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Lion Zeal – Agency Immersion

How I Went From Broke, Living With My Parents, To Building an SEO Agency That Pays Me to Travel to 7+ Countries Per Year

“Sorry, your name is no longer on the account”

I was devastated.

I ended the call in a mix of rage, sadness, and worry.

Not only was my GoDaddy account with all my business domains taken, but now I had zero access to the bank account with all our money.

See, I’d spent the last 10 months living the life of luxury.

I stayed in the Panorama Suite in Planet Hollywood, Vegas:

Flew BA’s first class, London to Orlando. Flew business class more times than I can count on one hand.

Visited Queenstown (NZ), Sydney, Orlando, New York, Vegas (4x), Amman (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), Bali, South Spain, etc.

Even paid several months of my parents mortgage to help them through the recession.

And now…

I was back in my hometown, Corby, a town of around 60,000 people, so small it didn’t even have it’s own cinema.

Except now I was a high school drop out…

Down to my last £171.21

(About $212.78 USD today)

All after one big argument with my business partner, and obviously, reckless spending leading up to that.

And as much as I’d like to tell you of my “genius”. How I rebuilt it all overnight. It’s not so simple.

I worked 12-14 hours per day, 7 days per week, for 2 years straight. In the end reducing myself to…

Selling Websites to Local Businesses For Only £300 a pop

But the hardest part was meeting up with old school friends again, and battling the loss of “my identity”.

“Are you a millionaire yet?”, they asked.

I told the truth technically, but I was so ashamed of myself, I couldn’t bear to tell them I wasn’t even close. That a job at McDonald’s would pay more.

I Was TERRIFIED Of Anyone Finding Out I Was a Failure

Finally, on Friday, 10th May 2013 – I had a slight change in luck.

Credit to massively over-delivering on those £300 websites.

I got a call from a guy named Tim, a local business owner, referred from one of those clients.

We arranged a meeting at the reception of my parents’ office building – thankfully their local business was back to normal now.

Fast forward a few days, and I’m sitting awkwardly in the reception area waiting for him to arrive. Trying to not make it obvious I don’t actually have an office.

I recognised Tim from his LinkedIn picture within seconds, and quickly introduced myself before he had a chance to ask the reception which office I was in.

*cough* None

The meeting was about helping Tim with SEO

That means search engine optimisation, but that’s all I knew of it.

Tim was twice the size of me, around 34 years old, wearing a suit. Looked business-y.

And after a few minutes of explaining, he said the only thing I remember from that meeting today:

“We currently have around 30 people working for us”

Say no more. I’m your man.

I Google’d what I needed to know to put together a proposal. Ended up being 8 pages long. Got it to him that same day.

And despite the meeting starting with “Are you still in school?”…

I GOT THE CLIENT!

I was MINDBLOWN. Sure I’d made money in the past, but that was commissions from huge businesses.

I’d earlier charged someone £30/m to do some work for them. £30 per month… This deal was over 20x that!

I had no idea these businesses could pay so much.

And the only reason I quoted that much was a gamble, after Tim barely reacted to my comment of spending £20 per day on ads.

Within miliseconds of reading the confirmation, I FELT ALIVE.

My passion went into over-drive, and I couldn’t stop visualising what life would be like when I “get back”.

“10 of these clients and I’ll be able to travel anywhere I want”

So I did the only thing I could…

I looked up who could teach me SEO.

And the very next day, I purchased a $67 course.

Get Lion Zeal – Agency Immersion on forimc right now!

I took it a step further and “bribed” the course creator into privately consulting me.

And even with that…

There Were MASSIVE Struggles

In the next few months, I failed to make payments multiple times. My bank balance simply couldn’t cover it until the next payment came through.

My affiliate side-project was finally earning over $500 per month, only to crash and burn on October 4, 2013 when Google rolled out Penguin 2.1:

And worse than that were the “inner struggles”.

That little voice in my head poisoning me with negativity:

“You can’t do this while travelling, you need to meet your clients”

“Tim is an exception, nobody else will pay that”

“You’re not good enough at sales to close clients”

I’d Had Self-Esteem Issues My Entire Life

Maybe that was down to being born to a single mum for the first 3 years of my life, or being bullied in school as a young kid, I don’t know.

What I do know is it multiplied after being ripped off by my ex-business partner and mentor.

It was proof that I “wasn’t good enough for this”.

Maybe I’m not cut out for this.

I’m not “ruthless”, a massive risk taker, super intelligent… or anything you expect an “entrepreneur” to be.

I’m just a nerd that loves creating things, playing video games, and got C’s and D’s in school.

So at the end of 2013, 3 years after this story started. I had it out with myself:

“What If This Isn’t For You?”

“Grandma already thinks you’re a failure. That you need to get a real job. What if she’s right?”

I love my Dad, but what if that’s the life ahead of me?

My Dad loves his family, and works tirelessly to support it.

But he HATES his work.

He’s stressed out every day. Taking painkillers almost daily to fight off the recurring headaches.

Yet, he continues to work from 8am to 11pm, every single day. 7 days per week.

What if that was the future for me?

“Was I going to work a job I hate, to fund a lifestyle that makes me miserable? FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE?”

Tears were building up in my eyes.

Was Corby my final destination?

Was it? Did I just get lucky once?

The tears became anger.

“WHY AM I IN THIS SITUATION?“

I had all the information in front of me, 3 years to rebuild myself…

Why was it this difficult?

In a mix of anger, disappointment, and sadness. I made a decision.

I Was DONE With It

Done with not believing in myself.

Done with working 12-14 hours every day.

Done with living in a town with nothing to do but go to the pub.

And done with being broke.

So I set a goal:

“Before My 22nd Birthday, I WILL Finally Escape Corby and Continue Travelling The World”

And I did the opposite of what my fears told me to do.

I studied and practiced sales, getting rejected several times.

I cold called businesses, often being treated like a criminal.

I sent lumpy mail letters, and occasionally got angry emails back.

I sent hundreds of personalised emails, most of which never received a single response.

And I FAILED 99% Of The Time… But Occasionally, I’d Get A Client…

The more I did it, the more I figured out the simple parts of it that made it all work.

And in 2014, the year after I started, I comfortably cleared the 6 figure mark.

But more importantly, it finally happened, 12 days after my 22nd birthday.

After visiting a few months prior, I decided to pack up everything I cared to own, and…

I Moved To Chiang Mai, Thailand

The digital nomad “hub” of the world.

Since then I’ve moved again, to Saigon (Vietnam), for over a year now…

And In Both 2015 and 2016, I Travelled To Over 7 Different Countries

All while managing my clients on the go.

And along the way, I’ve helped others cut out the “excessiveness” of getting clients, and do the simple things that work.

That’s why I created:

AGENCY IMMERSION