I’m his second hire, so you’ve got front-row seats
In February, I joined Deya’s DBM Bootcamp.
It’s an online course and community that helps knowledge workers become “Digital Business Managers”:
“A Digital Business Manager [DBM] is the right hand to a CEO or small business owner.”
Why did I join?
Simple.
Writing jobs have been eaten alive by AI, and I fear the same for marketing (which is what I’ve been doing for the past 7 years.)
So I want to learn new skills.
The course itself was one of the best I’ve ever taken. And not long after completing it, a fellow student slid into my DMs:
“Take a look and if aligned, feel free to apply”
Her client is Benas Leonavicius.
I applied, got the role, and have spent the last five weeks learning from this talented entrepreneur.
He’s been working as a freelancer for the past decade and has helped dozens of business owners with their SEO. Now, he’s taking things to the next level.
He’s building Avium: a personal branding agency for world-class experts.
And as his second hire, I’ve got front-row seats:
I’m going to split this article into three parts:
- Benas’s backstory
- His rules for business
- How he’s building Avium
Let’s go!
1) Benas’s backstory
Benas grew up feeling like an “outsider”.
“I was bullied at school. Wasn’t popular with the girls. Didn’t really have any friends […] I developed this mindset that I wanted to show others that I can make it.”
He told his parents that his goal was to finish school as fast as possible.
Once he did, Benas studied in Copenhagen.
“[In my] first four months of university, I bought a whiteboard and pen and started writing down my goals, what sort of income I wanted, and different business possibilities.”
Benas is quick to admit that during the first two months, he didn’t take much action.
However, his dad inspired him early on.
“My dad launched his own company straight out of high school, so entrepreneurship always felt normal — not risky. I always knew that I did not want to do the usual 9–5.”
So eventually, he tried something.
After some basic research, he bought 100 ties from China. He saw some Lithuanian guys with a successful e-commerce store doing something similar.
Did it work out?
“It made a couple of sales. That was about it […] But I’m so glad I did it because I learnt about domains, websites, copywriting, advertising […]”
From here, Benas tried a bunch of stuff.
“By day I went to lectures; by night I experimented with e-commerce stores, self-publishing books, paid ads, and email campaigns. Each experiment was a mini-MBA in real world marketing.
“In those early days, my only real investment was time. I spent dozens of late nights mastering Google Search Console, free online tutorials, and forums. Out-of-pocket expenses were essentially zero: I used free website builders or piggy-backed on friends’ hosting accounts. If I’d bought a domain or paid for a simple hosting plan, it was never more than €20–€30.”
Most of it didn’t work.
But he did make some money.
“€806.
“That’s how much I made in my first year of freelancing […]
“[I] tried ebooks on Amazon. Failed. Tried newsletters. Failed. Tried social media. Failed. Eventually, I stumbled into SEO.”
Joining Upwork was a turning point. It helped him offer his SEO services to business owners.
But even then, it wasn’t easy going.
“[I] got rejected every single day for 2 months straight before one client said yes. That one client changed everything.”
He kept going and built case studies.
“Early on, I focused on delivering successful results for my clients and documenting those outcomes. These case studies helped me attract more long-term partnerships and serious clients.
“From there, my priority was creating exceptional client experiences and building solid relationships. Once clients saw the results I was delivering, my business started growing primarily through referrals.”
Minus a couple of brief spells in employment totalling no more than six months, Benas has delivered SEO services directly to clients since 2015.
In 2024, his business generated $132,000 in revenue with an 80% profit margin.
But it’s not been a smooth curve.
“2020 wiped out almost half my income. 2018 was flat. 2023 was basically the same as 2022. This is what 10 years actually looks like. Not the YouTube thumbnail version. A messy, bumpy, very real journey.”
2) His rules for business
One of Benas’s biggest challenges throughout has been getting the right client mix.
“Early on, I over-promised, took any project, and felt perpetual scarcity. I was super anxious about client churn. The fix was niching down, requiring 6-month retainers, and setting a maximum number of clients to ensure focus […]
“If I started over, I’d build a referral engine sooner and set a “no single client > 40% revenue” rule from day one.”
“no single client > 40% revenue”
Client churn wasn’t an easy fix.
The first step was niching down:
“I wanted to detach myself from working long hours or providing services that require long hours […]
“For example, if I work with an e-commerce shop or a SaaS company, their SEO is usually very difficult. This means it requires a lot of my time. There’s usually a lot of bigger teams I need to communicate with […]
“If I was to only work with them for 5 hours per week, I wouldn’t be able to deliver the results, which means I would need more time […]
“So I needed to find clients that don’t require a lot of time but working with them could still provide enormous results.”
