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Dec 26, 2016 · 19m · top-founders

EP 520: Agency Hits $6M 2016 Revenue Helping 60 Clients with SEO with PowerDigitalMarketing CEO Nick Bjorn

Nick Bjorn · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In episode 520 of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Nick Bjorn, co-founder of Power Digital Marketing, exploring how the agency scaled from 500,000 dollars to over six million dollars in annual revenue using robust retainer pricing, omni-channel SEO strategies, and proprietary software.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 46.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.5 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:002:07–6:24 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Power Digital Marketing Origin Story, Growth, and Agency Revenue Metrics Nathan drills down into agency metrics, calculating estimated MRR from client count and minimum retainers. He also presses Nick on whether his projected revenue represents cash collected upfront or accrual accounting.6:24–9:48 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Client Case Study: SEO Strategy and Liquidation for Soccer Loco Nathan demonstrates preparation by citing specific search engine data and monthly traffic metrics from Ahrefs for Soccer Loco. Nick explains the strategy of targeting liquidation keywords to clear surplus inventory.9:49–14:40 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 SEO Optimization Tools, Link Building Ethics, and In-House Analytics Software Nathan inspects Nick's backlink profile live, questioning the legitimacy of domains like SoccerNation and SportsAccord. Nick educates on Google's crackdown on product exchanges and outlines modern PR-led link building.14:41–18:08 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 Promotional Sponsorship Break for The Top Inbox and HostGator Services The segment consists of promotional ad reads for Nathan's SaaS and hosting sponsors, followed by a friendly Famous Five wrap-up.2:07–6:24 · Guest teaching 2/10 Power Digital Marketing Origin Story, Growth, and Agency Revenue Metrics Nathan drills down into agency metrics, calculating estimated MRR from client count and minimum retainers. He also presses Nick on whether his projected revenue represents cash collected upfront or accrual accounting.6:24–9:48 · Guest teaching 3/10 Client Case Study: SEO Strategy and Liquidation for Soccer Loco Nathan demonstrates preparation by citing specific search engine data and monthly traffic metrics from Ahrefs for Soccer Loco. Nick explains the strategy of targeting liquidation keywords to clear surplus inventory.9:49–14:40 · Guest teaching 4/10 SEO Optimization Tools, Link Building Ethics, and In-House Analytics Software Nathan inspects Nick's backlink profile live, questioning the legitimacy of domains like SoccerNation and SportsAccord. Nick educates on Google's crackdown on product exchanges and outlines modern PR-led link building.14:41–18:08 · Guest teaching 1/10 Promotional Sponsorship Break for The Top Inbox and HostGator Services The segment consists of promotional ad reads for Nathan's SaaS and hosting sponsors, followed by a friendly Famous Five wrap-up.2:07–6:24 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Power Digital Marketing Origin Story, Growth, and Agency Revenue Metrics Nathan drills down into agency metrics, calculating estimated MRR from client count and minimum retainers. He also presses Nick on whether his projected revenue represents cash collected upfront or accrual accounting.6:24–9:48 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Client Case Study: SEO Strategy and Liquidation for Soccer Loco Nathan demonstrates preparation by citing specific search engine data and monthly traffic metrics from Ahrefs for Soccer Loco. Nick explains the strategy of targeting liquidation keywords to clear surplus inventory.9:49–14:40 · Guest disagreement 2/10 SEO Optimization Tools, Link Building Ethics, and In-House Analytics Software Nathan inspects Nick's backlink profile live, questioning the legitimacy of domains like SoccerNation and SportsAccord. Nick educates on Google's crackdown on product exchanges and outlines modern PR-led link building.14:41–18:08 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Promotional Sponsorship Break for The Top Inbox and HostGator Services The segment consists of promotional ad reads for Nathan's SaaS and hosting sponsors, followed by a friendly Famous Five wrap-up.2:07–6:24 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Power Digital Marketing Origin Story, Growth, and Agency Revenue Metrics Nathan drills down into agency metrics, calculating estimated MRR from client count and minimum retainers. He also presses Nick on whether his projected revenue represents cash collected upfront or accrual accounting.6:24–9:48 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Client Case Study: SEO Strategy and Liquidation for Soccer Loco Nathan demonstrates preparation by citing specific search engine data and monthly traffic metrics from Ahrefs for Soccer Loco. Nick explains the strategy of targeting liquidation keywords to clear surplus inventory.9:49–14:40 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 SEO Optimization Tools, Link Building Ethics, and In-House Analytics Software Nathan inspects Nick's backlink profile live, questioning the legitimacy of domains like SoccerNation and SportsAccord. Nick educates on Google's crackdown on product exchanges and outlines modern PR-led link building.14:41–18:08 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Promotional Sponsorship Break for The Top Inbox and HostGator Services The segment consists of promotional ad reads for Nathan's SaaS and hosting sponsors, followed by a friendly Famous Five wrap-up.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 69.6% · guest 30.4%0:00 · Nathan 69.6% · guest 30.4%3:00 · Nathan 37.6% · guest 62.4%3:00 · Nathan 37.6% · guest 62.4%6:00 · Nathan 20.2% · guest 79.8%6:00 · Nathan 20.2% · guest 79.8%9:00 · Nathan 13% · guest 87%9:00 · Nathan 13% · guest 87%12:00 · Nathan 32.9% · guest 67.1%12:00 · Nathan 32.9% · guest 67.1%15:00 · Nathan 84.6% · guest 15.4%15:00 · Nathan 84.6% · guest 15.4%18:00 · Nathan 94.7% · guest 5.3%18:00 · Nathan 94.7% · guest 5.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:04 Guest defends link acquisition practices against Google scrutiny

