Rich from Get It Done Entrepreneurs and Neil discuss common marketing mistakes and how to avoid them.
0:00 Intro
0:35 How Neil started his company
4:21 Tip #1 | Focus
5:12 Tip #2 | Financial
6:16 About NPDigital
7:49 Tip #3 | Book Recommendations
8:19 Tip #4 | Managing in Economic Downturn
11:32 Tip #5 | Changing Trends
12:33 Tip #6 | If you’re thinking of starting your own business…
13:31 Tip #7 | Revenue Streams
RESOURCES & LINKS:
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Ubersuggest:
AnswerThePublic:
Hustle by Neil Patel:
Principles: Life & Work by Ray Dalio:
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I started becoming an entrepreneur when I was around 15 and a half. And you know at the time, I was looking for a job, couldn’t find a job. I created a job board and it got little to know visitors. And the reason behind this was is I wanted to make money. Usually, you want to start something because you’re solving a problem, and you see a pain point. I wanted to become an entrepreneur because I just wanted money. And when I created my job board, popped it up, and paid some people to help me out, no one came to it. And it was at that moment I had to learn marketing and I got decent at it. Started driving traffic to the job board, reading articles, going to events, experimenting, and trying to get good at by myself because I didn’t have really any money to pay too many firms to help me out. And after six months, seven months, I started getting good amount of traffic, almost a hundred thousand visitors a month. I was like, holy crap.
Fast forward to where I am, I did a lot of startups in between, but the main company I focused on today is NP Digital, which was short for Neil Patel Digital. And my ad agency, we help drive traffic in sales and we love. We now have 750+ people that work for us. We’re still growing nicely, getting headwinds from the economy I’m assuming like a lot of people are though.
The big thing that I learned is it’s hard to make money just because you want to make money. It’s easy to make money if you’re good at solving a problem that a lot of people are facing. So, solve a problem. That’s what you should dive in. And if you’re passionate about what that problem is and the solution you’re going to provide, you’re going to do much better than other people out there who are just doing it for the money. Because when you’re passionate, you’re putting in the time, energy, the resources that you need to succeed.
When I first started off, I would start helping people get more traffic. I did one too many ventures. If I just focused on an ad agency. Eventually, it went full circle. So, I had an ad agency back in the day, didn’t like it. Created some other companies. Five years ago I created another ad agency, that’s NP Digital. But if I stuck with it the whole time, I would’ve been way better off in life.
Saving money was big because a lot of times when you want to make decisions, it’s expensive or you may not make as much. My mom always taught me when I was younger, it’s easier to save it than it’s to make it. So, saving does help quite a bit. The other big thing that I ended up learning the hard way was, if you do too many things at once, you’re never going to put enough time and energy into one thing to make it successful enough.
Algorithms keep changing. You got to keep adapting to it, which sucks. But what’s funny was on a podcast interview yesterday, and the guy’s like, well if they didn’t adapt, then people wouldn’t need you. I’m like, yeah, that’s true. That’s a good way of looking at it. But I’d rather it be easier for the customers. Forget me making money, what’s best for them is something that’s easier to execute than something that’s harder.
