
Ask HN: General Web agency question - kiraken
I have a few questions to ask about web agencies. So if you own&#x2F;work&#x2F;hired one before feel free to answer:<p>First, i used to work as a freelancer in a freelancing platform but had some troubles with it, and realized that its paying 1&#x2F;10 of the market&#x27;s price. So i decided to go out on my own. And was wandering if i should present myself as a freelancer or as an agency when i start.<p>Second, how much is the usual hour price that an agency charges<p>Third, How do i go about convincing clients to sign a retainer agreement<p>Fourth, i&#x27;m based in North Africa, but will present myself as an international agency since i don&#x27;t really do work locally, and most of my clients are from the UK and US. And would my position cause me problems in getting contracts or payments<p>Fifth, what is the usual size of an agency&#x27;s team. I&#x27;d think that 4 should be enough?<p>Sixth, can i run it on my own and alone? Taking on only as much contracts as i could finish, i already am a fullstack developer and designer, plus i learned a bit about marketing and SEO in the last few years<p>Seventh, how to go about bringing new clients?<p>Eighth, how easy is it to establish yourself in the market and start getting clients. Plus how long it would take if your quality of work is good. Since i did a little bit of searching and there are A LOT of agencies out there.<p>Thank you for reading so far! And i hope that you could give me some valuable advice
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allendoerfer
> And was wandering if i should present myself as a freelancer or as an agency
> when i start.

Present yourself as an agency. If you answer to people searching for a
freelancer, you can easily say, that you are building your own agency, too.

> Second, how much is the usual hour price that an agency charges

Varies.

> Third, How do i go about convincing clients to sign a retainer agreement

Offer hosting and be responsive. If you do your work well, you usually do not
need a retainer agreement.

> Fourth, i'm based in North Africa, but will present myself as an
> international agency since i don't really do work locally, and most of my
> clients are from the UK and US. And would my position cause me problems in
> getting contracts or payments

I am based in Germany and had one customer from Africa. He did not pay me. So
definitely yes. This business (as most other businesses) is 20% about your
actual skills and 80% about communication and all the other stuff. I would
definitely tackle this disadvantage. You could for example attend a
conference, take some pictures and post them on a blog to show, that you are
actually reachable.

> Fifth, what is the usual size of an agency's team. I'd think that 4 should
> be enough?

I do not think that this matters at all. It is nice if you can show some
teammembers, but customer references are more important.

> Sixth, can i run it on my own and alone? Taking on only as much contracts as
> i could finish, i already am a fullstack developer and designer, plus i
> learned a bit about marketing and SEO in the last few years

Of course you can. Your customers do not really care. Tell them you have a
network of experts.

> Seventh, how to go about bringing new clients?

Educate an audience, whose businesses you can improve and that is able to pay
you.

> Eighth, how easy is it to establish yourself in the market and start getting
> clients. Plus how long it would take if your quality of work is good. Since
> i did a little bit of searching and there are A LOT of agencies out there.

Use every client to get the next bigger one.

~~~
kiraken
>Varies.

Could i get a range? Since i'm oblivious to how agencies work

>Educate an audience, whose businesses you can improve and that is able to pay
you.

Can you elaborate?

~~~
allendoerfer
> Could i get a range? Since i'm oblivious to how agencies work

An agency charges as much as it can.

>>Educate an audience, whose businesses you can improve and that is able to
pay you.

>Can you elaborate?

Blog, speak, present yourself as the go-to expert. Can be used both as inbound
or outbound marketing. Doing outbound is much easier, when you provide some
value, even without them hiring you.

