1 session inside Boa
Andrew Raso
Founder, Online Marketing Gurus
Andrew Raso is the founder of Online Marketing Gurus, a digital marketing agency he started with $500 that now has more than 200 specialists and offices in Australia, the US, Singapore and the UAE. He built the early business on SEO alone, growing it through commission-based referral partnerships before ever spending on paid ads. He has since lived in Dubai while the business ran without him, launched an academy brand and hosts his own podcast.
The session
What Andrew teaches
Build a referral engine with businesses that serve your customer but do not compete
With no ad budget, Raso cold called web design companies, creative agencies and PR firms because they had clients who needed SEO but could not deliver it. He paid them a commission once the deal was signed, not on the lead. That channel grew the agency for years before it ever spent on paid ads. Ask who already sells to your customer and cannot do what you do, then offer them either a commission or a lead swap.
From From $500 to 200 staff: how Andrew Raso scaled an agency →Make a retainer or membership your first business model, at any price point
Raso says the first thing any owner should build is recurring revenue, whether that is $50, $100, $1,000 or $2,000 a month. Predictable monthly income is what gives you the confidence to budget and, more importantly, the confidence to hire. Without it you stay stuck doing everything yourself. He points to e-commerce brands like pet food that moved customers onto subscription as the ones now winning.
From From $500 to 200 staff: how Andrew Raso scaled an agency →Test unglamorous cash flow mechanics like gift vouchers
Raso cites his friend Babak Moini of Laser Clinics, who made most of his early money by putting laser clients on memberships. Selling gift vouchers turned out to be a second cash engine, because a large share of vouchers were never redeemed. The point is to actually trial these mechanics in your own business rather than assume they will not apply.
From From $500 to 200 staff: how Andrew Raso scaled an agency →Chase revenue before you perfect the product
Raso will not spend ten years perfecting a product because that produces no revenue. In the early days his team sold services they did not yet know how to deliver, then worked out delivery afterwards. With AI moving as fast as it is, an app or platform founder should have launched years ago and taken revenue on an imperfect product. Ship at 80 to 90 percent, let things break, fix as you go.
From From $500 to 200 staff: how Andrew Raso scaled an agency →
Watch the full sessioninside Boa.
Session notes are free. The recordings, the live advisories and the founders in the room are for members.