full

Kasim’s Embarrassing Confession and the New Solutions 8

Listen this candid conversation between Kasim and Caden discussing Kasim's embarrassing confession, the challenges Solutions 8 and other businesses are currently facing, and the economic state no one seems to be talking about. They also reveal how Solutions 8 is adapting and transforming to cope with the economy and the ever-changing world of digital marketing.

Dive deep into the difficult topics - client loss, economic pressures, the complexities of modern marketing, and business survival. Listen to this episdoe now.



Learn more about the new Solutions 8 Digital Marketing Services here: https://sol8.com/digital-marketing-se...



Related videos:

🥇 The Secret to Solution 8's Success: 17 Lessons in 17 Years:   

 • 🥇 The Secret to Solution 8's Success:...  

🔥 Google Ads Mastermind: How to WIN the Battle Against Google:   

 • 🔥 Google Ads Mastermind: How to WIN t...  

Meta + Klaviyo + Google Ads Marketing:   

 • Meta + Klaviyo + Google Ads Marketing  



The Google Ads Mastermind: https://youvsgoogle.com/offer




0:00 Intro

0:38 Kasim’s Embarrassing Confession and the New Solutions 8!

3:23 The Evolution of Solutions 8's Business Model

9:17 The Need for a Full-Funnel Approach

13:19 Economic State No One Seems to Be Talking About

19:25 Digital Marketing Is Now Very Sophisticated

21:45 The New Solutions 8

24:33 Advice for Digital Marketers and Agencies



💣 The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads for 2023:   

 • The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads for ...  


🔥 Get your copy of You vs. Google: The (Very) Unauthorized Guide to Google Ads

on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWSNLNRN


This ULTIMATE GUIDE gives you EVERYTHING you need to know about how to set up, build and optimize your Google Ads Performance Max campaigns: https://sol8.com/performance-max/


💰 Have an ad budget that's less than $5,000/month? If so, check out our sister agency, StarterPPC, where you can get Google Ads management for a fraction of the cost!

Visit https://www.starterppc.com for more information. 🚀


We have dozens of free resources, courses, downloads, calculators, and other goodies. You can access all of them on our Free Stuff page!

Visit: https://sol8.com/free-stuff/


💯The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads for Lead Generation:

https://sol8.com/google-ads-lead-gene...

🛒 Everything you need to know about Google Ads for eCommerce:

https://sol8.com/google-ads-for-ecomm...

🧲 The only guide you’ll ever need for Google Ads for YouTube:

https://sol8.com/google-ads-for-youtube/


👉 Do you want to be featured on Daily Google News? Do you have epic value you can offer our audience? You can pitch your idea here: https://sol8.com/pitch/

--------------------------------------------------

👉 Get our latest content every Monday, straight to your inbox. Sign up for our news “Traffic Ahead”: https://sol8.com/newsletter/

--------------------------------------------------

Get the latest updates, expert tips, best practices, and PROVEN Google Ads strategies every single day. Subscribe here:   

 / @solutionseight  

--------------------------------------------------

👉 Want to become a Google Ads expert?

We’ve demystified how Google works, and laid out everything you need to know in Google Ads–from scratch!

Learn how to build, launch and manage high-performing Google Ads campaigns in this Google Ads Course: http://sol8.com/paid-traffic-mastery

--------------------------------------------------

Solutions 8 is a global authority in the Google Ads space and one of the world's leading PPC agencies.

Our YouTube channel is dedicated to sharing our most effective marketing strategies to help you achieve your business goals.

--------------------------------------------------

👉 WOULD LIKE TO SCALE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH PPC?

Sign up for a FREE Action Plan today: https://bit.ly/sol8-home


Connect with Kasim here: https://smartlink.metricool.com/publi...


