#54: From Zero Marketing Experience to Agency Founder
Most agency owners don’t fail because they lack skill.
They fail because they assume they have to be skilled.
In this episode of the Agency UpLift podcast, I sat down with Oliver Optican, founder of Optican Edge, and his story perfectly exposes one of the biggest traps early stage agency owners fall into: believing they must personally master every service before they’re “allowed” to scale.
Oliver didn’t come up through the traditional agency ladder. He didn’t start as a PPC wizard, SEO savant, or funnel nerd. In fact, he accidentally fell into marketing while working at a roofing company, after failing miserably at sales.
And that failure ended up becoming the foundation of a scalable agency.
This conversation is a case study in agency scaling through leverage, systems, and belief, not hustle porn or guru tactics.
From Broke, Stuck, and Almost Fired to Agency Founder
Oliver’s starting point matters.
Before Optican Edge existed, he was:
Working for the LA Clippers with no marketing background
Making very little money
On the verge of a breakup because of financial stress
Applying for jobs nonstop with no traction
Eventually, he landed a role at a small roofing company, technically in sales.
And that’s where everything broke open.
He couldn’t sell roofs to save his life. But while he struggled on appointments, he quietly became the person driving:
Email marketing
LinkedIn outreach
Website projects
PPC vendors
Social media growth
What started as “dabbling” in marketing quickly turned into a clear signal: this was the value he actually created.
The lesson for agency owners is simple but uncomfortable:
“Your business often grows in spite of where you think your strengths are.”
The Counter Intuitive Agency Scaling Move: Hire Before You’re Ready
Most agency owners believe this lie:
“I’ll hire once I fully understand the service.”
Oliver did the opposite.
He focused on:
Client acquisition
Managing people
Overseeing outcomes, not execution
Instead of becoming the doer, he became the orchestrator.
He hired:
An SEO specialist (even though he doesn’t personally execute SEO)
Outreach specialists
A brand architect who effectively acts as his #2
This is a critical mindset shift for agency scaling:
Understanding the output is more important than performing the task.
If you can:
Read reports
Ask intelligent questions
Translate results to clients
You don’t need to be a technician.
That’s how agencies break past the freelancer ceiling.
Why Systems Matter More Than Talent
One of the most important insights Oliver shared was this:
“Your agency must be able to run when you’re not present.”
This is where most digital agencies stall.
They have talented people.
They have clients.
But they don’t have systems.
Without systems:
Vacation equals revenue risk
Growth equals chaos
Hiring multiplies problems instead of solving them
Oliver intentionally built processes so that:
Each service has an owner
Reporting is consistent
Client communication doesn’t depend on him
This is the real difference between:
A busy agency owner
And a scalable agency business
Systems turn effort into leverage.
Client Acquisition Is the Real Bottleneck (And Always Will Be)
Even with a solid team, Oliver was brutally honest about the hardest part of agency growth:
Getting clients is brutal.
His reality:
10–15 LinkedIn messages per day
Thousands of cold emails per week
Often only 1–3 replies
This is important for founders to hear.
Low response doesn’t mean your offer is broken.
It means this is math.
What separates successful agency owners is not talent, it’s persistence with belief.
If you keep going long enough:
One client becomes referrals
Referrals reduce acquisition cost
Momentum compounds
Agency scaling isn’t sexy. It’s repetitive confidence.
Sales Without “Selling”: The Framework That Actually Works
I’ve never loved sales.
I’m not aggressive. I don’t like pitching. I don’t like talking myself up.
What did change everything for me and for many agency owners I advise is reframing sales as problem solving.
The framework I shared on the episode is the Sandler Selling System, which boils down to:
Establish mutual agreement that this is a sales conversation
Identify real pain
Only present a solution if you can actually solve it
If you can’t solve it, you walk away.
This removes pressure.
It builds trust.
And it converts better than forced persuasion.
For agency owners, this is critical:
You don’t need to sell harder.
You need permission to solve.
Networking: The Most Underused Growth Channel in Agency Life
One of Oliver’s biggest wins didn’t come from ads or funnels.
It came from the network.
A shared university connection turned into one of his largest clients, simply because:
Shared background created trust
Shared industry created relevance
This is why hiding your agency is so costly.
If people don’t know what you do:
They can’t refer you
They can’t connect you
They can’t help you
Agency owners often delay visibility because they fear failure.
But here’s the truth:
The fastest way to fail is to stay invisible.
The Branding Lesson Most Agencies Learn Too Late
Oliver credited a tough former boss with one invaluable lesson:
Branding is repetition, not creativity.
Every asset.
Every post.
Every document.
Every touchpoint.
Logo. Identity. Consistency.
Agencies often over index on tactics and under-index on brand presence. But strong branding:
Builds trust before the call
Makes referrals easier
Positions you as established even when you’re early
Brand is a multiplier on every growth channel.
The Real Advice for New Agency Owners: Just Start
At the end of our conversation, Oliver said something that sounds cliché but is absolutely true:
Just start.
Not after perfect planning.
Not after endless journaling.
Not after more courses.
Start messy.
Start scared.
Start before you’re ready.
Build the LLC.
Ship the website.
Reach out to people.
Talk about what you do.
Because execution creates clarity, not the other way around.
Final Takeaway: Agency Scaling Is an Identity Shift
The biggest transformation in this story isn’t tactical.
It’s identity.
Oliver stopped seeing himself as:
A marketer
A technician
A doer
And started operating as:
A builder
A leader
A systems thinker
If you want to scale your agency, the question isn’t:
“What skill do I need to learn next?”
It’s:
“What do I need to stop holding onto?”
That’s where real growth begins.
If you want to go deeper, you can run the full version at agencyuplift.co/mini.
Even if you never book a call, the clarity alone is worth it.
