Podcast: Embed

Listen in as I interview Julian Goldie, CEO & Founder of Goldie Agency, an SEO link-building agency designed to help you grow your website and boost your rankings on Google. He’ll be sharing some amazing insights on how he scaled his agency to over 7 figures!

In this interview, we talked about:

  • How he chose the niche
  • What services he provides to his clients
  • How he scaled to over 7 figures
  • What strategies are working best in his agency
  • What his team looks like to deliver for his clients & retain at the highest level possible
  • And much more

This is another episode of our Agency Success Interview series you don’t want to miss!

Outline of This Episode

  • [0:43] Learn more about Julian and his agency
  • [6:08] How Julian builds high-quality links
  • [9:48] What works to get ideal clients
  • [17:44] How Julian offers a monthly service
  • [19:21] Julian explains how to upsell link-building
  • [23:49] how to work with clients and their budgets
  • [26:58] How Julian delivers results for his clients
  • [31:16] SEO tools that Julian recommends
  • [33:32] Is link-building manual or automated?
  • [35:35] Increasing the success of old outreach
  • [40:31] How Julian creates a great client experience
  • [48:03] Where Julian is sourcing talent for his agency
  • [50:45] What Julian did to accelerate his agency’s growth
  • [57:42] Where to learn more about Julian Goldie
  • [59:18] Why Julian embraces a nomadic lifestyle
  • [1:01:44] Julian’s final piece of wisdom

All about the Goldie Agency

The simplified version of what the Goldie agency does is source high-quality backlinks for their clients. But they do so much more. They take the keywords a client wants to rank for and advise them on what type of content to create for that keyword and how to optimize it before publishing. They work with high-quality websites directly to get backlinks. But they primarily work with agencies as a white-label link-building provider.

They build links within existing pieces of content. It’s how most websites get backlinks generically. It’s a manual process by which the content creator adds links within articles, blocks, etc.

They use a “Skyscraper Technique” that works in 4 steps. They reverse engineer topics and content for their clients to get backlinks to. They’ll find the top-rated and ranking articles in the niche. They look at who’s linking to those articles and then suggest approaching the same people.

Before they get this far, they make sure the content is SEO-optimized to give it a better shot of ranking. Secondly, they make sure the site is quality. No one wants to link to a spammy site or it will reflect poorly on them. The final step is approaching these sites via cold email and asking them to link to the article. It has to be a win-win for everyone. 

How Julian sources ideal clients

Julian started by landing clients on Upwork and it’s still their #1 source of new clients. They’ve found some amazing clients who have the right budget and are easy to work with. Clients already trust Upwork. They already have their credit card info saved in there. Julian has hundreds of great reviews, case studies, and testimonials. They have productized their services and made them easy to purchase.

They also publish videos on YouTube covering everything from their client’s FAQs. Their videos are niche and targeted so they’re found when someone searches. Sharing valuable useful content is another lead generator that drives sales. It’s all about inbound marketing.

What else does Julian do to source clients? How does Julian get clients onboard to pay for a monthly service? How do you upsell link-building to your clients? Listen to hear Julain’s strategies.

Is link-building manual or automated?

Julian points out that they automate outreach and cold emails. And when he negotiates backlinks, it takes 6–7 messages back and forth before the website will link to them. It’s all manual, so Julian has a team dedicated to negotiating links.

But they automate whenever they can. They use canned response templates and text expanders. Why? Because they’re commonly asked the same questions over and over again.

So how do you increase the success of your cold outreach?

  • Keep your subject title short and simple.
  • Set up records to authenticate an email address so email service providers don’t send your emails to spam (leads to more open rates and click-through).
  • Warm up the emails by sending emails within your network that get opened and responded to (you can use a tool like Lemwarm or PitchBox)
  • Use jokes and puns in your emails. Humor goes a long way!

Julian also notes that he includes how much they will pay per backlink within the first sentence or two. Someone is more likely to open and reply.

How Julian creates a great client experience

When it comes to growing your business, Julian emphasizes that retention trumps sales. It increases profitability. And once a client buys from you once, it’s easier to get them to purchase again. Julian believes that retention comes down to two things:

  1. Give your clients results: Keep your client central in every decision you make.
  2. Show clients that you care: Carve out time to invest in your client’s experience.

They send out gift boxes to new clients that come on board. They use Bonjoro to send out personalized videos to customers. They add their clients to a client-only Facebook group that includes content that they can’t buy or get anywhere else.

They also send out an email newsletter that gives something of value. It’s timed with where each client is at in their customer journey. For example, if the client has been with them for one month, they get tips on keyword research.

The #1 thing Julian recommends you do to increase customer retention is to map out the customer journey. Then they plot out everything they’ll do for the client along that journey. Whatever you do, you have to differentiate yourself from everyone else out there.

What should you do internally to focus on client retention? What did Julian do to accelerate his agency’s growth? Listen to hear Julian’s thoughts!

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Julian Goldie

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