This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Boosting biotech startups with creative ad strategies. Hello friends, Hey, Side Hustle School community. Thank you for tuning in today. My name is Chris Guillebeau, your host in this week's throwback Thursday segment. We're gonna hear from an advertising consultant who focuses on biotech startups in Southern California.
And this person found success with a flat fee structure. We're gonna talk about what that looks like. He now earns over $150,000 a year. Maybe I should have started with that. He had this little side hustle and now earns over $150,000 a year.
And so we'll talk about how he did it, how he made it happen and what we have learned or what he has learned since we first featured him. That's how throwback Thursday works. A little bit of a review and update from someone in our 2,700 episodes of archival content, always completely free. Isn't that a funny word, by the way, content. People are like, check out my content.
Like, okay, I'm mostly talking about blog posts or podcast episodes or books or something, but I guess we could call it content. Anyway, in this series, we heard last week from a clothing reseller. She shifted her focus from Poshmark to Depop. These are basically two platforms where you can go and resell new clothes, vintage clothes, different kinds of fashion items, fashion content. There you go.
She now makes more than half of her sales from Depop. So today, as mentioned, we're gonna hear from this guy, his name is Finn, based in Southern California. And I'm always telling you that it's so important to focus on, I don't always say a niche or a niche, but focus on some kind of topic or having some sort of clear identifying landmark that you're like, this is the thing I do. As I said, it doesn't have to be hyper-specific. Sometimes it can be.
There's variations on it, but finding focus is key. So let's hear the story of how he was able to do it. And I'll come back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
Hi, I'm Finn, an advertising consultant based in Southern California. When I first appeared on the show, I was just starting to make a name for myself in the biotech startup community.
My journey as an advertising consultant has been unique, particularly because of my decision to work on a flat fee structure instead of the traditional percentage of advertising spend. I began my career in general advertising, but quickly found a passion for biotech startups. The innovative and cutting edge nature of biotech companies fascinated me, and I saw a huge potential for growth in this sector. Initially, I managed digital ad campaigns and podcast sponsorships, primarily working with agencies that specialized in these areas. One of the biggest challenges I faced was the standard industry practice of charging clients a percentage of their advertising spend.
This model often felt unfair to the companies, especially startups with limited budgets. It also created the wrong incentives as it encouraged consultants to recommend higher spending rather than focusing on cost-effective strategies that delivered the best results. To differentiate myself and better serve my clients, I decided to switch to a flat fee structure. This change was driven by my desire to build trust and align my incentives with those of my clients. Charging a flat fee allowed me to focus entirely on creating effective and efficient advertising strategies without worrying about spending more just to increase my commission.
I started by offering a clear and transparent pricing structure based on the scope of work and complexity of the campaigns. My fees covered everything from initial consultations and strategy development to campaign execution and performance analysis. Clients appreciated the predictability and fairness of this model, which helped me quickly build a loyal client base. While digital ads remained my primary focus, I saw a big opportunity to diversify by incorporating podcast sponsorships. Podcasts in the biotech and health sectors were gaining popularity and sponsoring relevant shows provided a unique way for startups to reach their target audience.
I established partnerships with several podcast agencies to secure spots for my clients, which was great because they then handled a lot of the actual deal-making. One of my successful campaigns was for a startup developing a groundbreaking medical device. I crafted a series of digital ads that simplified the science behind the products and showcased its potential impact. We also sponsored several episodes of a popular podcast, which significantly boosted the company's visibility and credibility within the industry. All things considered, the decision to adopt a flat fee model has paid off, allowing me to build strong trust-based relationships with my clients.
By focusing on their needs and delivering tailored advertising solutions, I've helped numerous biotech startups gain traction and achieve their growth objectives. My income is steady and I'm now earning well over $100,000 annually. The flat fee structure not only provides financial stability, but also ensures that I remain committed to delivering value rather than simply increasing ad spend. I look forward to continuing to innovate and support these incredible companies as they develop the technologies of the future. [Music]
Thank you so much, Finn.
I really appreciate those updates. As I said, listeners, it's important to find a clearer focus. You're usually going to be more successful, do a better job closing sales if that's what you're trying to do, like in this case, or just reaching people, having people interested in your work, your offer, your service, your product, once it is kind of narrowed down as opposed to being a jack of all trades, just a little bit easier. So let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than a thousand stories. sidehustleschool.com, there's some resources there.
There's a notes page for every episode. This was 2,791 new episode comes out every day, seven days a week, always free. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
