College Grads Start Multi-Million Dollar Agency in Social Media Wild West

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

As we kick off a new week, I'd like to be the first to welcome you to Cytosol School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Every day on the program, I'm telling true stories of people who find ways to make money. Not just any ways, but creative ways, accessible ways, things that perhaps you have never thought of. My hope in telling these stories is that you will be inspired and not just inspired, but you might have a practical step.

You might know what to do next, or at least you might be able to point to the right direction. You might be able to say, "You know what? "If so and so can do this, maybe I can too." Or at least I can get a little bit closer to the goals I believe in. Today's featured hustlers were in the first wave of college students to use Facebook. It didn't take long to see how big it would become and how much money they could make with it.

Now, the story I'm gonna tell you today is kind of a gold rush story, a moment in time story. You can't really do the same thing now that these people did, at least not in the same way. So why tell the story? This reminds me of some other stories I've told you like the rise and fall of birdsupplies.com. That was one of my favorites from episode 618 that chronicled the early days of an e-commerce site many years ago.

So if this is sort of a historical artifact kind of story, why do I tell it to you? Because the whole point of Side Hustle School is to be helpful. Well, I tell you because the world is constantly changing. We're always in the midst of constant disruption and this disruption presents opportunities. So when I tell you one of these historical stories, like today, about how these college students went on to make millions of dollars using social media in the early days and building an agency, the question you should ask is, where is the opportunity now?

Where is the Wild West? Where's the gold rush? What's the thing that people are missing? Where can I find my gold rush? Where can I find my place in that disruption, in that space of constant change?

This story, College Grad Starts $6 Million Agency in Social Media Wild West, is coming up after this message from our sponsor. [Music]

In the pioneer days, before Facebook was overrun by memes and fake news, before ads found their way in between every post, and before just anyone could sign up, it was for college students only. It was also the new Wild West for advertising to young people. Katie Whitkin and Adam Guro didn't know each other yet, but they were already on paths that would lead to the meeting and building a $6 million cultural ad agency together. And it would all begin with Facebook.

When Adam graduated from college, he jumped into a handful of internships with companies like Columbia Records, helping them book concerts on college campuses. The music business was successful doing what it had always done, but Adam saw a new growing marketing opportunity, this thing called social media. He began posting events on Facebook with some dramatic results. Concerts that traditionally took days of canvassing on campus began selling out in less than 24 hours. Parties were swamped with hundreds of attendees from out of nowhere.

The new platform was unbelievably effective at engaging with people on a deeper cultural level when compared with traditional ads or flyers. Adam soon went to work at Deep Focus, the first social digital agency in the country, but he would only be there a few months. When the economy collapsed, he was let go, but not before he gained all the experience he needed. He started pitching and picking up freelance clients in the entertainment industry. Meanwhile, Katie was on a similar journey.

She had been working for Sony's music department. She too would be let go a couple of years later, but not before meeting Adam at a concert she attended for her own music blog, which was well known. The two hit it off over the next few months, sharing social media strategies and talking about freelance clients over Google Chat. Katie made it to the fourth round of interviews for a new job, but before she went to the office, she realized she didn't even want it. The digital advertising she was doing on the side with music clients who came from her blog was a real passion, and Adam was already gung-ho about starting their own agency.

She dropped out of the running for the job and jumped into a new project to co-create a cultural marketing agency. The first couple of years came with big highs and lows. They somehow generated $500,000 in revenue by the end of that first year, with clients that included MTV and Conde Nast, but they didn't take any salary for themselves so they could hire employees. After such rapid growth the first year, in year two, it didn't grow at all. Katie and Adam conducted a test with their employees to see if their management strategies were hindering the business, and it turns out they were, a lot.

Adam was great without structure. He could think creatively and execute flawlessly, but his last minute approach tended to stress everyone out. Katie, on the other hand, was very type A. She was organized, disciplined, and thrived with structure. You can probably tell where this is going.

The two would have screaming matches, like the kind where the employees would think the company was going to shut down. It scared people, and it had to change. At one point early on, Adam had to let go of an employee that he really adored. It happened over a miscommunication that could have been avoided, and it really bothered him. These company culture issues, among others, were pulling everyone down.

Katie and Adam had seen toxic cultures of other agencies and wanted something better for theirs. So that's where that test came in. Once the duo had a better understanding of their working speeds, professional needs, and management styles, they were able to recenter themselves. They made changes to the way they motivated employees and communicated with each other. It worked.

The company ran more smoothly, employees were happier, and the brands were thrilled with the results they were seeing. Year three, it turned into a million-dollar year. They finally began taking salaries, and they took out health insurance policies for everyone in the company. Katie and Adam have been intentional about management ever since, and the results have been dramatic. The company itself can now change course for clients like a small motorboat instead of a slow cruise ship.

Their employees all have the freedom to pursue their own hustles after work. And the agency, well, they're about to have their first $6 million year. One of the things I really believe is that intelligent people, generally speaking, whatever kind of field you're in, whatever your goals are, intelligent people are open to new ideas. They're open to learning something new. They're open to change.

They realize that the way that things have worked before may not be the way that things are gonna work in the future. And by being open to that, they often stumble upon or create all new opportunities that go on to do something really interesting, just like all the different stories that I tell you every day. So in the world of digital marketing, more so than a lot of things, even change is a constant. Change is an ever-present variable. And Katie mentioned in our research for the story, she said, you know, a lot of companies have a service they offer and occasionally tweak.

But our company, the offerings we provide, what we do and how we work in general, it changes on a constant basis. It's not for everyone, but it's way more fun and interesting for us, and it keeps us more well-rounded. But it also means that every year we are a new company. So we have to prioritize feelings of that uncertainty. Again, intelligent people are open to new ideas.

They're not just open to ideas, they're willing to take action on them, right? Because inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Wild West Days. If you'd like to check out the show notes or more about Katie and Adam's agency, anything else that I mentioned, just come to sidehustleschool.com/821. That's for episode 821.

As we begin a new week, I hope you're doing something for yourself. I hope you have a goal. And I hope you do something small toward it every day. I mean, something big is good too, but if you can't do something big every day, at least do something small. Much more is coming up, do stay tuned, subscribe, tell your friends, it's completely free.

Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.