Agency Lead Generation: How to attract your ideal clients and scale your agency.

This turned out to be a mistake that created a loss of $1 billion.
Once Jobs returned and became CEO, the first thing he did was to cancel 70% of their offerings. Apple quickly focused back on the core products and high-end home computers, their niche from the start.

The company worked hard on those products, making a $300 million gain in the following years. Apple only moved on to promoting new products once it mastered the personal computer market.

The company started by catering to one specific demographic, growing and scaling in what it did best. It didn't begin with the massive offer it has today.

Instead, Apple specialized and created a foundation for expanding its services. Specialization and niching are incredibly beneficial because they remove many struggles businesses and agencies face, especially in the initial phases.

Without a niche, you can find your resources stretched thin. Servicing an entire market requires more than most agencies can handle, and those that attempt it end up hard-pressed for time and money.

Even if you can be a jack of all trades on your own, the real trouble starts when your agency begins to scale. At that point, you might find it very challenging to replace yourself because other people in your team aren't as versatile.

At the same time, you're doing so many things at once that creating a functioning process becomes nigh impossible. In other words, no one else can do the job for you, and you can't establish a system that allows others to be efficient at it.

All of the pressure that builds up in such an environment also doesn't produce good results for clients. Apple excelled at what they did because they didn't try to push out Mac, iPad, and iPhone all at the same time.

They perfected one product before moving on to others. By doing so, they were able to provide the best results for their customers.

Maintaining focus on its niche simultaneously allowed Apple to attract more clients. Since the company became excellent at what it did, it earned a great reputation, making people want to become a part of their ecosystem.

This could never happen with a generalist approach. If you don't have a particularly strong point and focus, it's much harder to advertise what you do and attract new people to work with you.

However, even this isn't the end of the troubles you face without specialization. Agencies that aren't seen as experts in their field can have a very hard time charging higher or even profitably sustainable fees for their services.

In terms of qualifying the characteristics of your ideal niche, the matter is relatively straightforward. You'll want to determine the industry you want to work with, the service you can provide to that market, and the geographic area your agency will cover.

The crucial consideration here is that you need to understand what it is that you do best, your "superpower." It's a question of who your clients will be and how qualified you are to resolve their issues – the industry and the service.

A pressing matter that needs to be expanded upon is modern communications and the internet. The impediment of geographical proximity doesn't matter much anymore when specializing.

When you have those basics down, you'll need to decide who you want to be as an agency. This relates to the type of clients and the number of niches that you take on.

Many agencies strive to work with enterprise clients purely because that kind of work seems flashier. However, the truth of the matter is that not every agency can handle such clients, and it can quickly turn out to be less fun than it looks.

A similar thing applies to the number of niches that you decide to work with. Going overboard on that front can be a critical mistake because you can end up stretching your resources thin just as if you were a generalist agency.

Ideally, you'll want to cover a single niche or possibly two. In exceptional circumstances, you could even take on a third. But never go above three to avoid overwhelming your agency. In fact, we strongly suggest one niche. These choices will determine who you are within your niche.

Together with the qualifications, they'll help you define your specialization and let your clients know precisely what you do. However, the most important thing is your passion. Now, many people think that their job is one thing and their passion something else entirely.

They spend their workdays doing something that pays the bills and leave the things they're passionate about for the weekends. This approach is understandable. After all, when you find a job, you can remove all of the stress and stop worrying about your daily expenses.

Then, you can live a happy, comfortable life and be relaxed about pursuing your passion in your spare time. Another point supporting this attitude is that if your passion becomes your job, it might quickly extinguish that flame.

Just because you're passionate about something, it doesn't mean you can monetize it. It can become a source of additional stress instead of something that brings you joy. As much as this argument seems convincing, there are some strong counterpoints to it. First of all, people are rarely that one-sided in life.

Your daily job doesn't have to categorize you in such a strict way, nor does your passion need to stay reserved for your free time. As an agency owner, you likely don't envision yourself as someone who wakes up in the morning thinking, "Oh God, I don't want to go to work
today!"

You want to make a mark on the world and give what you do greater meaning. And, of course, there will be days when you just want to lay in bed – no one's immune to that feeling. But more often than not, you'll be happy to show up and help people you enjoy working with doing the work that you love.

Another important point is that we shouldn't mistake things that we enjoy with what we're passionate about. You might enjoy a million different things, like music, movies, traveling, or various hobbies.

