See how 1st-year student Greg earned while he learned digital skills, invoicing over $25,000 of client website builds in just 10 months!
Greg and his partner are a remarkable couple from Perth who have transformed their lives by diving into the world of digital entrepreneurship.
In just 10 months, Greg moved from a traditional career to building a successful digital agency, leveraging the online skills he learned and his relentless determination.
In this interview, you’ll hear about their challenges, strategies, and the pivotal moments that led to his success.
If you’re considering a career change or looking to get into the world of earning online, click below to listen or read Greg and his partner’s story to see how they did it so you can too.
Matt Raad: Today, we have an incredible student success story with an amazing couple, all the way from Perth, Western Australia.
These two are blitzing it. They are in the first year of the Champions program. And we know the rule of Champions – it’s a learning year, not an earning year. But Paris and Greg broke that rule, just like a lot of our other Champions 🙂
I think many of our readers will really resonate with Paris and Greg’s story. They’re also kicking some great goals with their leading Perth Digital Agency, so we’re going to see what they’re doing there.
How this couple started their online journey with limited digital skills
Greg was making good money working a demanding job in the mining industry
Matt: What was your background, Greg, before you started our high-level Champions program?
Greg: Well, I moved to Perth with Paris in 2020, just before COVID started, and got a job in the mines. I was there for three and a half years, driving trucks and living the dream FIFO life.
And then we thought, what better way to do this than to get married and raise a family? We would join the Champions program and go all in on our online journey.
Matt: Greg, you were naughty and broke another Champions rule: Don’t quit your job before starting the Champions program.
Greg: Yes, as soon as Champions started, I quit my job and was all ready to go before Champions started. I was all in!
Matt: Okay, we might be setting up the wrong expectations for our readers here, Greg! If you’re reading this, don’t do what Greg did.
Greg had a very high-paying job. He and Paris live in Perth, which is experiencing a massive mining boom. Perth is a very wealthy city in Australia. There’s a lot of money to be made if you’re FIFO (fly in, fly out). But it’s a tough gig working in the mine sites, isn’t it, Greg?
Greg: It’s not ideal, but it’s good money.
Matt: Yes, it’s really good money.
But what I like about your story is that you really backed yourself. You’ve got nothing to lose because you’re in this amazing environment where if you need a job, you can go out pretty much any day of the week and get a high-paying job again. That’s your fallback.
Greg: Yes, that’s the plan. My old boss said if I need to come back, just email him. Hopefully, I don’t need to return, but the option is there.
Matt: You’re nicely covered there, so you can back yourself to learn digital skills while growing your online income.
Paris had some previous technical skills with her food blog
Matt: You guys are starting a family, which is very exciting. So Paris, what’s your position in life? What are you doing with yourself?
Paris: I’m a data manager for quite a big company here in Perth, which is fun. I’m about to have a baby, so I will be going on maternity leave soon. It’s been fantastic to be able to work and also do this on the side.
We signed up to Champions because I had a food blog and wanted to learn how to create websites properly. I can say that it wasn’t set up very well, and our initial plan was actually going to go into the portfolio strategy – building our own websites, putting ads on them, and making money that way.
But when I attended Matt & Liz Raad’s Digital Investor Summit last year, I actually heard from all of these wonderful people who were running digital agencies. So I said to Greg, “Let’s do this course. Don’t go back to work. I’ll still work, and we can run our own agency.”
Matt: That’s so awesome to hear because there are a lot of people reading this who are just like you two.
They decided to go all in and start their Digital Agency full-time
Paris is able to support Greg in learning his new digital skills…
Matt: You are both very high-income earners. There’s Paris, and you’re in a senior role you love. You don’t want to quit your job, but you can help Greg in the evenings. Has that worked out well?
Paris: It worked out well. Greg spends most of his day networking and marketing our business, and I build the websites.
Matt: And Paris, you’re teaching him how to build websites. Greg, how are you finding website building as a newcomer?
Greg: I’m going slow and steady to produce some high-quality websites.
Matt: Yes, Paris and I enjoy encouraging Greg when he’s building his websites.
On a recent coaching call, I mentioned to Greg and Paris that Greg was a bit like Pete and Renee when they were building their 7-figure Digital Agency. Pete struggled with building the site, and Renee had to assist him.
Greg & Paris have sold 10 client websites in 6 months through Networking
Matt: You’re in your first year of this online journey. Can you share your success so far? Paris, you had a food blog that you did part-time for fun, but once you transitioned to a digital agency, things took off pretty quickly for you both.
Paris: Yes.
Greg: It’s going really well.
We joined BNI on a Champion’s recommendation, and it’s been fantastic for expanding our network and obtaining higher-quality leads.
In the four months we’ve been with BNI, we’ve gained four or five clients through it and continue to grow each month, aiming to attract more builds and secure more ongoing SEO clients.
