Behind the Scenes
My 6-Figure Digital Business Manager Career
Once upon a time… I had to decide if Digital Business Manager was the right path for me aka something I wanted to give a proper try.
If you’re at that point now, hi.
This is very exciting.
After you go through this behind-the-scenes, you’ll either be hyped up thinking, “FINALLY. This is what I’ve been looking for.”
It’ll feel like the puzzle pieces are clicking in your brain.
OR you’ll be thinking, “Nope. This doesn’t sound fun or interesting to me.” which is also extremely valuable insight for you. You’ll then be able to close the door on this and move on to exploring something else.
So that’s why it’s exciting that you’re here.
On this page, I’ll share a few tidbits and you may notice a few special guests as well.
We’ll chat through:
- What is a Digital Business Manager, really?
- How to Know if DBM is Right & NOT Right For You
So what is a Digital Business Manager, really?
If you love planning and to-do lists, DBM is (in my biased opinion) a strong contender to be the best online career option for you.
Because planning is what you’ll get paid to do, among other things.
A DBM to a CEO is like Alfred to Batman.
Alfred is in charge of making sure Batman has everything he needs, of managing the estate, of planning Batman’s estate, of making sure Batman has what he needs to do what Batman does.
In an online business, a CEO should be focused on any of these things:
- Profit-generating tasks
- “Being the face of the business” tasks
- Visionary, big picture tasks
So really, a DBM is the behind-the-scenes mastermind, keeping the business running smoothly so the CEO can work on what they should be working on.
BTW if you’re curious about the more granular of what exactly are the types of tasks and work a DBM is, you’ll find that at the next tab with examples of what I offered!
Any business that wants to scale needs a Digital Business Manager at one point — I call this the “tipping point”.
This is the point where a CEO goes from, “I can totally do everything in my business” to “Wait, I actually do NOT want to do everything in my business. I think I need help.”
Pop quiz: Could the DBM career be the right next step for you?
// Quick Takeaways //
1. Charging “your worth”, increasing prices just for the sake of increasing prices, and getting booked out are not the solutions to earning more money.
2.
The 3 core digital business manager skills that are directly tied to the job description of DBM normally does are:
- Project Management
- Team Management, and
- Systems Management
The beautiful part about DBM is you can offer all three, a mixture of the three or specialize into your choice based on what you enjoy most.
But first, let’s dive a little bit into each of those so I can give you clarity on what that exactly entails.
What is Project Management?
First up, project management is exactly what it sounds like – it’s managing projects from start to finish.
Often, I find that people are a little intimidated by what ‘project management’ seems like at first glance, but in reality, it’s just the pure concept of turning an idea into a plan and ensuring the plan goes according to plan.
This can include everything from:
- Onboarding the project
- making sure we are understanding all the details,
- making sure the team understands all the details of what the project goals are,
- planning out the tasks within a project,
- Step-by-step overseeing the project,
- making sure everything is running according to the plan that you created,
- if it’s not, then how to fix that & how to get it back on track and then
- Off-boarding the project.
So, if your next question is, “Deya, what exactly is a project?”
In a digital business, a project or really anything that a business wants to get done.
Examples of Projects:
- Creating & launching an online course,
- Creating & launching a membership site
- Creating & launching a blog
- Creating & launching a YouTube channel
All of these are projects that need some sort of setup and planning to ensure that they go the way they’re supposed to.
Thus, everything that a business owner wants to do can be considered a project.
Without proper project management, these projects might just sit as ideas in an idea bank, never seeing the light of day.
I’m sure as you’re reading this, you have a little idea bank either written in your notes or in the back of your mind of all the cool ideas you’d like to see in the world but haven’t made that transition into reality yet.
So that’s why I am a mega dork for project management.
Because it. gets. things. done.
And I love nothing more than getting things done & checking them off.
I project plan everything in my own life – and I actually consider life items to be projects as well.