⬇️️ You can find us here ⬇️️:

Website: https://sol8.com/

Twitter:  

 / solutions_8  

Instagram:  

 / solutions_8  

Facebook:  

 / solutions8llc  

LinkedIn:  

 / solutions-8  

#googleads #digitalmarketing #googleadsbestpractices #ppc

Transcript
Kasim:

Solutions8, along with every other agency I know, by

2

:

the way, is bleeding clients.

3

:

Let's see if we can, Hold on to them.

4

:

And then the business dies off.

5

:

And it's whoa, what was that for?

6

:

yeah, exactly.

7

:

Blood from a turnip.

8

:

That's the other thing too, is

just the responsibility we have to

9

:

entrepreneurs to tell them the truth.

10

:

We're shifting our entire

business model, which makes me

11

:

feel like such an epic hypocrite.

12

:

Cause I, dude, I spent the last three

years talking so much about all the

13

:

agencies and Oh, they try to do everything

and be everything for everybody.

14

:

Welcome to your day.

15

:

The Google news it's Kostom with

one of the best, the brightest,

16

:

the smartest Caden Thompson.

17

:

How you doing buddy?

18

:

Good man.

19

:

It's been a while.

20

:

How you doing?

21

:

it's been a long time since

we shot a video together.

22

:

I think it's been like a year.

23

:

Oh, at least a year.

24

:

Yeah.

25

:

It's been a really long time.

26

:

I remember first time when I

hopped on, I was like starstruck.

27

:

And now it's like flipping back

to we were doing the, what was it?

28

:

The strategist meetings.

29

:

And then I think that was, yeah, that was

the last time that we had a call together.

30

:

Yeah.

31

:

Yeah.

32

:

I'm glad it's feels like a reunion and

this call is going to be quite revealing.

33

:

I think in a lot of ways, we just got

finished putting our itinerary together.

34

:

And, the last words you said

to me before we hit record was,

35

:

honesty is the best policy.

36

:

here are the cards on the table solutions

eight, along with every other agency I

37

:

know, by the way, is bleeding clients.

38

:

in October of 2022, when we sold our

agency, we had almost 200 clients.

39

:

And today we've lost close to 40 percent

of them and we're losing them for reasons

40

:

that are in many cases inexplicable.

41

:

I've had four clients declare

bankruptcy in the last 90 days.

42

:

I haven't had a client declare

bankruptcy on us in the last two years.

43

:

It's unreal.

44

:

So there's obviously, there's like

an economic environment that nobody

45

:

wants to talk about for some reason.

46

:

I did a perpetual traffic episode

where I claimed that I think we're in a

47

:

shadow recession that nobody's talking

about and maybe I'm right, maybe I'm

48

:

wrong, but there does seem to be like

a lot of the clients that we're losing

49

:

are like, can't fulfill on products.

50

:

E commerce stores that just can't

get products for people that don't,

51

:

they have positive ROAS per se on

an LTV basis, but they don't have

52

:

the cashflow in order to keep going.

53

:

some people bringing it in

house, we're not losing people

54

:

to performance really at all.

55

:

which would, I, to be honest with you,

I'd a business owner, I'd prefer, I'd

56

:

rather lose a client to performance.

57

:

Cause at least that I know

internally I can correct it.

58

:

And so we're shifting our entire

business model, which makes me

59

:

feel like such an epic hypocrite.

60

:

Cause I dude, I spent the last

three years talking so much shit

61

:

about all the agencies like,

Oh, they try to do everything

62

:

and be everything for everybody.

63

:

You need to niche down.

64

:

And at the time it was true, but

it was true because when you niched

65

:

down, you could actually see what

was going on within your niche.

66

:

And now with iOS 14 and first

party data and the death of

67

:

cookies and all that shit.

68

:

And the fact that Google and meta

continue to lie more, we've had to

69

:

zoom out and we had to go full funnel.

70

:

So really what you are Caden

is you're my bodyguard.

71

:

You're here to protect me

from the rabid listener.

72

:

As I explain.

73

:

The one 80 that we're about to do as an

agency, like we're going from the Google

74

:

ads agency, which we were very successful

at, dude, I think we built the biggest

75

:

Google ads agency in the world because

most agencies weren't Google ads specific.

