Case Study👉 How YOU Can Get $50K/Month From A Link Building Service

The Scott Max Newsletter

In Partnership with Important, Not Important

Hi 👋, this is the Scott Max newsletter. The soon-to-be-daily newsletter bringing you one step closer to your own thriving online business.

We analyze a wonderful, small, online business each week with a full breakdown of how it makes money, why it makes money, and its opportunities to grow. Below that, we give you the action steps to build a business like this to create freedom for yourself.

This is the best way to learn the tactics, skillset, and nuance of making money online.

Let’s get to the good stuff you'll see in this email:

• A business that offers link-building services to clients.

• The essential techniques that this business uses to generate $50k/Mo.

• A detailed guide on how to start and grow a business like this one.

But first, let me introduce our partner for this email,

Important, Not Important

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The What 🚀

An Agency That Helps Business Websites to Acquire High-quality Backlinks From Top Publications.

This business operates as an agency in the SEO niche and offers link-building services to websites looking for authentic backlinks from high-authority websites.

The agency pitches relevant reporters and journalists on HARO, helping clients to land powerful backlinks from publications like Forbes, HuffPost, New York Times and Metro among many others.

This agency also offers a content optimization service called Haro'fi, which involves optimizing the client's website content for improved search engine rankings and to meet the HARO standard. The service is offered for a fee.

Finally, this business provides a paid HARO Masterclass that equips website owners with the skills to effectively pitch journalists, using the proven roadmap that the agency implements.

The How 💻

There are three major income sources for the agency we are analysing today. The first is from the link-building service.

The agency offers pricing plans for link-building services based on the number of links it delivers, typically between 5 to 20 links. The pricing plans are shown below.

Once a plan has been selected, clients are required to complete a survey that provides crucial background information about their niche and expertise.

With this information, the agency conducts extensive searches on HARO to identify queries that match the client's unique niche.

In no time, clients can expect a mention from a large publication.

The agency’s website is designed to highlight the numerous features and benefits of the company's link-building service, enabling clients to see the value they are getting for their investment.

The second source of income is from the Haro’fi service which includes; website content creation & optimization, sourcing expert authorship, publishing the newly created content and pitching journalists on HARO.

For $2,000, a client’s website gets a new profile and about page as well as new content with expert authorship which is the HARO standard.

The third source of income is from the HARO Masterclass which is available for a one-time fee of $180.

This masterclass contains an introduction to HARO, how the platform works, how to pitch to a journalist on HARO, auto-loaded pitching templates, as well as how to execute organised pitching as an agency.

Next, we’ll take a look at the key strategies behind this agency’s success.

The Why 🔥

Below are the major techniques that have contributed to the success of the business we are analyzing today.

Providing Varied Services:

By offering a range of services, this agency can meet the diverse needs of its clients.

Some clients may be looking for link-building services, while others may be looking to optimize their website content or learn how to use HARO effectively.

Either way, offering multiple services creates cross-selling opportunities, builds brand strength, and differentiates the agency from competitors.

Influencer Marketing:

By offering link-building services to other well-established business websites, this agency has built credibility and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Working with influencers has also effectively put the agency’s services in front of other businesses’ audiences, helping them to reach more clients and earn more.

In addition, the agency’s website features testimonials from some of the influencers that have experienced its services, reinforcing its reputation and establishing itself as a trustworthy and reliable service provider.

Positive User Experience:

The website features a consistent design aesthetic with a pleasant visual appearance.

It is intuitive, designed with a logical flow and clear labelling, making it easy for users to navigate and get all the information they need about the agency’s services.

At the top of the home page is an explainer video that states the services and benefits of the agency, helping potential clients to engage with the website and build trust in the business.

Also, the benefits and details of every service are properly listed in the web copy and CTAs are used to drive action among users.

Landing Page Optimization:

The HARO masterclass landing page is user-friendly, provides a detailed breakdown of what potential users can expect from the class and effectively highlights the benefits of the class.

It also features an easy checkout process with PayPal and Mastercard or Visa credit card payment options.

Effective Use of Offers, Bonuses and Freebies:

This agency attracts signups for its mailing list by handing out exclusive offers to visitors through a pop-up that displays less than a minute after visiting the page.

The masterclass also offers a good number of bonuses such as free swipe files, pitching templates, a database of great HARO websites and a discount on the link-building service.

This strategy encourages repeat customers, builds brand loyalty among clients and differentiates the agency from competitors.

Social Proof:

In addition to the influencer testimonials, the agency also features a good number of customer feedback on its website, helping to increase conversions and customer loyalty.

In fact, a study from Hubspot shows that 88% of consumers trust user reviews as much as personal recommendations and this agency leverages that to its own benefit.

