30 Content Marketing Business Success Stories [2024]
Content marketing is developing and distributing relevant, helpful content to convert the target customer to take the necessary steps. Businesses with a content marketing strategy get 67% more leads than other companies.
Therefore, the demand for content marketing services is high than ever before. Starting a content marketing service can be a significant business venture.
To start a content marketing business, you need a good understanding of SEO and social media. You can hire content creators to help you develop relevant and valuable content.
In this list, you'll find real-world content marketing business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a content marketing business that makes money.
1. Impression ($7.8M/year)
Aaron and his university friend, Tom, founded Impression as a side project while working in-house for a renewable energy business. They couldn't find an agency partner that met their expectations, so they decided to create one themselves. Starting with services like paid media, SEO, and digital PR campaigns, they evolved Impression into a strategic agency partner, reaching milestones like employing 100 staff and aiming for a revenue target of £10m.
How much money it makes: $7.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 103
Impression - a digital marketing agency started by two friends who were able to grow the business from scratch by profit-funding and recently reached the milestone of employing 100 staff, serving as a strategic agency partner to clients, and set to hit its next revenue target of £10m.
2. MeetEdgar ($4M/year)
Laura Roeder, the founder of MeetEdgar, came up with the idea for her social media automation tool after realizing the burden of managing social media accounts and creating new content across multiple platforms. With her background in teaching social media marketing and her own online course business, she saw the need for a tool that could handle the grunt work of social media management. By validating the idea through her course, she decided to create MeetEdgar and launched the software in 2014.
How much money it makes: $4M/year
How many people on the team: 11
MeetEdgar, a bootstrapped social media automation tool founded in 2014 by Laura Roeder, has grown to $4 million in annual recurring revenue and more than 5,000 customers, with a team size of two dozen, achieved through content marketing, social media marketing, and organic search.
3. Coffee and Contracts ($3M/year)
Haley Ingram, the founder of Coffee and Contracts, came up with the idea for her business while working as a real estate agent. After experiencing the power of social media marketing firsthand and receiving requests for advice from other agents, she saw an opportunity to create a subscription-based marketing toolkit tailored specifically for real estate professionals. In just two years, Coffee and Contracts has helped over 7,000 agents build their brands and currently generates an impressive average monthly revenue of $165,000.
How much money it makes: $3M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 3
Coffee and Contracts is a digital marketing subscription service for real estate professionals that has helped over 7,000 members in just two years, with an average monthly revenue of around $165,000, and has grown at a rate of about 5% each month through organic traffic from Instagram and word of mouth.
4. Dan Koe ($2.5M/year)
Eager to choose an unconventional career path and his love for fitness got him to start a fitness YT channel in college, then a freelance course out of his love for web development through which he built an audience, and lot of iterations with failing and succeeding at digital products.
How much money it makes: $2.5M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 0
Learn how Dan Koe, a solopreneur targeting 7-8-figure entrepreneurs with a 98% profit margin and 2.6 million social media audience, built his brand from a fitness YT channel to a successful freelancing business with a strategic content growth strategy and revenue averaging $2.5M/year.
5. Bop Design ($2.4M/year)
Kara Jensen, co-founder of Bop Design, initially started the company as a side gig while working full-time. After experiencing the instability of the financial industry during the subprime mortgage crisis, she convinced her husband to join her and they focused on B2B website design and marketing services. Through smart financial management and a focus on value-added services, Bop Design has grown to become a multi-million dollar marketing agency, making the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list two years in a row.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $25K
How many people on the team: 13
Bop Design, a B2B digital marketing agency, evolved through working with high-tech, software, industrial, and life science companies to develop lead-generating websites, brand platforms, and content marketing programs, and saw 153.1% revenue growth, landing them on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list for two years in a row.
6. Article-Writing Co ($1.5M/year)
David Tile, the founder of Article-Writing.co, originally tried to start a penny auction website after college but failed. He then turned to freelance writing to make some cash, which eventually led to him building a successful content writing service. With $40k - $50k in monthly revenue from clients like Answers.com, Tile's business has grown without any outside funding, emphasizing the importance of taking action and adapting to market forces.
