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Freelancers and agencies fall into the one-time project trap all the time. They work with clients on smaller projects for a few weeks or a month, and then move on to the next client. This puts them in a perpetual sales cycle without a dollar of predictable income.

The outcome leads to a stressed founder and management team, who are all unsure of where their next paycheck will come from.

If this is where your freelance business or agency is right now—there is a solution. It’s called retainer contracts and they’re about to become your new best friend.

What is

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a Retainer?

A retainer contract is an agreement between client and company that you’ll perform specific services for a set rate each month. For example, your content marketing agency could provide 8 articles per month, distribution, and splintered content for $13,500 a month. 

These contracts can either be on a month-to-month basis or go for an agreed-upon amount of time. For example, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, or even more.

With retainer contracts, you’ll know how much revenue you’re making from clients each month and (if you’re smart enough to make multi-month contracts) how much you’re making in the near future. For freelancers and agency owners, the predictability you’re seeking comes from these retainer contracts.

But, how can you secure these retainers so you can shift out of perpetual sales mode?

Securing Retainers 101

Retainers are intimidating. If you’ve never asked clients to sign on to a retainer, it’s easy to think they’re going to say no. Of course, they’d rather have their services a la carte—right? Well, that’s actually not the case at all. Clients are happy to sign on to retainers they feel confident in. It helps them solve the problem they’re currently facing (like a struggle with content marketing).

Here are a few tips for securing retainer contracts so you can go into your next contract discussion with confidence.

Only Offer Your Services in Varying Retainer Packages

To get out of the perpetual sales cycle of one-time projects, you can package your services into retainer contracts. Take out all of your one-time project packages and only allow your current and future clients to work with you in retainers. This can feel scary at first and like you’re going to lose out on business, but a few months into only working with retainer clients and you’ll never look back.

Your retainer packages could look like:

Freelance Facebook Marketer: 6 months of Facebook Ads (included: strategy, ad creative, data and analytics, benchmark goals, consulting).

SEO Marketing Agency: 1 year of SEO services (included: 8x SEO articles per month, 4x SEO pillar posts per month, 50x backlinks per month).

Freelance Email Marketer: 6 months of email marketing (included: 2x weekly newsletters, campaign and offer creation, 2x campaigns per month, data and analytics, benchmark goals, consulting).

It feels like a big ask to get clients to sign up for a 6+ month contract, but the reality is you’re helping them. One month of email strategy isn’t going to get the results they’re hoping for. You need at least 6 months to retrain their list to be interested in their emails and to get the conversions they’re hoping for. 

Offering your services in retainer packages gets your clients better results than if you’re just offering one-time services.

Create a 6+ Month Retainer Package

If you’re not ready to just offer retainers, then set up one retainer package to sell to your current and new clients. In this case, they can either choose from your one-time services or sign on to your retainer package that lasts for a minimum of 6 months.

For example, your one-time service could be 4x consulting calls regarding Facebook advertising. Your retainer contract could be 6 months of Facebook Ads. From the example above, you could include: strategy, ad creative, data and analytics, benchmark goals, consulting).

Or your content marketing agency could write 8 articles for clients as a one-time service. The retainer option would be 4x articles per month for 6 months, including distribution, data and analytics, and benchmark goals for traffic and conversions.

Clients who are just looking for writing help, and have the bandwidth to handle the distribution on their own, will happily sign on for those 8 articles. But, clients who aren’t seeing the traffic and conversions from their in-house content marketing strategy will see your retainer contract as the light at the end of the tunnel.

Create at least one 6+ month retainer package as an option for your clients to choose from.

Explain How Your Strategy Works Best Within a Set Time Frame

Time to put your marketing skills to work. Your clients need to know why working with you for a longer period of time, and giving you more money, is worth it. Luckily, you’re a marketer and you know how to present this information to them.

For example, you can let them know that you can write 8 articles for them but if they’re not strategically distributing those articles—it’ll be tough to get the traffic and conversions they’re looking for. Working with your agency will get them more traffic and conversions through your distribution strategy…which leads to more money in their pocket.