The Opportunities 🔥🔥🔥

Excellent services, positive feedback, and a good reputation are only a few things that define the business we analyzed today.

However, adopting the following techniques will take the agency to the moon;

• Implement SEO Strategies:

Even though this agency helps other websites gain backlinks and build better authority, its website could use a good boost to its backlink profile and domain rating.

An analysis of the agency’s website shows that it receives less than 100 monthly visits and its top pages drive very little traffic.

With proper keyword research, on-page optimization, high-quality content and backlinks, this website’s organic traffic should see some improvement over time.

• Leverage Social Media for Visibility:

This agency has social media profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and a Youtube channel.

However, its activity across these platforms is sporadic, with minimal engagement and no recent posts.

Adopting a social media strategy effectively promotes brand awareness, engages with clients, and drives more traffic to any website. Hence, it is a vital addition to this agency’s visibility strategy.

In addition, youtube can be used to host webinars, build a community and provide resources that will generate more leads for this agency.

• Develop An Effective Content Marketing Strategy:

A content marketing strategy that includes creating high-quality blog posts, whitepapers, e-books, and other types of content that are optimized for search engines can boost this agency’s organic traffic.

This content marketing strategy will maximise the social media and mailing list efforts of the business as content can be repurposed and shared to drive more traffic to the website.

• Utilize Paid Advertising:

Paid advertising can be an effective way to drive traffic to this agency’s website and generate leads.

Using paid advertising platforms like Google AdWords, Youtube Ads, and Facebook Ads will help to target its audience and promote its services.

The freebies and bonuses that this agency offers on its website will be a great lead magnet for ads.

• Monitor and Analyze Website Performance:

Regularly monitoring and analyzing website performance can help identify areas for improvement.

This agency should use analytics tools to track website traffic, user behaviour, and conversion rates.

Doing so will help inform marketing and SEO strategies, determine if the CTAs in use are effective, and help the agency to benchmark against competitors.

The Big Reveal 👀

Say hello to Linkifi, the wonderful business we analyzed today founded by Nick Biggs and Chris Panteli.

After obtaining a degree in Economics, Chris took over his family’s fish and chips business which he ran for over 13 years.

He started a personal finance blog as well to understand SEO and used HARO to gain powerful backlinks for his own site.

When the pandemic slowed down Chris’ fish and chips business, he got an offer from Nick to pitch answers on HARO on behalf of Nick’s clients.

Seeing that this service had great potential, Chris and Nick teamed up to provide this service to top influencers for free and ended up keeping them as loyal returning customers!

The excellent service they rendered to these influencers helped them quickly gain a positive reputation and many useful referrals.

The Takeaway, What We Learned 🎓

Let’s take a look at the essential action points from today’s analysis;

• Offer Excellent Services: This helps to build a strong reputation for a business in its niche. It also helps to improve client retention and encourages positive reviews as well as referrals. Linkifi’s good reputation and positive feedback are clearly a result of the excellent services it renders.

• Offer Relevant Varied Services: A business can benefit greatly from this in terms of additional revenue generation, upsell opportunities, satisfying clients’ needs, and staying ahead of the competition. Linkifi leverages its varied services for these unique benefits.

• Opt for a User-friendly Website Design: A user-friendly website design can improve the overall user experience for website visitors. This can lead to increased engagement, reduced bounce rates, and increased time spent on the website.

• Implement SEO Strategies: By identifying and using relevant keywords in quality content, on-page optimization and acquiring high-quality backlinks, a website can improve its search engine rankings. Linkifi has low organic traffic and search engine rankings because it has yet to implement these SEO strategies and instead, focuses more on services.

• Utilize Social Proof: Displaying social proof like user reviews on a business website can help establish the business's credibility and position it as an expert in its niche. Linkifi shows off its reviews and is rewarded for its good reputation with referrals, despite its mediocre website metrics.

• Leverage Social Media: For increased brand awareness, to improve engagement with customers, and improve upon lead generation efforts. Linkifi can use social media to promote its blog content and ultimately drive traffic to its website.

• Paid Traffic Helps!: Paid traffic allows a business to target specific audiences ensuring that its ads are seen by people who are most likely to be interested in its services. Linkifi can potentially improve its lead generation and website traffic through paid ads.

Action Steps, From Day 0 To ∞ 👩‍💻

So, you will have your own website, hosting account, and a good grasp of digital marketing fundamentals if you are a student/graduate of Max Business School.

If not, get started here, it’s totally free and will teach you all the skills you need to build yourself a business (and the freedom it provides you) similar to the one we’ve analyzed today.

Day 0

You’ve read this email and love this particular business model and/or niche.

If not, we'll be sending more ideas in our next email or check our archive here.

