Maps Mentor Unleashed by Paul James teaches you how to start and scale an SEO maps business agency by landing high-ticket clients and ranking them in Google maps. You're taught how to find businesses that need Google Business profile optimization, how to reach out to them, how to close deals, and what tools will help you rank your clients' sites.
This Maps Mentor Unleashed review will uncover if what Paul James teaches will allow you to have the most control in your business and how starting an SEO agency compares to the local lead generation business model that's offers a passive income each month.
Pros
Paul introduces you to the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
He shares SEO tactics that he and his students have implemented
They provide you with a software that automates finding unverified Google map listings
Cons
Paul's training on PBNs and backlinks is only surface level, nothing high-level
They geared this course towards beginners
An SEO agency is risky because your clients can stop working with you as soon as you rank them on Google; not a steady or passive income stream
Price:
Maps Mentor Unleashed costs $297
Refund Policy:
30-day, action-based, money-back guarantee
Training:
Over 30 training videos divided into 6 modules; templates and checklists available
Group:
Forum style community
Origin:
Paul released Maps Mentor Unleashed in 2022
Reputation:
Paul James has been in the industry for over a decade and has a good online reputation and isn't tied to any scams or scandals
5 Common Problems SEO Agencies Face
1. Constant Google algorithm updates
Google releases one or more changes every day, but we don't notice them. Several times per year, they release more significant changes to the search algorithm. Those changes are referred to as "core updates". They announce the core updates in advance because they can affect everyone's rankings. After being released, some sites increase in ranking while others drop. These constant changes can be a headache for any SEO agency looking to rank their clients' sites. Most times, SEO agencies have to go back to the drawing board if their clients' sites drop in ranking to get it back to where it was. The problem is, some clients just aren't patient enough and will stop working with you at the first sign of a drop in ranking.
2. Not getting enough clients
Every SEO agency is always looking for new clients. More often than not, they aren't closing deals every day or every week. If you don't build up a portfolio of enough clients and continuously prospect, you can find yourself with no revenue or profit. Especially if your clients leave you. There's no telling if they'll leave, but if they refuse to pay you because they think you haven't met their expectations, you're going to be in a hole. That's why you always need to find different ways to prospect.
3. Doing all the work yourself
Many new agency owners do all the work themselves. They are the ones prospecting, closing deals, and doing all the work. Instead of focusing on sales, they're the ones doing the backlinking, the citation sourcing, and more. All of that work is time-consuming and the reason agency owners should look to hire a team and outsource the "dirty" work. This isn't always easy when you're starting out, but doing all the work yourself can stunt the growth of your SEO agency. Especially because you won't be able to provide excellent customer service experience since you're focused on the fulfillment.
4. Missing deadlines
The world of SEO is complex and the Google algorithm is always changing. Your ranking strategy after a core update may need to be adjusted after the next core update is released. Core updates can throw the game plan you have in place for your clients off balance and hold you back from meeting your deadlines, which can lead to unhappy clients and possibly leave you without one. An update may not affect your site, but it can. If you take a massive hit in the ranking, you will miss your deadline that you agreed with your client.
5. Not finding high-quality links
The ability to find backlinks is an important part of the success of an SEO agency. If you aren't good at finding high-quality links, your clients' sites won't rank, and if their site doesn't rank, they won't want to continue paying you. Also, you waste a lot of time if you don't find any quality links. Many marketers may use black-hat methods of getting backlinks, but those methods aren't good for any websites' ranking long-term. If you want to provide the best service, take the time to look for high-quality links using tools like Majestic.
Who is Paul James?
Paul James is from Oak Creek, Milwaukee in Wisconsin and attended South Milwaukee High School. While in high school, he dropped out and started working a 9-5 job at a heating and air conditioning company. After some time, they laid him off from his job. That's when he enrolled in nursing school at Cardinal Stritch University. While there, he began learning about online marketing. In time, he realized that becoming a nurse wasn't what he wanted for himself.
In 2009, Paul learned more about SEO and after implementing what he learned, he grew his business to 6-figures in revenue. He first became known for being active on the Warrior Forum, which is an online forum for entrepreneurs. In 2010, he got married and also started the iampauljames YouTube channel where he now has over 296K subscribers. On his channel, he talks about online marketing and specifically, SEO and lead generation.
Paul also created the DialHawk software to help small business owners and marketing agencies track any incoming calls.
Paul James wrote the best-selling book, 'Reverse Engineer Your Future' where he talks about selling yourself in business, how to handle objections, how to build lasting business relationships, and more.
How Paul James Make $10,000 in 2024 by Building Websites
Paul James' Background and Story
Paul James is a course creator and online coach who teaches beginners who to make money online through website creation. He uses YouTube to share easy-to-follow guides and real-life examples. He uses beginner-friendly strategies so you don't need programming and coding background to be successful in this business.
How Paul James Makes $10,000 Monthly
Leverage Free Tools: Paul uses a free WordPress website builder and the Elementor plugin for building sites.
Website Monetization Strategies: He makes money in two ways: either by selling contact details of potential customers (leads) to local businesses or by selling the whole website. He mentions that you can earn between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on how well the website shows up in Google search results.
SEO and Content Creation Tools: Paul uses tools like Keyword Phoenix for SEO analysis and AI-driven content creation to make the process more efficient.
Repeat and Scale: Paul repeats the process to create more websites that generate leads and he can sell to other business owners.
