BI 338: Secrets to Growing a Successful Service Business in Mexico

On the show with me today is Mike Begg, founder of AmzAdvisors.com; an Amazon brand management agency located in Guadalajara, MX.

Mike's agency is currently working with approximately 50 different brands and the initial part of our interview is focused on asking Mike to explain how they attracted their clients. Content marketing and cold email both play a significant role in their marketing and lead generation, and when you listen to this interview, you are going to hear Mike explain the details of the exact tactics they are using.

In the second half of the interview, Mike and I dove into the topic of living and working in Mexico, and by all accounts, it seems like a pretty decent idea. Talent is abundant, labor costs are a fraction of the US, and life in Guadalajara sounds pretty enjoyable!

Bottom line; if you are running a digital agency of any kind, you are going to get a great deal of value out of listening to this episode!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/338...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Episode Highlights

[04:15] — About AMZ Advisers

AMZ Advisers is an Amazon brand management agency based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
They help brands and manufacturers increase their on Amazon by creating a marketing strategy that covers Amazon SEO and on- and off-platform advertising and traffic.

[06:00] — How AMZ Advisers attracts clients

Mike saw the need for them to build authority.
They regarded themselves as an individual contractor in UpWork, a website for freelancers.
Their team created as much content as possible—from articles to answering queries, talking about specific features on the Amazon platform.
They worked their way up and now have 20,000 unique visitors per month on their website.

[07:41] — Finding and closing leads

They have lesser leads on Upwork because people from the platform invest small. Many of their clients are from big multibillion companies.
Majority of the leads they close come from their website and from cold emails.

[12:18] — Content creation as a marketing strategy

They started with blog articles because it was less challenging than doing video content. The company gradually moved to do video content.
Their videos feature and interview eCommerce experts and are maximized through breaking each question down into separate videos.
These videos also provide new topics and ideas for more blog posts on their website.
To expand their audience, Mike also writes for other business platforms. These secondary sites are used to link specific content back to their website.

[14:56] — Selecting keywords

They spend a lot of time doing keyword research and competitor keyword research.
Looking at what their competitors are writing about enables them to improve their own content and make changes where necessary.

[18:26] — Updating your content

They go through their website every six months to audit content and monitor performance.
Their posts are updated for recency. Articles that don’t generate traffic are unpublished.

[25:36] — On content promotion and distribution

Content creation has two challenges: first is creating content and the other is distributing it.
Social media, partnerships, blog exchanges, and weekly newsletters are a few good ways to reach people.
For the services they offer, Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube have been effective platforms for distribution and promotion.
Video is more effective than written content.

[25:36] — Building links

Build more networks through outreach.
It is important to write the best content for your website. But writing good content for other websites that rank well may also be an opportunity to make people notice your brand.

[36:16] — Working with and across cultures

Mike has experience working with diverse teams with different cultures. This includes Asians, Americans, and Mexicans.
They initially worked with freelancers but realized that it would be more cost-effective to hire and bring his Mexican team in-house.
Some challenges in working with Asian freelancers include timezone and language differences.
They are focusing on hiring more people from Guadalajara. He noted that they are more productive than the American employees they had in the past.

[43:30] — Life in Mexico

Health care and insurance is cheaper.
In the short term, Mike does not see himself moving back to the US.
Guadalajara is a very diverse place. It is a melting pot of different cultures.