How I Grew My Marketing and Consulting Business to $500K+/Month
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
My name is Alex Albarran. I’m a Christian and online entrepreneur.
I started my own online marketing & business consulting company nearly 7 years ago.
My company is currently achieving a gross revenue of $541k per month. This figure is a monthly average calculated over the last quarter. I want to emphasize that while I've been fortunate to achieve these results, they may not be typical for everyone.
I’ve grown our revenue over 3X in the past 15 months, and our team has grown to 8 members total.
My mission is to help entrepreneurs build their dream businesses faster. I help my clients close the gap between where they are, and where they want to be in their business, life, and wealth.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I was always interested in marketing & sales, even at a young age. My dad always told me growing up that without marketing & sales, every company would cease to exist.
My first business endeavor was at 12 years old. I started buying and selling Jordan sneakers. That experience gave me a taste for learning how to generate interest in products/services, negotiating, and closing deals.
My first few clients were members of my church who wanted help with marketing their businesses online. They were members of an entrepreneur group at the church that I was attending.
My pastor even called me a “Young Tony Robbins” during a live sermon in front of thousands of people, when he was giving me a testimonial.
Overall, my clients were mostly business owners in the professional services field who wanted to generate predictable growth in leads & revenue. Financial advisors, experts, consultants, attorneys, fractional CFO’s + more.
I was able to help them quickly launch & scale online marketing campaigns to drive quality clients to their business. While also building their brands on YouTube.
When I started my business, I had $1,000 to my name. I come from an average, lower-middle-class family, so I didn’t have a family that would financially back my business startup costs.
At the time, I owned a 2007 Mazda Speed 6 (stick shift!). I worked throughout high school to save money and buy that car. To launch my business and invest in marketing, I decided to sell that car to fund my growth.
I sold the car for $5,000. I spent as LITTLE as possible on living expenses. No, going out to eat, no vacations/traveling.
I was SERIOUS about making a massive impact and changing my life.
It was extremely difficult, and I missed out on some great experiences/trips that friends went on, but that’s what was required to grow my business.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
At first, I was more of a general marketing firm. Think of it like a Cheesecake factory marketing company. My mission was to help people, but I was trying to help EVERYONE.
My services were both traditional marketing services, as well as coaching. I did pay advertising, branding, YouTube, e-commerce, etc.
Over time, I was able to identify my ideal client, and deliver the exact services that they were looking for.
One of the best things I’ve ever done with my business is LISTEN. I’ve listened intently to my client's feedback and thoughts on my offers/services since day 1.
I’ve slowly but surely evolved my services to meet and exceed my client's needs.
The feedback from my clients was that they enjoyed the personalized, 1-on-1 aspect of my program. They had previously spent money on online courses that offered videos/information, but no hands-on help to implement the strategies necessary to grow their business.
My ideal client is serious and ready to completely transform their business, life, and money.
They have a long-term time horizon to achieve their big goals, are focused on growth/expansion rather than the average “scarcity” mindset, and are willing to invest in making their dreams become reality.
As an example, take my client Christy Vann.
She came to me around 1 year ago, with no business, no clients but a HUGE vision to build a financial coaching business. And the hunger to implement my game plan and strategies.
Christy was TIRED of not reaching her true potential, living in scarcity, and at 51 years old decided to take a leap of faith by working with me.
Here was my strategy with Christy:
- Coaching calls 3-4 times per month for 1 year
- Taught her how to make YouTube Videos
- Strategy for growing the YouTube channel
- Creating landing pages/sales funnel
- Affiliate marketing
We developed every aspect of her business and she now makes $60,000 per month of INCOME!
She’s also grown her YouTube channel from 0 to 162,000+ subscribers and has helped thousands of people improve their finances. She’s well on her way to a multi 7-figure coaching business.
Christy will personally attest to how my 1-on-1 coaching helped her bridge the gap between where she was, and where she wanted to be in her business, wealth, and life.
While her results aren’t typical, it’s because her work ethic and dedication were extraordinary.
To make my business get off the ground, I spent 11-12 hours a day, 6-7 days per week working on the business.
Describe the process of launching the business.
It took me 4 months to find my first paying client outside of my network. It took a lot of rejection and persistence to get that first paying client.
As I mentioned earlier, I had $1000 to my name when I started the business. I then sold my $5,000 car to further fund my business.
To make my business get off the ground, I spent 11-12 hours a day, 6-7 days per week working on the business. That’s what was required for me to figure things out and achieve the growth that I needed.
My main focus during those 11-12 hour days was getting my name out there. I was doing everything I could to promote my business with a very limited budget. Cold email marketing, affiliate marketing, social media posts, + more.
The key was that I was resourceful. If there was a problem, I would not stop working until I figured out the solution.
Becoming “findable.” If people can’t find you or don’t know where to find you, then you can’t help them with your products/services.
Many entrepreneurs think they need a lot of money to launch their business, what they need is to focus on being resourceful, not their lack of financial resources.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Being authentic and genuine about who I am. I’m a believer and a man of Christian faith.
That’s my truth. Sharing that with my other beliefs and traits has attracted amazing and extremely high-quality clientele.
So many people nowadays are afraid to show their true character/beliefs, but being authentic will separate you from the pack.
I’ve also diversified my revenue streams. So many entrepreneurs have one way of getting new customers (usually word-of-mouth and referrals).
That’s like sitting on a stool that has one leg, if something happens to your 1 lead source… your business is going to be in rough shape.
Instead of relying on just referrals to generate customers, I now utilize:
- affiliate marketing with numerous partners,
- paid advertising on multiple social media platforms,
- and lead generation from my content on YouTube.