76

:

So as far as the Google ads specific

agency, nobody got as big as we did.

77

:

but and you said something else

before this and I'll stop talking

78

:

and just hand the mic to you.

79

:

You said something else before we started

recording, which I really appreciate it.

80

:

You said that, I'm going to try

to quote you and then you fix it.

81

:

Okay.

82

:

You said that, we used to be able to

be responsible for 1 thing, but now

83

:

that everything is so interdependent,

1 thing because you, have to.

84

:

You have to rely on so much more.

85

:

So we have to increase the

scope of our responsibility.

86

:

how did I do quoting you there?

87

:

Yeah, no, I mean that, that pretty

much sums up a lot of the issues that

88

:

we're seeing across just accounts in

general and like communication with

89

:

clients is like the responsibility

of us as marketers is to essentially

90

:

make a client more profitable.

91

:

And when you have less tracking and

less, and that's going to even be

92

:

further on based in Q3 for Google.

93

:

That we can't just look at in app ROAS

or try to equate as much to in app

94

:

ROAS to try to see the full picture.

95

:

We have to look at what's

going on other channels.

96

:

And when you're an agency that just

looks at that one niche, you learn a lot

97

:

about all these other channels, but then

it's wait, they're not doing that right.

98

:

We can do that.

99

:

Wait, we can fix that problem over there.

100

:

And so you start to notice.

101

:

All these sort of issues that are

popping up that are outside of your

102

:

scope of control and it makes you

think why don't we just do this?

103

:

Why are we having to, look for

these problems outside of what

104

:

we're servicing to, go outside

of the scope of what we're doing?

105

:

And I find it good that we focused

on Google ads because it allows us

106

:

to get really focused on the actual

niche itself and then grow from there.

107

:

So we can notice small correlations

that, maybe we wouldn't have if we

108

:

just threw everything right away.

109

:

And so it's been a really good baseline.

110

:

For us to build from, and so I think when

it comes to the economic situation that

111

:

people are in right now, where, you were

saying, people are going bankrupt agencies

112

:

are trying to find or not agencies,

but clients are trying to find a way

113

:

to understand what agencies are doing.

114

:

it's becoming more and more

important for us as an agency to

115

:

educate the client on those things.

116

:

However, since we're pushing global

numbers and, overall with your bank

117

:

account, essentially, which is the end

all, it becomes 1 of those things to where

118

:

we're the small agency that's pushing for.

119

:

All these little things

explain what's going on.

120

:

The client's I don't want

to worry about this stuff.

121

:

is too much to think about.

122

:

it should be right?

123

:

is a nightmare.

124

:

That's, 1 of those things

that, all these tools.

125

:

work on attribution,

but no tool is perfect.

126

:

And so when it comes to marketing,

we've just noticed that, having

127

:

control tests and shifting from us

having control over just Google,

128

:

but us having control over Facebook

has turned into really good results.

129

:

when, we look at it from that perspective,

it allows the client to be more

130

:

comfortable with the understanding of.

131

:

Okay, global numbers are great.

132

:

I don't have to judge.

133

:

Are you doing your job on

Google versus Facebook?

134

:

I can judge it from the perspective

of you're making more money.

135

:

You're in control of the attribution

and that's the proof, right?

136

:

And then they don't have to learn

all the attribution nuances that

137

:

you've spent years figuring out.

138

:

You just show them.

139

:

Here's the test.

140

:

Here's the results.

141

:

And then what clients can

argue with what's in their bank

142

:

account at the end of the day.

143

:

Yeah.

144

:

That's the hard part of niching down

is even if you're really good at your

145

:

niche, you're so heavily reliant on other

channels, let's say, or other modalities.

146

:

And it turns you into kind of a tattletale

because then we just spend like our

147

:

whole Client interaction is like,

Hey, your meta agency is screwing up.

148

:

Your analytics agent is screwing up.

