Scaling my Google Ads Freelancing business – 18yo

[Timo.]

Any updates? Interested in your journey.

Ah I totally forgot about this Thread.


Yes, I learnt a ton in the last 2 months.

As I said yes Cold Emailing is a volume game. BUT the most important thing is that your email builds trust and is personal. When I started emailing all the local businesses that would benefit from Google Ads, I got no responses. I didn't understand why. I even had some self-doubt about whether it was the right thing for me. But I kept going.

I totally missed the point.

2 weeks ago I was devastated. I really didn’t understand how I couldn’t get more clients. I emailed soo many businesses but no one was interested. Then I changed one small thing and everything changed.

I start the email with one sentence about me. I don’t get straight to the point. I tell them that I am 18 years old, what school I went to and that I am doing this as a preparation to my marketing university degree next year. The last thing is not entirely true but it sounds good.

I didn’t change my offer, my targeting or anything else. I simply told them about myself. That little thing changed everything. Now I get responses every day and so many businesses are interested. And if they are not, they decline politely or give me feedback so I can optimize my email even further. I got 3 meetings scheduled for Monday.

Theres a good chance that they will transform into clients.

My plan for the next weeks is to keep going. I still have many businesses on my list. My approach is on point now I just need increase the volume. I will take a small break for Christmas to enjoy time with my family but in this time most businesses will be closed. So cold emailing there would be pointless. But till then I continue.

 

[Andy Black]

Sometimes Google Ads just doesn't work well enough for clients for them to keep paying you. Sometimes it works so well they don't keep paying you. It's hard, but don't let results dictate how you perceive yourself.

 

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[Timo.]

Update 6.02.24

Landed my next testclient today

Outreach is going fantastic. I am getting feedback every day. And I have 3 more meetings scheduled in 2 weeks.

My goal for February is 4 more clients:

1/4 done

 

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[Timo.]

Update 04.04

Over the last 3 weeks I have followed Andy Black's suggestion and emailed 10x businesses every day. I have managed to win 2x new customers. And I'm still in talks with 2 more.

I currently earn €2050 per month:

Client 1: 650€
Client 2: 600€
Client 3: 100€
Client 4: 350€ (new)
Client 5: 350€ (new)

But I was focussing too much on getting new clients and not spending enough time on my existing clients. Not all campaigns deliver the results I would like to see. And that's my main problem. I don't want to have a lot of clients, and don't want to deliver results I'm not proud of. That's not my goal.

So from now on, I will treat every client as if they want to end the contract.

I will spend more time analysing all campaigns. I want to see an improvement in every campaign from week to week. I definitely need to work on that.

Keeping you guys updated

 

[Timo.]

Introduction – Last Months​

-I finished school at the beginning of June. Right after that, I started researching Google Ads.

-At the beginning of July, I started cold-calling and cold-emailing local businesses.

-In early August, I had my first client. August was a test month.

-I managed to get him as my first paying client. (300 euros per month)

-At the same time I work as a gardener (mini-job - 450 Euro per month).

-I plan to quit my job when I have another client, as I have already worked 3 months in advance in my mini-job. So even if I quit, I will receive my salary for another 3 months.

Short term goals:​

2 main goals:​

• make my client profitable
• grow my freelancing business --> get 2 more clients till 1. November

What I do to reach these goals:​

-Review campaign weekly. Analyse the data and make changes.

-Restart cold-calling/ cold-emailing local businesses.

 

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[Timo.]

25.01.24
Hey guys,
A lot has happened in the last month:

1. I couldn't deliver good results to a test client. I don't really know what went wrong. I don't know how I could have further improved the targeting of my campaign. We stopped the test month.
2. A client changed their business model from B2C to B2B. The results of the campaign were good but he no longer needs me.
3. So I'm back with one client woohoo. But his results are very good at the moment.

I'm still grateful for the past month. I've learnt a lot of new things and improved my Google Ads skills. I need to keep my head up and not be less motivated because of the results. It just shows that I still have a lot to learn.

