Do you want to start your own advertising agency or an online marketing agency? With this article, I will take you on a journey with a lot of background knowledge, pitfalls, solutions to most problems, warnings, and very, very helpful tips and tricks from over 12 years of agency experience (since 2010) as a self-made millionaire, investor, and still successful entrepreneur.
Starting an Online Marketing Agency – Hand in Hand with Professional Florian Ibe from over 12 Years of Agency Experience
ATTENTION: This article is not yet finished and will be continuously updated.
First of all, I would like to give you a brief overview of myself. Because unlike many current consultants, coaches, and „experts,“ I have been in this business for many, many years AND, through my father, who spent over 50 years in the printing industry, I had insights into the then very traditional world of advertising agencies and their founders even before my active time.
Another note in advance: I cannot publicly write some very important things and information here in the article. Therefore, further down in the article, I offer you the opportunity to voluntarily subscribe to an extra email distribution list so that I can support you even more specifically and perhaps directly in a 1-on-1 conversation with the founding of your advertising agency.
In the text, I will occasionally bold some points so that you can skim the text better and find the right spot faster even when reading it multiple times.
Now about me: I, Florian Ibe, was born in 1992 and, as I always explain it, grew up next to the printing press. Whether a house was built for me out of cardboard or I put pallets together to form a small tent, I was always there. But where did all the print data come from? Right, from advertising agencies and later also from the first digital online marketing agencies.
At 14, I did my first internship in a larger agency with nationwide clients in Cologne, and after just 5 days, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. Full of motivation, I even extended the internship by 2 weeks (voluntarily!) and then sought further internships. And here comes the first learning for you: Practice, practice, practice. You have no chance with theory! You will certainly not be successful in online marketing if you have no practical experience!
For 1 hour of theory (learning), there are at least 3, or better 4, hours of practice!
I will always highlight important things in this text for you. So pay attention and make your own notes 😉
Regarding my further „career“: At 15, I started programming my first websites with HTML, CSS, and some JavaScript. At that time, Dreamweaver and a code editor were used for processing. Quickly, I helped others with their websites, initially for free and then for a few euros pocket money, created HTML signatures, and did a lot of graphic work. This is also where the origin of photography and all the creativity came from.
At 16, I started photographing my first „models“ and also producing commercial photos in both B2B and B2C areas. At that time, billing was still done via my parents‘ tax number, which was the easiest way for small amounts.
After I had more money at 16 than most of my other friends, I realized: „Okay, this is fun and I want to earn money with this long-term.“ I had found my calling.
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I don’t want to waste many words about my secondary school time here, as it is absolutely irrelevant. After I decided against the classic Abitur and for the school-based education as a „GTA – Graphic Design Assistant,“ I started this branch of education parallel to my first „jobs“ and my own continuous self-taught further education. Why school-based and not practical in an agency? Quite simply and absolutely regrettable: Youth protection! For those under 18, working hours and lunch breaks must be strictly adhered to. But that doesn’t fit into the world of „agencies.“ I will spare myself any comments on this at this point. But you need a piece of paper / certificate / diploma. NO! Nonsense and unnecessary, but oh well…
Fact: The education was boring, so depressing, and simply extremely outdated in content, so that from the second year of training, I maximized my absences and at 17, prepared everything for starting my own business and agency. Since it was a privately funded school – thank you, Mom & Dad! – I could shine through my performance, and it was more or less „tolerated.“
So, after 3 years of training, at 19, I graduated with a 1.1, was the best in my class, and had the certificate including my Fachabitur in my pocket. I NEVER needed that certificate again! No one ever asked for it again!
That’s for the academic part. Learning: You don’t need an official education, certainly no university degree, and no IHK certificate or the like! Most of it is useless outdated theory and simply not up-to-date. Without practice, it’s useless anyway.
During my training, on February 10, 2010, 2 days after my birthday, I founded my first sole proprietorship with my parents‘ address (home office). The foundation was now officially laid, and I could start officially earning real money.
What does it cost to start a marketing agency? The business registration cost 30 euros back then and will still be under 50 euros today. I definitely do not recommend a GmbH for the beginning. Why? I’ll get to that later!
After the agency was founded, I could start immediately with the provisional tax number. I received my final tax number by mail after about 3 months. So you can start immediately after founding at the trade office!
Now it was time to earn money for my own stationery.
My parents were and are anything but entrepreneurs! I will come back to this again and again and explain why and what was so important to understand here and why it cost me at least 3, or rather 4, years of success!
My professional career: So the company was founded and I could get started. Unfortunately, I still had to attend school full-time from Monday to Thursday for almost 8 months. On Fridays, I had school off. So what did I do? I registered on the portals that were, and still are, partly important for freelancers as well as commission platforms. This served to establish a presence, which today would be called personal branding, as well as the potential generation of client orders WITHOUT having to do cold calling.
So while I unfortunately had to sit in class, the platforms indirectly did acquisition for me, and after just a few days, the first inquiries for logo design, a website, and back then also for a complete corporate design came in.
