Ever wonder what it's like to bootstrap a multi-million dollar media agency?
Ross Hudgens, the founder of Siege Media, spent years building his media agency to over $12 million in annual revenue.
Here's how he did it:
Ross Hudgens, the founder of Siege Media, spent years building his media agency to over $12 million in annual revenue.
Here's how he did it:
Few founders are truly prepared for success.
It’s such a long slog to the top, it’s easy to lose track of how important you’ve become to your teams, customers, and partners.
It’s such a long slog to the top, it’s easy to lose track of how important you’ve become to your teams, customers, and partners.
Ross Hudgens (@RossHudgens), the founder of Siege Media (@siegemedia), spent years building his media agency to over $12 million in annual revenue.
A stratospheric climb by any standard – but, he discovered, into thin and empty air.
A stratospheric climb by any standard – but, he discovered, into thin and empty air.
Living the cliche, Ross clung on to too much for too long. His story of building one of Inc Magazine’s 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies (five years in a row) is typical of many founders who’ve struggled to fire themselves from roles they’ve always done alone.
Today, Siege Media employs over 100 people, has helped household names like Tripadvisor, Airbnb, and Casper boost traffic, and has established relationships with some of the biggest publications in the world, including Time, Fortune, and Entrepreneur.
What does this mean for the battle-scarred founder?
Breathing room.
Breathing room.
Ross started a niche and then widened his expertise.
After graduating in Business Marketing and Creative Writing from Chapman University in Orange County, he landed his first job scanning documents for a pharmaceutical company.
After graduating in Business Marketing and Creative Writing from Chapman University in Orange County, he landed his first job scanning documents for a pharmaceutical company.
The founder sensed there was something special about him and gave Ross a shot at flexing his marketing muscles in the real world.
From there, he landed a role at Sujan Patel’s SEO agency (@sujanpatel) where he witnessed first-hand how the founder built businesses from nothing.
From there, he landed a role at Sujan Patel’s SEO agency (@sujanpatel) where he witnessed first-hand how the founder built businesses from nothing.
The Google Penguin Update marked another change in Ross’ career trajectory.
Link building and keyword stuffing was no longer relevant.
What mattered was producing high-quality content. Being a skilled writer, Ross would flourish under the emerging SEO paradigm.
Link building and keyword stuffing was no longer relevant.
What mattered was producing high-quality content. Being a skilled writer, Ross would flourish under the emerging SEO paradigm.
In the early days of his agency, Ross sometimes had to sleep at the airport (using a bag as a pillow) to catch an early morning flight to a client meeting.
“I made an announcement on my blog and got my first client,” Ross said.
“I made an announcement on my blog and got my first client,” Ross said.
“I knew it wasn’t enough to feed me, but I started marketing myself more with this free time I had and eventually hit a threshold where I could pay someone.
Then the business kept coming in so I hired a second person, and a third, and that’s how Siege started.”
Then the business kept coming in so I hired a second person, and a third, and that’s how Siege started.”
Media agencies like Siege often struggle to balance people with incoming work.
It’s a fluctuating business model where contracts end and new ones must be renegotiated or new clients found to replace them.
It’s a fluctuating business model where contracts end and new ones must be renegotiated or new clients found to replace them.
Media agencies are as plentiful as the stars, which makes you wonder: How did Ross manage to attract so many customers?
“Many service businesses focus too much on marketing and ironically their client service is not that great because they haven’t looked inward,” Ross said.
“Many service businesses focus too much on marketing and ironically their client service is not that great because they haven’t looked inward,” Ross said.
“We’ve elevated client service to a whole new level, which helps set us apart. We hired a VP of learning and development and have created over 100 docs and videos which we also sell externally as a training program.”
Want the full story on how @siegemedia scaled to $12 million in revenue? Read the full story on @Bootstraprs. bootstrappers.com/why-entreprene…
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