My current problem is not getting clients, but making my clients profitable. I guess my optimisation process isn't as good as it needs to be. I'm going to watch more Andy Black's videos where he analyses campaigns.

I've also started outreach again. I had an meeting yesterday, but he's not going to be a client. It was a big company that does nationwide campaigns. He wasn't convinced by my ideas and a local approach. They currently have a general ad for all cities, rather than individual ones, but he didn't see the benefit. Maybe I need to work on explaining it better, but I don't think that was the problem.

I am confident that if I keep doing what I'm doing, my results for my clients will improve and I'll get more clients. I am willing to learn and spend a lot of time every day working on my dreams. Setbacks are part of the process. I am not in a hurry

 

[Timo.]

15.02.24 MEGA-UPDATE

Let's start with the positives:

• I have signed another client (2/4 --> goal ). But this time it's a much bigger business than all the previous ones. I went from managing 300€-450€ Google Ads accounts to now over 2500€ per month accounts. That's a big achievement for me
• I have 5 more meetings planned in the next week. I honestly don't know when it would be too much work for me, but I know I can't help everyone if I want to get good results for my clients. I may pick 2 or 3 more clients, but only ones that I have a good feeling about.

The negative update:

• Remember I told you I only had one client left, but he wanted to keep working with me? Guess who ghosted me after the test month. One day I woke up and he blocked me and kicked me out of his account. The sad thing is that he was really friendly before. The campaign is still running. I created it in the test month and now he keeps the benefits. But that's okay with me. I'm not angry.
  • I've come to the conclusion that I'm not doing test months anymore.
• Off topic but I'm going through a breakup right now. The funny thing is that I've realised that my coup mechanism is to work more. I'm not really sad because I know it's the right decision to break up but it still sucks. But no one can make me unhappy. I'm still grateful for everything in my life and I still have myself and my family. I'm happier than I've ever been

 

[Andy Black]

Ah I totally forgot about this Thread.


Yes, I learnt a ton in the last 2 months.

As I said yes Cold Emailing is a volume game. BUT the most important thing is that your email builds trust and is personal. When I started emailing all the local businesses that would benefit from Google Ads, I got no responses. I didn't understand why. I even had some self-doubt about whether it was the right thing for me. But I kept going.

I totally missed the point.

2 weeks ago I was devastated. I really didn’t understand how I couldn’t get more clients. I emailed soo many businesses but no one was interested. Then I changed one small thing and everything changed.

I start the email with one sentence about me. I don’t get straight to the point. I tell them that I am 18 years old, what school I went to and that I am doing this as a preparation to my marketing university degree next year. The last thing is not entirely true but it sounds good.

I didn’t change my offer, my targeting or anything else. I simply told them about myself. That little thing changed everything. Now I get responses every day and so many businesses are interested. And if they are not, they decline politely or give me feedback so I can optimize my email even further. I got 3 meetings scheduled for Monday.

Theres a good chance that they will transform into clients.

My plan for the next weeks is to keep going. I still have many businesses on my list. My approach is on point now I just need increase the volume. I will take a small break for Christmas to enjoy time with my family but in this time most businesses will be closed. So cold emailing there would be pointless. But till then I continue.

It's great you're starting to get some traction, and seem to have found an angle.

I've never cold emailed or cold called. Even when someone suggested I reach out to a particular guy he was super suspicious and skeptical. So many business owners have been burned by digital marketers the initial reaction is often deep distrust.

On the flip side, I've been a bit more active on social media recently, and it's just reminded people who already know, like, and trust me that I'm a Google Ads guy and am still around.

It's like a flywheel that's been dormant for a year and that I've started moving. It's resulted in a couple of new clients this week and two calls where I've to send quick thoughts and a proposal.

It's not how you think though. It's not people seeing my posts and reaching out. It's people seeing my posts, liking what I'm about, and referring me to people they know.

Sooo... keep chipping away. Keep doing the cold emailing. Also think about making real-life connections. You could be one relationship or JV away from getting a load of referrals.

Maybe meet local web designers? Or local accountants? Go to a local chamber meet up. Go on local business courses and meet other business owners.

