Iman Gadzhi shares 17 money secrets to make your first 1 million dollars, and it doesn’t include saving money on Starbucks. He said the only way to stay sane is to understand that money is a never-ending game. His solution? To build and scale a profitable digital marketing biz where agency owners, coaches, consultants, and course creators can make at least $10K monthly. Is Iman Gadzhi the good guy he says he is or is a con-man preying on wannabe entrepreneurs?
As a stay-at-home mom, juggling kids and a side hustle while maintaining a clean home, I need a low-maintenance but quick-income biz. Iman Gadzhi offers a $3K social media marketing agency course which he claims to be “suitable for beginners” (moms included). But is the SMMA biz a good fit for stay-at-home moms like you and me? In this Agency Navigator course review, I’ll talk about the course, the creator and his controversies, and the pros of SMMA and its pitfalls. I’ll also list the average monthly expenses of running an SMMA biz and reveal to you the shocking truth about how much agency owners realistically make based on the latest industry data.
Hint: It's way less than what Iman tells you.
Agency Navigator is Iman Gadzhi’s latest social media marketing agency (SMMA) course. He calls it the “foolproof” formula for starting and scaling a 7-figure digital marketing biz. Its two previous versions are Six Figure SMMA and Agency Incubator. Iman said this latest upgrade already includes tools, templates, and funnels that you can readily use for your agency. Aside from 8 video modules with learning materials and 50 hours of training videos, Agency Navigator also includes hour-and-half live coaching calls on Tuesdays, exclusive access to 25 custom-built website templates, and Q&A recordings. Essential tools, such as financial planners, revenue calculators, and outreach tracker tools, are also provided. Members are also given access to a forum-style private agency owners community. Agency Navigator costs $1,499, and it has a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Iman Gadzhi is a Russian millionaire agency owner and the founder of Agency Navigator, IAG Media, AgenciFlow software company, and an NFT project called Gents Croquet Club. At 17 years old, he started producing content for marketing clients and made a $15K monthly income. Two-and-half years later, he was already making $100K monthly. He took a social media marketing course from Tai Lopez and made $750K in income for that year. His business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He switched from digital marketing to course creation, so he rebranded his company and expanded his team. Six Figure SMMA was launched, and it was later upgraded to Agency Incubator. The latest version of his SMMA course is now called Agency Navigator. His company, IAG Media, now makes 25 million dollars. Aside from being a serial entrepreneur, Iman is also a philanthropist who actively funds five schools in Nepal. He has a huge social media presence with over 1.3 million followers on Instagram and 3.7 million on YouTube.
Agency Navigator: Social Media Marketing Agency Course for Beginners?
Iman Gadzhi is one of the wealthiest online entrepreneurs after making over 25 million dollars since he started his online business. He travels on private jets, parties at luxury bars, vacations at expensive resorts, and gifts Rolex to fans. He’s literally living the multi-millionaire life. At 23 years old, he claims to be 85 million dollars' worth. His Agency Navigator SMMA course seems decent and comprehensive at face value. Aside from the 50-hour training module, students also get 25 custom-built website templates and weekly coaching. The team also provides relevant digital agency tools, such as financial planners, outreach trackers, and revenue calculators. But that’s just the good part about the Agency Navigator and Iman Gadzhi. It turns out, serious controversies are linked to his name. He’s even called a scammer all over Reddit and Quora. Agency Navigator’s Trustpilot rating is under-satisfactory at just 2.9 stars. And we’re barely scratching the surface.
The internet is scattered with vlogs and articles that call Iman a fraudster and scammer. So, I did a little digging. One YouTube video caught my attention. It’s an episode on Brian Zaste’s channel where he exposed how Iman was taking advantage of his audience and followers. Brain said Iman tried social media marketing, but his early success in running an SMMA did not last. So, he shifted to course creation. At this point, Iman has already built a following, so he leveraged this to scale his coaching biz. Back then, only a few content creators taught (and promoted) social media marketing. He became a big hit and spent $5K to $6K daily on ads to get more enrollments in 2019. I find it so ironic that this “SMMA expert” didn’t seem to focus so much on growing his marketing agency. Instead, he kept creating more courses. Iman launched several courses over the years. Aside from Six Figure SMMA and Agency Incubator, there was also the Copy and Paste Agency and Digital Renaissance. He also built an educational platform called Educate.io where students get huge discounts on business mentorships.
