r/agencynewbies

I know this might be a long thread, but I want to be honest about where I am right now.

I helped one client grow his content from 58 followers to 3,015 followers in 60 days. Recently, I asked him for a testimonial video, but he has not sent it yet. Also, I did not take screenshots or save proof during that time, so I do not have solid case studies right now.

That is where I am stuck. I am trying to get my first proper client, but I do not have much to show yet, and most agency owners I look up to are already a few steps ahead.

I have been thinking about offering my service for free, but content growth usually takes time. Results are not always clear within 35 to 60 days, so it feels risky to promise anything in that window.

I would really appreciate your advice on how you handled this stage and built trust when you did not have strong proof yet.

Hey guys so I’m new to having my own agency, I’m the solo person as I am a creative consultant. So far I’ve had four clients, spread out and one consistent one. Just wanted to know how would I go about looking for more clients. I’m a fashion creative consultant and consult on branding, casting, helping young designers establish their image etc.

Me and my co-founder run a small agency. We work with e-commerce brands - content, ads, websites, the whole brand side of things.

We don't do monthly retainers. We charge based on deliverables. X amount for X pieces of content, X for the website, etc. Felt cleaner than a monthly fee for work that isn't always consistent.

But here's the problem we keep running into. We send a client a script. Two weeks go by. Nothing. They haven't shot the content yet. We're just sitting here with everything ready, edit timeline planned, posting schedule mapped out waiting.

Another client we're doing 16 product designs for. Once those are approved we build the website. Once the website is done we start social. It's one long chain and every link in that chain depends on them moving.

So a job that should take 4-5 weeks is now pushing 2 months. And because we charge per deliverable, the invoice doesn't go out until things are actually done. So our cash flow looks terrible even though technically "we're working." We're not overloaded. We're just... stuck waiting. On them.

Anyone else structure it this way? Did you eventually move to retainers? Or did you fix it with contracts and deadlines? Genuinely asking because we're trying to figure out if this is a pricing model problem or a client management problem.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been trying to break into freelance here in Berlin (AI product design + full-stack dev), and I’m realizing getting the first few clients is way harder than expected.

So instead of guessing, I wanted to ask people here who’ve actually done it:

- What channels worked for your first 3–5 clients?

- What *actually converted* (cold DMs, referrals, platforms, etc)?

- Anything that didn’t work at all?

For context, I can design + build AI-powered features end-to-end (LLM integrations, workflows, dashboards, etc), so I’m also exploring if agencies prefer white-label help vs hiring. I have burned almost all my money and can't even pay this month's rent and nothing seems to be working. I tried everything but nothing seems to be working.

Not looking to pitch here — just trying to learn what’s working right now.

Would really appreciate honest insights 🙏

Been running a digital marketing agency for 3 years. We're doing fine overall but invoice disputes are the one thing that still completely derails me mentally.

Had a situation last month — client of 14 months suddenly disputed a $6,800 invoice claiming the deliverables "weren't what was discussed." We had everything documented. SOW signed. Approval emails. Delivery confirmation. Didn't matter, they went silent for 3 weeks.

I fumbled it. Sent emails that were too apologetic, then too aggressive, then tried to get on a call which they avoided. Eventually settled for 70% which felt like losing even though logically I know I protected the relationship.

For those who've been through this: do you have an actual process? A script? Something that's worked?

Especially curious how you handle the tone — firm enough to get paid, professional enough to not blow up a relationship you might want to keep.

i would like to ask fellow agency owners ,
how u even dealing with this AI idiotic think , i mean the moment u try to do something the next second u find out that AI can do with just one tool connection , brands just want to use ai literallly hire a small contractor for cheap and be done with it .

does others agency business is getting affected , or start to feel like you have seen slowness or affected anything like that ?
or if anyone has done something great to actually went past it , i know experience and all still matter , or innovating somethign stilll is important but that peace of mind that after 2 year will i be relevent again even after i change everything now ? i mean look at how fast n8n almost got stumbled and how entry barrier has shrinked a lot

would like a good take from agency owners like me ?

one more suggestion to my current problem its completely off topic from the post , i would like to know where does actually DTC brands actually stay i worked for any niche right now so i thought to check DTC because i had businesses there , but i was like all the platform we have around are all fileld with SAAS or B2B and so on , insta and tiktok where they come to just post the products ads , mostly hiring is done by other platforms linkedin is not that good anyways for hiring now a days , they have no means to be on linkedin ?
or i m just thinking something wrong , genuinely asking the sociaograph of this niche

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We’re falander, a full sales team of 20+ reps with 2+ years of experience helping businesses secure qualified, ready-to-pay clients. With strong manpower and a steady flow of leads, we handle the full process — outreach, cold calling, booking meetings, closing, and delivering high-value clients across multiple industries. Packages: • 3 clients – $300 • 5 high-ticket clients (full management included) – $850 We’ve completed 99+ campaigns with proven results and client testimonials available. Our focus is simple: quality clients, scalable systems, and consistent growth. If there’s anything specific you’d like to know about our process or industries we work with, feel free to ask.