Recent video from my YouTube channel
Get as many different revenue streams and ways of getting clients as you can, it’s your best hedge against unforeseen changes in your business or the economy as a whole.
Everything is a funnel. Traffic, leads, and sales.
It is EXTREMELY simple but requires execution.
If you want 10 clients, you need 100 leads. If you need 100 leads, you need 800-1000 visitors to your website ( traffic ).
How do you get traffic? Using organic, paid, and affiliate sources.
The best organic marketing that you can do in 2024 is YouTube content.
It costs $0 to do, just time, effort, and consistency.
By building a YouTube channel, you will establish trust & credibility with your ideal clients. That will set you apart from the others in your industry.
I have a relatively small Youtube channel with nearly 1.1k subscribers, but my subscribers are very loyal and I also have gained a lot of exposure by being featured on other YouTube channels.
Some like Dr. Steve Turley, who has 1.18 Million subscribers.
That has massively impacted my business’s growth, as it gave me a huge audience to share my expertise and experience with.
It’s also given me much more credibility and trust with my prospective clients.
Going back to my earlier point in this interview, you must become FINDABLE.
If prospective customers can find a lot of information on you, your company, and what you do… they will automatically find you more credible than your competition.
My largest driver of growth was not relying on just one of those sources. Mixing all of these traffic sources led to a more consistent lead-flow, which led to more consistent client acquisition and revenue.
You always have to keep your “student” mindset, so you can keep learning and seeking the best strategies/tactics to continue growing your business.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Q3 of 2023 was our biggest quarter yet, we generated over $1,624,312.00 in gross revenue.
Our core offer to generate that revenue is a $30k program to help high-ticket entrepreneurs scale their marketing, leads, and revenue.
Having a scaleable, premium offer is an amazing tool for any business to grow revenue more efficiently.
Many businesses think they’re in the “Walmart business” (high volume, very low profit) when they should be in the “Nordstrom business” (medium/high volume, very high profit).
Don’t lead your marketing/offer with discounts and talk of being the most “affordable/cheap” is not going to attract premium clients who VALUE what you have to offer.
We have many referrals coming from existing clients who are introducing their family, friends, and clients to my program.
At this point, I am very selective over which clients are accepted into my program. I want to ensure that they are the perfect fit and are truly committed to reaching their potential.
The most important thing I look for in a client is if they have the right expectations about what’s possible, working with me.
Many people see other companies promoting unbelievable claims in terms of how much they can help them grow their business and think that is average/typical.
I tell every prospective client that they have to work extremely hard, be patient, and persistent, and have some luck to make their dreams a reality.
It’s taken me nearly 7 years to get where I’m at in my business, it may seem “overnight”, but that’s not the case.
I’m very grateful for my growth, but I’m still always looking for ways to improve our operations and diversify our revenue streams.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
My biggest lesson in starting my business is that you can NEVER be content.
You always have to keep your “student” mindset, so you can keep learning and seeking the best strategies/tactics to continue growing your business.
Many entrepreneurs have one great year of business and think they cracked the code. So they stop innovating, improving, and growing. Before they knew it, their revenue was down 65% and they lost all of their positive momentum.
With most businesses, I’ve found that the biggest thing stopping entrepreneurs from growing is their scarcity mindset.
They don’t realize how HUGE and accessible their ideal clients are, online. If you’re a CPA for an example, you can reach millions of people through online advertising and YouTube videos.
There are hundreds of millions of customers/clients out there, why can’t you get your piece of the pie?
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
I love clickfunnels! I’m a 2X winner of their 2 Comma Club award, they’re a great company.
My first Clickfunnels “2 Comma Club” award for generating multiple 7-figures with their software.
I also love Monday.com for managing client projects, my team, and overall business initiatives.
Squarespace is great for a basic but modern-looking website builder.
Signal is a great app for communicating with my team.
Convertkit is my go-to software for email marketing.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
Ego is the enemy.
Ego is the Enemy will teach you that people with a huge ego are successful in SPITE of their ego… not because of it. There is a big misconception that you NEED a huge ego to be successful, that’s simply not the case.
Having a huge ego means that you feel like you know it all, and don’t need help. I know a few people worth 9-10 figures, and they have almost no ego and are very down to earth.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Your family and friends love you… but their business advice is most likely terrible. Hard reality, but so many people let their family/friends' misguided “advice” limit their potential.
Especially taking advice from family members who have NEVER even owned a business… What makes them qualified to tell you that your business is a good or bad idea?
Usually, their advice is for you to stay safe and in your comfort zone. Because they never took a leap of faith or made their dream business happen themselves.
Remember this, anyone who is a truly self-made & successful individual would NEVER try to crush your dreams or tell you not to take risks.
Fastrack your growth by learning from others and/or having a coach to help you from Day 1.
So many people waste 10+ years of their time, trying to dabble and figure everything out on their own… usually due to EGO!
Interestingly enough, it took me longer to scale from 1 to 25 clients, compared to scaling from 25 to 200 clients. It took me the first 25 clients to find my niche/ideal client.
This is the point in any new business when it feels easy to quit.
The idea of entrepreneurship is so attractive, but the reality is ugly initially.
Too many people quit when they are still in the “newborn phase” of their business.
Similar to how many people go to the gym for a few months, they don't immediately get 6-pack abs, so they quit going and say “The gym doesn’t work for me”.
Entrepreneurship WORKS. You just need to be patient and give yourself time to evolve and improve.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Always looking to grow with great talent! Especially in the client operations field.
Contact me here: [email protected]
Where can we go to learn more?
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