A Reddit thread that monikered Iman as the “30 million scammer” exposed that he targets youngsters who are 15 to 19 years old by selling the dream of becoming as rich as him. He uses a formula that’s common to many gurus: expensive watches, luxurious vacations, and retiring parents. And then he established “credibility” by growing his followers (it’s rumored that he bought followers) and renting yachts for-the-gram. Another Reddit thread posted a year ago calls him a “pathological liar” and a man with “zero moral compass”. This writer pointed out that Iman lied about his past. He said he grew up poor with an abusive father. But rumors say he was raised in an expensive London neighborhood and was driven to school in a Rolls Royce. His stepdad was extremely successful and probably gave him the money he used in his online businesses. Iman didn’t grow his business from rags. He started from a pedestal because he was funded by his parents. And, even if he failed, he could restart anytime because he has access to money.
The biggest inconsistency with Iman is that he shuts down the agency that he claims to make over a hundred thousand monthly income to pursue “new levels of wealth”. Why would he shut down an agency that’s already worth 10 million dollars (as he claims)? Brian’s exposé that Iman’s SMMAs aren’t that successful after all is probably true. He makes it sound so easy when in reality, 97% of digital marketing strategies fail. The average income for agency owners in the United States is estimated to be only around $8,000 monthly ($96,000 per year) according to the latest industry data reported by Greatest on the Planet. At this rate, agency owners cannot afford private jets and diamond-studded watches. Running an SMMA biz is also quite expensive. FinModelsLab estimates that the monthly operating cost of a start-up marketing agency is at least $5K. Search engine optimization alone costs $500 to $20K monthly, PPC is at least 5% of the total ads budget, and email marketing campaigns cost at least $300.
Agency Navigator Review on YouTube
The Truth Hub
The Truth Hub (@truthhub567) said that Iman Gadzhi’s Agency Navigator course is well-structured and detailed. He also pointed out that the course helped him gain a better understanding of the SMMA (Social Media Marketing Agency) business model. Despite his satisfaction, he’s still not convinced that it’s worth $3,000. Many start-up entrepreneurs are looking for a quick income source online and may not have the capital for a high-ticket program. On top of that, there are operating costs of around $5K for search engine optimization, PPC, and email marketing campaigns. Although the Agency Navigator could be a feasible investment, new entrepreneurs might not afford the course and its associated fees.
Would I Recommend Agency Navigator?
Overall, I wouldn't recommend Agency Navigator for stay-at-home moms. SMMA is a risky business, and it’s not the most beginner-friendly. The biggest risk of this business model is you’re basically a service provider for other businesses. Although there’s an opportunity to make money, income can be unpredictable and unstable. As a service provider, you are replaceable without warning. You’re investing time, effort, and hard work on assets you don’t own. Unsatisfied clients may fire you anytime, and you’re back to square one. Running an SMMA biz can also be time-intensive, which makes it unfit for stay-at-home moms. With SMMA, you’re tied to the schedule of your clients. Managing multiple clients and a team will demand most of your day. You may even end up working more than your 9 to 5. Juggling all the responsibilities as an agency owner and running a household can take a toll on your mental health. We don't want that.
A better biz model would be local lead generation. Instead of building an agency that serves other companies, why not build digital assets that you own? You won’t lose business even when clients leave you. You own the tracking numbers (of the sites) and you can still rent out digital properties and sell leads to other business owners. In local lead gen, you have full control of the business, your income, and time. Learn about this unsaturated, high-income potential business model through local lead gen training.
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