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– People in marketing and business, They always focus on, I want more traffic, I want more new customers. And that's great if you really
got most large corporations, They generate the majority Of the revenue from repeat customers. So, figure out more products And services that are very related To your core ones that you can add in That will help you generate
more repeat customers. (soft music) – Well, Neil, as we talked
a little bit before, Our listeners really do
love to hear the story. Your story is your story, How you started your company, What was the driving force to do that? Any, you know, any
hurdles you had overcome. So please take it away. Tell us how you started your company. (bing) – Sure. So, if I had to go way back, I'm 37 now. I started becoming an entrepreneur When I was around 15 and a half. And you know at the time, I was looking for a job, Couldn't find a job, Created a job board, Because I'm like if I can't find a job, Let me just help other
people create a job. And I created a job board And it got little to know visitors. And the reason behind this was
Is I wanted to make money. That's why I started entrepreneurship. Not the right reason, But that's what I did. Usually you want to start something Because you're solving a problem, You see a pain point. I wanted to become an entrepreneur Because I just wanted money. That was it. There was no other logical reason. And when I created my job board, Popped it up, Paid some people to help me out, No one came to it. And it was at that moment
I had to learn marketing And I got decent at it. Started driving traffic to the job board, Was reading articles, going
to events, experimenting, Trying to get good at by myself Because I didn't have really any money To pay too many firms to help me out. And after six months, seven months, I started getting good amount of traffic, Almost a hundred thousand
visitors a month. I was like, holy crap. – Wow. – A lot of traffic. And even with all that traffic, I was just like, wait, I'm still not making any money. But, I was good at the
driving traffic part. So I was like, you know what, forget this. I'm just going to go and go to college,
Finish early and just go get
a job like everyone else. Because I couldn't figure
out how to make money, right? That was the main reason I wanted start Being an entrepreneur. So, my first college class when I was 16 Was called Speech 101. So, I was going nighttime
to a community college. Speech 101, give a speech
on how Google works, And how to do marketing on it. Someone in there said, "Hey, I'm at this company And we're actually looking
for someone like you." So that he got me a
gig, five grand a month. I drove around 20-25 million
dollars a year in revenue, And I was like, ah, this
is working out quite well. And there's like, yeah, this
is working out quite well. The owner of the company,
his son owned an ad agency, He introduced me a few more customers. Next thing you know I was 16, Making 20 grand a month. – 16 years old. – [Speaker 1] A lot of money. – 16 you said? – Yeah, 16. And it's still a lot of money even today. But, the whole premise Behind it was is I was really
good at driving traffic. I enjoyed it and I was solving
a real problem for people. Fast forward to where I am, I did a lot of startups in between, But the main company I focused
on today is NP Digital, Which was short for Neil Patel Digital. And my ad agency, We help drive traffic
in sales and we love it.
We've been doing it for five years. We now have 750 plus
people that work for us. We're spread out
throughout the whole world. We're still growing nicely, Getting headwinds from the economy I'm assuming like a lot
of people are though. So, our growth has slowed down. But we love what we're doing. We're having a ton of fun and I enjoy it. And the big thing that
I learned is it's hard To make money just because
you want to make money. It's easy to make money If you're good at solving a problem That a lot of people are facing. So, solve a problem. That's what you should dive in. And if you're passionate
about what that problem is And the solution you're going to provide, You're going to do much better Than other people out there Who are just doing it for the money. Because when you're passionate, You're putting the time, the energy, The resources that you need to succeed. – That's fantastic. Let's look back a little bit. So, you've been in business for a while And you started 15 and a
half and you're 37 today. Is that correct? – Uh-huh. – Okay. So, you got little over 15
years underneath your belt. Looking back, is there
any decisions you made That you wish you
would've done differently?
– The big thing was focus. So, I did way too many businesses. When I first started off, I would start helping
people get more traffic. So, ad agency. Then I was like, ah, This type of business sucks, Created a software company, Created another software company, Try to create a cloud computing company. I did one too many ventures. If I just focused on an ad agency. Eventually, it went full circle. So, I had an ad agency back
in the day, didn't like it. Created some other companies. Five years ago I created
another ad agency, That's the NP Digital one. But if I stuck with it the whole time, I would've been way better off in life. – Yeah, well it's, because we
only learn by doing, right? And so you get a chance to, you know, We get a chance to go backwards, But let's say you also
are very successful. At 37, you've hit benchmarks Of people that only dream of hitting. Okay. Are there any key decisions
that you can look back And say, these are some Of the good decisions I made
to help me get to where I'm at? – Saving money was big Because a lot of times when
you want to make decisions, It's expensive or you
may not make as much. My mom always taught
me when I was younger, It's easier to save it
than it's to make it.