Lean into your age and the fact that you're just getting started. Do you know how many people would love to help someone getting started? Go check out @EthanH 's progress thread for feedback on his Facebook posts when he cleaned signs locally.

I can't remember if I already linked to them but maybe these threads might help:

MARKETING - SIDE HUSTLE - [Workshop Replay] Selling Google Ads as a Service

Here's a presentation about how I started and am building a business that provides Google Ads as a service to other businesses. I did it for @Fox 's paid web design group last year and he's kindly allowed me to share it. It should also help people starting other businesses. Let me know what...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - HOT! - MARKETING - Andy's Inbound/Sales Braindump

I was asked this a while ago: If you were to start your business from scratch, how would you approach prospecting? Given that you don't cold call. And you don't know many people in the business world to "spend your money on diesel and coffee" with. And you've already reached out to your friends...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

MARKETING - AndyTalks with Sonny about getting his 1st digital marketing client

I had a great chat with another forum member this morning. @sonny_1080 only just started learning digital marketing 2 months ago (due to being in lockdown). He started by doing free work for a friend, then tried to cold call to get his first paying client, before finally getting a client...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Andy Black]

And see what I posted on LinkedIn which resulted in a conversation when someone I used to work with Liked the post:

 

[Timo.]

I want to switch over to primarily Google Ads.
Web design has too many legal scares regarding accessibility (at least in my country), no recurring revenue, and just boring for me.

Just noticed you're 18, I'm 19 actually. Pretty much in the same position

If you need help getting started with Google Ads, I would highly recommend checking out all posts and videos of Andy Black.

I wouldn't be here without him. I learnt a lot from him

 

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[Timo.]

21.02.24

Got another new big client (3/4 -> goal). I managed to convince them of my approach and we will start a 4-month test trial. I am getting paid 600€ per month. We have agreed on this but the contract has not yet been signed.

My meeting yesterday also went well and another big client shows interest in my service. I offered him an analysis of his Google Ads account and will speak with him this afternoon. There is a good chance that he will become my next client.

Now I want to focus on giving my clients the best results possible. I am confident in my skills and I think that I can definitely improve their results. But I still want to bring my Google Ads Skills to the next level.

@Andy Black are there any resources you can recommend to me? For example I want to learn to use Excel to analyze and optimize my campaigns but I don’t really know where to start. I can’t find any proper courses or videos on youtube and some of your videos on excel require a good level of expertise to even follow along haha

 

[Andy Black]

It's very thorough!
Surprisingly there was no fluff at all, just packed with information

Did you need it all?

I wonder which is better. Watch the 5 hour video, or watch my 5 minute video and spend 4+ hours building campaigns?

MARKETING - The Shortest Google Ads Tutorial Ever

It took me HOURS to create this. Let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions. Hope it helps! View: https://youtu.be/7z7kx3kJC4M EDIT: Once you're running watch these two short videos to make sense of the metrics...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Timo.]

18.03

I need to keep my self accountable. I was very inconsistent with the Outreach in the last weeks. Not because I didn’t want to do it but I am scared. Scared that I am going to fail.

My excuse has been that I want to make the campaigns of my clients profitable first. One campaign has now been running for 3 weeks and the other for 1 week. The first campaign is slowly improving week by week but I am not really satisfied with the results. I managed to get double the volume by halving the CPC, but I need to increase the CVR. The CVR is around 1%. The old campaigns had a CVR of 2%.

I know that it needs its time. I am analyzing the campaigns each week and making adjustments. But my mood and stress levels are very much dependent on the results of the campaigns. I am very confident in my skills and in the past I managed to create great campaigns for clients. I don’t know why I feel this way.

BUT I know that I will regret it if I don’t keep expanding. That’s why this time I will really continue with the outreach. Even when the feeling of uncertainty prevails. F*ck it

I want to have done everything in my power and if it doesn't work, then so be it. But I don't want things to go on like they are now. I can't be proud of that

 

[Timo.]

It's great you're starting to get some traction, and seem to have found angle.