Which portals these were and which ones I would still recommend today, I reveal in my email distribution list:
I answered these inquiries from class using my first smartphone, an iPhone 3, and processed them in the evenings after school. This meant I always had approximately 16-18 hour days, BUT I earned money directly.
During breaks between classes, I used the time to make calls and also serve clients with „larger“ orders. On Fridays, and sometimes in the evenings after school, I attended client appointments and thus actively pursued acquisition through personal on-site presence – NEVER cold calling.
Looking back, I would not do this step again, BUT before Covid and even 5 years ago, presence was still very much appreciated. Nowadays, nobody wants you directly on-site anymore, or these clients (inquiries) are not good anyway. More on this later in the article…
During my apprenticeship, I also did a 3-month internship with maximum practical experience and insights into all areas. The small agency, a collaboration (team) of 4 creative minds, gave me an extremely broad insight into small and large clients, order processing, and handling problems until a solution was found, all in a short time. That was worth gold!
The company liked me so much that I continued to work for the team as a freelancer on an hourly basis for many years, even though I had founded a business.
Briefly on the topic of freelancer/self-employed or trade (sole proprietorship): Although we are not yet on the topic of taxes and duties, there are hardly any differences for everyday life. If you register a trade, you officially and automatically have to pay trade tax to the city AND you have to pay IHK contributions. BOTH only cost money and have no value in return. If you are registered as a freelancer, you have to register with the KSK Künstlersozialkasse (Artists‘ Social Security Fund). It’s not that expensive, but it doesn’t bring anything either. The costs are similar for both. Due to scalability, I would always prefer and recommend the sole proprietorship.
Shortly before finishing my apprenticeship, my parents also suggested to me, and I thought it was a good idea at the time: Get a job in an agency and gain experience there. I did that, and my application clearly stated: „For me, employment is only an option if I can continue to run my company, despite being in the same industry and close proximity!“
Due to my references, I had a few job interviews, and there were actually larger agencies that would have forbidden me to continue working independently despite the above note. That was an absolute no-go for me! Never let yourself be bribed or pressured! Decline it and look for something else! Life is simply too precious for that!
After I had already started working full-time in an agency in the last two months of my apprenticeship, the first digital processes were integrated into my advertising agency, and I was thus able to work from anywhere, which was not so easy back then! I will explain later how to set this up correctly today.
All in all, I worked in the agency for 6 years, and after the first 3 years, I gradually reduced my hours so that in the last two years, I only worked one day a week for the communication agency as an employee. Why all this? I had a small but secure income, and my health insurance was also paid for half.
My motto here was: Safety first!
Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Why? If you have security, you lack pressure.
Why did I still do it this way? Because, damn it, no one else told me. I had to learn everything myself, make changes, and focus on myself and my business. In addition, my conservative and very security-conscious parents were also an obstacle – no offense intended ;). My tip: Seek help immediately and directly. Don’t skimp on money, but learn from the mistakes of others and implement it yourself!
A short, very important note: I myself now spend 5-figure sums every year on coaching and further education in various areas. Knowledge is power, and no one can take that away from you! I would also be happy to help you with company formation and the entire process. Simply sign up for my email list.
Topic of goals: At 18, I said that by the age of 25, I wanted to own a Porsche, no leasing, no financing, truly own and possess it.
At 22, I received a BMW X3 as a „salary subsidy“ from the agency, and at 23, the time had come. I picked up a Porsche 987 Cayman in Augsburg. My parents knew nothing about it until it suddenly appeared in front of the garage!
From that point on, I didn't let up, because I had achieved a goal… No, I pushed even harder.
Do you want to know how I made 6-figure profits every year from then on?
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Important entrepreneurial topics:
- Risks & Opportunities
- Structures and Processing
- Bank Account
- Insurances
- Dues (Fees & Taxes)
- Digitalization
- Processes
- Automation
- Customer Acquisition
- Daily business & Success
My 5 biggest mistakes:
- Listening to „friends“, relatives and acquaintances and relying on statements from often inexperienced people and other service providers. -> Always form your own opinion, do your own research and use feedback and advice from truly competent people to secure your decisions. Regulate your environment according to your goals and wishes.
My 10 tips for more immediate success & profitability:
- Reduce phone calls to a minimum and ONLY by appointment. There is nothing more inefficient than phone calls. 2 or more people have to concentrate on ideally the same topic at the same time and often cannot do anything else alongside. This is a maximum waste of time, unless it can be solved by email, text message, voice message or even a support ticket. For complex topics, there is nothing against a SHORT phone call, but everything else is really just a „waste of time“!
- Processes, processes, processes and with the right timing. Trello as a simple and for every „idiot“ (sorry) usable ticket system without frills and perfect for organization and sequence without forgetting anything. Attention: A digitized crap process is still a crap process! If you or your colleagues still work analogously, then digitization is the best way to redefine and optimize these processes!
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