149

:

The organic is not performing

the way that you think it is.

150

:

Your CRM is not true.

151

:

we're just constantly here's a problem.

152

:

Here's a problem.

153

:

Here's a problem.

154

:

Here's a problem.

155

:

And then clients fire us.

156

:

And you're like, okay, you didn't want

the canary in the coal mine, which part

157

:

of me is I was telling you the truth.

158

:

But then the other part of me is I get it.

159

:

It's exactly what you're saying.

160

:

They're like, look, I don't want somebody

to tell me about all the problems I have.

161

:

I want somebody who comes in

and provides me the solution.

162

:

And it reminds me of that meme.

163

:

Of the two kissing booths.

164

:

And one of them says inconvenient truths.

165

:

And the other one says kind lies.

166

:

And there's got a great big, strong

line up against the kind lies.

167

:

Like you almost want to go back

to being one of the agencies

168

:

that just sells PMAX ROAS.

169

:

It's I will rush the ROAS

game using performance max.

170

:

Nobody's going to be better.

171

:

Give me your money.

172

:

And dude, those agencies are

actually doing really well.

173

:

It's so nobody realizes

that they're lying.

174

:

I don't even think some of

them know they're lying.

175

:

They're just like, I press this

magic button and ROAS goes up.

176

:

We're geniuses, So it's true.

177

:

We reframe.

178

:

it's totally true.

179

:

And I think, I was on a sales call, I

think it was about like a month ago.

180

:

And I think we were one out

of, 18 agencies that this

181

:

person was going through.

182

:

Yeah.

183

:

And, we were the only one that promoted

global numbers out of all that.

184

:

And everyone else was talking row as

everyone else was pushing, standard

185

:

performance max and advantage plus

and not looking at the correlations,

186

:

just going for as much as possible.

187

:

And it's sure, that might work for a

little bit, but if you look at it, Strap

188

:

laid it out from a long period of time.

189

:

It's eventually going to eat down

and your business is going to be

190

:

like, what the heck's going on?

191

:

And you're not really going to look at it

from the marketing standpoint, because the

192

:

rows is doing great because you're going

to say, oh no, it's the marketing's great.

193

:

It's got to be my product.

194

:

It's got to be something else.

195

:

But the reality is, no, it's.

196

:

It's a combination of everything.

197

:

Like your marketing needs that focus.

198

:

That's not just on ROAS, like you

can't live off of LTV forever.

199

:

You have to go and find new people.

200

:

Like it's just, growing a business,

you got to find new customers.

201

:

There's no way around it.

202

:

so our response is to go full funnel.

203

:

And at solutions eight now, and you've

probably maybe seen some hints of this

204

:

already, but we are, we're doing other

channels or we're doing meta, but

205

:

we're also doing Amazon and we're doing

tabula and outbrain and we're doing

206

:

CRM and we're doing CRO and we're doing

landing pages and we're doing everything

207

:

that all the agencies are doing.

208

:

Because we have to if we don't

have the ability to influence the

209

:

global picture like you're saying,

so you can't sell global numbers.

210

:

I guess this is what we found out here.

211

:

We do.

212

:

It's come full circle.

213

:

You can't sell global numbers

without selling global services.

214

:

Yeah, when we could sell Google numbers,

we sold Google services and we did great

215

:

and we exploded and everybody loved us.

216

:

But then as the narrative changed

and we had to sell global numbers.

217

:

you have to.

218

:

It's like a stick.

219

:

If you pick up one end, you

have to pick up the other.

220

:

So here we are a full funnel agency

for the first time in 10 years.

221

:

we've contracted and now

we're expanding again.

222

:

it's like an hourglass.

223

:

It's like an eight.

224

:

Oh my goodness.

225

:

Kate, there you go.

226

:

It's meant to be.

227

:

Yeah.

228

:

It's meant to be it's inception.

229

:

you know what it reminds me of?

230

:

I'm a lot older than you, so

you might not remember this.