Matt: So, Greg, you’re very humble here. How many website builds have you guys landed so far?
Greg: I believe it’s 10 or 11 in the six months since we started the web business.
Matt: I remember when I interviewed you, Greg. You had no network in this field at all in Perth. You were out on your own at the mine sites, so that’s pretty remarkable. Looking back, it’s only been ten months.
Greg: Yes, ten months since I left my job.
Matt: So, from Zero to Hero, starting with no network. You’ve achieved quite a lot, and networking with business owners is not your typical background.
Whenever I read your progress updates, I think, “Wow”. Paris, are you pushing him behind the scenes? Are you setting deadlines for him? You mentioned giving him a year to make this work, or he’d have to go back to work.
Greg: I just jumped in the deep end. I said, “Yes, we’ve got to get it going. We have to make it. There’s no option for it not to work.”
Matt: This is awesome!
Their first free client website build ended up referring other paying clients
Matt: Can you share with our readers what your first website build was like? Was your first site a freebie? And did you enjoy building it for your client?
Paris: We had just gotten married last year, and we noticed that our celebrant’s website, a simple Google site, wasn’t looking fantastic. We mentioned that we were doing a course and offered to redesign it for her.
Initially, it was supposed to be a free project. The website had numerous pages with detailed information, which was great.
Later, we added a Calendly scheduler for her and charged her a couple of hundred dollars. Now, she’s one of our ongoing maintenance clients and has referred us to another client.
Matt: That’s because you both did such a good job. Well done guys.
Greg: She loves it. They’re still very happy.
Matt: That’s unreal. Did you discover many opportunities for marriage celebrants needing high-ranking sites? How did it perform for her? Did you achieve good rankings?
Greg: Yes, it’s doing pretty well. She’s enjoying it, and she’s really busy.
Paris: She’s already received a few inquiries through her website.
Matt: Great, so she’s happy.
Within their first year, they now charge $3,500 for small local business website builds
Matt: So, that was your first website build for $200. Did you do a few around that level?
Paris: No, I didn’t allow that! 🙂
Greg: We immediately moved on to the next one, which came through her referral and was priced at $1,800.
Matt: Well done.
Greg: Around the same time, we also created a website for a friend, which had three core purpose pages. We charged $2,500 for that one.
Matt: Perfect. Oh yes. So, you’re quickly moving into building sites around the $2,500 level?
Paris: Yes.
Matt: Okay. And what are you averaging now? Are you still at that level?
Paris: Our basic three-core purpose page website is now about $3,500. And a three-page website is probably about $2,000. It all depends on how much content I have to put into it.
Greg: It also depends on the client and their budget.
Matt: And also the type of leads, their specific niche, etc.
Do you remember our previous Champions, Amish and Avani, from a few years ago? They’re real guns. I know you all admire them, as everyone does. For those reading this and who haven’t heard of Amish & Avani, it’s an incredible story.
But do you remember they only charged $400 for website builds in their first year?
Greg: I do.
Matt: It’s quite a jump to $2,500 now. So, talk about standing on the shoulders of giants. Well done.
How Paris & Greg found clients for their Digital Agency
Matt: Given that it’s a good market, are your clients receptive to this price point? And as beginners, is it challenging to sell these sites at that price?
You clearly produce high-quality sites with good SEO and excellent client results. So, are you finding it easy to attract good clients in Perth?
Greg: It can be. Once you’ve met with the person, it’s easier to sell the site. However, getting the client to agree to the meeting can be challenging. I think there’s a lot of competition out there.
Matt: Oh yes, well done.
You’re out there in the networking group. Is that your main way of getting leads now? Did you pretty much launch your business through BNI networking? As I said earlier, you had no business contacts or networks before starting this.
Paris: Initially, we were just asking people that we knew.
Greg: Yes, we started off that way. Then, we did the 100 Call Challenge set in Champions and got a couple of leads out of that.
Matt: That’s really gutsy.
Greg: Yes, it was tough, but it made me believe more that I was a web designer, which helped me in my BNI networking as well. So, it was definitely worthwhile.
I started to believe more that I was a professional web designer. So, my mindset then improved my standing in my BNI because it sounded like I understood what I was saying.
Matt: Seriously, well done, Greg. I imagine doing the 100 Call Challenge was a scary proposition for someone like you.
So, if you’re reading this, we run a challenge in Champions to get people networking and talking to people in their local community. It’s scary to go out and cold call a hundred businesses. But this is how Liz and I have always grown multiple businesses over the years, and it works very effectively.
Greg, was it primarily you doing that challenge?
Greg: Yes, I did the challenge. I did it in the week following the bootcamp. I tried to knock it out as quickly as I could.
