In the last year there has been a radical shift in the world of content creation agencies that is causing many people like you to overpay for subpar content.
In this post you are going to learn the truth about this content marketing industry that's been shrouded in secrecy for many years, now...
Plus you're going to learn the best option for digital marketers and small business owners moving forward, so you can get high quality content that Google will love, published fast... On a shoestring budget.
Ready to jump in? Great!
First off, who am I and why do I get to be the whistle-blower here?
to make this super-quick, there are two key points from my story that are applicable here. If you're new here and want the rest of my story you can read my about page here.
I'll keep focused on the relevant parts, today...
First:
I've been full-time online since 2010 and I used to run a marketing agency that used an arbitrage model where I sold content marketing and SEO services in the US...
When I say 'arbitrage model' that means I managed the clients and sales, then I farmed out ALL of the work to cheaper talent.
This model is actually quite brilliant for the business owner if they're good at strategy and client acquisition... But for you, the business owner thinking about hiring an agency yourself, you may be better served skipping the agency owner.
Because this model has been overrun by nefarious marketers and schemers who aren't delivering consistently high quality output...
One of the biggest consulting schemes in the world today are "content marketing agencies"
Which means you're at risk of getting your marketing budget wasted by one of these fools.
I'm here to show you how to avoid that.
Second:
I've purchased over $100,000 worth of content and editing services in the last year, personally from dozens of writers and agencies... and I have come to this conclusion:
Every single content marking agency sucks!
I've attempted to hire ghostwriters for this blog (no ghostwriter today, this is actually me, Miles!) to the tune of over ten thousand dollars spent on content that has since had to be re-written.
I've also built out multiple niche affiliate sites using 100% outsourced content as case studies for my YouTube channel...
Let's talk data:
Here's the word-count from just 2 of my sites that have 90% outsourced content on them:
The point here is that I buy content.
Lots and lots of content... It is one of the largest re-investments of my profits back into my digital publishing business.
Okay, enough about me… Let's get into the juicy details about the content industry so you can avoid being had by one of these agency gurus.
Right-e-o!
How content agencies operate
Here's their business model...
- Attract leads and prospects
- Sell monthly content marketing packages
- Charge a minimum of $3000 per month
- Outsource the writing for under $1,000 per month
- Brag about your gross margins on Instagram (*optional step*)
- Deliver content to client with as little personal input as possible
- Ignore results completely as long as you deliver something
- Sell, Sell, Sell! (Because their clients quit within the first 2 months)
I wish I could say I'm kidding, but this is the state of the industry.
Many new marketers are paying thousands of dollars to "fake gurus" buying their courses from high pressure webinars and boiler-room sales teams...
After wasting $5000 or more to learn this 'method' they need to recoup the investment, which comes at your expense.
Because they then they go out and advertise to get your attention to try to sell you on their overpriced services...
Most of them have zero experience other than watching some guru course that says they need to charge you $3000 per month or more.
Yuck!
And here's the best part...
The smart agency owners are outsourcing all of the work through this one specific platform that you can use yourself!
Once you learn these two ways to use that platform you can bypass the overpriced guru, avoid a ton of headaches and most importantly...
Get the result you desire!
A content marketing strategy build and implemented so you can get more traffic, more leads and more sales!
Introducing...
The Content Marketing Agencies Secret Weapon:
Whether you hire these fools or not...
You need to understand that project management becomes the name of the game when it comes to scaling a content marketing strategy.
Remember the agency owner's goal is to do nothing but bring on new clients. (and optionally brag about it on Instagram)
Many agencies don't care if their clients stick around because they are making such huge margins on the first sale.
Plus there are 1,000,001 businesses looking for content marketing services, because everyone knows that "Content is King"
The great agencies do care and they work to build long-term relationships because of the fat margins.
Once a founder gets to five clients, 10 clients, etc. they've got a lot of plates spinning and a LOT of content to deal with.
It's easy to drop the ball and having a project management system along with a project manager is the number one key to their long-term growth.
Which means, if you want to scale your content, this is the key to your success, too.
Now, you might think they went out and hired and trained a digital marketing specialist or strategist who fills this role...
But you'd be wrong.
What about their 'customer portal' the agency guru sold you on where you get to log in to review your content?
All of this is actually included as a service from the platform I mentioned above that we will talk about more here in a second.
When this agency owner needs a strategy consult, keyword research, editor, or obviously writing done...
They are able to obtain all of these levels of help in one place from one platform...
They also have a project manager who works for the platform to help them so they have one point of contact for every level of your content marketing campaign.
Which brings up the biggest question...
Why don't you bypass the overpriced agency and work directly with the service provider, yourself?
Well.. today you can!
And that's the entire point of this blog post!
Because I stumbled upon the exact platform that these gurus are using en-mass... and I'm now getting more content published more frequently at a significantly lower rate than I used to pay through the agency model.
Click this link to get access to the platform free, today: milesbeckler.com/writers
My price per word has dropped by over 70% in some instances from $0.12-$0.15 per word all the way down to $0.04-$0.06!
Plus I have a project manager on their end who coordinates everything for me.
If I need strategy help, she will go find me strategist, hire the strategist, deploy the job, bring me back the completed strategy!
All it takes is a quick phone call with me to understand what I want.
If I need keywords researched, we hop on a quick zoom call to explain my goals and she goes to hire the right person on their platform to get those keywords researched for me.
Then it's time to have the content written...