For example, planning a wedding is a project that requires project management. Moving to a new country can be a project that you create a careful step-by-step project plan for.
Alright, now let’s do more specific DBM examples:
Example DBM Project: Manage Online Course
One example of a course I managed is the 90 Day VA by Esther Inman.
In that capacity, I managed all the launches of the 90 Day VA course program as well as keeping it updated and ensuring students were happy.
More specifically, I normally set these plans up in our project management tool (Asana), delegate tasks out to the team, ensure they don’t have any questions, run team meetings to talk through the launch, and monitor the progress of the project.
Example DBM Project: Manage Virtual Summit
Another example of a project I managed was the Work from Anywhere Virtual Summit. I managed the entire process of setting up this summit, inviting and coordinating guest speakers, creating the launch and promotion plan.
More specifically, I created spreadsheets and plans to track which guest speakers we wanted to reach out to and the whole process for that as well as all the internal tasks our team had to get done in regards to copy, design and tech for the funnel and all the pages.
Alumni says…
xyz
In DBM Bootcamp…
1. Charging “your worth”, increasing prices just for the sake of increasing prices, and getting booked out are not the solutions to earning more money.
2.
So on this page, I want to talk about something juicy and taboo – $$$.
https://media.giphy.com/media/xUPGGw7jxnwjk073sA/giphy.gif
The end all be all.
Dolla dolla billz, dough, moooolllah, paper – whatever you call it – we all need to make it to survive.
So let’s talk through:
- How much on average I made across the years of working online
- What types of packages I had as a DBM & what I charged for them
- How to get paid
[Note: I’m not sharing this information to brag. I’m sharing this information because I want to be as transparent as possible with you regarding what being a DBM is like, finances and all. I also believe in transparency when it comes to money. Plus, I find looking at other people’s money-situation fascinating, so I thought you might, too.]
My Money Timeline:
You guys know I care about getting you the info you want because I had to go digging through my tax documents to get this data as accurate as possible for you.
So let’s crunch some numbers, friend.
In 2016, I made 1,350 USD as a freelancer.
In 2017, I made 21,500 USD as a freelancer.
In 2018, I made 35,350 USD as a freelancer.
In 2019, I made 89,200 USD as a freelancer.
In 2020, I made 107,200 USD as a freelancer.
2018 is when I finally began putting the pieces of ‘making myself more valuable’ together and transitioning into a DBM role.
You can see where that then led me in 2019.
Types of Packages & Cost
As a DBM, I had 4 types of income rolling my way based on my service offerings.
Important note and context: This below is what I charged after a few years of experience aka starting in 2019. This is probably not what you would charge if you’re just getting started as a DBM – unless you already have a ton of experience and training.
Type 1 
‘The Whole Enchilada’ Monthly Retainers
If you’re not familiar with what a ‘retainer’ is, it’s basically a fixed amount your client pays you month-over-month to ‘retain’ your services. It’s like putting a reservation on your time.
And yes, you’re right – it is similar to being an employee and being paid a fixed amount every month.
These retainers included all of my services:
- Project management
- Team management
- Systems management
And these packages normally started at around $3,000 a month.
While this totally depends on the scope of the work done month-to-month and experience level, my biggest whole enchilada retainer was $7K / month. This was close to a full-time retainer managing the business of a 7-figure business.
Side note: “Scope” is referring to the extent and amount of work done, so how many deliverables, how much time it takes for me, etc.
Type 2 
‘Piece of Cake’ One-Off Projects
These projects are where someone hires me to help with a one-time project aka help with projects that aren’t ongoing but more so had a start and end date.
These typically range between $1-3K, depending on the scope.
For example, my 3-Month Content Management Package broadly included:
- Month 1: Hiring and Onboarding Content Team & Creation of Content Production
- Month 2: Creation of Assets & Content
- Month 3: Finalize Systems + Handover to Client Team
This cost $2,000 a month. One-off projects are a great way to up your income if you don’t want to commit to a full ongoing retainers.