Matt: Well done. That is seriously impressive, as are the results.
Paris & Greg are now starting to earn ongoing recurring income in their Agency
Matt: You’ve probably noticed that a lot of other successful students we’ve interviewed—Amish and Avani, Pete and Renee—have very lucrative strategies. They’re earning recurring revenue from charging ongoing SEO and maintenance.
As we all know, in this community, that is hugely valuable when you come to sell your agency as an asset—what all the buyers are clamouring for at the moment.
So, is that one of your big strategies for building up recurring revenue going forward? Are you going to do something similar to Amish and Avani?
Paris: Yes, definitely. First and foremost, we want to get more SEO clients. We enjoy the SEO side of things, and I’d like to spend more of my time doing that, getting involved in the data and the research. So that’s something that we’re focusing on.
We also offer our ongoing maintenance package, which most of our clients are quite happy to take up. This allows us to keep in touch with our clients as well.
Matt: This is your first year in business in your boutique digital agency in Perth. What are you charging for ongoing maintenance?
Greg: About $100 a month.
Matt: Perfect. And have you done any ongoing SEO packages yet?
Paris: Yes, we’ve got one ongoing SEO client, a Pilate studio, which we’re very happy to be working with. We charge them $750 a month.
Matt: That’s great! Now, you can build that out with your other clients.
You already have ten paying clients in the $2,000 to $3,000 range. Obviously, the long-term value is providing clients with ongoing SEO, so that’s the next thing you’ve got to build.
But keep in mind, if you’re reading this, Paris is working full time, so she can only help Greg in the evenings. Greg is totally new and is building up his digital skills.
How finding a fallen angel is allowing them to buy another Digital Agency for cheap!
Matt: One of the other interesting things you guys have discovered recently (and we talk about this all the time) is the idea of finding rundown agencies or agency opportunities where people are looking to exit an old business.
It’s interesting that you’ve already found someone there, too. You don’t have to give too much detail. I understand this is a deal still in progress, but it’s pretty exciting what you found there.
Can you give us some details about what you stumbled across? How many clients do they have, and what’s a rough figure for what price they might charge?
Greg: They’ve got roughly 70 clients and hopefully charge around $10,000.
Matt: That’s mind-blowing, isn’t it? A year ago, who would have thought? Now that you have the skills, this gives you significant leverage. With your expertise, taking on those 70 clients for $10,000 is quite feasible.
It’s a great opportunity for someone looking to exit that agency. If you’re wondering why someone would sell 70 clients for just $10,000, they’ve moved on to another business and no longer want to manage it. They were considering closing it down, weren’t they?
Paris: Yes, he was.
Matt: That’s how you discovered it, wasn’t it? He was walking away from it.
Paris: Yes, he built one of Greg’s referral websites. She hadn’t heard from him, so we had to contact him to get all his logins and fix the website. That’s how we came across him.
Matt: Awesome. It’s just through networking. As we know, in our community, Champions find all sorts of opportunities like this.
Why agencies with recurring income are so sellable right now
Matt: This is similar to what we teach when acquiring portfolio sites. You can acquire what we refer to as “fallen angels” and integrate them. Over time, you can continue to expand without solely relying on networking and similar strategies.
You can do the same with portfolio sites, affiliates, etc. You can add them within the same niche and then sell out for a lot of money to a much bigger buyer later on. And in a place like Perth, I think that could work really well.
As we know, big (even overseas) corporations are looking for good digital agencies these days. The trick, though, is recurring revenues, and that’s why you guys are so keen on it. It’s good because the big sellouts are not just on website builds alone. And in this instance, this one revolves around 70 ongoing clients.
Paris: Yes, so these clients have ongoing maintenance and hosting.
Matt: Perfect, that’s a great start. And if you can collect a few of those, that’s a fantastic asset for you and your new family.
Building a new skill set to support their growing family
Matt: As you’ve seen, a lot of our community members start families when they get into this, whether they’re doing a digital agency or buying websites. And, Greg, you’re excited about this. Are you not going to go back to work?
Greg: No, I’m very excited about this. So, hopefully, just take some time.
Paris: Not too much time, though. We still have to sell some websites.
Matt: You got Paris there to help you.
Greg: But yes, I’ll take some time to ensure I’m still putting it along.
Matt: That’s right, Greg, considering this is a completely new career path for you.
Paris already had the food blog. You were enjoying yourself and knew how enjoyable this can be. Greg, it must be rewarding for you to experience such a different skill set.
Is it worth changing your career into digital?
Matt: For those reading this and contemplating a career change into digital skills, what are your thoughts after ten months in this field?
Greg: I love it. Whether you’re self-employed or learning something new to potentially work for yourself, even if you haven’t left your current job yet.
Matt: That’s right. That’s cool.