What's not mentioned in the video: Paul did not mention how long it takes him to build and rank websites. According to studies, it typically takes around 90 to 180 days for sites to show up on Google depending on the competitiveness of the keywords used.
What Do You Learn Inside Maps Mentor Unleashed?
In the first section of this course, Paul shows you everything you need to do to optimize your clients' GBP. He goes over what the different ranking factors are, the importance of reviews, responding to reviews, if you should geo-tag your images, why the Google questions section is important, and more.
Phase 2 is all about laying the groundwork and how to build out your clients' website the right way. He shows you how to build out your homepage, how to design the site, where to best place email quote forms, and how to get the content creation done.
In phase 3, you learn about SEO optimization and how to implement it on your client's website. He goes over the best way to write content, what you need to do to optimize your content, how to create your legal pages, creating SCHEMA markup, and more.
For phase 4, Paul dives into off-page ranking factors. He touches on topics such as...
- Citations cleanup & building
- Finding the right backlinks
- Disavowing links
- Entity stacking
- How to embed a Google Business Profile on your clients' site
Phase 5 is all about analyzing your progress to see if you need to make any adjustments in your strategy. Paul goes over how to create proximity with geo-grids, how to analyze under performing words and content with the Google Search console, how to implement call tracking, and how to de-rank your competitors.
In the last phase, you learn about getting clients. Paul shares a post for you to use so that you can have clients coming to you, and how you can close deals without cold calling or setting up meetings. As a bonus, he shows you how to automate finding unclaimed listings.
Along with your purchase of Maps Mentor Unleashed, you also get...
- Done For You Client-Getting Funnel (Landing page, video sales letter, upsell page & thank you page)
- Fill-in-the-blank Maintenance template
- 1 year of unlimited listing reviews
- Unclaimed Listing Automation training
SEO Company vs Lead Generation Company
SEO Company
Lead Generation Co.
Goal
SEO, if focused on rankings and generating more website traffic
The goal with lead generation is to generate more leads for local companies
Barrier to entry
You need to invest in learning SEO skills and pay for SEO tools (AHREFS, SEMRush, Moz, etc.)
Pay for website domain and hosting, along with learning SEO skills. Easier to rank local websites.
Payment
Get paid upfront before you rank a client's website, but your income isn't dependable in the long-term
You can also get paid upfront after providing a few leads in advance. Your income is predictable, automated, and more dependable long-term.
Profit margin
Between 20-60%
75%+
Client Type
SEO clients are demanding and often impatient. Initially, you can take on any client anywhere that wants improved Google ranking.
Local small businesses are less of a hassle because all they expect from you is leads. Your success with a lead generation company is found with local service based based businesses.
Client Retention
Low; Once you rank a client's website, they can stop working with you.
High; Smart business owners will never leave you if your sites are doing their job and always generating leads for them. They may even want to pay you more.
Control
You're working on someone else's digital property, not yours. This means you need permission before you make any changes to their digital properties (Ex. Website, social media, GBP)
You're using your own digital real estate to generate leads. Therefore, you choose who you work with, how much you get paid, and the niche you're going to get into. You also control your own social media for your digital properties.
Is Maps Mentor Unleashed worth it?
The Map Mentor Unleashed training course is decent to learn one of the top online business models in 2024 and beyond. It's an updated version of Paul James' Maps Mentor 2.0 that he released in 2017.
However, the course is not as in depth as you might expect and for $297, you might as well go a different route if you're set on starting an SEO Agency. One that is going to teach you everything you need to know, and guide you through the entire process of what it takes to close SEO clients and provide them with the best results they could hope for.
Maps Mentor Unleashed #1 Alternative
Local Lead Generation Training Program
The local lead generation training program by Dan Klein is the #1 alternative to Paul James' course. Dan Klein is a dynamic coach and friend of mine who has been in this industry for over a decade and has a net worth of over $30 million. He started this program in 2014 and it has continuously been updated. You're taught the newest advanced SEO methods to rank any site locally and nationally. Not only that, you learn how to build simple websites that offer services such as plumbing, pool cleaning, window cleaning, tree care, and rank them on Google. Once you rank these sites, you send the leads to local business owners who are hungry for more work each month. There are over 7400 students in the coaching program from around the world and each week, there are two live coaching calls where everyone learns to become better lead generators and entrepreneurs. You'll also learn plenty about sales. All the training is in video format for you to follow along step-by-step. This makes it easy to go back and re-watch it.
The level of support inside of the private Facebook community is top-notch because you have access to many contacts and resources that will help you build and scale your lead gen business the right way and they promptly give attention to any question that's asked. You're also provided with the tools necessary to run your business efficiently so you can focus on closing deals and getting paid passively each month.
Final Thoughts
Local lead generation is far more lucrative than starting an SEO agency. You have all the control of your business from who you work with to how much you get paid and what niche to get started in.
Over 7 years ago, I built this tree care site and ranked it on Google. Ever since, I've gotten paid $2000 per month on autopilot for the leads it generates. I have over 50 sites like this paying me each month.
You can do the same if you build your own lead generation websites, rank them and forward the leads to a local small business owner who wants more customers.
To learn how you can earn a passive income by creating simple websites and controlling how much you make each month, check out the local lead generation training program.
Great review. How the SEO is done is actually key here. Local is not the same as national… and GMB maps and organic ranking factors are different. Do you cover that?
very informative review, thank you