Here’s what you’ll need as your selling points:

• Showing them that you understand their #1 goal (get more customers)
• How your retainer contract helps them reach their #1 goal (more customers)
• What to expect from that retainer contract (all the deliverables included)
• Testimonials or case studies (social proof sells!)

The reality is that your clients are better off in retainer contracts than in one-time projects. It’s your job as a marketer to show them this in a way they can understand. Especially if you’re working with companies who don’t have experience outsourcing part, or all, of their marketing strategy. 

Explaining how your strategy works within the set time frame of your package will show your clients why the retainer is the best option.

Offer a One-Month Test Period Clause in Your Retainer Agreements

If you find that clients are consistently hesitant to sign retainers, you can offer them a one-month test period. They’ll still sign the retainer agreement, but you’ll have a clause that allows them to end the agreement, at no cost, within 4 weeks of working together if they’re not happy with their results or experience.

This can help clients feel more comfortable outsourcing their marketing to your freelancing business or agency since it gives them a safe out if they don’t get what was promised. Make sure to be clear about what they can expect in that one-month test period in deliverables and results for the lowest churn rate.

For example, a Facebook marketer or agency can let them know that you’ll create 10 ad sets for them, explain the goals of each ad set is, and estimate what conversions to expect. This keeps you accountable to handing in those deliverables (or in this case publishing them to Facebook) and getting preliminary results that can help the client see why continuing to work with you is a good idea.

Remember, this one-month test period is an option. You don’t *have* to put this into your retainer contracts. But, if it makes you feel more confident in offering your initial retainers or you find that clients are easier to convert with this clause, then feel free to use it at your own discretion.

One-month test periods help clients feel at ease about signing a long-term, expensive retainer contract.

Secure Longer Marketing Contracts with Retainers

Retainer contracts will become your best friend. Once you’ve had a few clients sign those beautiful pieces of paper, you’ll realize why all agencies move towards retainer agreements.

Use these tips to secure your first retainer contracts, so you can stop worrying about where your next paycheck is coming from and, for the first time, be able to know how much money your freelancing business or agency is on track to make.

#1: Only offer your services in varying retainer packages

#2: Create a 6+ month retainer package

#3: Explain how your strategy works best within a set time frame

#4: Offer a one-month test period clause in your retainer agreements

Use retainer contracts to take your freelancing business or marketing agency towards six figures and tap into the knowledge bank inside DigitalMarketer Lab to keep growing your business. DigitalMarketer Lab houses Insider Trainings, Workshops, Playbooks, and Certifications used by Uber, Shopify, and Harper Collins. 

Sign up for DigitalMarketer Lab today.

Did you know that 57% of consumers want businesses to focus on sustainability? Unfortunately, many companies aren’t using effective sustainable marketing strategies to tell their story. This is understandable, as it’s easy to get lost in the twists and turns of the sustainability maze.

However, using these five sustainable marketing principles can help your company stay on track and reach its sustainability goals. Like stars in the sky, they serve as navigators to point you in the general direction of your destination while giving you space to

When you’re in the digital marketing business, the massive amount of content can get overwhelming. But we don’t have to keep what’s not working. Today’s guest is someone who looks at the mess and finds the joy in creating something better. And he’s brilliant at it.

In this episode, host Jenna Snavely sits down with Mark de Grasse, the new President and General Manager of DigitalMarketer. Mark gives us an inside look at the DM rebrand and redesign and explains why the design and organization of a company is just as important on the inside as it is on the outside.

Mark is

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Tips for organizing scattered pieces of online content into something cohesive
• How to connect your internal structure with what people see
• Why you absolutely need your own website
• Which social media platform Mark thinks is the most effective for businesses

Listen Now

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

OUR PARTNERS:

Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to The DigitalMarketer Podcast? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

What do you think of when you hear the name Coca-Cola? You might think of the red can, or the fizzy feeling you get in your mouth when you drink it, or the taste of the soda, or its white script logo. All that stuff that you just thought about is Coca-Cola’s brand identity. Its logo, typeface, slogans and colors combine to create a brand identity. Without all those things, you’d likely not think of anything other than soda when you hear the name Coke.

Mark de Grasse was recently hired as a consultant to help the company redesign its social media strategy. After three months it was evident that Mark was a man with a plan and DigitalMarketer needed him full time. 

