Andrew Dymski – Let’s GamePlan [Build a More Profitable Inbound Agency] | Available Now !

Andrew Dymski – Let’s GamePlan [Build a More Profitable Inbound Agency] | Instant Download !

Sale Page: http://www.doinbound.com/lets-gameplan-training-course

The #1 Problem Holding Inbound Agencies Back

You learn a lot of lessons when you’re building an inbound agency. As we worked to grow our agency, GuavaBox, we felt a major pain. When we started DoInbound, we found that we weren’t alone. Inbound agency owners around the world were feeling this pain, too.

The #1 problem holding inbound agencies from growth:

After a client signs a contract, there is no clear plan for moving forward.

Typically things go like this….

• Spend a lot of time marketing.
• Start talking to a lead.
• Conversation stretches out across a few calls.
• You’re trying to sell both the idea of inbound and your agency.
• They ask for a proposal, you send a contract.
• They say yes (cue the fireworks!)

This is the moment that most people slip. I know this all too well because this is where we slipped, too. Let me share how it all went down.

It was our first inbound retainer. 

Gray, Brandon, and I had been working for months learning the inbound methodology. We were shifting our agency from a project-based shop to a retainer-based business.

The client was a legacy client. We had done some video work for them in the past and knew they would see value from inbound marketing. They were a manufacturer of high-abrasion steel. Their steel lined the bed of dump trucks and buckets in coal and gold mines.

When they said yes to our inbound contract, we were ecstatic! It was a mile-high experience.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I actually realized how much of a mess we were in.

We had no system in place. We had no internal processes. We weren’t strategic about who we were talking to in the organization.

We were marketers, so what was the first thing we started doing? Blogging.

You’re supposed to have a CTA at the end of each post? What should we use? The corporate brochure should work until we can track down the VP who will help us create an eBook.

The blog started out strong for a few weeks, then things started to slow down as our momentum and content ideas faded. It didn’t take us long to realize that without a detailed plan from the beginning, inbound was an uphill battle.

From those early retainers, Gray and I learned a valuable lesson.

Lesson: If you want to delight your clients and grow a scalable agency, you need to start smart and start fast!

Why is it so important to take the right action early?

1. You need to set the expectation from the beginning that you are in charge.
2. You need to put the right building blocks in place early so that your performance is measured correctly come renewal conversations.
3. Starting fast out of the gate gets people excited and bought into the process. Without buy-in from the organization, you’re dead in the water.

With these reasons in mind, here are 5 actions that need to happen to help you start fast!

5 Key Actions That Need to Happen in the First 300 Hours of an Inbound Retainer

1) Build Inbound Buy-In

When you’re starting out, you need to build inbound buy-in. It’s great if the CEO and marketing department are on-board, but to make a real impact you’ll need support from people outside the marketing department.

2) Understand the Current Status of the Company

As an inbound partner, you need to understand the current status of the organization.  By understanding how their internal teams interact, you can better support the shift to inbound.

3) Select a Focus

Most companies want growth. To grow fast, they think they need to target as many markets as possible. This “spray & pray” method doesn’t work with inbound marketing.

Inbound is a laser-focused approach. Early in the inbound partnership, you need to identify the target audience. For most companies, this will boil down to 3-4 different markets/buyer types.

4) Get to Know the Buyer Personas

A good inbound plan puts the customer at the center of everything. Once you’ve helped your client select a focus, it’s time to get to know the people there.

Methods to help know each buyer persona:

• Research online
• In-person conversations
• Surveys and market research

The more information you can gather from the source, the better off you’ll be. Company leaders will be confident that they know their buyers. Don’t take their word for it!

Speak with real customers to understand the Awareness Stage questions they’re asking.

5) Outline Content to Reach Each Persona

The fuel for an Inbound GamePlan is the questions that your customer’s buyer personas are asking. Use the Buyer’s Journey to organize and understand buyer persona questions. Use customer and prospect interviews to uncover pains and triggers.

With a list of questions, pains, and triggers in place you can outline content. Use your creative marketing mind and effective keyword research.