Type 3 
‘High Roller’ VIP Days
A VIP Day is where a client pays you to create a specific result for them in 1 or 2 days. The price can range from about $1.5 – $2K (yes, for 1-2 days of work).
Some VIP Days I offered were:
1. Hiring – VIP Day
… where I’d help a client who desperately needs to hire, draft up a job description, application form, set those things up, create a bank of interview questions, create onboarding packet for new hires, and begin sending out the assets.
2. Course Creation Project Plan – VIP Day
… where I’d help a client project plan our a course idea in detail, draft up the structure, lay out the map for producing and launching this course in detail.
You might be thinking, “That much for 1 DAY? That’s nuts – no one would pay that!”
But the point of a VIP Day is that it’s high-impact work in a way shorter amount of time than it would typically take.
These types of clients care about the final results, and they want it as fast as possible so they don’t mind paying for an expert to come in and get it done ASAP.
Type 4 – 
Ride or Die HOURLY RATE.
And lastly, we have good ol’…
I avoid hourly work as much as possible because it’s not as scalable as doing project-based work, but when you’re first starting out, it’s a good tactic to see how long projects would take you.
My hourly range as a DBM started at about $30/hr in my first year, then went to $50+/hr and would go up depending on the type of work and the scope of the retainer/project.
It just varies but those are some price points to get you started.
And for those of you that are curious about not just revenue but also expenses…
Being a DBM is super low-cost in my experience.
The core 2 investments you need to get started:
- Good laptop
- Great wifi
The Occasional Costs [depending on you]:
- Extra training, self-development, courses, etc. that you want to buy
- Networking or paid memberships
if you want to acquire clients that way - Tools used for YOUR biz
E.g. if you want to pay for an invoicing software to send invoices. I’m cheap so I just used free tools but I could’ve saved time by investing in a few tools. - Outsourcing work
if you choose to do this, then yes, extra people cost extra money – but that’s only if you end up shifting into an agency model.
Things I don’t pay for as a freelancer:
- Client-related tools
All work-related tools should be paid for by your clients – e.g. Asana, ClickUp, Slack, Airtable, Canva, Ahrefs, etc. - Extra training my clients wanted me to get
Yep, clients pay for that! I’ve gotten free courses on topics like advertising, Pinterest, copywriting, design, funnel strategy, offer strategy.
So, I hope taking a peek into my DBM wallet was informative and fun for you as I think it would’ve been for me.
https://media.giphy.com/media/XCLBNof6ICAEM/giphy.gif
Like I said, I want to be completely transparent about money. While it might seem like being a DBM is like this: https://giphy.com/gifs/i3D35lrOfyzTkg5a9o
It actually took a lot of time, skill-building, and patience to get to this point. Everyone’s journey is different so don’t think you’re behind because your journey doesn’t match mine!
You have so many paths you can take for your biz, these are just a FEW options to get you thinking outside of the box.
How to Get Paid
That is the strategic approach to *actually* making more money: it is to make yourself more valuable.
I get this question sometimes – so thought I’d also address it quickly.
This is normally how you get paid as a freelancer:
- You pick a payment method of your choice. (I share my faves in the video below.)
- You create an invoice document and include the payment method info on that invoice.
- You send this invoice to the client per email.
- The client then pays that invoice using the payment method you put on the invoice.
There are lots of ways to get paid online like Paypal, Stripe, Wise.
Here’s a more detailed video you can watch if you’re stuck on this question:
My personal favorite is Wise because most of my clients aren’t in the same country as I am – so it makes currency exchange and cross-border money transfers easy.
But really, whatever way you want to charge money is normally fine!
Alumni says…
xyz
In DBM Bootcamp…
1. Charging “your worth”, increasing prices just for the sake of increasing prices, and getting booked out are not the solutions to earning more money.
