The Coolest Webinar Success Story (Seriously) with Mike Schmidt
Today’s episode of Just the Tips has me welcoming two guests to the show, one being former co-host Dean Holland whom I have summarily downgraded to recurring guest. The other is a guy who knows a thing or two about digital marketing, the amazing Mike Schmidt. MIKE is the CEO and Founder of a digital marketing agency based in Tucson, Arizona, and using his experience building a team of 20 in-house web professionals, Mike founded Agency Mastermind to share his craft and nurture and encourage more web professionals. Agency Mastermind is a thriving online community of web and digital professionals that range from the currently employed moonlighting pro, to the seasoned freelancer/entrepreneur, to the larger agencies with an international client list. This guy is the real deal, and you won’t want to miss this episode.
Advice for starting your own agency
Mike has been running his own successful digital marketing business for 15 years, which basically makes him an O.G. in this world. And since I’ve seen more and more entrepreneurs thinking of starting their own agencies, I had to ask him, what would be your one big tip for someone just getting started with their own agency. And Mike actually said something that every entrepreneur needs to hear: Don’t do everything yourself. That will be your impulse, but don’t do everything yourself. As he says, look at what you enjoy doing the most, and focus on that niche. If you’re thinking of starting your own agency, you need to listen to this episode of Just the Tips.
Never too old for a new focus
MIke’s agency does all of the digital things a small, local business needs to be able to do to compete, but often struggle to do. And he said one of the things that he found was that when he spoke to local business owners, a lot of times they had people who did discrete jobs, like their web guy or their social media person, etc. So what he realized was that businesses really need help with review and reputation management. As he says, it may not be a “sexy” idea, it’s something that every business owner worries about and cares about, and once he helps them with that problem, he has his foot in the door to offer them other services. It’s really savvy stuff you’ll hear on this week’s Just the Tips.
The coolest webinar story (seriously)
Mike works with local businesses, but what he realized was that there were so many businesses throughout the country that needed help with reputation and review management. So he started an online course to help businesses get a handle on it. He started offering the webinar in September 2017, but found that the cost per registrant was something on the order of $22. But after just a small tweak to the headline—same webinar, just a different offer wording—it went from $22 to $6. It’s a great lesson in not being afraid to tweak and rework until you find what sells.
Curiosity hooks
Mike has done it all in digital marketing, and as this episode proves, he’s constantly learning and constantly iterating to get better at his work. He drops so much knowledge in this week’s episode of Just the Tips, it’s a must-listen for anyone trying to get a handle on their digital marketing. Not only is his webinar story great, but what he does by planting “curiosity hooks” throughout, makes it a killer client acquisition tool. How does he do that? Listen to the episode! Outline of This Episode
- [4:15] Mike on the pitfalls of running your own agency
- [12:12] Mike’s agency’s new focus
- [16:51] The online course
- [25:08] How Mike transitions webinar recipients
- [29:25] Where to find Mike’s webinar
Musicfor “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