231

:

Did you ever have a Lightbrite as a kid?

232

:

Lightbrite, okay, I gotta look this up.

233

:

I'm gonna, I'll Google it so I can

bring up the image on screen share.

234

:

Oh yes, I did not have one, but yes.

235

:

that's why I'm embarrassed, I

should have known what that was.

236

:

No, so here's, this is like

before Gameboys and shit,

237

:

old people had Lightbrites.

238

:

the thing about where digital marketing

is Google Ads is one light, It's one

239

:

peg, and so we're going to this little

light, bright, we're putting one peg and

240

:

then met as one peg and organics, But

we can't tell the full picture anymore.

241

:

And you used to be able to, with

Google all by itself, stand alone.

242

:

You used to be able to actually

paint an entire picture.

243

:

Start to finish end to end, from the top

of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel,

244

:

the beginning of the journey to the end

of the journey, you had a full picture.

245

:

it just atrophied, the top of the

funnel atrophied first, the beginning

246

:

of the journey atrophied first.

247

:

And now we're like relegated to

this little teeny tiny corner.

248

:

And we don't even have the full corner.

249

:

We just have this one little peg and

we get to tell one part of the story.

250

:

And so now we're being forced to zoom out.

251

:

And I gotta be honest, it's so humbling.

252

:

It's so humbling to go from, Oh,

we had a months long wait list I

253

:

still think we are the best

Google ads agency on the planet.

254

:

And now it's Oh, we have to

reinvent ourselves entirely

255

:

because technology's changed.

256

:

The market's changed.

257

:

The customer's changed,

the economy's changed.

258

:

And what we were offering, even

though we were the best, Blockbuster

259

:

was the best video rental agency.

260

:

It doesn't mean that

they're around anymore.

261

:

Yeah.

262

:

I wouldn't put us with Blockbuster.

263

:

I don't think so either, it's just one

of those really interesting lessons

264

:

from an entrepreneurial perspective.

265

:

Yeah.

266

:

And I think the benefit we have,

because I'm seeing a lot of

267

:

little agencies just burn up.

268

:

The benefit we have is we're big

enough to weather a storm, thank God.

269

:

especially given the fact that

we've been acquired, they have deep

270

:

enough pockets to help us figure

out what the evolution looks like.

271

:

But if you're a small agency, and

you're experiencing what we're

272

:

experiencing, which, we've got a

mastermind you versus Google, by

273

:

the way, go join you versus Google.

274

:

It's amazing for what you get.

275

:

It's unbelievable.

276

:

I think it's the most cost effective

mastermind I've ever seen put together.

277

:

It's really phenomenal, amazing members.

278

:

And everybody in there is

saying the exact same thing.

279

:

dude, I'm just seeing we had a

conversation a week or two ago

280

:

where one of our mastermind members

who's also in driven is I've never

281

:

seen a dryer pipeline in my life.

282

:

And that's about the environment that

we're contending with at the moment.

283

:

I think the pendulum swings back, but not

before a bunch of little agencies go away.

284

:

And that's what's really interesting too,

is you lose 30 percent of the market.

285

:

So you lose 80 percent of the competition.

286

:

So now there's this big

market to be scooped up.

287

:

So if you're listening to this,

Some of my advice just again, as a

288

:

guy who's been through a couple of

cycles now is just hang on, don't

289

:

overextend, don't get desperate, don't

do anything stupid, just hang on,

290

:

but realize that we have to do more.

291

:

We have to offer more.

292

:

Another thing that you said before

is the promises have to be bolder.

293

:

Like you actually have to know what you're

doing and you have to commit to some type

294

:

of like output, some result, let's say.

295

:

No, definitely.

296

:

I think.

297

:

that's, it's the market demands it.

298

:

at the end of the day, like you

get a fall with the market once.

299

:

And so if the market wants more emphasis

on, Hey, if you're going to give me global

300

:

numbers, I need to make sure it's you kind

of thing, then that's what we got to do.