Greg: Yes, so working for yourself and then learning the new skills that will hopefully get into the semi-passive portfolio side of things later on in life has been liberating. It helped me as a person as well. I’m a lot more confident in myself.
Matt: Well done. And I’ve noticed that change, too. It’s a gutsy move where you’re at.
When I interviewed you both for the Champions program ten months ago, Paris, you were already deeply involved in your food blog. But Greg, I recall it was all new territory with digital skills.
How Paris & Greg are upscaling their business to the next level
1./ Hiring new remote team members to help leverage their time & skills
Matt: For our readers considering scaling up their businesses, the need to hire staff becomes evident as they observe other successful agencies. Given your upcoming family plans, particularly you two, have you started bringing on staff for your business?
Paris, I assume you’re taking the lead in your senior management role. Could you share your approach so far? Have you been hiring through platforms like Upwork?
Paris: It took me a while to press the button, so to speak. But now I’ve got someone I’m working with, and feel confident in their abilities. So yes, he’s been a huge help.
Matt: And what country is he from?
Paris: He’s from Pakistan.
Matt: Awesome. And is he a nice guy?
Paris: Yes, he’s nice. It’s quite handy because he already works for a freelance digital agency, which is perfect. He’s also connected me with some people who can write content.
I was hesitant to outsource the content because it’s not always perfect. But yes, he’s been really helpful, so I am happy with my choice.
Matt: Great, so that’s freed up some time. Can you see him being a long-term hire? As you know, for a lot of people within the Champions community, their first hires end up working with them for the next decade or so.
Paris: Yes, I hope so for us, too.
2./ They’ve defined their own roles within the business
Matt: Awesome. And Greg, how do you guys separate your roles? Is it Paris who communicates with your techie, or are you communicating as well with him?
Greg: Paris will communicate with him primarily, and then, if needed, I will contact him.
Matt: And then, you work more with the clients. And you also work with Paris in the evenings.
You and your techie build the sites together. So, Greg directs and talks to Paris about what’s needed. This is very much a couple’s business, and you guys are working quite closely together.
Paris: Greg also does all the keyword and competitor research and feeds me the results so I can complete the content.
Matt: Awesome. That takes up a fair bit of time, too, so that’s really cool.
Greg, you are really on board with the client and doing their keyword research. That’s why you can help these clients so well. When you talk to them, you know how to help build their sites and do good SEO on them.
3./ There is opportunity for future hires as the business grows
Matt: At this stage, do you have any other hires? Paris, did you mention that you hire many other writers? Have you tried that yet, or are you not at that stage yet?
Paris: Not yet. I was primarily doing all of the content until that was our last website build. Now that we’ve got an SEO client, we’ve told her we’ll do two blogs monthly, so we’ve also outsourced that. Yes, I’ve found someone to do that through my other tech.
What some of our Champion students achieve after their first year…
Matt: This is cool. Thank you for sharing this today because many people reading this are going through different journey stages. For example, they see interviews with Amish and Avani, and Pete and Renee, and they’re advanced now. They’re doing big, big stuff. It’s so cool to capture you guys at this moment in time.
One of my intentions in interviewing Greg and Paris is for them to look back at this in a year’s time and say, “Wow! That’s what we were doing at the 10-month mark.”
You guys are seriously blitzing it. And think about other students in their first year of Champions, like Amish and Avani, who charged $400 for a website build. Now, they charge somewhere around $4,000-$5,000 per month.
So, thank you for coming along today and sharing your journey openly and honestly. You’re a lovely young couple about to start a family, and you’re just getting to that kickoff point.
It’s so inspirational for anyone new to this online journey. This is how the journey can work even if you’re working a full-time job—except for Greg, who quit his job.
Paris: Well, being part of Champions has spurred us on. Having access to people who have built successful businesses motivates us the most.
Matt: Thank you. I’m sure they’ll all say thank you back, too. See, there’s the purpose of all this: this whole community inspires each other, and that’s what we’re doing here. We have amazing online expert coaches like Toni, Calem, Nathan, Alexa, and all the team. We all get to stand on the shoulders of giants. It’s not just Liz and me or anything like that.
I think it’s fantastic, and thanks to you guys for continuing these stories. You are the ones who inspire others with your journey, like Greg and Paris at the 10-month mark. Your success is a beacon for others to follow.
You’ve already had ten clients and are starting to charge $2,000 – $3,000 for builds. These are good benchmarks. You are now just starting to charge for maintenance and SEO.
So, thank you, Paris and Greg, for sharing your journey here. That’s just awesome.
…And how you can achieve similar results for your online business too!
Matt: If you are reading this and are interested in learning more, remember to check out our free Masterclass at eBusiness Institute. You can see where Greg and Paris started training with the basic overview and digital skills. So, go and check it out.
