How to Start a Successful Digital Marketing Agency Before the Age of 18
Are you a teenager looking for opportunities to get a head start in the workforce. One possibility is starting your own business, in particular a digital marketing agency. Digital marketing agencies can be started with as little as $500 and have proven to make millions.
This article will walk you through some of the steps to starting a profitable digital marketing agency at an early age and without any experience whatsoever.
1.The Basics - Have a vision, know your “why”, and get started:
You have to start the race before you can win it.
A key thing to know is that starting a digital marketing agency with no experience is quite simple: Have a vision, know your "why," be strategic, grow organically as you learn, and build word-of-mouth relationships while deliberately aiming for the right target audience.
It's about taking aim instead of shooting randomly at any client who will pay - we're talking about deliberate targeting versus going after whoever says yes in hopes one thing sticks. Your first clients have to support your vision and be aligned with your "why." The more aligned they are, the more they will support your growth and vice versa.
2. Educate yourself:
The more you know, the more you can be prepared for.
Learning about digital marketing can be intimidating, but it's an opportunity for you to grow and advance your career. One of the best ways to do this is by investing in yourself and completing 24/7 Teach's Digital Marketing Bootcamp for Teens and 24/7 Teach's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Teens. Learning new skills will also give you a better understanding of different concepts like PPC (pay-per-click), SEO, email campaigns, and creating funnels that work well on various platforms such as mobile devices or desktop computers—all while being able to integrate them into your agency offerings. You'll want some knowledge before beginning because these services will be the backbone of your offerings to clients and they're vital when it comes to developing your pricing.
3. Discover your Niche:
Choose your lane and stay in it for a while.
Picking a niche as an agency can be the difference between success and failure. Nowadays, sectors want specialized services to ensure their business is doing well in the future. For example: while digital marketing strategies for healthcare are much more regulated, those required by E-commerce platforms are much more extensive because they operate primarily online; therefore, it's better if you choose one to three niches to focus on instead of trying to do it all. Learn how to be an expert in one area and you will learn the steps to be an expert in any area. It is a process that people will pay you handsomely for once you master it.
4. Know your Competitors:
They can be your best source of information when starting out.
One of the most important aspects to starting any business is doing competitor research. When you do your own competitor analysis, it will give you a better understanding on their successes and how to potentially surpass them in the market. The great general Sun Tzu said, “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy… If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” To say it plainly, DO YOUR RESEARCH.
There are many ways that one can start their competitive research, and there are even more methods they could use when analyzing competitors once all data has been gathered. Best practices are for you to narrow down your competitors to 10 companies at most, with some looking very similar or being related somehow in terms of service offerings or niche market segmentation. Find out what keywords they use to attract clients, how they monetize (get money from) their services, and what their specialties are. From there, it is all about learning by emulating them and then adding your unique twist as you grow and learn.
5. You'll need a website:
Clients can’t hire you if they can’t find you.
On the eve of launching your website, you'll want to make sure that it's as competitive and content-heavy as possible. Take a look at the competition and think about what content will make them want to hire you. You also need a domain name for your site, hosting service (depending on how large the site is), then research keywords to help with SEO. To find clients, you can do A/B testing or use social media advertising like Facebook Ads - which is an effective way of finding more customers.
Here is some advice to adhere to in the beginning, keep it simple because at this stage, substance always trumps style.
6. Build your Portfolio:
The Proof is in the Pudding. You have to show relevant examples of your work.
Build a portfolio to help get your name out there and attract potential customers. Make sure your portfolio is ethical and honest, not stretching the truth. To get reviews and your name out there, offer free services to get good feedback. Once people notice that you can deliver results, they will come back again as paying customers.
Be sure to include services such as SEO campaigns, in-depth case studies, headlines or snippets, writing samples and client testimonials - whatever is applicable to show off how much experience you have under your belt.
7. Determine your Business Model:
Knowing your business model is like knowing how you will breathe. It is the key to survival.
The way to charge your clients is up to you. Your options are based on how much work a client needs: by the hour or flat retainer pricing as in charging them monthly for all their services. When scaling up with more projects and greater demands from your end, it can get trickier when deciding which of these two options best suits each customer's particular situation better - but don't worry! You will get the hang of it. One other possibility would be percentage billing, where the agency gets compensated according to results. In some cases, you may have to use a few variations of the aforementioned all at once.
8. Have a Social Media Presence:
If you can’t market for yourself on social media, how can you market for others?
When you're starting, you'll want to be on social media. You can engage with customers via your company page and greatly benefit from organic lead generation, engaging with customers and potential customers, and then turn your business global.
9. Generate Leads:
Knowing how to find your clients is like knowing where to find food when you are hungry.
Generating leads for your business can be a difficult process, but don't let the difficulty get you down. You may want to start generating video content on Youtube as one way of monetizing and growing an audience which will then lead to potential clients for your company. Once you have developed that target customer base through publishing helpful videos on Youtube once or twice per week, take time to find out who they are by asking them questions about themselves, such as where do they live? What is their age range and what is their occupation? It's essential in this stage not just to generate interest from anyone, though. The more information you know about these people beforehand, the better your chance at success with marketing campaigns!
10. Be persistent, consistent, and do not give up when times get hard.
Be committed to your vision and your success.
Know that there will be challenges, there will be hard days and moments may seem unbearable, but you can do it. “The race is not for the swift but for those who can endure.” Be committed to your success and stay true to your vision because doors open up to those who don’t give up.
In conclusion, starting your own digital agency can be daunting, but if you keep this guide in mind while planning out each step of the process, it will make things much more manageable. Also, we at 24/7 Teach are here to help you get started on what it takes to create a profitable company from scratch. Register for the next 24/7 Digital Marketing Bootcamp for Teens to learn the basics and get the necessary mentorship needed to be successful. You can do it, just as long as you believe.