How much money it makes: $1.5M/year
How many people on the team: 25
How David Tile turned a freelance writing gig into an $80k/month business, discussing lessons learned through managing growing demands and maintaining a remote team operation.
7. Scalenut ($1.2M/year)
Mayank Jain, along with his co-founders Gaurav Goyal and Saurabh Wadhawan, came up with the idea for Scalenut after spending a decade each in the digital startup industry. They noticed the challenges that brands face in scaling their content marketing efforts and saw an opportunity to create a platform that helps businesses drive organic traffic and scale their content production. With their MVP product launched in September 2021, Scalenut has experienced rapid growth, with over 100k users and $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $100K
How many people on the team: 30
Scalenut is an AI-powered SEO and content marketing platform that aims to help businesses scale their efforts to nail the entire content life cycle, from planning to creation, which has led to the company turning over $100,000 in MRR within 6 months of launching.
8. Rejoin Media ($1.2M/year)
Michael Gardon, the CEO of Rejoin Media, came up with the idea for his business after realizing that he wanted to break out of the 9-5 job and create a more flexible and balanced lifestyle. With capital to acquire sites and expertise in SEO and content marketing, Gardon launched Rejoin as a portfolio of web-based businesses, generating around $100,000 per month in revenue and growing at a rate of 20% per month. Today, he is focused on diversifying his business and building new products and marketing channels.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 5
Rejoin Media's CEO, Michael Gardon, shares how he built his business portfolio, which generates $100,000 in monthly revenue, without the use of venture capital, and offers insight into achieving business success through resiliency.
9. Content Refined ($996K/year)
Narcis became the CEO and Manager of Content Refined after the business was already established. However, he was able to optimize procedures and increase clientele, leading to significant revenue growth of 76% over 3 years. With a focus on delivering high-quality content and helping site owners rank for target keywords organically, Content Refined has become a fully managed content writing service that attracts and retains customers through word of mouth and referrals.
How much money it makes: $996K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Content Refined's CEO Narcis shares how they grew their fully-managed content writing service to double their revenue, with 76% growth, and expand their clientele while keeping profit margins healthy - all within the past 3 years - by remaining focused on delivering quality and performance, leveraging referrals, and implementing AI procedures.
10. ModumUp ($996K/year)
Olga Bondareva, the founder of ModumUp, came up with the idea for her social selling agency after realizing the high demand for managing personal profiles on social media for business goals. With her background in social media marketing and Microsoft digital marketing, she saw the opportunity to help clients attract new customers, partners, and employees through the development of their profiles on social media. Since launching, Bondareva has focused on growing the brand through her own personal social media presence, speaking at events and conferences, and promoting case studies to attract and retain customers.
How much money it makes: $996K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 44
Meet Olga Bondareva, founder of ModumUp, a social selling agency with an ARR of $1M and 30+ b2b clients, specializing in managing personal social media profiles to generate leads, offering consulting, employee advocacy, and training services.
11. Postoplan.app ($840K/year)
Alex Bozhin, founder & CEO of Postoplan, came up with the idea for his automated marketing platform for social media and messengers after working with various social media instruments in his marketing agency and feeling that something was missing. He saw an opportunity to revolutionize the market and create his own instrument for working with social media. After months of research and interviews with potential clients, he launched Postoplan and attracted over 1,000 users, including paying ones, through a Product Hunt launch.
How much money it makes: $840K/year
How much did it cost to start: $11K
How many people on the team: 27
Postoplan, an automated marketing platform for social media and messengers, has reached over $1M in revenues and boasts 112,000 users in 147 countries with an average annual revenue growth of +25% MoM, making it among Estonia's Top 5 most promising startups in 2020, a finalist for the Global Business Owners Startup Awards in 2021, and placing 2nd at Seedstars Tallinn in 2020, all while being the only marketing platform that enables automated posting to WhatsApp.
12. Content-Whale Private Limited ($750K/year)
Vaibhav Kishnani, an engineer turned writer, came up with the idea for Content-Whale after noticing the unprofessional conduct in the Indian content market. With just Rs. 2,500 ($35) in capital, he started the content agency which now generates a revenue turnover of Rs. 4 crores ($514,000) and serves clients like Quikr and The Boston Consulting Group.
