Client Success Story: What Mark Webster Did to Grow His Successful Business

27 June, 2019
Bean Ninjas

Bean Ninjas

5 minutes
Mark Webster

Want some helpful tips regarding growing your business? Who wouldn’t?

Take a look at what Mark Webster, co-founder of Authority Hacker, did to boost his startup!

His success isn’t based on luck, chance, or anything else. Once you read through the content below, you’ll see that he’s much like other successful digital entrepreneurs.

He wants to grow his trade.

He wants to utilize his skills for personal benefit.

Most importantly, he isn’t interested in working for clients: he wants to build his own assets

Here’s a Q & A with the man himself; let’s take a look at what he has to say!

The Questions

questions

Question #1: How did you get started with your online business?

Mark and his business partner had their own marketing agency and while it was successful, they felt that they were spending too much time building their clients’ businesses and not their own.

Mark and his partner sold their agency business and focused on creating their own websites, including Authority Hacker.

Authority Hacker builds outstanding websites and website content to drive business and entrepreneurial growth.

Takeaway: If you’re great at something, spending too much time trying to please others with your skills, this can take away from your personal growth.

Focus on using your talents to enhance your growth above all.

Question #2: What’s the business model and how did you arrive at it?

The business model for Mark’s company, Authority Hacker, is quite straightforward.

He takes websites in various niches and then produces outstanding content for the sites.

Authority Hacker monetizes the sites by ensuring adequate amounts of internet browsers visit the site, generating revenue from things like affiliate sites.

In addition to affiliate links on the sites they build, Mark and his team also use email campaigns and ad campaigns to generate income and website traffic.

Takeaway: You don’t need a complex business model to experience growth; rather, it needs to be clear and it needs to be planned.

Want some easy tips for growing your business? See what Mark Webster has to say! #businesstips Click To Tweet

Question #3: In the past twelve months, where has your income come from?

60% of the company’s income has primarily come from information products like ebooks and video courses.

40%of the income generated comes from affiliate income and display ads.

Affiliate commission can be great, but when it comes to traffic, people want products that will teach them how to do stuff.

These products generate revenue by reinforcing your site’s credibility.

They show your visitors that you provide relevant and valuable information based on your site content.

In other words, you’re not just talk: you’ve got real value backing you up.

Takeaway: Generating sales through affiliate commissions may seem enticing, but having a tangible product (eg. an ebook) which gives valuable information can be a much more lucrative income stream.

Question #4: What’s been the biggest challenge in building your business, and how have you overcome it?

keeping good employees

Mark’s company faced a major challenge when it first emerged: finding, hiring and keeping good people.

It’s a challenge that many a startup has faced and one that often takes several sets of failures to learn from.

For example, Mark says one of the first employees for Authority Hacker that he hired (and subsequently fired) he interviewed at a bar.

While Mark and his company have moved on from those days, they still continually come up against these challenges.

Gradually, they’re working out how to find the right people, and are building their team.

Some things just take longer than others to figure out and that’s okay.

Takeaway: Patience is a virtue and success doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t be disheartened if an obstacle to your business’s success takes a while to get around.

Question #5: What’s been the most effective growth hack/strategy for your business and what steps did you take to make it work?

While there certainly are many ways to grow your business, Mark focused on one to grow his.

Mark’s current company thrives off developing info products for their clients.

Info products are products like ebooks which are created with the goal of showcasing expertise in a specific area.

Mark admits that creating an info product can be hard to do, so he recommends testing and promoting other people’s products before spending time and money to create your own.

For example, if Mark wanted to create an ebook about weightlifting, he’d find a credible ebook about the subject that has already been written.

He’d promote the ebook, establishing the credibility of the site that he’s promoting it on.

If the promoted ebook generates interest, it’s safe to proceed with creating your own ebook on weight lifting.

Mark uses this as a basis for the creation of info products his company uses to bolster his websites.

Takeaway: Test a market using products that aren’t yours, to determine whether or not to actually produce yourself.

Question #6: What resource has helped you most on your journey that you would recommend to others?

Mark recommends the Four-Hour Workweek, a book by Tim Ferriss.

While he believes the concepts are rather outdated (and who could really have a four hour work week?), he finds that:

  1. It’s a well-written book.
  2. It’s quite motivational
  3. It provides staying power for entrepreneurs to not give up on their dreams.

Takeaway: Books, podcasts, and videos can all be great sources of information; keep your eyes and ears peeled for great sources of information!

Don't hesitate to test others' products before you put effort into selling yours. -Mark Webster Click To Tweet

Question #7: What’s been the biggest benefit of hiring Bean Ninjas?

BN_mark_webster_review

Mark shared with us that the biggest benefit of working with Bean Ninjas is having instant, regular access to his company’s financial information.

He can instantly make important business decisions based on the financial state of his company.

In the past, Mark’s bookkeeper only provided access to financial information on a quarterly basis.

Because of this, Mark’s business’s finances were largely, in the beginning, unplotted and unplanned.

From this Mark learned that it’s better to ask the questions before you hire a bookkeeper.

Or, you could do what Mark did and use the services of Bean Ninjas.

No more waiting for months to plan the next steps!

Mark lauds the fixed-cost model of Beans Ninjas, saying that it’s much better than many other bookkeeping companies who charge at an hourly rate).

Takeaway: Don’t let old-school financial professionals strangle your business; let Beans Ninjas take control and experience instant benefits!

Take Control

take-control

There you have it.

Mark wanted to make money for himself, while putting the needs of his business first.

It’s not a far-fetched idea, after all!

He broke away from his previous company, capitalized on an emerging marketing trend, and used his experiences to his advantage.

That’s it.

__

Already using Xero but feeling unsure if you’re doing your bookkeeping correctly, and want assurance that your accounts are streamlined and cared for? Get started here!!

Posted By

Bean Ninjas

Bean Ninjas

Related Articles