BroxtenDigital
Starting a digital marketing agency with no experience starts with one client, done well enough that they send you the next one. Ben Levin turned exactly that into Galaxy Marketing Services, now four years in and running search ads, SEO, social, and web development for clients.
Ben Levin is the founder and CEO of Galaxy Marketing Services. I asked him on because he didn't launch the agency with a plan, a designed offer, or a book of business. He got his first client from a phone call about a job he didn't even want.
How Do You Start a Digital Marketing Agency With No Experience?
Ben backed into this almost by chance. He was in between jobs when a call came in about an unrelated position, and he mentioned during the conversation that he'd been doing marketing work for people as a side thing.
That person had a brother in the financial industry who needed help. Ben had a call lined up, the brother was interested, and he sent over a client. "I helped out that client, then he sent me a few more, and then it just grew from there," Ben told me.
That first work was just Google ads. Websites, SEO, and social media only became part of it because he was willing to say yes to the next thing.
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How Do You Get Your First Marketing Client?
Ben's advice for landing that first client is less about pitching and more about being useful before you ask for anything. His own first client came simply: he mentioned his marketing side work during an unrelated phone call, and that conversation turned into a referral.
Once you've done good work, referrals do most of the selling for you. Most of Ben's clients got there the same way: they hired a cheap freelancer or a relative who took a weekend course first, then figured out they needed someone who understood how it all ties into their actual business.
What Skills Make You More Valuable as a Marketer?
Ben's go-to soft skill is pretty simple. "Communication, that's the most valuable," he said, including the harder side of it: handling relationships even when you're frustrated or don't know how to express yourself yet.
For marketing, the hard skill he went with is kind of under the radar. "Having a knowledge of being able to read code or understand code is gonna be incredibly crucial no matter what industry you're in," he said, because tech keeps showing up inside marketing work, from tracking pixels to basic site fixes.
He'd also tell you to focus on keywords and how search engines work, since that knowledge applies to how algorithms and websites function at scale.
Startup or Big Company After College?
Ben doesn't think the choice matters as much as the exposure you get wherever you land. Unless you already know someone, you're going to start with mundane tasks either way, so look for the place that gives you the most repetitive exposure to how a business actually runs.
If you already have something of your own working, though, his advice flips. "If you're an entrepreneur, you got it and you have something that's working, I would say definitely hold on to and don't give that up," he said.
Watch the full conversation
Watch the full episode with Ben Levin on YouTube for more on his internship program for students and why he says yes to almost everything.
Watch next: The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 18: Fran Westbrooks
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