How Ben Buckwalter Took His Digital Marketing Company to 6 Figures in the First 120 Days 

Digital marketing is the new and fastest way for any business to grow in 2019. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements let you present your company as the answer to a consumer’s search. However, most companies do not have the capability to efficiently leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and their websites to connect with current and prospective customers.

And then the digital marketing agency boom happened to fulfill this need.

You see the ads everywhere. Pay $997 for an ads course from a guru in a Lamborghini wearing a Rolex and they promise you’ll be sipping pina coladas in the Bahamas soon. Chances are if you’re reading this article, you might even have fallen for one… or two…

Or you might have had some success and landed a few clients.

Most agency owners that have had success seem to be stuck at $10,000 a month and cannot get past that hurdle.

Here’s how Ben Buckwalter, a 25-year-old college dropout that took his agency to 100k a month in the first 120 days of existence.

1. Hyperfocus On One Thing And Outsource The Rest
“I strongly believe you should focus on what you’re good at and hire the experts to fulfill everything else. Most agency owners I talk to are usually wearing all the hats in their business and these are also usually the ones that seem to be struggling to grow. They try to prospect, run all the ads, maintain customer relationships, do all the on-boarding, and before they know it they’ve traded the original 9-5 they wanted to escape from for a 9-9 self-employment gig. When I started my agency I knew what my superpower was- sales. I knew it would be a disservice to myself and my business if I did anything else outside of my zone of genius. Outsourcing the fulfillment and customer relationship management allowed me to work full-time at customer acquisition while my agency white label partners took care of the rest. And this allowed my agency to thrive- fast. Are you working outside of your zone of genius? If you answered yes, then it’s time to outsource,” says Buckwalter.

2. Realize The “Laptop Lifestyle” Is A Myth
“Chances are you might have been sold the ‘laptop lifestyle lie’ when you bought your first course. If you think you can hit huge sales goals with a brand new business and not be present you’re in for a rude awakening. I treated my agency as a job and put 50 hours a week into it to bring it to 100k a month. So, if you’re not willing to hyper-focus and work hard at first then you’ll most likely not have the success you want. If you treat it like a hobby, you’ll have hobby payouts. Your agency needs you as an active participant to grow. Commit to it and reap the benefits,” says Buckwalter.

3. Become An Outbound Marketing Pro
“The fastest way to initially build income for your agency is to cold call your prospects. I built agency this way. I wasn’t waiting around for a good lead. I was picking the phone up and putting myself in front of great prospects anytime I wanted because I mastered sales and closing,” says Buckwalter.

Here’s Ben’s tip to quickly win at cold calling for your agency: 

 1. Homework: “Simply put, do your research.  When I go into a sales call I’ve done my research about the person and their business. I know who they are and I know their pain points completely. This allows me to be able to control the flow of the conversation and to crush any objections instantly. Most people fear objections because they think it will derail their sales call, but once you understand your niche completely an objection will actually help you move the sale ahead. How? It’ll allow your role to switch from sleazy salesperson to teacher,” says Buckwalter.

2. Credibility: “A great salesperson will be able to establish credibility on the 1st sales call. Can you list the reasons why your prospect should listen to you? If the answer is no, then you need to establish that before making another call. Don’t overthink it, you don’t have to publish a bestselling book or have PR all over the internet to have credibility. It’s simple as having one person in their industry that you’ve crushed it for as a reference. You don’t have a reference yet? Then go kill it for one person- even if you have to do it for free. Your prospect cannot argue with proof and data,” says Buckwalter.

3. Follow up: “I can’t say this enough… the money is in the follow-up! Some of the biggest sales I’ve ever made happened after multiple calls over prolonged periods even after being told no. If you’re not following up a minimum of 5-7 times, you’re leaving money on the table. Don’t be overbearing and keep it simple. I usually do something like, “Hey ____, it’s Ben- I just wanted to circle back around again. How are you?” Then I teach them my solution to their pain point again. Following up by text or email is important, too. Every time I have a success story, review, or any kind of social proof I forward it to them. Be creative in your follow up and don’t let them forget about your solution,” says Buckwalter.