We already covered the topic regarding digital marketing for beginners. If the idea of offering digital marketing services interest you, eventually you might be able to run your own marketing agency.
If you’re wondering how to start your own business or marketing agency remotely, you’re going to love this interview with my friend Chuck Kile.
Chuck runs a digital marketing agency that also includes SEO services and web design.
Before we start, if you don’t feel too familiar with digital marketing, take a few minutes to read this article about digital marketing for beginners.
Get into Digital Marketing and Start a Digital Marketing Agency
Once your marketing skills are advanced, starting your own marketing agency makes sense! If you are wondering how to start a digital agency, you’re going to love this! Of course, you need the experience and the knowledge to be able to offer high-quality digital services.
Let’s dive into Chuck’s inspiring story so you can understand his path to creating his own digital agency.
Interview with Chuck Kile, Business Owner.
Why did you want to become a digital nomad?
I became a nomad because I wanted to travel. Ever since I turned 18 I’ve moved a lot. I worked at various ski resorts around the Northwest part of the United States for 6 years. I enjoyed living somewhere for 6 months in one extreme season then moving somewhere else for the opposite season. Snow and sun, that was my jam. Back and forth, always chasing fun and exciting environment.
After about 10 years of this, I realized there was a pattern. If I stayed somewhere too long I would start to get antsy and depressed. I was always looking for a big adventure and I satisfied the urge by making big changes in my life. Even little changes helped me get by. Ask my roommates and they would tell you that I rearrange the living room like once a month.
I like change. I hate being stagnant. Constantly being in motion keeps my brain engaged and forces me to stay sharp and on my toes. This is the only way for me to feel good about the life I’m living, at least at this point in time.
The digital part comes from the need to fund the travels and feed me of course. I chose marketing to do this for two reasons.
➤ I know I want to be a businessman. I love creating something out of nothing and in my opinion marketing is one of the keys to doing this through business.
➤ Another great thing about running a marketing agency is that I get to work with lots of businesses of all types. This gives me an inside peek at various operations, what works, and what doesn’t.
In a way, you could say I’m getting paid to travel around the world while I get an education. After all, I believe that life is about learning. If you don’t learn, you die. Maybe not in the 21st century but I think historically that’s true. I love history.
How did you get started and how long have you been on the road for?
It started for me when I was 6 months into running a marketing agency. My girlfriend, Casey, decided she no longer liked her job and wanted to quit. We looked at this new-found opportunity for freedom as a sign that we needed to see the world. I had been talking about joining the digital nomad movement for a while… Her quitting was the perfect excuse to do it.
We’ve been traveling now for 6 months. Casey got bored after two weeks in Bali, our first destination, and started applying for remote jobs. It wasn’t a week later and she had one. Two more weeks and we were on a plane to Mexico City to spend three months living and working while she trained with her new company, Remote Year.
Three months of all expenses paid to live in the heart of Mexico City only fueled the fire of the wanderlust that has consumed our lives. As for right now, we have a long list of places we will be seeing in the next few years. The world seems big and small at the same time.
How long did it take you to make a decent income?
Our situation is a weird one because Casey’s job paid our living expenses for 3 of the first 4 months. That added some cushion but wasn’t totally necessary. She had some savings and I had income from my business.
As for starting an agency, I broke even for the first 7 months or so. After that, it started to pick up. At one point, maybe 9 months in, it started to hit critical mass and my income far outpaced my expenses.
The thing about traveling compared to the normal 9-5 life is that it’s sometimes cheaper to travel than it is to live at home. If you’re from a place like Portland, Oregon where rent is $1500 USD per month, you can easily live for much less in a place like Bali, especially if you are a couple.
I’ve been able to make a comfortable living averaging 15 or so hours of work per week. With that said, I spend a lot of time learning through books, courses, and people. If you factor that in I work more than full time, but none of it feels like work.
My advice for anyone getting started is to make as many friends as you can. Be the person at the coworking space that talks to everyone. If you’re kind of shy, you’re in good company because most people are. Digital nomads can be a bunch of nerdy introverts so if you can break the ice with them, you might be one of the few people they actually talk to. Hehe… Most of my work has come from friends and acquaintances I’ve met in my travels.
