How to Start a Marketing Agency
Land your first retainer client in 60 days.
Agencies are easy to start and hard to grow. Pricing on retainers instead of hours, and building a real pipeline, is what separates $10k months from $100k months.
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- 1
Pick a niche + service
'SEO for local dentists'. 'Paid social for DTC skincare brands'. Generic marketing agencies compete with 300,000 others.
- 2
Form an LLC + operating agreement
Even solo — future partners and clients will ask.
- 3
Website that sells the service
WebsiteHomepage, service page, case studies, pricing (or 'starting at' pricing). Hostinger is the fastest to publish a real site.
🟣Recommended toolHostinger — Fast, affordable web hosting with a beginner-friendly control panel. - 4
CRM + pipeline stages
CRMYou'll live in the CRM. HubSpot free is where 80% of agencies start.
🧡Recommended toolHubSpot — All-in-one CRM covering sales, marketing, and customer service. - 5
SEO tooling for client and self
SEOAgencies need Semrush for competitor research, keyword strategy, and client reporting.
🟠Recommended toolSemrush — The industry-standard toolkit for SEO, PPC, and content research. - 6
Proposal template + retainer contract
One template, always retainer-first. Hourly agencies stall around $250k revenue.
- 7
Publish 10 pieces of niche content
Not 'why SEO matters'. 'Why local dentists rank 3x higher when they X'. Specific > generic.
- 8
Cold outbound + referral loops
5 targeted outbound emails per day for 90 days will land your first 3 retainers.
- 9
Deliver like your life depends on it
Retention pays for growth. Bad retention makes growth impossible.