But your passion is what drives you forward, and it's the thing that you're good at that energizes you. When you turn your passion into a job, it won't become a menial nine-to five thing.

It's going to be something you can design your life around and be eager to do every day. Best of all, your clients will pick up on that feeling quickly. The greatest benefit of selecting a niche based on your passion is that you're able to draw people in. You can speak eloquently and with energy about your job and transfer that flame to your clients.

But this is only possible if you're truly passionate about what you do. Once you've carved out your niche following these crucial aspects, you'll have a specialized agency that's ready to get involved in the market.

However, before you start taking on clients, you'll need to create an offer that corresponds with your niche.

Structuring an Offer

Creating a great offer depends entirely on how well you understand your niche. It is a matter of fact that people buy a service because they have a specific problem that they need solved. In particular, they seek out a service to alleviate pain or provide pleasure.

When you know your audience, you'll also know their biggest pain points. Then, you can tailor your offer to alleviate those pain points and provide your clients with the goals they want to achieve.

On the other side of that equation will be your ability to deliver on that offer and give the client the result they're looking for. If you want to create such an offer, you'll need to understand some core principles.

The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) Principle

The best way to think about your offer is as something you could explain in a sentence or two to a friend at a barbecue.

Imagine that your friend doesn't know anything about advertising, technology, or any other aspect of your work, and you need to help them understand what you do with a single sentence.

This is the KISS principle, and it's the basis of the best marketing out there. The point of this principle is that you should create an offer using simple language that anyone can understand.

However, it goes a bit beyond mere understanding. When your clients read your offer, they should say, "Oh, that's me! You're talking about my goals, frustrations, desires, and the things I'm struggling with. You're talking about me."

This scene isn't purely imaginary – there are people in the world who have such a level of charisma that everyone wants to be near them.

In fact, certain brands and agencies have it, too. Think about Brioni or Ferrari. Those brands don't have to convince people to buy their tailor-made suits or customized cars.

They are so attractive that  people feel drawn to them on their own. Such brands are the business equivalent of the woman in the red dress, and they have a trait that your agency should strive for: they're irresistible. 

Why is it important to become irresistible to your clients? Because you don't have to go up to people and sell yourself to them.

Instead, they'll come to you, and your entire sales process will become much easier. This is a crucial point when it comes to selling, especially because so many agencies have a problem with the concept of sales.

Faced with the possibility of rejection, people tend to get overly eager and too forward. At that point, their prospects receive all of the power, and the offer at hand becomes less desirable. 

Think back to the stunning woman in the red dress. With all of her elegance, intelligence, and charisma, she would undoubtedly take command of a conversation should anyone approach her.

And that's in part because everybody else would be awestruck in her presence. As strange as it sounds, the same principle applies to selling your services. 

If you approach your clients with an overblown desire to sell, you'll be that awestruck person who automatically relinquishes command of the conversation. What you want to become in your sales process is, metaphorically, the woman in the red dress.

You want to be comfortable about it and create an atmosphere where your clients are eager to work with you, not the other way around. In this chapter, we'll show you how to build up your outbound sales and inbound marketing to achieve just that. 

This is the type of salesperson that people talk about outsmarting when they manage to get a bargain. Their sales technique is based on a desperate need to sell and a complete disregard of their value. 

Well, you certainly didn't start an agency to become a used car salesperson. What you want to be is an Aston Martin dealer. Someone who sells a classy, elegant product that will make your clients fall in love with it. 

Contrary to what some might think, you can achieve just that through outbound sales. In fact, if you don't have an expertly made, defined lead generation engine, you'll find that outbound is necessary.

When you approach it with the mindset of selling a desirable premium product, the process will become more comfortable, and you'll be able to present your offer with clarity and grace. 

Then, you can send those videos to people to give them some value and actionable tips. The most important part of doing outbound the right way will have to do with how you present yourself. And in this aspect, the universal truth is that you should always be yourself.

Don't try to be someone you're not. This advice sounds like a general remark, but the fact is that we've seen so many people presenting themselves as an expert, saying they can do something they can't, or trying to be a different person.

This approach to sales is both unsuccessful and unnecessary. It's not successful because your prospects will immediately recognize that you aren't genuine.

Simultaneously, you'll feel terrible doing it. It's also unnecessary because you'll always be better off if you're proud of who you are. Talk like you talk, do what you do best, and present yourself naturally.