301

:

it's one of those things to where it

seems like there's the beginning point,

302

:

like you were saying, and then the end

point or the next step in the process of,

303

:

okay, we start, you see all those beginner

agencies, oh, I'm focused on Google.

304

:

I'm focused on, row as in app numbers.

305

:

Yeah.

306

:

Sweet.

307

:

Oh no, my business dropping off.

308

:

my average retention rate is six

months, three months, whatever it is.

309

:

And it's if you're growing a

business, your average retention

310

:

rate should be way higher than that.

311

:

Cause at that point, you're just looking

at, okay, I held onto the business

312

:

this long and then they went away.

313

:

And it's like, why did they go away?

314

:

Dude, you know what our retention

was when we sold 16 months.

315

:

Yeah.

316

:

That's insane.

317

:

And that's for one channel too.

318

:

Yeah.

319

:

Average agency retention is three months.

320

:

According to HubSpot, we were at 16.

321

:

the thing we did, man, is God, did

we love on people, like we just

322

:

really treated customers really well.

323

:

And I think that agencies

lost that a little bit.

324

:

Everybody got real spoiled.

325

:

It was the land of milk and honey.

326

:

It was easy to bring customers on.

327

:

So most agencies were

just sales organizations.

328

:

Yeah.

329

:

Fulfillment was half assed, outsourced.

330

:

and that'll bite you quick and

you can outsource fulfillment

331

:

and still a great job.

332

:

this is an open air conspiracy, but

we didn't do our own Google ads for

333

:

for a longer period of time than we

did, but we worked with a great agency

334

:

and we managed them really well.

335

:

but man, what a great point

you just made about retention.

336

:

And that's true for all businesses.

337

:

If you're not retaining past the

industry benchmark, you're built to fail.

338

:

It's forced obsolescence.

339

:

and it's leveraging the uneducated

portion of market that just knows,

340

:

Hey, this is the common thing to track.

341

:

Let's just lean into that.

342

:

And then you realize, oh, wait,

this doesn't work anymore.

343

:

And then who knows when you're going

to be able to say, okay, no, I need to

344

:

not focus on this and to focus on this.

345

:

Instead.

346

:

This is how you grow businesses.

347

:

it's like John's been saying before

the, row as versus the end set of

348

:

things, long term versus short term.

349

:

Our short term versus long term.

350

:

In terms of, growing a business, right?

351

:

We're thinking of this from a year

over year perspective, not a hold on

352

:

to the client for another 3 months.

353

:

let's see if we can, hold on to them.

354

:

And then the business size off.

355

:

It's what was that for?

356

:

yeah, exactly.

357

:

Blood from a turnip.

358

:

That's the other thing too,

is just the responsibility.

359

:

We have entrepreneurs

to tell them the truth.

360

:

Yeah, there's some people and

we've done this a lot where it's

361

:

like you don't need to hire us.

362

:

You need to turn this off.

363

:

are hemorrhaging money right now.

364

:

I don't care that Google

says you're getting a ROAS.

365

:

Because you're not and John's

been able to prove that.

366

:

there was a large client that

was going for massive raise.

367

:

It was like their series B or some shit.

368

:

I don't know.

369

:

I don't know what those words mean.

370

:

I'm not, I went to public.

371

:

Fancy words, fancy business,

fancy business words.

372

:

They're doing some equity

raise with M and a people.

373

:

And the executive of the company

said, Hey, I need to show this.

374

:

you don't, the start I'm talking about.

375

:

I need to show an

increase in profitability.

376

:

And John's Oh great.

377

:

Turn this off.

378

:

And the guy's what?

379

:

And he goes, dude, I've been telling

you guys to turn this off for the last

380

:

18 months, and I don't know what it

was, but it was like their brand camp.

381

:

I'll just to use easy terms, it

was like their brand campaign.

382

:

They're spending six figures on

it a month because it showed.

383

:

Positive results that their board liked.

