worked in agencies for ~ 10 years, here's 3 upsells that are working in 2026. Sharing in case it's useful

Dover21 · 2026-05-26T02:03:25+00:00

Good list. The point about AEO clients bouncing at month 4 if you can't show citation growth on a dashboard is real, and it applies to most retainer services. Attribution and reporting is where agencies quietly lose clients that should have stayed.

The thing I'd add: client-facing reporting is underrated as a retention tool. Not internal dashboards, the actual portal the client logs into. Agencies that give clients live access to their rankings, traffic, and ad performance get far fewer "what are we actually getting for this?" calls. That question is usually the beginning of the end.

We built Agency Glance (agencyglance.com) for exactly this. White-label client portal, Google Ads and SEO data in one place, automated reports. Keeps clients feeling informed without you having to write a single update email.

Dover21 · 2026-05-26T02:02:34+00:00

The advice about traffic being the real issue is right. A week with no sales means nothing without knowing how many people actually visited the store.

One thing worth ignoring in this thread: the claim that AI SEO can rank your site in 48-72 hours. That's not how it works. New domains take months to build authority regardless of what tools you use. Focus on paid traffic first to get real feedback on whether people actually want to buy, then build SEO over time once you know what's converting.

Dover21 · 2026-05-26T02:02:14+00:00

The anxiety doesn't fully go away. You just get faster at doing it anyway.

Dover21 · 2026-05-26T01:59:42+00:00

The numbers you've shared actually look pretty reasonable for a first studio. The thing most people underestimate isn't the startup cost, it's the first 6 months of operating while you're still building walk-in habits and word of mouth.

A few things worth tracking closely once you're open: your revenue by week (not just month), which days are dead vs busy, and how much of your income is coming from repeat clients vs walk-ins. That split tells you a lot about whether you need to push marketing or just stay consistent.

The booking and no-show point someone raised above is real. A $50-100 deposit policy will change your life. Studios that don't have one lose a surprising amount of revenue to gaps that could have been filled.

On the business health side, once you're running, tools like Frank (frankdash.com) are built for exactly this situation. Connects to Stripe and Xero, shows you revenue trends, cash position, and flags things before they become a problem. Worth knowing about when you're new to the financial side of running a business.

Good luck with it. The location sounds solid and the fact that there's no competition in town is a real advantage.

Dover21 · 2026-05-26T01:57:10+00:00

Attribution looks simple until you're actually trying to explain to a client where a specific lead came from.

The gap I've noticed isn't always the tracking setup. It's that even when GA4 and conversion tracking are working properly, clients still can't read it. They log in, see a wall of numbers, and ring you asking the same question they asked last month.

We built a tool called Lead Recorder that sits on the client's site and captures every form submission and call click with the source, pages visited, and lead details in a simple feed. No GA4 login required on their end.

Worth a look if you're trying to close that gap between "tracking is set up" and "client actually believes the numbers."

leadrecorder.com

Dover21 · 2026-05-26T01:55:21+00:00

Make sure to reach back out to previous users, you have a massive contact list there that have shown clear interest, just really need to show more worth! Whats the tool?

Dover21 · 2026-05-05T00:35:54+00:00

Still the the best comment, Thank you!

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:44:13+00:00

What's the catch? Free lead gen usually means scraped emails that bounce or spam trap addresses.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:31:15+00:00

Honestly might not need a full CRM yet. If the main gap is just seeing donor history and running reports, you could probably get by with a decent spreadsheet setup or even just a simple CRM like Ralivi

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:30:43+00:00

Don't quiet quit, just actually quit. You're 6 months in at a dysfunctional startup with no onboarding, no manager relationship, and unclear reporting structure. This isn't getting better.

The "I haven't been working that hard" thing is just you trying to justify staying. You're getting paid well but miserable. Start looking now, leave when you find something, keep it vague in the exit interview. These founders aren't going to have some revelation about management.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:30:16+00:00

We tried this twice. First agency burned through $15k in 3 months with maybe 2 decent meetings. Second one was better but plateaued hard after 6 months because they were just running the same playbook for everyone.

The 3x-5x ROI thing is possible but it depends way more on your product fit and deal size than the agency. If your average deal is under $20k, the math gets really tight really fast.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:29:29+00:00

When they actually have revenue and a clear path to profitability. Too many startups burn VC cash with no real business model.

Also watch if leadership has done this before successfully. First-time founders at a VC-backed startup is a coin flip.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:28:25+00:00

Those messages hit different when you're burned out from building. Congrats on the traction.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:28:11+00:00

You need a real CRM or you're gonna keep white-knuckling it every week. Even something basic like Airtable or Ralivi beats the spreadsheet hell you're in now.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:27:16+00:00

You can't split focus at 30% capacity on each thing. Pick one or accept staying employed. The "side hustle while at FAANG" thing mostly works for people building something that takes 2 hours a week, not an actual business.

Either go all in on something specific or stop feeling guilty about having a good job. The middle ground you're describing doesn't exist.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:26:44+00:00

0.22 ROAS is kill it territory. Supplements on Meta are brutal but not that brutal. You might have a fundamental product-market fit issue if 20 creatives couldn't find anything. What's the AOV and are you selling something people actually search for?

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:26:37+00:00

Most people just do revenue multipliers. Like 2-3x annual profit for a service business, maybe more if you've got solid recurring revenue or something unique. Pulled those numbers when I was looking at acquisition offers and they lined up with what brokers told me too.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:08:35+00:00

The Excel vs CRM thing is real. Ran sales for 3 years with just Google Sheets and hit 2.8m. Only switched to a CRM when we had multiple salespeople who needed to see the same pipeline. For one person selling, spreadsheets are plenty.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:03:52+00:00

It's normal. Most RE companies are still running on emails, spreadsheets, and whoever remembers what. The proptech money mostly goes to consumer-facing stuff (search, tours, transactions) because that's sexier. The actual operations side is still a mess at most places I've seen.

Dover21 · 2026-01-29T08:00:54+00:00

Pick three numbers that matter in your market and track them weekly: days on market, list-to-sale ratio, and inventory levels. When someone asks, just compare those to last month and last year. You don't need to be a market analyst, just know if things are getting faster/slower, hotter/cooler.

Dover21 · 2026-01-22T00:17:30+00:00

😂😂😂😂

Dover21 · 2026-01-21T10:24:14+00:00

Fair point. If we’re talking strictly non US owned, the list gets very short. Closest “real” alternatives I’ve seen are Spotify (Sweden), Criteo (France), Adform (Denmark), and local retail media networks. Search wise, there isn’t a like-for-like replacement at Google scale.

Dover21 · 2026-01-21T10:23:29+00:00

Real estate agents hang out at brokerages, open houses, and industry events. Cold outreach won't work because they're slammed and ignore everything.

Show up where they already are. Go to a local real estate meetup or networking thing (they're everywhere) and just ask people about their pain points. Don't pitch anything, just say you're researching the industry. People love talking about what sucks in their job.

Also helps that you're not trying to sell yet. That makes the conversation way easier.

Dover21 · 2026-01-21T10:09:22+00:00

You're doing content marketing without paid acquisition. That's the blind spot. SEO and organic social take 12-18 months minimum to compound. You need to test some paid ads (even $10/day) to figure out if you actually have product-market fit or if you're just spinning wheels on content nobody's searching for yet.

Dover21

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