2.
Ahhh, the million dollar question: but how do I find clients?
Here’s a video that breaks down exactly where I found each and every one of my 41 freelance clients. I made a Notion table and everything:
And here’s the Notion table embedded so you can look through it if you want:
Here is a detailed video of the 6 of my favorite places to recommend to find your very first freelance client:
I’ve also got this video which talks about how to land clients via FB groups:
And I have this video which includes my top 5 favorite freelance platforms:
“How many clients do you work with at a time, Deya?” & “How many clients should I work with as a DBM?”
That is the strategic approach to *actually* making more money: it is to make yourself more valuable.
Sometimes 1, sometimes 10. Depends on the day.
https://media.giphy.com/media/BvjoYFizIt5yU/giphy.gif
Ok, but all jokes aside – I know you want a set number.
Like “two clients! That’s the special sauce!”
Or “four! But no more!”
Or “ten! Just give me the recipe!!!”
I can’t give you an answer… because it really truly depends on you.
And now you’re probably thinking:
https://giphy.com/gifs/theoffice-zz2a5ctsXTzkidQVSM
But that’s actually the BEST part about freelancing:
YOU get to decide. You get to decide how much you work, what kind of clients you work with, and the role you take in supporting them.
Some clients need a little help – a few hours a week. This could be around 20 – 25 hours a month (so 5-7 hours a week).
You might mostly help with overseeing the creation of the pie:
- Managing content production.
- Answering questions in Slack.
- Checking up on deadlines.
- Doing some organization here and there.
This client’s biz probably isn’t big; they probably only have 1-3 people on the team.
They only have the capacity to do one or two ongoing projects at a time.
They don’t need you online all day, every day… and there may not be that much for you to do besides just lead the charge and be there as a sounding board for the owner!
(Or it could be the case that it’s a big business, but you have a very specific role or project scope on the team, like Team Manager or Systems Manager, and that’s your only focus.)
✨ Benefit: You get to get a taste of a lot of different clients and types of DBM work.
Some clients need medium help – 10 – 20 hours a week.
This client’s biz is a bit bigger. They probably have a team of 4+ people, and there are a lot more moving pieces to cover.
You’re still overseeing everything above, but now you’re actually helping bake the pie:
- Planning out new projects.
- Gathering and reviewing metrics.
- Building out funnels.
- Building systems.
- Creating SOPs.
- Hiring new team members.
You probably wear more than one hat in this kind of role. You help run the day-to-day, build-out scalable systems, and plan for the future.
✨ Benefit: You can get a taste of what full-time in different businesses would look like. This is a great stage to see if you’re interested in working full time for one person or working less with more people.
Some clients need a lot of help – full-time style help.
This is the whole turkey right here. It’s the big biz.
You’re overseeing, baking, and eating the pie at this point:
- Handling all new ideas and projects coming in.
- Managing all hiring, onboarding and team going-on’s.
- Overseeing all project planning & production.
- Tweaking systems and processes for optimal use.
This client doesn’t want to spend the day answering questions or checking deadlines, so you become a full-on buffer between the client and the team.
You’re responsible for a large chunk of the ongoing work.
They have a larger team, which requires you to be in Slack more. There are more ongoing projects and new projects constantly in the works.
And you’re in charge of the outcomes… which is thrilling and scary at the same time.
✨ Benefit: Because you only have one client to focus on, you’re very invested in the biz. It’s super rewarding!
So, which kind of client or blend of clients is best for you?
For me, personally, I started with a lot of small clients, so I had 3-5 small clients at a time.
And then I slowly went down to 3 medium clients.
Finally, I got down to 2… and then 1 client who was a dream client I worked for pretty much full-time.
But like I said, the BEST part about freelancing is that it’s flexible to YOU.