I've never cold emailed or cold called. Even when someone suggested I reach out to a particular guy he was super suspicious and skeptical. So many business owners have been burned by digital marketers the initial reaction is often deep distrust.

On the flip side, I've been a bit more active on social media recently, and it's just reminded people who already know, like, and trust me that I'm a Google Ads guy and am still around.

It's like a flywheel that's been dormant for a year and that I've started moving. It's resulted in a couple of new clients this week and two calls where I've to send quick thoughts and a proposal.

It's not how you think though. It's not people seeing my posts and reaching out. It's people seeing my posts, liking what I'm about, and referring me to people they know.

Sooo... keep chipping away. Keep doing the cold emailing. Also think about making real-life connections. You could be one relationship or JV away from getting a load of referrals.

Maybe meet local web designers? Or local accountants? Go to a local chamber meet up. Go on local business courses and meet other business owners.

Lean into your age and the fact that you're just getting started. Do you know how many people would love to help someone getting started? Go check out @EthanH 's progress thread for feedback on his Facebook posts when he cleaned signs locally.

I can't remember if I already linked to them but maybe these threads might help:

MARKETING - SIDE HUSTLE - [Workshop Replay] Selling Google Ads as a Service

Here's a presentation about how I started and am building a business that provides Google Ads as a service to other businesses. I did it for @Fox 's paid web design group last year and he's kindly allowed me to share it. It should also help people starting other businesses. Let me know what...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - HOT! - MARKETING - Andy's Inbound/Sales Braindump

I was asked this a while ago: If you were to start your business from scratch, how would you approach prospecting? Given that you don't cold call. And you don't know many people in the business world to "spend your money on diesel and coffee" with. And you've already reached out to your friends...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

MARKETING - AndyTalks with Sonny about getting his 1st digital marketing client

I had a great chat with another forum member this morning. @sonny_1080 only just started learning digital marketing 2 months ago (due to being in lockdown). He started by doing free work for a friend, then tried to cold call to get his first paying client, before finally getting a client...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

Thanks, Andy!

Yes, you're right, I definitely need to work on making real connections. Cold emails will help me for now, but real contacts in my local community will have a much more beneficial effect.

Also thanks for the threads you linked. I will check them out

 

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[Andy Black]

Thanks, Andy!

Yes, you're right, I definitely need to work on making real connections. Cold emails will help me for now, but real contacts in my local community will have a much more beneficial effect.

Also thanks for the threads you linked. I will check them out

Personally, I'd say it's the other way round. Make real connections (check out thread "Spend Your Money On Diesel And Coffee).

Build your business through conversations, relationship building, JVs, referrals, etc.

Over time you'll get better and better at identifying your ICP, and identifying and articulating your offer.

THEN you know what cold emails to send, and to whom.

Just my 2c.

 

[Timo.]

All my meetings went great. I have 2 new test clients. Currently working on their campaigns. One new client is a local business, the other one is a bigger business that wants to run their ads across the country. This is definitely a more challenging task for me but I'm confident.

Got another meeting tomorrow but for now I don't want to overload myself with too much work. I want to focus on the 2 test clients. So if the meeting goes well, I'll be honest about the current situation and hopefully arrange a meeting in early January where we can discuss all the details and I'll then create the campaign.

I'm very happy about my progress over the last few weeks. Just happy that it's finally working and I'm really enjoying creating all the campaigns.

 

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[EliaR]

Sure, I will continue to update this post whenever something happens.

Good for you I personally have only focused on Google Ads but both are great. There is a lot to learn. You got this!

I want to switch over to primarily Google Ads.
Web design has too many legal scares regarding accessibility (at least in my country), no recurring revenue, and just boring for me.

Just noticed you're 18, I'm 19 actually. Pretty much in the same position

 

[Timo.]

Great work!

What sort of headlines are you using? Could you provide an example? What do you include in the body? Just curious about what it is that gets someone to respond.

Are you using any software or other tools to create and send these emails?

Any insights would be very appreciated.