How did you land your first client?
My first job came from a non-profit association my mom was a board member of. This first job paid me $5000 USD so it was a decent chunk of change. After that, I did a lot of free jobs for people I knew. A lot of them turned into paid work and referrals. Doing free work is a great way to learn, but only do it for as long as you have to in order to charge money.
Not only is it better for you to get paid, but it’s also better for people to invest in your services. Everyone gets more out of it that way. People tend to discount the real value of free stuff, so don’t undervalue what you have to offer if you can help it.
Did you take any courses or did you use FREE resources online?
Heh… Did I take any courses…. More than I can count.
The book that really kicked it off for me is The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco. Clickbait title but don’t let it fool you. This book will set a fire under your ass so hot that the whole 9-5 belief system will be left in smoldering rubble. The free forum, The Fastlane Forum, that accompanies the book was my #1 resource for understanding what type of business opportunities are out there. I must have spent 3 months straight reading that forum in all of my free time.
After that, I took two courses that shot me into my new career. These were:
➤ Fox Web SchoolÂ
➤ WP Elevation
Fox Web School is 80% about selling and 20% of web design. It’s the best resource I know for starting a web design business from scratch in the shortest amount of time possible.
WP Elevation is a bit more advanced and is more about what to do with a business after you already have it going and taking it to the next level. It was a weird place to start for me but looking back it was invaluable in getting me to where I’m at now.
Besides that, I’ve taken a number of other courses. Worth mentioning is DigitalMarketer and their butt-load of courses they offer for $100/mo. Also, Andy Black’s Adwords Jumpstart courses were integral in me helping one of my first clients reach $1.8 million in sales in 6 months.
Something I will say about courses is this:
A free course is not as good as a paid course. It has nothing to do with the value you get from the course. Making an investment in yourself makes your brain strive hard to make that investment worth it. Therefore, the more you invest in a course, the more effort you will put into it and the more you will get out of it. Don’t cheap out when it comes to investing in yourself.
When I dropped $1500 on WP Elevation and $800 on Fox Web School that was more money than I had ever spent on anything. My heart was pounding when I submitted my credit card number. But those moments of hitting the pay button were when I swore to myself I had passed the point of no return and was going to make it worth it if I had to die trying.
If those courses had been free I probably would be back in the States working some job I hate. True story. Since I invested so heavily in getting my dream off the ground, I had the energy and follow through to make it happen.
For me the most important step was deciding I had no other option but to make it work. No other option but to live the life I want or no life at all.
Where can we find you?
You can find more about Chuck’s company by checking out Adapt Digital Solutions. You can also find him on Facebook and Instagram.
Getting Started: What services can you offer?
If you’re feeling ready to take the next steps to start your own marketing agency, you should first think about what makes you different and what are your top skills.
You want to be able to provide high-quality services to your clients. That being said, you must be able to deliver.
Can you provide SEO strategies? Web design? Content creation? Are you good at managing social media or at copywriting?
Getting Started: Create your packages
While you may offer different services, time showed me how important it is to create packages. Not only will you save time this way, but you won’t have to create a customized proposal for every single client. You can start with packages that are low-tickets and you can also have options for high-end tickets.
Getting Started: Networking to Get Clients
The best way to land more clients is to network. This is what Chuck did and this is also what I did when I first started freelancing. Once you have had success stories with your clients, ask them for testimonials so you can find more potential clients. Success stories are always great to prove your credibility.
Getting Started: Create Case Studies & Tracks Your Results
Another creative way to prove your credibility and skills is to create case studies or results that you got from your own projects or from your client’s projects. I did it myself with three SEO case studies so showcase what I can do. These act as great proof to your potential clients.
Getting Started: Hire and Build Your Dream Team
Any great digital agencies will eventually come with a team. You won’t be able to handle all the work on your own. Whether you hire more employees, virtual assistants, or little helpers, you’ll have to scale your business at some point and this comes with hiring more team members. My agency includes a few important team members – because I do not run a one-woman show!
