited access to the   training content from anywhere in the world even  after you've been through the mentorship program   and you'll also get personal one-to-one access  with me and I'll be able to join myself and the   community three times per week on live group  coaching calls which is where you can raise   questions to the wrestler Community via video or  even just listen if you want to now this really   sets us apart from most other programs as the  Creator is completely absent yet I'm deep in the   trenches personally helping my students Thrive  because I genuinely believe that their success   is mine so much so that I literally guarantee it  I guarantee we can help you sign at least five   clients with our methods within 90 days or you  get your money back that's how much I know this   will work for you no matter what your background  the only thing that matters is your attitude and   drive if you're willing to push outside your  comfort zone we can help you build a successful   agency so if you're willing and you're ready  to invest in yourself I'd like to invite you   to click the link below and schedule a call with  my team now we have a limited number of people we   can actually accept into the program each month  as we need to ensure that we have the capacity to   support our members so once you click below or go  to affluent.academy forward slash apply you'll be   taken to a page where you can answer a few short  questions to book a call now we do not have the   capacity to take every call and schedules fill up  extremely quickly so be patient if when you go to   book there's no availability new slots should  appear the following day and in some instances   we'll also cancel calls from unsuitable applicants  please do not be disarmed if this happens to you   we'll always give a constructive reason for why  we don't think we can help so click the link below   to apply for a call and remember knowledge  is worthless without implementation cheers