Thanks

Sure here is my approach:

I don't use any software or other tools to create and send my emails. The only tool I use is Mailtrack to see how many people have opened my email. I manually send each email.

I start by creating a list of local leads who are already running Google Ads but their ads could be improved. If anyone is interesting I can describe in more detail how I find those leads.

Here is my Email: (I send it in German. I used DeepL to translate it)

---

Suggestions for Optimising Your Google Ads Campaign

Hello [Their Name],

My name is [], I am 18 years old and I completed my Abitur in [my city] last year. In preparation for my marketing degree, I am already helping multiple companies to optimise their Google ads and improve their online visibility.

I have noticed that you are running Google ads in several cities and that they are displayed among the top results for each search query. However, I suspect that you are currently not getting the results and profits from Google Ads that would make you happy. That is because there are still some aspects that could improve your ads to make you stand out even more and target the right users.

In the attached screenshot you can see your ad for the keyword: "[keyword + city]:

[Screenshot of their ad shown alongside their competitiors]

Currently, your ad does not stand out clearly from others. To increase relevance for the user, I recommend creating individual ads for each city. For example, for the search query "[same keyword + city as above]", the ad title could also be formulated accordingly to stand out as the most relevant advert for the user. In addition, a customised landing page matching the ad and city could appeal to users in a more relevant way.

Optimising these aspects would result in your ad standing out from the competition by being much more relevant to the user. As a result, more potential customers would click on your ad and you would get more customers.

I hope you find these tips helpful. I have a lot of experience in this sector of online marketing and can help you optimise your Google ads. I would be happy to have a chat with you to explain further details and share my specific ideas for your business.

Are you interested and do you have time for a quick chat in the next few days?

Greetings
[my name]

---

 

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black are there any resources you can recommend to me? For example I want to learn to use Excel to analyze and optimize my campaigns but I don’t really know where to start. I can’t find any proper courses or videos on youtube and some of your videos on excel require a good level of expertise to even follow along haha

I don't know of any resources online.

Maybe check out some of the practical videos I created in this thread:

HOT! - EXECUTION - An Excel Course?

I had coffee with a friend this morning. He said he’d need to get up to speed with Excel if he gets a job he’s in the running for. Hmmm... 1) Excel features in the top 5 best-selling courses online if I’m to believe this: Over 3 million people took these 5 online courses in 2019—here's what...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

I do have some lessons on creating campaigns using Google Sheets, but decided to keep them as internal ones.

I can't remember if these old videos get into the nuts-and-bolts for analysing campaigns:

View: https://youtu.be/xX12exVHVGc?si=DQFSsAklbquZ8F1P

View: https://youtu.be/eoX7Bc_E7wg?si=jClnEFJIkDRrxMSg



Maybe I'll create some more over-my-shoulder videos later on...

 

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[Andy Black]

What about this video?

View: https://youtu.be/euzL9BbKlfM?si=sGMP7W5HRJJwRI5S

 

[Andy Black]

At my company we only hire marketing agencies who are Omni present. The funnel usually goes Google search>>Instagram ad>>Youtube ad>>close the deal with a facebook ad. Only google is very tough to get good ROAS

Not every funnel is like that. Some are Google Ads > Landing Page > Phone Call, Leadform, or Purchase

 

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[Andy Black]

I watched your video too, it's also great

The 5 hour video goes in depth about landing page optimization, Excel, conversion tracking and more... It definitely helped. That content couldn't be covered in 5 mins.

I would say the 5 hour video is better than 5 minute video and 4+ hours building campaigns, because sometimes it's more effective to be taught rather than figuring it out on your own. Like landing page optimization. You would spend more than 4 hours and waste a lot of money if your landing page isn't optimized.

My argument would be to get up and running first and optimise the landing page after you're getting a steady stream of visitors with identical search intent.

 

[Timo.]

Ending Februar

Originally I was supposed to have my last meeting yesterday, where the company will either give me the final approval or reject me. I'm about 80% sure that they will say yes. But this meeting has now been rescheduled for next week.

So I'm ending February with 3 new clients. Not my goal of 4, but I still view it as a huge success and I'm proud of it.

