My name is Justin Brooke, and my first agency failed, but…
My second agency made over $1 million per year and my client list included Dan Kennedy, Russell Brunson, Ryan Deiss, Jon Assaraf, LendingTree, Agora, and more.
It landed me speaking opportunities all over the world from California to Australia. Today I’m the founder of AdSkills which teaches over 13,000 business owners how to have better ad campaigns.
This is what makes me qualified to teach you how to start.
One because I have actually walked the walk, but also because I’ve tasted failure as well.
3 Bad Belief Systems Newbies Need To Throw Out
The silliest thing I hear (too often) is “do I need experience?” If this were true, then how would anyone get started? None of us are born with an ad agency in our back pocket.
We all have to start somewhere.
But then how do you get good results if you have no experience? Easy, you borrow a campaign(s) that you know already works. For example, I have 7 of them you can copy in my book Retargeting Recipes. There’s all kinds of free case studies available online as well, you can borrow ideas from many others to get started.
You can also do like I did and intern for someone. They get some free work, you get hands on experience, then turn that experience into a case study to get your first clients.
Literally, how I started my 2nd agency that made millions.
The next bad belief newbies have is that they believe they should take the first client that comes along. I get it, you want to get paid and get paid quickly. However, taking BAD clients is the worst habit you can develop. Resist the urge to take on whoever says yes first. Instead hold out for the right client.
Hold out for someone who already has a successful product. This will make sure that when you run their ads you don’t run into the nightmare scenario of the ads not working because their product just doesn’t sell. Then they’ll blame you for wasting their money because they definitely aren’t going to blame themselves! Then you’ve got a bad reputation right from the start.
DON’T. DO. THAT!
Finally, the last thing newbies do wrong is they spend too much money too soon. You need to make your business earn whatever money you want to spend. Build that as a habit and you’ll never go into debt trying to build your startup.
Day 1 - 7, What Should You Buy and Do?
Your first week you need to buy a domain name and some hosting. This is going to cost you about $30 and I recommend using NameCheap for your domains and WPXEngine for your hosting. This is what I use myself and have used for years. Love them.
NameCheap is much better than GoDaddy because you don’t have to wait days for your domains to “propagate.” Which is a weird word that basically means you have to wait 24-48 hrs until your domain is ready to use. Also they have better support, better prices, and tons of add ons as you grow.
WPXEngine gives you a free SSL which is critical for ranking on Google and today’s uber sensitive privacy rules. Basically, if you don’t have SSL you’re going to trigger all kinds of browser warnings for your visitors. They also give you a free speed boost, which helps your pages load faster. Another important thing for ranking on Google.
Then you should research “one page websites” and pick one that you think will be a good example for you to follow with your agency page. Next week we are going to build your agency website.
Day 8 - 14, What Should You Buy and Do?
Now that you have a domain name and some hosting, it’s time to get your website live.
This is like your digital business card. It’ll be a one page website that gives people all the information they need. The goal of the page is for them to fill out a short form asking to set up an appointment to discuss hiring you.
I like to use WordPress, it’s free and there’s tons of free themes that are pretty good. Plus, it’s strong enough for your to grow into and there’s massive 3rd party tools and freelancers to help you grow.
Here’s a free theme I recommend, but there’s also more free one page website themes if you don’t like that one.
This week you’re going to be spending A LOT of time on Youtube learning how to install Wordpress, how to install WP themes, and how to design your one page website. If you have maybe an extra $50, hire someone on Fiverr to help you install and setup your theme.
Think like a business owner, not a DIY’er.
Day 15 - 21, What Should You Buy and Do?
At this point you should be $30 - $80 in.
With your last bit of money I strongly suggest you get a Canva account. This is going to help you make all kinds of pro quality graphics, ebooks, ads, etc.
Canva is going to make you look like a pro. Tons of tutorials on Youtube, and its going to make your website, social media, lead magnets, and everything just look super top quality. Plus, it’s easy to use. Literally, my 10 year old daughter uses it to make her own stickers.
Use Canva to whip up either an Instagram or Facebook page for your new agency. This social media page is going to help you get clients. More on how to grow that next week.
For now, just get your Canva account, setup your social media, and finish making everything look good. Don’t ask your mom if it looks good, ask someone who’s not scared to tell you the truth.
Day 22 - 30, What Should You Buy and Do?
You’ve reached your final week, launch week!
Time to get your first 100 leads and first 1-2 clients.
There’s a concept I learned called “Dream 100” that comes from a book, “The Ultimate Sales Machine” by Chet Holmes.
In the book he says most people are working too hard. He explains that they think they are selling to thousands and thousands of people, which ends up making your voice drown out in a sea of noise.
I’m paraphrasing hard here.
But it’s the truth.
If you try to market to thousands or millions of people at this early stage you’ll just be a shrimp in the ocean.
Instead, the dream 100 concept helps you focus all your marketing onto a group of just 100 people. Allowing you to become a big fish in a small pond, KING OF THE POND!
Here’s how it works…
- You’re going to spend 1 whole day doing research, but I bet it only takes you 2-3 hours.
Research 100 business owners that you would love to have as your clients. Keep the Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos out for now. But Frank Kern and Russell Brunson are just fine targets.
I’ve helped people get hired by both. That’s what we do at AdSkills, get people like you trained up and hired. That’s literally our business model.
- Ok, so start a Google Sheets spreadsheet or excel whichever you prefer. And start collecting links to social profiles of your dream 100.
Make a column at the top for name, website, social profile, email, 1st contact, 2nd contact, 3rd contact, won/lost.
That’s 8 columns.
- Fill in just the names and social profiles at first. Then, once you have that usually these business owners have their website links somewhere on their profile.
If not you might have to do a little Google detective work.
Once you have all 100 and their websites, now you are going to use a service called Hunter.io.
This tool lets you enter a website address and tells you all the emails associated with that website.
In just one day you’ve got your first 100 leads and it didn’t cost you a dime.
Now, you can reach out to them on social media and via email. DO NOT SPAM THEM!
Instead send them links to cool articles and podcast episodes that you like. Make sure they are on the topic of advertising though, keep it relevant.
Finish with a one sentence teaser “Hit me up if you want to talk about more ideas I have for your business.”
Now you’re building rapport with these leads.
They are learning to know, like, and trust you. Plus, you’ve got a little worm on the end of your line that helps them reach out to you if interested.
Won’t be long now before you’ve got a paying gig. And still no website of your own or any investment cost other than time.
Let’s Address The Elephant In The Room…
You might be wondering…
If I’m selling courses now, why am I telling you to start an ad agency?
I’m just trying to help you on your journey. It’s also a lot easier to get started selling services first, establish your name, and then sell courses later. That’s what I’ve done.
Inside AdSkills we show you how to get 4 clients at $2,500 each. This comes out to $10,000/mo and that’s 6 figures per year.
So yes, I think it is worth it to start an online ad agency. Now is the best time ever also.
For the first time in history the Internet is now the biggest advertising medium on earth.
More money is spent on digital ads today than on TV, radio, or print.
You can get a piece of that pie.
I’ve just shown you how.
Last thing I want to do is leave you with this video. It’s one of our AdSkills students who was in your shoes and tells her story of how she started her first ad agency.
Grab some tissues, people have told us this video makes them cry! Her story is POWERFUL!
If you need help, give us a holler at support@adskills.com.
See you next week.
Justin Brooke,
Founder of AdSkills.com