Mark de Grasse is a business strategist focused on integrated, genuine approaches to marketing and management. Mark has been working in content development since the mid-2000’s, creating tens of thousands of articles, graphics, videos, and podcasts over

WHAT IS DIGITALMARKETER:

DigitalMarketer is the premier online community for digital marketing professionals. It’s a place where you can learn how to market like a pro, connect with industry experts, and get the strategies and tools you need to grow and scale your business to new heights. https://www.best digital marketing agency in abuja rocksview digital hub.com/

LinkedIn advertising has been steadily gaining notoriety over the past few years, thanks to its super specific demographic targeting and professionals-based network. 

But there are definitely a few fears that may be preventing you from delving into LinkedIn advertising: it is expensive; it is uncharted territory (in comparison to Facebook or Google); it is not a sales-based platform; etc. These concerns are 100% valid. 

If you are reading this article, you are likely a LinkedIn skeptic. And that’s okay! This article will walk you through the proof that LinkedIn ads ARE worth the effort, then suggest a few resources for

A Quick Disclaimer: 

Like we said above, there are some real drawbacks to LinkedIn advertising. Really quick, let’s address those concerns (because it’s completely possible that you’re right: LinkedIn ads might not work for you). 

Reasons to say “No thanks” to LinkedIn Ads:

#1 | You can’t afford it.

 Advertising on LinkedIn is simply more expensive than alternative options. Of course, it also has the potential to be more lucrative… but it is a huge investment. If your business is still small or is not focusing a big chunk of the budget on advertising, this might not be a good time to start LinkedIn advertising. 

#2 | Your primary goal is to sell.

Yes, yes. Obviously, we are all trying to sell something. But the LinkedIn platform is not centered on buying. It is centered on growth: personal growth, career growth, business growth. If you can market your business so that it can contribute to a potential client’s growth, then you’ll succeed on LinkedIn. 

Alright, if you are still interested after our disclaimer, then we are ready to seal the deal and give you definitive proof! 

LinkedIn Advertising Statistics: 

LinkedIn is a great advertising platform because it simultaneously 1) attracts almost every kind of person and 2) singularly appeals to people interested or involved in business. So everyone on LinkedIn is potentially interested in your business, but you can also find virtually any demographic. 

LinkedIn reported over 706 million users and furthermore, says that 80% of these users have influence over business decisions. Because of the professional environment and high concentration of business accounts, LinkedIn also claims that their users have double the buying power of a more general online audience. Surely, these are very valuable potential clients! 

LinkedIn also reports that their conversation rates are an average of 300% higher than other platforms.

These statistics can certainly justify the price point, as well as your time and effort!

Our Stats: 

While LinkedIn’s statistics are certainly encouraging, we also wanted to offer some of our own. 

DigitalMarketer’s LinkedIn page has 55,622 followers, which means our posts already show up on all those people’s pages. This is a result of strategic ads to our targeted demographics as well as consistent and engaging posts. 

Aside from that, our analytics are quite happy with where we are at with our LinkedIn marketing. Last week, we got 483 click-throughs and in the last 30 days, we have gained almost 1,000 new users just from our LinkedIn! 

For us, it all ties into the Customer Value Journey: 

LinkedIn can play a part in the Journey, but it probably won’t be your biggest resource for converting. To be clear, this does not mean that good LinkedIn advertising will not make you money. 

Think of it this way: Using LinkedIn is like playing the long game. Maybe you won’t make as many conversions right away, but the LinkedIn platform is fantastic for Engaging, Exciting, and even Ascending (all of which are essential parts of the CVJ). We’ve seen our LinkedIn advertising contribute enough to our Customer Value Journey that we are excited to help you too! 

We just offered some pretty definitive proof that LinkedIn advertising is worth your time… so now it’s time for you to start planning your campaign! Don’t worry, DigitalMarketer is here to help you with that too. Check out: LinkedIn Growth Hacking Tips for Newbs or How to Build Your First LinkedIn Content Marketing Strategy today!

Your SEO marketing budget is specific to your business. 

Reading an article telling you to spend $3,000 per month on SEO isn’t the answer you need. You need to know how much *you* should spend on SEO, based on what SEO success looks like for you, how much you can afford right now, and what type of hire fits your business best.