When Nathan bluntly suggests Power Digital Marketing is paying for links via product giveaways, Nick pushes back, detailing how Google monitors editors and why his firm avoids penalized tactics.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:43 Host pushes back on revenue calculation methodology

Nathan questions whether Nick's six million dollar projection inappropriately counts future cash from multi-month upfront contracts before Nick clarifies their calendar year accrual approach.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:20 Guest explains Google guidelines on product-for-link exchanges

Nick educates the audience and host on why traditional product seeding is penalized without no-follow tags and how semantic content modeling with tools like MarketMuse replaces manual outreach.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:01 Host demonstrates live research with exact Ahrefs keyword rankings

Nathan showcases his technical diligence by pulling live Ahrefs metrics on Soccer Loco's exact traffic volume and search rank for specific commercial queries.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Power Digital Marketing Origin Story, Growth, and Agency Revenue Metrics 5213 Nathan drills down into agency metrics, calculating estimated MRR from client count and minimum retainers. He also presses Nick on whether his projected revenue represents cash collected upfront or accrual accounting.
Client Case Study: SEO Strategy and Liquidation for Soccer Loco 6311 Nathan demonstrates preparation by citing specific search engine data and monthly traffic metrics from Ahrefs for Soccer Loco. Nick explains the strategy of targeting liquidation keywords to clear surplus inventory.
SEO Optimization Tools, Link Building Ethics, and In-House Analytics Software 6424 Nathan inspects Nick's backlink profile live, questioning the legitimacy of domains like SoccerNation and SportsAccord. Nick educates on Google's crackdown on product exchanges and outlines modern PR-led link building.
Promotional Sponsorship Break for The Top Inbox and HostGator Services 1101 The segment consists of promotional ad reads for Nathan's SaaS and hosting sponsors, followed by a friendly Famous Five wrap-up.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Power Digital Marketing grew to about 37 employees in four years
“We've grown to about 37 employees pretty organically in the last four years.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 2:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Power Digital Marketing hit $500K revenue in its first year
“First year revenue was about 500 K. We were shooting to make two 50.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 3:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Power Digital Marketing generated $3.2M revenue in 2015
“We capped last year was 3.2 million.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 3:48
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Power Digital Marketing will surpass $6M revenue in 2016
“We're going to do over six.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 3:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Power Digital Marketing manages about 60 active clients
“We have about 60 clients on tap right now.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 5:14
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Power Digital Marketing targets $10M to $11M revenue in 2017
“And then we're going to close our books in our fiscal year. We'll start January one and then we'll start counting towards our new revenue goal, which we believe is going to be somewhere between 10 and eleven million.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 6:09
Disclosure
Bjorn reveals Berkshire Hathaway is a Power Digital Marketing client
“Berkshire Hathaway is a client of ours.”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 6:34
Opinion
Bjorn calls MarketMuse an 'absolutely revolutionary' SEO content optimization tool
“This tool is absolutely revolutionary. I beta tested it when it was coming up, it was built by a bunch of linguists and it basically will like crank through all those data sheets for you and figure out what the topics need to be and how well you're covering a …”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 9:59
Assertion Supported
Bjorn: Google treats product review backlinks as paid links requiring nofollow
“You have to have no follows right now. If you're doing product reviews, you know, Google considers that if you send out a pair of soccer cleats in this instance, and you get a link back for it, you're basically paying for links and Google webmaster guidelines,…”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 10:50
Disclosure
Power Digital Marketing is developing proprietary page-level SEO analytics software
“We are actually developing our own software. That's going to be like a page level analytics. You know, as I've noticed from our clients in recent years and months they're asking for, you know, a deeper meaning you know, how, how, what kind of work from the SEO…”
Nick Bjorn Dec 26, 2016 ▶ 13:38
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