If yes;

Consider if this is a business you can happily commit to for 3-5 years?

If yes;

Is it a customer/topic/day-to-day activity you can get passionate about?

If yes;

Would starting this business cause you to lose focus on the business that you are currently building?

If yes, don’t do it.

Focus on building what you have and take lessons from my analysis above to implement them into your current business.

But if not, then move to day 1.

Day 1

Determine Your Expertise: Take an honest inventory of your skills and experience in link building. If you lack expertise in certain areas of link building, consider outsourcing those tasks to someone who is an expert. You can also take courses in link building to expand your knowledge or work with a mentor who can help guide you.

Identify Your Audience: Next, pinpoint the ideal businesses or industries you want to target with your link-building services. Consider factors such as the size of the market, the level of competition, and the potential demand for your services. You can use Ahrefs to find the search volume of certain keywords in your niche, indicating the demand and analyse your competitor’s metrics to see how they attract an audience.

Draft a Detailed Business Plan: Create a business plan that includes your mission statement, goals, financial projections, marketing strategy, and other important details. This will help you stay focused and organized as you launch and grow your agency.

Choose an Appropriate Business Name: Choose a name that reflects your brand and is easy for clients to remember and spell. Conduct a trademark search to make sure the name is available as a domain name and on social media platforms.

Obtain a Domain Name and Choose a Hosting Provider: Purchase a domain name that is the same as your business name and establish a hosting account with a reliable provider such as DreamHost. This will enable you to create a website and host it on the Internet.

Initiate the Website-Building Process: Build a website that reflects your brand, showcases your services, and is easy to navigate. Consider using a website builder like WordPress to simplify the process. Module 1 of our course provides everything you need to create your website from scratch, even if you have no prior experience in website design.

Establish a Social Media Presence: Set up social media accounts for your agency on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Use these accounts to promote your services and engage with potential clients. Agora Pulse is one of the best programs for managing your company's social networks.

Day 2

Define Your Link-building Services: To develop top-notch link-building services, you need to identify the types of link-building services you will offer, such as guest blogging, broken link building, or resource page link building. Decide on the pricing structure and the deliverables for each service.

Craft a Unique Value Proposition: Identify the link-building services offered by your competitors, and analyze their pricing, deliverables, and customer reviews. Use the insights to develop a distinctive feature that differentiates your link-building services from your competitors.

Conduct Keyword Research: Do this to identify the most relevant and profitable keywords for your business. This will help you develop a content strategy that aligns with your target audience's search intent and improves your chances of ranking higher on search engines. Use Frase for question research, AI-generated content briefs, and lots more.

Formulate a Content and Marketing Strategy: Use content marketing, social media, and email marketing to attract and engage with your target audience. Implement a content strategy that features blog posts, infographics, and videos, and focus on addressing your audience's pain points.

Create High-quality Content: Start creating high-quality content that aligns with your content strategy. Ensure that your content is well-researched, engaging, and optimized for search engines. Use on-page optimization techniques, such as including relevant keywords, internal linking, and using descriptive headings.

Optimize Your Website for Search Engines: Optimize your website for better search engine rankings through technical SEO and content SEO. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, has fast loading speeds, and is easy to navigate. Use schema markup to enhance your website's appearance in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Day 3 to ∞

Create a Sales Process: Create a sales process that includes lead generation, prospecting, qualification, and closing. Use marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Monday.com to streamline your sales process.

Provide Exceptional Customer Service: Provide exceptional customer service to your clients by being responsive, transparent, and proactive. Use feedback and reviews to improve your services and enhance client satisfaction.

Monitor and Organize Your Content: Establish a content calendar to organize your content creation and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality content. Use analytics tools to track the effectiveness of your content and adjust your strategy as needed.

Develop a Varied Offerings Strategy: You can offer a mix of link-building services to cater to different client needs. Offer custom link-building packages that align with the client's budget and objectives. Include add-on services such as content creation and technical SEO to enhance the value proposition.

Review Outcomes and Revise Plans: Evaluate the performance of your link-building agency and reassess your strategies based on customer input and changing market trends. Use analytics tools like Deep Crawl to track your website's performance, such as traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates.

Build and Nurture a Community: To enhance trust and brand awareness. Use social media and other online platforms to engage with your audience, respond to their questions and comments, and build relationships with them.

Collaborate with Influencers and Partners: To expand your reach, build credibility, and enhance your brand awareness. Create co-branded content, host events, and promote each other's content. Also, stay updated with industry trends and news through relevant sources and online communities. Use the insights to optimize your content strategy and stay ahead of the competition.

Before You Go 👋

Thank you for reading.

In my next email, I’ll have another business breakdown for you.

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Bye for now,

Scott Max