How Adam Crookes Built His Content Writing Agency on SPP

This is an interview with one of our long time users – Adam Crookes of Freshly Squeezed. He shares how he started and grew his agency, building a team of writers and starting a productized service in 2020.

Service Provider Pro · Interview with Adam Crookes of Freshly Squeezed

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to start Freshly Squeezed?

After joining a Facebook group for young entrepreneurs, I became fascinated with the idea of starting a productized service. I was working for a digital marketing agency at the time and treated Freshly Squeezed (SEO content writing subscription service) as a side project. I was laid off after several months in my role at the digital marketing agency. This allowed me to go all-in on my productized service.

Freshly Squeezed is an SEO content writing subscription service for small businesses. All of our customers are on monthly subscription plans with a set number of words that can be easily allocated across multiple different pieces of content. In the beginning, we will present SEO keyword ideas to you. We will then consult with you to agree on a potential SEO strategy.

Many SEO content writing subscription services do not offer full keyword research. This is something we are very proud of and committed to. If you want to get a strong return on your content investment, you need to have a solid SEO strategy.

Can you give us some idea of the scale of your business today?

Currently, I write all of the blog content for the customers. On some months, to balance a larger workload, I utilized my trusted on-demand team of content writers. These are people I have established long-term relationships with. As we continue to grow, I expect to call upon this team more frequently.

As an SEO content writing agency, how did you settle on the productized model when many agencies do custom quotes for every client?

It all comes down to scalability. I’m trying to build an agency with a scalable offering. Customers do have the ability to choose from set packages on our website but we try to avoid deviating from these packages. When everyone has a custom quote, things get messy. This is what we are trying to avoid. Having everyone on set packages creates consistency. It’s that simple. 

What made you decide to try SPP?

I decided to try SPP after another productized service business owner recommended the platform to me. From the outset, I was incredibly impressed. I needed a customer management platform with the ability to deal with order and billing. SPP has certainly delivered. From my perspective, the best thing about SPP is the simplicity of the platform. When I was setting everything up, I never felt overwhelmed. Using the platform, I have continued to have a great experience. My customers have also embraced using SPP to organize their orders.

What does your business look like these days?

All of our customers are on monthly content subscriptions. Most customers are receiving up to 2,500 words a month. We have some customers receiving up to 15,000 words a month. We can deliver content to businesses of all shapes and sizes with ambitions to improve their SEO. I am very excited to see where things go from here.

Software is just one part of your business. Can you share some other strategies which helped you grow your agency?

Building the on-demand team of content writers has enabled me to increase my workload without fear of being overwhelmed or pushed for time. Going forward, these writers will be crucial to our scalability. The writers are incredibly talented and have been able to quickly learn the brand voices of our customers. Initially, I was concerned about whether they would be able to deliver to the level I was looking for. After several test assignments, I was confident that I’d found the right people.

Any words of wisdom for other people looking to sell their own productized services?

Ultimately, it all comes down to the customers. I try to think of them as customers, not clients. It’s a different mindset. Every day, I focused on improving my value proposition and delivering a high-touch service. During the writing process, I regularly check in with my customers to ask questions about their businesses and continue to build relationships. You can never ask too many questions!

Thanks, Adam. Where can people learn more about you?

You can explore our content marketing services at www.freshlysqueezed.online. Also read our post on how to start a content creation company.