Last month I didn't have a single paying client and now I have two big companies, one of which pays me €650 a month and the other €700 for the first month. So next month I'll earn a total of €1350.

My goal for March is to do everything I can to make all 3 campaigns profitable.

If everything goes well, then there's nothing stopping me from starting outreach again.

 

[Andy Black]

Introduction – Last Months​

-I finished school at the beginning of June. Right after that, I started researching Google Ads.

-At the beginning of July, I started cold-calling and cold-emailing local businesses.

-In early August, I had my first client. August was a test month.

-I managed to get him as my first paying client. (300 euros per month)

-At the same time I work as a gardener (mini-job - 450 Euro per month).

-I plan to quit my job when I have another client, as I have already worked 3 months in advance in my mini-job. So even if I quit, I will receive my salary for another 3 months.

Short term goals:​

2 main goals:​

• make my client profitable
• grow my freelancing business --> get 2 more clients till 1. November

What I do to reach these goals:​

-Review campaign weekly. Analyse the data and make changes.

-Restart cold-calling/ cold-emailing local businesses.

Have you let everyone in your network know you're now doing XYZ and ask if they know anyone who needs help with it?

 

[Timo.]

Have you let everyone in your network know you're now doing XYZ and ask if they know anyone who needs help with it?

Hey, sorry for the late reply.


Yes, I told most of my family and friends that I do Google Ads. I even met my first client when I asked my parents. He is a local real estate agent. I don't think I personally know or will find more people through personal contacts who need help with their marketing. I think now cold outreach is the best option for me

 

[Timo.]

Did you post to social media too?

Oh Andy I totally overlooked your message. I am sorry

But no, I didn’t post it on social media because I don’t think that I would target the right audience. I could create new accounts but is it really worth it?

 

[EliaR]

25.01.24
Hey guys,
A lot has happened in the last month:

1. I couldn't deliver good results to a test client. I don't really know what went wrong. I don't know how I could have further improved the targeting of my campaign. We stopped the test month.
2. A client changed their business model from B2C to B2B. The results of the campaign were good but he no longer needs me.
3. So I'm back with one client woohoo. But his results are very good at the moment.

I'm still grateful for the past month. I've learnt a lot of new things and improved my Google Ads skills. I need to keep my head up and not be less motivated because of the results. It just shows that I still have a lot to learn.

My current problem is not getting clients but making my clients profitable. I guess my optimisation process isn't as good as it needs to be. I'm going to watch more Andy Black's videos where he analyses campaigns.

I've also started outreach again. I had an meeting yesterday, but he's not going to be a client. It was a big company that does nationwide campaigns. He wasn't convinced by my ideas and a local approach. They currently have a general ad for all cities, rather than individual ones, but he didn't see the benefit. Maybe I need to work on explaining it better, but I don't think that was the problem.

I am confident that if I keep doing what I'm doing, my results for my clients will improve and I'll get more clients. I am willing to learn and spend a lot of time every day working on my dreams. Setbacks are part of the process. I am not in a hurry

Nice, keep updating this!
I'm a new web designer and starting to get into google ads.

 

[Timo.]

Nice, keep updating this!
I'm a new web designer and starting to get into google ads.

Sure, I will continue to update this post whenever something happens.

Good for you I personally have only focused on Google Ads but both are great. There is a lot to learn. You got this!

 

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[Raedrum]

Very fast and impressives results nonetheless, you are definitely on the road to nail it.

What you said about the little intro about yourself changing everything is sure interesting

Keep up the good work

 

[Timo.]

Sometimes Google Ads just doesn't work well enough for clients for them to keep paying you. Sometimes it works so well they don't keep paying you. It's hard, but don't let results dictate how you perceive yourself.

Thanks Andy!

Yes, that's one thing I realised myself. I came to the conclusion that I did everything in my power to deliver the best possible results for the client. It just didn't work out and that's okay.

I still have two previous campaigns where the client was profitable, and that's enough proof for me that I'm able to make future clients profitable.

Maybe I'm in the same position as before, but I have changed.