So, saving does help quite a bit. The other big thing that I ended Up learning the hard way was, If you do too many things at once, You're never going to put enough time And energy into one thing to
make it successful enough. That was another big lesson. The other thing that helped
me get to where I am today And this one took me a long time, But one of of my in between companies Was called Kissmetrics. We raised venture capital. The startup didn't work out, And the investors would tell me, Neil, Your only job as a founder Is to hire really amazing people, And hire people who have done it before And that's how you succeed. And I did that with this business, Hired really successful
people who have done it before And it's really helped us. – Tell us about your company, Who your customers are, So our listeners can see If they would be someone that
could utilize your services. – So at NP Digital, We help companies all over the world With their digital marketing
or performance marketing, Whether it's SEO or Google or Facebook Or social media or email
or conversion optimization. We literally do digital
marketing for all types Of customers in all different
kinds of industries. Doesn't matter if you're a
franchise or a car dealership Or a software company or
a Fortune 100 company.
And we also have a S&B division Called NP Digital Accelerate, Where we help small and medium
businesses grow as well. – So define small, Is that a solo entrepreneur Or is this a have a minimum
revenue or a minimum size Or are your services
available to everybody? – It's available to almost everyone. If you're a solo entrepreneur, Probably not the best fit. But if you have some employees, You're looking to scale, You already have revenue, That's what our S&B
division helps out with. We don't really work too much with people Who are just starting
off and have no revenue. Some of our clients are that though. They're heavily venture funded, But typically our clients Are people who are already
generating revenue. – In any industry? I mean for the most part. (bing) Yeah, perfect. And you work with and
also all around the world. – Yep. – Okay. – Location doesn't matter. We have people all around the world. We have 750 employees. My guess is within a year And a half to two years
will be over a thousand. – Fantastic, fantastic. You're also an author of many books.
Is there any one book may
maybe you would suggest To our listeners, maybe they
should start out by reading? – I wrote a book ages ago called "Hustle", But the bigger thing book that I love That I would recommend,
it's not written by me, It's written by a guy named Ray Dalio. I love the book called, "Principles". So, you guys should check it out. – Principles, okay, we'll put that, As well as your book on
books on the show notes. We'll shift to the second
half of the show here. You mentioned, you know,
you have a lot of employees. Okay. You mentioned headwinds. You know, as we talked a little bit Before the show, All the headwinds we face today, We face in a lifetime of a business, But here we are facing
them all in one year. So you have to lead 750 people, You have to navigate your company, You have to adapt and adjust. So, tell us how are you doing that? Do you see this As a time to retreat, time
to invest, time to pivot? How are you looking at
these current headwinds And how are you navigating your company? – Sure. So I'm no economist, but I think the headwinds are
going to get worse, not better. Governments are continually rising rates. I don't think we've really
seen the real full force Of people doing the layoffs
and stuff like that. So, I think the economy's
going to get worse. Now, the way we're
navigating it is be cautious
With our spending. Hire the right people. If you see good people in a
good market or bad market, You should get them Because good people
always pay for themselves. And the other thing that we're
seeing is just be patient. We're not rushing to go higher too much Or do tons of acquisitions. We're taking it slow and steady. It's okay to have slower growth, But have some cushion to optimize
for the downside as well. So you know, we're not
being too aggressive Because we want some sort of a safety net. – So, this is probably
more of a learning for me. You're in this digital marketing side, And I'm thinking when things slow down, I would guess that they
need your services more. – They do, but people still
do cut back or they try to. And what we have seen is Some companies started cutting back When the stock market went down. Because we deal with Some really large public trade companies, And I remember we were telling one of them Hey you sure you wanted to turn this off? This is profitable. And they're like, yeah, Our CFO said we had to turn off, Our stocks drop too much. And then within 30 days, Like "Hey, we are seeing
a big drop in revenue From your efforts." And I'm like, "Yeah,
because it was profitable. I told you."
