If you want to learn How to QUIT your 9 to 5 job and START your own business online, you’ll want to hear their story.
Damen and Sheree are a mum-and-son team, who were looking for a way to quit a demanding job and improve their lifestyle. They wanted to Two years ago, they joined our high-level coaching program, and have never looked back! They’ve worked hard with their new digital skills, and as a result have had massive success with their online journey.
In my recent chat with them, we were celebrating their success as our “Ultimate Cup Champions” for 2020. Damen and Sheree share with me their exciting projects for a growing online portfolio, and how they’re now starting the live a lifestyle that truly makes them happy.
CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW to hear how Damen & Sheree improved their lifestyle thanks to growing a portfolio of websites
How to QUIT your 9 to 5 job and START your own business online – How Damen & Sheree Started
Liz: I’m here today with some very special guests, Damen and Sheree, who are our Ultimate Champions Cup Winners for 2020. A massive congratulations! These guys have won this award because of the incredible achievements that they’ve made with us over the last two years they’ve been students with us at eBusiness Institute
And just to start out, can we give everyone a bit of an idea of where you guys started and why you came onto the Champions program?
Damen: I actually found out about the Digital Investors Program through a mate of ours. We always talked about investments and where we wanted to be in five years; and working full-time was not necessarily one of those things. I took mum (and some of our family members) along to the Digital Investors Fast Track Workshop. We signed up to the elite coaching (Champions) at that event, which was fantastic.
At that time, I was working full-time. Mum was working for herself full-time – doing the nine-to-five grind, essentially.
Liz: Yes, and you do pretty intense work too. Who do you work for?
Damen: I’m currently an air crew in the Air Force. It can be pretty demanding, long hours, and a lot of time away from home. Both my wife and I are trying to wrap that side of our life up where we’re not away and apart all the time.
Liz: Yeah, that would be hard. And how about you, Sheree, what was your background?
Sheree: I have been a secretary most of my life. So I work using computers, but not really doing anything else except for a lot of typing!
Liz: And what was your experience in terms of online marketing?
Sheree: Zero.
Damen: Yes, literally nothing. Other than seeing the occasional ad, and thinking, “That’s annoying.” That’s pretty much as much marketing experiences we had.
Growing a Digital Agency Building Websites for Corporate Clients
Liz: So, fast forward to today – you’ve been on the journey with us for two years. And even after one year of studying with eBusiness Institute, you’ve achieved pretty amazing results. You won the High Achievers Award in the first year studying with us. It was amazing what you’ve achieved. You guys have always gone for the bigger deals, and it’s really inspiring to see.
Now, tell us about your digital agency business. Even in your first year of digital marketing, you were approaching big corporate clients. From those conversations, you weren’t just getting one website build, but actually getting multiple website builds at the same time.
So, these guys did the agency strategy that we teach our students.
“If you want to transition from one part of life to another, building a digital agency’s a really great way to do it.” – Liz Raad
Can you tell us about your agency now?
Damen: We’ve had some highs and lows for our digital agency. But we knew right away that our goal was not the smaller mum-and-dad businesses. I wanted to work with some of the larger companies that had more money to spend on SEO (search engine optimization), and more money to spend on their web builds.
The intention of this was to accelerate us to the point where we could then spend more money on our portfolios. And that was the whole point of it. And we’ve been really fortunate with the people that we’ve connected with, who work for some of the large companies. And they’ve always got friends, so we’ve been very fortunate in that instance.
Liz: Perfect! Typically, when our students start out, they’re looking at somewhere between $1,000 to $3,000 per build. How about you guys – what do you charge for a website build?
Damen: We do a minimum standard build. We charge a minimum of $6,000 for our website builds. We are increasing that as we go along as we want to change our margins, and the more we learn about the business.
Liz: Fantastic guys. And that’s why your agency has grown amazingly.
Damen Grows the value of his Website Portfolio by adding Quality Content
Now, these guys haven’t stopped there. They also do content really well too. How many words are you guys pumping out for your portfolio of websites?
Damen: I’m not sure what the number is words-wise. But we did 300 articles last month. We found this a bit of an effort because we’re just still working on our systems. But we’re looking at making them as streamlined as possible.
This month we posted around 200 articles. We’re still trying to work out what our writers are able to do and what our current system is able to manage at the moment. But we’re still going to scale that up.
Liz: And actually, that’s another point too. Sheree has always been the person who was told what to do and then you had to type it. Now, what are you doing? Running an agency?
Sheree: Now I’m running an agency, managing portfolios, and doing all of that myself. The hard bit is trying to set deadlines for myself!
Liz: Yes, but that’s fantastic. Isn’t that an incredible achievement in just a space of two years?
Building a Portfolio of Websites has Changed Damen and Sheree’s Lifestyle
Liz: How’s life different for you guys now?
Damen: Well, I’m not doing anywhere near as much at my work, so I can concentrate on more on our websites.
I actually think that the biggest thing is the set of tools that you guys (and the community, for that matter), have equipped us with. And now it’s an opportunity for us to use our new digital skills. We do learn more as we go, but without those tools (and without that skillset that we’ve been developing over the last two years), this wouldn’t have been possible.
The future for us looks amazing. I can see where we’re going. And that’s another part I think has been amazing for mum, is the mindset side. I can, I will, and I am doing. So I think that’s phenomenal.
Liz: I agree, because there’s some big projects coming for you in the future.
Damen: Yes. We’re pretty excited about a couple of projects!
We’ve got two custom builds going on at the moment: one in the Education Department where we’re helping kids with assignments and essays. And we’re currently under negotiations with some people looking at it. So, I’m pretty excited about that.
And the other project is in the web development and article management domain. So, we’re excited about that one too.
Liz: We’re very excited for you guys. Matt and I can see that multimillion-dollar idea coming together right now. So, that is very exciting.
Success Isn’t Built On Your Own – Damen and Sheree’s Growth Through The Champions Community
Liz: And could you just finish by sharing, what do you think in terms of the Champions Program? You both stepped up and completed our high-level coaching. And I know you’ve done an incredible amount over the last 2 years, and it’s just phenomenal what you guys have achieved. So, what do you think was the best parts of this program that helped you get there?
“The community, the positive attitude, the energy, the motivation, and the inspiration. It’s just changed my life.” – Sheree
Damen: And I’d have to add – the mentoring. I’m not sucking up because you’re here Liz!! But I must say that phone calls and bouncing ideas off you guys, you’re so knowledgeable in it.
For example, one of the conversations I had with Liz was about one of the bigger ideas I had. Liz expanded so much on it and my brain almost exploded! I was thinking afterward, “Oh, maybe I need to narrow this back, that’s substantial.”
But I do think being able to contact with Matt and Liz Raad and say, “Hey, I’ve got this idea. This is where I’m going with it.” They’re able to give feedback like, “Okay, that’s really good. But do a mock-up first.” Or “Why don’t you try going down this route.” etc.
I really believe that the experience that Matt and Liz Raad have in this industry is what helps. It’s pivotal for your journey moving forward. That’s for sure.
Liz: Fantastic! Well, thanks again so much, guys, for being with us. I’m sure you have inspired another generation of eBusiness Institute students. And you certainly inspire the Champions students, all our past graduates, and everyone else. And we thank you so much. You’ve been an amazing part of our community.
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It was beautiful to see the close relationship Damen has with his Mum and helping each other get to where they want to be. Vicki and I have been involved for about the same amount of time but we are no where near as advanced as these guys and so I admire them so much for what they have accomplished. Congratulations Damen and Sheree.