Who were these clients?
Keynote speakers.
Their websites don’t require lots of work. They usually have just a few pages. However, Benas can still deliver tremendous value.
“Working with keynote speakers unlocked the opportunity for me to work with five, six, seven, maybe even eight clients at a time and still provide results.”
Keynote speakers are helpful in another important way:
Referrals.
“I realised the easiest way to get new clients is through word of mouth and referrals.
“Keynote speakers are usually very extroverted and well-connected people. They basically know every keynote speaker out there. And they’re not usually in direct competition with each other. [All of this means] they very easily refer people that they work with to other people.
“Half of my freelancing business in the last couple of years was actually built specifically on referrals.”
So choosing a niche is important.
In this video, Benas details his other three rules for business.
Rule #1: Price-Time Fit
“You have to move from hourly to fixed fees.
“Standardise your scope and have 3–5 different projects”
Rule #2: The Right Pond
“One problem, one buyer, one outcome.
“You need to choose the right clients to work with […] Choose the clients who have the budgets and see the value in your service […]
“And they need to be able to pay for that outcome.”
Rule #3: Magnets
“The best clients come from warm trust […]
“Warm trust can come from the content you publish, from communities where you engage and interact, [or] from referrals.
“This is probably the most difficult rule because it takes quite a bit of time and consistency on your end […]
“Build this flywheel: content → conversations → referrals → retainers”
3) How he’s building Avium
All of this brings us to 2026.
In his most recent newsletter, Benas explains why he’s building Avium:
“First, look at what’s happening with search right now. AI is answering questions that used to require a Google search. People don’t click anymore. They just get the answer.
“And that changes everything.
“SEO is not dying. But it’s evolving. Fast. We’re moving away from “click to find a brand” to “already knowing the brand.” Impressions over clicks. Awareness over rankings. And in a world like that, personal brands win.”
The three pillars Avium focuses on are SEO, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
LinkedIn is where high-level executives and founders are making deals. YouTube builds trust at scale. And SEO ties it all together.
This is the agency’s USP.
“Nobody else is really doing this combination. Most personal branding agencies pick one lane. Just LinkedIn. Just YouTube. Avium is doing all three, and making them work as one system.”
There’s also a more practical reason why Benas is building the agency:
“So right now, I’m earning over $100,000 per year doing freelancing as a solo person, but I’ve found I’ve reached my limit.
“But also part of the reason I’m building an agency is to have more structure in the way I do things: more organisation, more automation […]
“My first hire was a digital business manager […] The whole goal for her [was] extract everything that I have in my head and put it into a system […]”
In this Substack post, Benas explains that he tried to avoid building an agency for years.
“I was always against it, as I had this old-school thinking that I’ll need an office, 10+ employees, and a very boring job of managing people […]
“Doing things on my own seemed a lot easier.”
But now he’s realised that building an agency is the only way he can scale his income and build something more sustainable.
Here’s how he sees it:
“I want to build a mini-agency with a maximum of 5 people, including me. This will make it small, manageable, but with a much higher income ceiling.
“By my current estimates, this agency could generate at least $500,000 in revenue per year, which, at this stage, is more than enough.
“Besides that, one other reason for the agency — I want to work less 😄
“Now, everything depends on me, so if I get sick or go on holiday, everything stops.
“So, if I have a small team, I should be able to reduce my working hours and build a brand with much greater longevity than just me.
“The goal for this year is to establish an MVP agency set-up with at least 3–4 new people and reach a revenue of at least $30k/month.”
Key takeaways
Benas is going places.
So too is Avium.
The team has already grown to five people, and it’s on course to reach $30K/month in revenue.
Here’s the playbook:
- Niche down — This will help you standardise your services and make it easier to scale later.
- Move from hourly rates to retainers — Ideally, you want ongoing partnerships that last longer than six months. This will reduce client churn.
- Build a referral engine — Deliver great work, build case studies, and incentivise existing clients to talk about you.
- No single client > 40% revenue — If you lose one client, you don’t want it be a deathblow to your income. Diversify.
- When you go above your capacity, build an agency — Start by hiring a DBM. Then, build out your SOPs and think about the team members you want to hire. Keep it lean.
Discover more at avium.vip