You can decide what working style suits you and how many clients you can handle before your head might explode.
https://i.gifer.com/5z9Y.gif
Alumni says…
xyz
In DBM Bootcamp…
Module 7 is all about setting yourself up for success online and landing clients. I share 8 of my favorite client acquisition methods in detail.
Module 7 is all about setting yourself up for success online and landing clients. I share 8 of my favorite client acquisition methods in detail.
I walk you through
I’ll be honest – as with most worthwhile journeys, this journey isn’t without its challenges.
I hit a lot of mindset blocks, and if this is something you want to pursue, you will hit a lot of mindset blocks, too.
And that’s a good sign, because it means this is something you take seriously and that this is levelling you up out of your comfort zone.
You can imagine all of these as little trials that your brain is sending you through; to get to where you want to go, you have to go through these trials.
Here are some common mindset trials most of us have to continuously go through:
1. Imposter Syndrome
Imposter Syndrome
Oh, you can bet that imposter syndrome will have some LOUD things to say.
Here are a few common things it’ll tell ya:
- “You’ve NEVER, like ever, done this before. How can you expect yourself to do this?”
- “Don’t be silly. You’re not qualified to do that. Who told you you were qualified?”
- “You don’t know the answer to absolutely everything within this topic, so you’re not ready to begin.”
- “You don’t have 2390 years of experience, so this is not for you.”
But guess what?
All of us started out with 0 experience, so you’re in the majority. None of us shot out of the womb knowing how to use Airtable.
Kindly remind that voice:
- “I understand you’re worried about me trying something new. But I won’t know how to do it until I actually do it. So let me do it, let me try.”
- “I might not know everything, but I know I can try my best to figure it out.”
- “Everybody starts out as an imposter. It’s the only way to begin.”
How can you become a painter if you never paint?
How can you become a writer if you never write?
Your dream is worth a fair chance.
Fear of Failure
Another super common one – and very normal. Your brain wants to protect you from trying and failing.
But here’s a reframe: if you commit to never quitting, you won’t ever be able to fail.
Failing doesn’t have to be the end of anything if you don’t let it – it can just be the middle. And to be honest, you probably will fail before you get to the good stuff.
Every person that’s done anything cool ever has left a trail of failures.
So if you’re able to embrace the possibility of not being immediately wildly successful… welcome.
I also once had to annoyingly accept that I wouldn’t be an overnight success.
And for encouragement: I have been rejected probably over 100 times over the years.
It’s annoying. It hurts. But I would do it 100x over again if it got me to where I am as it did.
Would your Dream Life be worth being rejected 100 times over 5 years?
If yes, then this could be your thing.
If no, you may not be dreaming big enough.
Fear of Success
This is a funny one that people often ignore, but I’ve seen it in action in myself and in my students.
Fear of Success sounds like:
- “Oh, but you don’t actually want that because…”
- “But what if you actually DO land a client? What then? That’s too scary. We better not try.”
- “What we have is good enough. It’s not perfect but it’s fine. It’s too risky to try something new. Things could change.”
Your brain is always trying to keep things the same, to avoid change. Change is very threatening to your brain because it’s unpredictable and your brain doesn’t know how to ‘prepare’ fully for it.
But change is inevitable. Change is the only constant in life.
So wouldn’t you rather be in control of the type of change that you embrace?
Why not embrace change that feels exciting, that feels like butterflies in your stomach?
If reading through these pages has given you a bit of a nervous-excited feeling… this is a good sign.
I was PETRIFIED when I first began thinking about growing into a DBM role.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” – James Neil Hollingworth
Alumni says…
xyz
In DBM Bootcamp…
1. Charging “your worth”, increasing prices just for the sake of increasing prices, and getting booked out are not the solutions to earning more money.
2.
I've been mentioned in these (way too cool for me) places...
The DBM Bootcamp™ is an 8-12 week Bootcamp that trains you to plan & manage digital projects, run remote teams, optimize business systems and scale digital businesses alongside entrepreneurs and business owners