384

:

And John's that's not producing anything.

385

:

And the guy did, trusted him and it

was a bold move and he turns it off

386

:

and sure enough, costs went down.

387

:

Profits stay the same margins increased

and they got whatever they needed to do.

388

:

But it was just one of those

examples of, the dude was

389

:

pissed at himself and his team.

390

:

He's and we've been doing this for how

long, it's and John's nobody listens

391

:

to me until it's time to listen to me.

392

:

So John Moran.

393

:

It's true though.

394

:

it's one of those things to where you,

have access to all these accounts and you

395

:

learn like what the whole market is doing

and what works and what doesn't work.

396

:

And I think it's one of those things

to where it's like, you got to

397

:

leverage that as much as possible.

398

:

If it works in another

account, try it in this.

399

:

And how does that,

interact with one another?

400

:

Google ads has gotten easier

in the last two, three years.

401

:

I think that Google ads

has stayed the same.

402

:

I think that the marketing

in general has gotten harder.

403

:

I think that's what it's come down to.

404

:

Like the tools themselves have

stayed relatively the same.

405

:

I like attribution obviously has

gotten harder, but that's been

406

:

the lean of you just learn more.

407

:

And so there's more to worry about.

408

:

It's really what comes down to.

409

:

and I think that at least for

me personally, that's been my

410

:

biggest, developing processes.

411

:

Understanding when to push, when

to pull for certain metrics that

412

:

the client needs to be profitable.

413

:

and using Google ads is one of those

things where it's like, we already

414

:

know how this functions, but how

does this impact everything else?

415

:

that's a truth that I don't

think we've delved deep enough

416

:

into like private equity.

417

:

these Silicon Valley guys, these Stanford

graduate children that come out and

418

:

just crack the code on every business.

419

:

Ecom, even five years ago, but Ecom 10

years ago, there was a ton of margin.

420

:

You can make a bunch of mistakes.

421

:

You can still make, you could drop

ship shit and still make money.

422

:

But then you had these Silicon Valley

Stanford tech whiz nerd, they just

423

:

came out and they're like, and then

they built the triple PhD blueprint

424

:

for exactly how this shit works.

425

:

And then it just commoditized everything.

426

:

There's no margin.

427

:

Yeah.

428

:

Because they've perfected it.

429

:

And so I think that you're right.

430

:

Marketing got harder.

431

:

And at the same time, businesses

got way more sophisticated.

432

:

it's been really, you

gotta be good at this shit.

433

:

You have to have a good offer.

434

:

You have to have a good business.

435

:

You have to have good fulfillment,

good customer service.

436

:

Like you just have to be good.

437

:

And that wasn't true.

438

:

The sure shit wasn't true 10 years ago.

439

:

Really wasn't true five years ago.

440

:

There was still a lot of meat

on the bone three years ago.

441

:

But man, you have to be good.

442

:

Yeah.

443

:

And I'm glad for it because that

puts us in a better position.

444

:

Like you were saying, if the

majority of the market falls off.

445

:

You just hold on, like you were

saying earlier and you'll survive

446

:

it and then you get better from it.

447

:

what sucks about it for us though,

is our clients have to be good too.

448

:

there used to be a hundred plumbers

in every city and now there's five.

449

:

There's a hundred florists in

every city and now there's five.

450

:

that's the commoditization of the market.

451

:

it's the product distribution.

452

:

It's the survival of the fittest.

453

:

And it's always going to naturally

turn into this kind of, it's what

454

:

happened with, wireless and, telecom.

455

:

it's just interesting the way that

works and the way that it manifests.

456

:

all that to say, we're zooming out.

457

:

Solutions Aid is zooming out.

458

:

We're reinventing ourselves.

459

:

We're offering an insane

level of services.

460

:

To be honest with you, it'll never

be cheaper than it is right now

461

:

because we're figuring it out.

462

:

So there's a sales pitch here.

463

:

Bad end of the sales pitch.

