How I Turned $2 Into $14M/Year Digital Marketing Agency
127,082
Published 2023-08-15
You might know Eric Siu as a co-host of the Marketing School podcast, where he and Neil Patel share daily digital marketing insights. He’s also the founder of Single Grain, a $1 million a month SMMA agency, and he explains how to start a marketing agency in this interview.
When Eric bought Single Grain in 2014 it was a struggling SEO agency. With a combination of an all-star team and state-of-the-art technology, Eric brought it back from the brink of failure. Now his digital marketing agency is among the top in the industry. He’ll share how he achieved this impressive transformation, and his advice for how to start a digital marketing agency with no experience.
Eric is also an avid gamer, and viewing life like a game is part of how he’s achieved success with his marketing agency. He explains this mindset in his book, Leveling Up, and he’ll share some key concepts for how to level up your life and business in this interview. Resilience is a big part of this. He’ll share how he recovers from setbacks with his digital agency and his advice for how to develop more resilience as an entrepreneur.
One surprising tip Eric has: offering free work can help you build a business. He’ll explain when and why this is a good idea and how to get SMMA clients using this approach. You’ll also learn about the missteps he’s taken in his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he learned in the process that helped him keep leveling up his life.
If you liked this video, check out some of our past interviews with marketing experts:
How Jason Built $500K/Year Social Media Marketing Agency ►
• How Jason Built $500K/Year Social Med...
Reyes the Entrepreneur: How He Makes $210K a Year from YouTube ►
• Reyes the Entrepreneur: How He Makes ...
Resources:
www.upflip.com/academy - Start, Build, or Grow Your Business
www.singlegrain.com/ - Find Out More About Eric's Digital Marketing Business
Timestamps:
00:00 - START
00:38 - How he started
01:26 - Buying the business
03:12 - Value of books
04:45 - Mistakes made
05:56 - Social media dos and don’ts
07:01 - What he’d change
07:45 - Key digital marketing strategies
11:10 - Resilience
12:28 - Best advertising websites
13:57 - Podcast
15:01 - Digital marketing myth
15:54 - Fan Blitz
16:59 - AI’s role in digital marketing
18:45 - Running the business
20:20 - Landing big clients
21:23 - Hiring employees
22:57 - Continuous growth
24:07 - Dealing with burnout
25:00 - Retaining employees
26:24 - Advice on starting an agency
27:11 - Role of self-belief
28:05 - Writing a book
29:06 - Best platforms to gain traffic
30:04 - Daily habits for success
31:32 - Platform to scale
33:03 - Outro
#howtostartadigitalmarketingagency #digitalmarketingagency #smma
All Comments (21)
-
From start-up to scaling: everything you need at www.upflip.com/academy
-
So much great knowledge in one video!
-
This right here is gold. 8 minutes in and I have to stop and take notes because already he's hitting me with these nuggets that I must master. I bow down to your greatness guys!
-
This really came up to my feed at the right time especially as i am at the dilemma of building my first digital marketing agency right now! Thank You @Upflip
-
Really sharp and valuable information
-
Thanks for the great content
-
Greaaat perspective! I learn a loooottt from this video. I'm going to apply. Thank you
-
"The grass is greener where you water it" This video is full of valuable info!
-
The key takeaway for me is the importance of laser-focused determination and building a loyal audience.
-
one of the biggest flexes out there is using a $3000 Nikon or Canon as a webcam camera
-
amazing episode
-
Immense value in this video. Thank you!
-
Great interview with Eric! His story and insights are truly inspiring. It's impressive how he turned Single Grain around from a struggling agency to a thriving business. One key takeaway from his journey is the importance of resilience and the willingness to learn from setbacks. His ability to adapt and focus on his core values, like 'improvement obsession,' is admirable. Btw, I'm curious, considering his experience, what advice would he give to someone who is just starting their entrepreneurial journey, especially in the fast-paced world of digital marketing?
-
Brilliant video
-
I love your content. very unique and high production value. a must for enterpreneurs. however... please ask more business questions. in many episodes I am left wondering - cost of customer aquisition - life time customer value - what about returns, what about shipping costs, - what about unhappy customers - what do you pay your employees, what incentives do they have? how do you keep them`? when do you fire them? how do you manage them? specifics are key. everyone says their biggest cost are employees---yes but break it down, explain it, what is revenue per employee "we have the best customer service" ...yes but everyone says that. more specifics. we get 50 000 orders - yes but where do the customers from come, are they repeat customers, how much does a new customer cost? what if sth goes missing, breaks, how do you handle customer complaints what mistakes did they make setting up the warehouse, how did they improve it? those are the nitty gritty details that i would love to see in your videos. the interviewer is usually just impressed by what the guys says - and does not dive deep enough. i noticed that especially in the Joes repair shop and i heart dogs. it would have been so cool to know more.
-
This episode was amazing! Thank you!
-
Thanks for the great content.
-
he was a vp at marketing before he started he did not start with pennys and he had a knowledge headstart
-
This was such a great interview! Lots of value 🎉
-
Valuable content