If you're spending a dollar And you're making two, You should spend as much. It doesn't matter what
economic climate you're in. And then they came back to us And they said, "Our CFO gave us a green
light to turn it back on. And how much more can we allocate? Can you keep scaling up to
double, triple, quadruple?" And I've been through
multiple recessions before. I'm not saying we're in one or not, again, I'm not an economist, But during previous recessions, I'm talking about like 2008, People would turn off spend
even if it was profitable Because they were worried. The market's much more sophisticated In which we're seeing companies Not really turning off spend. If it's profitable, They don't care if it's a good market Or a bad market, They're just spending more. So, I think digital
marketing will still grow, But I don't think it'll grow as fast As it did a few years ago. When the economy starts recovering, People will start going more, you know, All in into digital marketing Because it's a great way to grow And it's more effective
than traditional ads. Just look at Google, Facebook, They're much larger than
most traditional companies And it's because the
advertising's more effective.
(bing) – Most people don't understand
your space that you're in. That's why we need people like you. But are there trends, adjustments, Or is there some nuances To your industry that's
changed since you've started? – Algorithms keep changing. So, when you're in the
digital marketing arena, There's algorithms that
Facebook or Instagram or TikTok Or YouTube or Google or Bing, And the list goes on and on. So you got to keep adapting
to it, which sucks. But what's funny was on a
podcast interview yesterday, And the guy's like, Well if they didn't adapt, Then people wouldn't need you. I'm like, yeah, that's true. That's a good way of looking at it. But I'd rather it be
easier for the customers. Forget me making money, What's best for them is
something that's easier To execute on than
something that's harder. – So, are all the social
media platforms changing And you get to adapt to those? Is that what you were saying? – That, the search engines, They all change on a regular basis. Some change multiple times a day Some change weekly, some change monthly. But you got to adapt. – You have to adapt. Great. Well, you started your
business at 15 and a half. Half our listeners are people
working for corporate America. Okay.
And they're, I doubt doubt 15 and a half, Who are listening. Usually, I would say are demographics, Probably more 45 to 65 most likely. We are getting a lot of younger folks, Which we really appreciate. But if you're working
for corporate America, What would you say to
them if they're thinking About wanting to start their own business? – If you're looking to
start your own business And you're passionate about something And you think you're going
to love it, go for it. You know, just these
economic downturns are some Of the best times to start a business. Look at companies like Netflix and Amazon, They've thrived during downturns. You can too. You just got to be patient And you got to find
something that you love Because if you don't love it, You're not going to put in
the energy that you need to. I look at downturns as
some of the best times To start businesses Because there's usually less competition. – Less competition. Perfect. And for the people who
are already own a company And you had mentioned earlier one Of the lessons you learned is maybe doing Too many things at one time, But all our companies are saying, You know what maybe my
particular product or service Is a little slow. Maybe I need to pivot, adjust, or adapt. What would you be saying to them about,
If they're considering adding
additional revenue stream? – If you can add in
complimentary revenue streams, Like upsells, downsells,
those are all great. Think of it this way, you know, Most people in marketing and business, They always focus on I want more traffic, I want more new customers. And that's great. But if you look at most
large corporations, They generate the majority Of the revenue from repeat customers. So, figure out more products And services that are very related To your core ones That you can add in That will gen help you
generate more repeat customers? – Yeah, that's great advice. You already have that base there. Why not give them more services In a better and different way. Yeah. Neil, I really want to say thanks again. I know you're extremely busy guy, So thanks for taking
the time on this show. If people wanted to get a hold Of you to get a chance to work with you, What's the best way for them to do that? – NPdigital.com. – Well, thanks again. On behalf of our listeners, I'm always grateful For like our guests who take their time Out of their day to share
their insight and their wisdom. So, thank you for your taking your time
And it was a pleasure getting to know you. – Same. – Take care.
