Beyond agency vs traditional agency

Beyond Agency vs Traditional Agency - What's the difference and why should you give a shit?

(Thank you Barnesy for the post inspiration.)

Here's how the two look different.

STRATEGY:

Traditional Agency - Trade Google/Facebook ad services for money or Google backlinks and SEO rankings for money every month.

Beyond Agency - Launching quick reusable campaigns to bring clients quick easy cash. Trade results for fees.

PAY STRUCTURE:

Traditional - Monthly fee (sometimes plus ad spend). Typically $500/month - $7500/month depending on your tier of clients. Most people are on the lower end of the scale.

Beyond Agency - Profit share of 30-50%. Typically $10k/month per client with choosing clients correctly.

MINDSET:

Traditional - Trade monthly services for money. Often ends up in a "client-underling" relationship. They will see you as their employee. You try and get a long term contract to keep them as long as possible. Typically they last 3-12 months.

Beyond Agency - Invest micro into a client to see if they have easy untapped profits. Go steady with the winners. Get a share of the profits you generate (30-50%) 7-14 days later.

WHAT YOU'RE DOING:

Traditional - Building funnels, tweaking websites, spending time in an ad manager, using reporting software, and/or building backlinks. A lot of time spent in tech. Often you will have a lot of proposals, reports, and unnecessary meetings. Because you are working on the area clients pay the most attention to (their front end), you will most likely be watched like a hawk.

Beyond Agency - Running a series of copy and paste email and direct mail campaigns. Uses leverage by reusing campaigns already proven to work. We don't reinvent the wheel. No meetings, reports, or advanced tech is required.

CLIENT PROBLEM YOU SOLVE:

Traditional - This is two fold. They always "think" they need more traffic but almost always their offers, funnels, and messaging are broken. Lots of split testing and time needed to dial them in. You are almost always hired to "bring traffic" when you are actually "making their shit sell".

Beyond Agency - Cash flow. You help clients get a bump in cash flow by utilizing their own resources. Often it's a simple as following up with past customers and offering them more of the same.

HOW YOU HELP THEM:

Traditional - Through a series of ads or rankings, you get people to their website. This (hopefully) gets strangers to buy from them. You go after the hardest customers first... new people who have never heard of them before. This takes time.

Beyond Agency - Help them sell more to the customers they have with simple gratitude campaigns. You go after the easiest customers first... the ones who already bought from them and are happy about it. This works almost immediately.

TYPES OF CLIENTS YOU HAVE:

Traditional - Usually based on who you think you can get. There are occasional pros like Peter who can get a share of the top end of the market. But usually it's whatever client you can get. A credit card and a pulse is enough. You rarely turn clients away.

Beyond Agency - Carefully choose the people that are the easiest to win. By choosing, you don't go for most clients.

YOUR OFFER:

Traditional - Give me money first, wait a few months while I dial it in, and maybe then you'll see some results. It's a tough yes.

Beyond Agency - Let me run a little test campaign and I'll know in a few days whether we can generate profit for you. If it works, I'd like a share of the profits.

HOW CLIENT SEES YOU:

Traditional - As an "expense" until proven otherwise. Especially in a corona economy, you will be the first to go if they have to cut back. Usually 3-6 months is needed to dial your process in. Longer still if you do SEO. "They generally think, "You work for me." They also compare you to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who also runs ads/does SEO.

Beyond Agency - Source of cash flow/partner. They generally think, "You are invaluable consultant who pays for themselves." They don't know anyone else who does what you do.

WHO TAKES ON THE "RISK":

Traditional - Client takes the risk. They pay first. They hope for results later. It's why they often want many reports and meetings to justify you are moving them towards the goal. Until the results come, they feel pretty uneasy. Often they have been burned before by a smooth-talking salesperson.

Beyond Agency - You take the risk. Because you're an entrepreneur and you are far more risk tolerant. You choose the right situations wisely and test small before committing to anything big. You manage risk wisely.

INTERNAL STATE:

Traditional - This is only based on my own experience. Yours may differ. Often you feel guilty if a client has paid you and you haven't gotten them results yet. You worry a lot at night about delivering on the promises you made and keeping everyone happy. Also, if a client wants a meeting or a phone call, you feel obligated to say yes. If a client asks for a proposal, meeting, or report, you almost feel like you have to. You feel like you have to check your phone or email for more than a few hours at a time. I used to check my email 20+ times per day.

Beyond Agency - No overt big promises made or asking for anything first, ergo you have no "bosses". You feel very in control of the client relationship and spend a lot of your time figuring out how to add value to their people. You don't feel the need to make reports, proposals, or have meetings that are not necessary. Your clients tend to feel more like friends and partners. You probably check your email once every few days.

WHEN THE RELATIONSHIP ENDS:

Traditional - Either you rocked their results and they don't need you anymore or they expected too much too soon. Usually it's over in 3-12 months and clients generally leave unhappy. There are some exceptions but typically they will leave disappointed. Sometimes clients are their own worst enemy and will blame you for what they did or didn't do. Managing expectations is crucial to your continued success.

Beyond Agency - You decide it wasn't a fit after a small test and wish them well on their journey. Nobody is mad or disappointed at the other party.

CLIENT EXPECTATIONS:

Traditional - Clients expect results quicker than it usually takes. Often because they don't give you working offers, funnels, messaging, etc. Often they hire you when they "need" it to work. There can be a "desperation energy" present. It can put immense pressure on you to deliver miracles fast. We as agency owners also generally do a poor job of letting them know time, cost, results, and communication. Thinking they already know is a mistake.

Beyond Agency - Almost none because you're not really promising anything. Anything you generate is seen as a bonus. If you win they are stoked. If you lose they didn't expect much anyway.

By the way, I'm not saying either is right or wrong.

It depends on what you want.

The biggest downside to a Beyond Agency is...

You are the one taking ALL the risk.

If you don't know how to choose the right clients, this can be catastrophic. There are a lot of pitfalls in choosing the right clients. Too many to list here.

The biggest downside to a traditional agency is...

Clients see you as "working for them".

They'll want lots of meetings, reports, and proposals.

If you just want the "laptop lifestyle" and don't really love building backlinks or dicking around in an ad manager all day, it will prevent you from really being "free".?

I always felt like my phone and my laptop were my "electronic leash".

It's one of the hardest businesses to completely automate and outsource.

The biggest upside to a beyond agency is...

It has unlimited leverage. Campaigns that work for one client are easy to slightly modify and use again and again and again. Rinse, lather, repeat.

You get to "do work once" and get paid over and over for it. It has way higher upside.

The upside to a traditional agency is...

You end up with monthly cash flow that adds up. Just a few good clients means you'll earn more than most people do in a high-paying job.

It doesn't take a lot to move the needle.

And of course, you can do hybrid deals with aspects of a traditional agency also with profit sharing opportunities.

Which is right for you?

It just depends what you want.

If you've been doing this a while, you're not a total beginner, and you have clients...

...and you feel like you have many bosses...

...and you want your monthly cash flow to come with leverage, automation, and simplicity...

We should talk.

Shoot me a PM and we'll see what you need to get your? first $10k beyond deal in place.

Make sense?

Hope I explained in a way that make sense for you.

May the force be with you.

For agency owners:

Join The Free FB Group: https://bit.ly/3rdc6b5

Get The Book: https://amzn.to/2XbKcPl

More Bonuses: https://bit.ly/2KzJ6sS