We have a simple call to establish the word count, the budgets, what I'm looking to invest…
She then goes onto the platform where she hires the writers, runs the test jobs, completes the initial analysis of the content and delivers me the final product for my review.
If I hate the content the writer creates, she coordinates with the writer, send it back and has them rewrite it completely.
If I still hate it, they'll refund my order and allow me to place a whole new order at no extra charge until I'm happy.
Who needs a retail content agency when you can work with the wholesale provider that does everything anyways?!
Now, they have a few service levels that work for different businesses...
Depending on these three factors...
- How big your team is
- How busy you are
- How large of a budget you have
...You have a choice to make.
DIY or DFY: "Do It Yourself" or "Done For You"
If you want to "self-service" the entire process of interviewing writers, hiring for test jobs, negotiating for test jobs, reviewing and offering feedback with the writers…
This is the DIY content agency approach
You can save some money every month!
But I must warn you that it will suck up a lot of your time and if I'm not mistaken, wasn't "saving time" why you wanted to hire a content marketing agency in the first place?
For business owners who are busy and have good cash flow and revenue I do not recommend this option.
For the bootstrapped solopreneur who is grinding it out nights and weekends and has tight budgets, this is a great option.
DIY access to the platform starts at $39 per month...
The real cost in the DIY approach is the opportunity cost!
How many hours per month will it take you to play project manager AND do you have skills and training managing writing projects?
Probably not... I know I don't!
Now, to quick keys to point out... if you want help with strategy or if you want help with web design or graphics design you can get access to these services with the higher level options.
Even if you go for the DIY content agency approach you have the ability to managed several of the key relationships you will need as a digital publisher in one place which is quite powerful.
Next up is the DFY content marketing approach...
The first thing you will notice here is that the prices go up by nearly tenfold.
Why?
The #1 reason is that you get a trained project manager with years of experience to work the system for you!
In fact, the odds are that they will have WAY more experience than the content agency owner who wants to charge you $3,000/mo!
If you have one website and one key business that you're trying to grow the essentials level is all you need.
That's the plan that I'm using to take my content marketing to the next level on this one site. once we dial in the operations I will be upgrading to the advance package to bring on three additional sites that will be managed by the same person over on their end.
What does the project manager do?
From a "big picture" perspective, they save me time and allow me the freedom to work on higher value tasks while making sure my content marketing strategy gets executed.
Instead of me inside of the dashboard researching writers, negotiating test jobs, delivering feedback to writers, etc...
I simply hop on a call with my project manager and set up our game plan, and she goes to work on my behalf.
She researches the writers...
And honestly, she knows most of these writers from previous conversations… So she offers valuable insights on who has a high likelihood of being great for my personal project.
She negotiates and facilitates the test jobs...
When I hire writers I often hire four or five writers and give them each a test job to see who delivers the right kind of content that fits my brand voice.
I regain 100% of this time because she's doing it all.
She will then deliver the best options to my inbox for me to review... if we have found a great writer, perfect she manages the process of firing the others and hiring the right person for the next jobs.
If all of the content is rubbish she helps me get it rewritten or applies the credit towards future writers as needed until I'm happy with the content.
And she is willing to work with my 'style'...
If I just want to hold a weekly call and handle everything on one phone call... Great.
If I just want to email back and forth only... Great.
She is flexible to my needs...
Way more so than the agencies that always tried to FORCE me into their annoying processes and dashboards.
Here's the best part...
Their project managers have been doing nothing but coordinating projects between writers and clients for years.
They are absolute professionals at this!
In fact, they are the same professionals who manage 100% of the workload for the content agencies that I'm convincing you to avoid.
Because you can work directly with the person who makes it all work without paying the $2,000/mo premium to the agency owner.
Voilà
Just like that you are now saving thousands of dollars per month that would have gone directly into some one else's bank account for NOTHING.
Now, you can reapply those additional monies to your future marketing campaigns to scale faster...
Or you can let that go straight to the bottom line and enjoy increased profits through being strategic.
#WinnerWinner
Here's what to do next...
Next step, click here and get a free account set up: http://www.milesbeckler.com/writers
You can choose one of the DIY accounts for now, just to get your account up and running.
Once your account is setup, they will reach out to you in order to schedule a free on-boarding call to learn about your business, your goals and your desires.
This is where you can discuss their premium services with zero cost and zero risks.
NOTE: Every service level they offer comes with a 14 day free trial and a free onboarding call
So don't feel like you need to commit to a higher level option just yet.
Plus, they have incredibly helpful support available via chat on their homepage (M-F daytime hours, East Coast time) if you have any other questions...
But really, just get started with a free account and hop on an on-boarding call.
Because the on-boarding call you will get is the same whether you buy their most expensive package or their least expensive package...
But you do need at least a free account to get the on-boarding call.
Then, schedule a time to get on the phone (or zoom) with their support to learn the specifics about how they can help you accomplish your content marketing goals without wasting money on an overpriced agency.
You will probably talk with Lindsay who I've held multiple calls with to date and can personally say she is awesome!
If you end up talking with her, be sure to tell her miles said "Hi!"
Then, help her understand what your goals are, what your budget is, how much time and experience you have available to leverage here… And let her formulate a plan that fits your business and your goals.
There is zero pressure from their team...
Because they know that they are the backbone for the most successful content agencies in the world.
And now they can be your secret weapon that gives you a competitive advantage in your niche and your business, too!
That's it for today, so click the link above and get your free account set up now.