That’s where this article differs from the others online (trying to answer the same question).

We’ll avoid giving you generalized advice and replace it with 3 questions that will tell you how much to spend on SEO marketing.

Because

How Much You Should Be Spending on SEO Marketing

Question #1: What does an SEO success story look like for you?

SEO success means something different to each company.

→ If you’re making $100,000 a year, SEO success could look like another $20,000 in profits. → But, if you’re making $5,000,000 a year, your SEO strategy needs to bring in high 6-figures to be worth your resources.

To figure out what your SEO success story is, you’ll narrow down how much you’d like to make from your SEO strategy if all goes well. As tempting as it is wanting to make $100 billion trillion from it, let’s keep our feet on the ground.

How many more products or services can your supply chain or team realistically handle?

• Can you add 10,000 more units to your ecommerce store?
• Are you able to work with 15 more agency clients?
• Do you need 5,000 more membership sign-ups?

Your SEO strategy has one job: get more traffic and conversions. Knowing how much more traffic and how many conversions you can handle is the first step to figuring out what you should invest.

Question #2: What can you afford to invest for a long-term ROI?

The best part of your SEO strategy is that it will be around for a long time. The worst part of an SEO strategy is that it takes a few months to get it rolling. SEO isn’t like paid ads that pop out conversions after a week. With SEO, you’ll tap into your inner meditation guru while you wait for the results to come in a few months down the line.

That means you need to invest what you can afford to wait to see an ROI on.

With paid ads, you can invest $1,000 and get ready to see conversions within a week or so. But, with SEO, that $1,000 investment isn’t coming back to you for at least a few weeks. You don’t want to invest more than you can afford to while waiting to see it boomerang back to you. 

For an experienced SEO specialist working full-time, Glassdoor averages a salary of $46,658, but depending on experience and location this is (of course) going to differ.

If you’d prefer to bring on a freelance or hire an agency, you won’t want to hire anybody for less than $1,500 per month. If your business is making 7+ figures, you’ll want to look for someone priced higher.

So, if you hire an SEO agency and pay them $1,500 per month, you’ll prepare not to see your money for a few months. To be extra conservative, let’s say you don’t see an ROI from your SEO strategy for 4 months (which is normal). That means you need to invest $6,000 before you see that money come back.

Is that reasonable for your business right now?

If the answer is yes, we’ll explain how to choose whether you should hire a full-time employee, freelancer, or agency below.

If the answer is no, don’t worry. You can come back to your SEO strategy when you feel comfortable investing at least $6,000 towards SEO before you get an ROI.

Question #3: Does it make sense to hire in-house or a freelancer or agency?

Hiring an SEO specialist comes in 3 forms:

• You bring someone on full-time to your marketing department
• You hire a freelance to work with your team on SEO
• You work with an agency

Which type of hire to make depends on your business. 

→ For some businesses, bringing on a full-time employee might have great tax benefits and makes the most sense.

→ Working with a freelancer is the best fit for other businesses because they can easily integrate into your team.

→ And other businesses need an agency to have maximum SEO support as they build out their strategy.

There isn’t a right or wrong answer for how you hire an SEO specialist(s). It’s just based on what makes the most sense for your business.

Here are our suggestions on who you should hire based on your business needs:

You should hire a full-time Head of SEO if: you want a long-term SEO strategy that spans at least 2 years.

You should hire a freelance SEO expert if: you have a small business or a simple business (with only a few products) and a single SEO expert can handle all the work needed. Note: They’ll be working with your content team or outsourcing content creation.

You should hire an SEO agency if: you want a robust SEO strategy and are willing to work with the agency’s workflows and processes.

The Right Way To Budget for SEO

Budgeting for your SEO strategy comes down to the numbers inside of your business. 

To figure out how much you can afford to spend on SEO, ask yourself these 3 questions:

Question #1: What does an SEO success story look like for you?

Question #2: What can you afford to invest for a long-term ROI?

Question #3: Does it make sense to hire in-house or a freelancer or agency?

That first page of Google is calling your name, and we know your business can acquire one of those coveted spots.

It just takes the right SEO strategy, which comes from budgeting and working with the right SEO specialists.