Outline content offers, lead nurturing emails, and blog posts for each persona. Break down each phase of the Buyer’s Journey.

Recap

Adding these 5 key actions to your agency on-boarding process will help you start quickly. The process that orchestrates each of these steps is critical.

If you want to scale your agency, this process needs to unfold like clockwork. Keep reading this page to learn how you can incorporate this process at your agency.

What is the #2 thing holding agencies back from growth?

After no process to build a good strategy, there is another pain that holds inbound agencies back. We felt this one as well as we were growing. Working legacy clients for up-sells and reaching out to your network only lasts so long.

Inbound leads are the life blood of your inbound agency. The #2 problem holding inbound agencies back from growth is:

No marketing plan for new leads.

We all know it is important. We spend our days selling the idea of inbound. When it comes down to it, however, few agencies have a strong marketing plan.

An agency without a steady stream of inbound leads is in one sticky mess…

• Stuck with legacy clients.
• Stuck doing old-school marketing tactics.
• Stuck convincing people they need inbound.
• Stuck testing new ideas on clients.
• Stuck with no case study for success.

When you’re stuck, you’re not moving forward. To keep moving your agency forward, you need a plan to attract more inbound leads.

5 Actions to Tap into a Stream of Inbound Leads

1) Shift your mindset.

Leads are important for your agency. It’s time to start acting like it.

This requires a significant shift in your mindset. You need to think of yourself as your biggest retainer. If you’re not marketing well, you’re on the path to going out of business.

This requires building an Inbound GamePlan for your agency. You need to take the time and make this a priority.

2) Select an Agency Focus.

Inbound is a precision sport, not a spray and pray. You wouldn’t build a plan for your clients that positioned them as the company for anyone. Why would you do it to your agency?

The more specific you become as an agency, the more focused your marketing efforts can be. Selecting an agency focus brings clarity to your agency growth strategy.

For an example, check out Kuno Creative. They’re a successful inbound agency out of Cleveland. I had the chance to interview Co-Founder John McTigue and he shared how they found their focus.

Kuno targets companies in the SaaS, Speciality Manufacturing, and Healthcare industries. These are wide categories with a lot of potential clients.

This focus helps them create specialized marketing campaigns. Each of these campaigns target a specific buyer persona pain.

How to Select a Focus for Your Agency

• Do you have expertise in an industry?
• Have you collected a set of clients that are within the same industry?

Once you’ve selected a focus, you can build an Inbound GamePlan to help you reach the targets in this niche.

3) Understand your value proposition.

This is marketing 101, but so many agencies ignore this. It took us a few years at GuavaBox to wrap our minds around what makes us different.

If you’re going to sell yourself to a client, you must first believe in who you are. You must know what makes you different. This is your value proposition.

• What are the attributes that set you apart from every other inbound agency in the world?
• How do you, your team, and your agency framework help your clients achieve their goals?

Take time to articulate your agency value proposition. With this understanding you’re better positioned to create an Inbound GamePlan for your agency.

Weave this message into your lead nurturing emails at the Consideration and Decision Stages. You’ll learn more about that process later on this page.

4) Build an Inbound GamePlan for your agency.

Points 1-3 in this section cover a lot of background. These things only make an impact if you put them into action.

You need to start with yourself. Practice the inbound methodology with dedication and precision. Even if you don’t have a client base yet, begin to hone your skills on your own work.

Build a persona-focused plan that will attract the people you need to make this happen.

There is a lot that goes into building an Inbound GamePlan. You don’t need to go at this alone. You can read on this page how to stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before you.

5) Start inbound batch days

Once you’ve created an Inbound GamePlan, it is time to start creating content. This is a challenging task. As an entrepreneur, there is a lot on your plate.

One trick that can help is implementing inbound batch days. On these days you unite together and tackle content creation, optimization, and outreach.

Select a recurring time slot each week and make it happen!

The good news is that with a proper system and framework in place, you can overcome each of these problems. This can open the doors to agency growth. The secret is an Inbound GamePlan.

5 Ways an Inbound GamePlan Makes You a More Profitable Agency