464

:

You're a guinea pig.

465

:

While we know how to do all this shit

because everybody knows how to do

466

:

all this shit, A, and then B, we've

already been doing it even though

467

:

we haven't said we've been doing it.

468

:

We don't know how to service it.

469

:

So you're a guinea pig as we figure out

the processes and the client management

470

:

and the approach, but you get way more

than anybody's willing to give you for way

471

:

less than anybody's ever going to charge.

472

:

And you'll be grandfathered

into that pricing.

473

:

So if you don't want to be

a guinea pig, don't hire us.

474

:

But if you like the idea of, and

that's the other thing too, is

475

:

it's going to be all hands on deck.

476

:

We're going to throw way more

just in terms of human capital.

477

:

And then of course, AI, because

the people that bought us have.

478

:

a billion dollar

valuation and a ton of ai.

479

:

we've got the firepower to crack

the code and really figure this out.

480

:

so my agency brethren, who I love

dear and deeply, even though you're

481

:

competitors, hang in there or don't.

482

:

And here's the advice

that I'll give, really.

483

:

I'll tell you what I did wrong, dude.

484

:

In my first go round, I tell this

story a lot, I had a business that went

485

:

under when the banking world collapsed

'cause I was building banking software.

486

:

And imagine having a fleet of ships.

487

:

That's what a business is in a lot of

ways, You have clients and employees

488

:

and strategic partners or whatever.

489

:

And if you try to keep the entire fleet of

float for too long, the whole thing goes

490

:

under, it might make a lot of sense to

just pick the one best boat in Alamo up.

491

:

And so don't overextend yourself.

492

:

Don't spend money you don't have.

493

:

Don't take out loans.

494

:

it's okay to wave the white flag.

495

:

It's okay to quit now.

496

:

It's okay to go get a job.

497

:

It's okay to galvanize yourself.

498

:

It's okay to pay rent.

499

:

And then wait this out.

500

:

If you don't have the financial

backing to ride out a storm,

501

:

please don't put yourself at risk.

502

:

I ended up.

503

:

Despondent dude, like just no

and some people like, Oh, I

504

:

have no money for Starbucks.

505

:

I'm like, no, I had no money

for anything digging under my

506

:

car seat for the dollar 50.

507

:

I could spend on a Costco hot

dog, not able to pay rent.

508

:

I lived in a heroin den because I had

somebody I loved that was a drug addict.

509

:

Like it was the worst time of my life.

510

:

And it's because I just kept

thinking like, roll the dice

511

:

again, it's going to get better.

512

:

So I hope that didn't get too

touchy feely, but I, hopefully some

513

:

people can learn from my mistakes.

514

:

if you do see an end in sight in terms of

your runway, it's all right to opt out.

515

:

Now you can always come back.

516

:

That's the best part about the agency

world is startup costs are low.

517

:

So there's no shame in crying uncle,

especially if you have payroll to make,

518

:

thank God I never missed a payroll, you

have a sacred responsibility to make

519

:

sure that people work for you paid.

520

:

last words.

521

:

Do you what advice do you have

for clients agency owners?

522

:

All that?

523

:

I would say, just follow the market.

524

:

Honestly, look for what

other companies are offering.

525

:

Try to understand why they're

offering it and then build

526

:

your own offering from that.

527

:

Don't just copy paste what

other people are offering.

528

:

Look at it from the perspective

of what does the client want?

529

:

What are they getting?

530

:

Why is this offer showing up more?

531

:

And then build your own offer from that.

532

:

I really like that.

533

:

It's don't reinvent the wheel.

534

:

Let the market lead.

535

:

This is awesome, dude.

536

:

You're awesome.

537

:

Kaden Thompson, one of the best and

the brightest in the whole wide world.

538

:

YouTube channel, comment, subscribe.

About the Podcast

Show artwork for The Google Ads Podcast
The Google Ads Podcast
PPC Strategies, Tutorials, Tips, Tricks, Hacks, and Best Practices