That approach will be much more fruitful in every case. If you craft compelling copy, focus on solving the market's problems, and act like yourself, you'll have an excellent foundation for doing outbound.

Once you set up that process, you can further enhance it with a different, more long-term form of prospecting: inbound marketing.

What About Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is a strategy that takes time and involves building authority, creating relationships, and fine-tuning your lead generation
system.

To illustrate how inbound marketing works, you could imagine it as a water pipe with a large number of valves. Some valves might be on, and others might be off, but you don't know which are which, or how far you'd need to turn the valves to maximize the flow.

If there's a blockage somewhere along that water pipe, you'll need to discover where it is, and the best way to do that is to start with the top valve and work your way down. Checking each valve individually will eventually let you know where the problem is.

Alternatively, if all valves turn out to be working well, you might need to tap that pipe into a larger water reservoir. This analogy applies to inbound marketing perfectly. Instead of water in the pipe, you'll be looking at the lead flow and conversion rates in marketing.

And through testing different parts of the funnel, you'll be able to determine if there are some choke points along the way. Like with using water pipe valves, you can also tune your lead funnel through different points.

If it turns out that the supply of leads is simply too low, you can tap into another resource. Once you establish a good flow of leads through your funnel, you can leverage the real power behind inbound marketing.

However, to get there, you'll need to understand why inbound marketing matters and how it affects your agency.

What Inbound Marketing Is and How It Helps You Build Authority

If outbound represents anything involving direct outreach, like emails or phone calls, inbound is the opposite. Inbound marketing refers to your website, social media, and the production of any content you make public.

It's the form of marketing where people come to your platform to hear your message instead of you reaching out to them. Inbound marketing can be extremely effective, but only once you build it up.

Your greatest responsibility will be to create enough content that people can visit constantly, but this will also be one of the largest benefits.

If you have podcasts, YouTube channels, blog posts, and other content, your audience will be able to look at both your recent and older material, possibly even things you put out years ago.

Eventually, you might even get a call from a new client who already knows everything about you. This opportunity can be precious for your agency because your content can prime potential prospects to convert, because they understand where you're coming from and what you do.

The content can nurture your audience without you having to spend as much time with them as you otherwise would. In other words, inbound marketing can help you build authority in all of the vital aspects.

The critical components of authority include connecting with your niche, establishing trust, being likable and knowledgeable, and, finally,
speaking in the language of your audience.

With enough inbound marketing content, you'll be able to improve on all of those aspects and, as a result, build a strong authority within your niche. And if you want to achieve all that, you'll need to choose your content carefully

The goal of these stories is to enable sales on your website and help visitors understand that it would be riskier for them not to engage with your services than to engage.

But you can only achieve this effect if you stick to the point we've mentioned before:

Don't present success stories and case studies to showcase your work. Use them to showcase the results. Show them measurable improvements that resulted from your processes, not the processes themselves.

People want to know what challenges your previous clients faced and what you did to resolve them. Keeping this in mind, all of the content you put out there should matter to your audience.

With sales enablement, all other elements of inbound marketing come together, and some new ones get added to the mix. For example, you should pay close attention to an aspect of your website called visitor attention hierarchy.

Visitor attention hierarchy refers to how various elements are ordered on the page. When designing your page, you should work out where you want the visitors to look first, second, third, and fourth.

Ensuring what is not there is just as important; slow-load time, confusing navigation, and other seemingly trivial frustrations that act as a drag on-site engagement.

This aspect might sound minor, but it's one of the essential parts that enable your website to sell most efficiently. Make sure that every page element is in the optimal place, and you'll notice the difference in sales.

Furthermore, this shouldn't be limited to your own site but hosted on other websites, too. That's why you should build a network of people to connect with and share your content on their platforms.

Ultimately, your content fulfills another role, which is targeted brand building. This is yet another reason why you'll need to devote plenty of time and energy to planning out that content.

Besides determining what kinds of content you want to publish, you should work out the amount of time that you'll put into working on your content and the frequency at which you'll be publishing it.

It would be best to think in terms of utilizing all of the potentials of your content. Think about how you could repurpose it in different places and channels so that you can maximize the benefits and reduce the time you spend on the entire process.

Finally, become your own client. You don't want to be the shoemaker whose kids don't have shoes. Think about your agency as your dearest client and consider all of the ways in which you could help it grow. If you own a marketing agency, why wouldn't you have a marketing strategy for it?