How much money it makes: $750K/year
How much did it cost to start: $35
How many people on the team: 30
Content-Whale, a content curation agency, has achieved a Rs. 4 crore ($514k/year) turnover 4-5 years after being started with just Rs. 2500 ($35), and has a pool of more than 500 writers, aiming to become a market leader in the global content market.
13. Lead Cookie ($660K/year)
Jake Jorgovan, a serial entrepreneur and business advisor, came up with the idea for Lead Cookie, a LinkedIn lead generation and appointment setting company, after brainstorming various business ideas and realizing the untapped potential in the market. Within the first two weeks of launching, Jorgovan closed $12k of monthly recurring revenue by selling to individuals within his existing network, providing rapid validation for his concept. Lead Cookie is now a thriving company, generating between $45k-$70k in monthly revenue and boasting a team of 20 full-time members.
How much money it makes: $660K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 24
Serial entrepreneur Jake Jorgovan explains how he started and grew his LinkedIn lead generation company, Lead Cookie, which now averages between $45k-70k every month with only 4-8 hours of his own time per week, and shares insights on building and scaling a successful business.
14. Three Girls Media, Inc. ($600K/year)
Erika Taylor Montgomery, founder of Three Girls Media, came up with the idea for her marketing and PR agency after leaving her career in broadcasting and politics. Recognizing the need for work-life balance and wanting more control over her schedule, she decided to launch her own business. With just a $3,000 loan, Erika started Three Girls Media, which has since grown to a team of 10 and grosses about $550,000 annually.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3K
How many people on the team: 10
A marketing and public relations agency founded by Erika Taylor Montgomery, Three Girls Media grosses about $550,000 annually and is a team of 11 who offer a range of services including social media management, digital marketing, email marketing, media relations, and website design and build.
15. Add Value | Growth Marketing Agency ($600K/year)
24-year-old Joachim Brouckaert founded Add Value, a growth marketing agency, after noticing that many marketing agencies prioritized money over delivering value to their customers. With a background in digital marketing and experience freelancing as a digital marketer, Joachim decided to start his own agency focused on full-funnel marketing services. After a year in business, Add Value generates an average monthly turnover of 30k and works with 18 active clients.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 5
A 24-year-old founder shares how his growth marketing agency generated €360,000 in its first year, with a team of 5 people working for 18 active clients per month, using SEO, Facebook and Google ads, organic content on LinkedIn, and a hybrid agency model with a focus on client retention.
16. Get Found XL ($540K/year)
Justas Markus, the co-founder of GetFound XL, originally started the company as a content marketing agency. They quickly found success, acquiring three clients within the first month. After a year, they made the decision to focus solely on building links, which has allowed them to optimize their processes and deliver high-quality services to their 40+ clients.
How much money it makes: $540K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 5
A link building company co-founded by Justas Markus has grown to make an average of $35k per month in recurring revenue with a focus on delivering high-quality services through manual processes and focusing on fewer markets.
17. The Happy Beavers ($480K/year)
The founder of The Happy Beavers initially started as a freelance translator, but after experiencing success with SEO-focused content creation, they transitioned into building a company. They utilized platforms like Upwork to gain clients and focused on personalizing their sales approach to stand out from the competition. They are now scaling their business growth and working on developing an AI that can analyze the quality of written content.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 10
The Happy Beavers is a content creation company specialized in SEO investments through content creation, with a team of 10 full-time employees and around 150 freelancers, boasting an excellent track record, which they build up through Upwork.
18. Influence Podium ($480K/year)
Marti Sanchez, the CEO of Influence Podium, came up with the idea for his business after ghostwriting papers for B2B CEOs in college. He realized the power of personal branding and content, and eventually launched Influence Podium to help B2B CEOs grow their personal brands and create content at scale. Now in its 3rd year, Influence Podium has crossed $30k MRR and aims to hit seven figures by the end of the year.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 6
Influence Podium CEO Marti Sanchez started his content service for B2B CEOs three years ago, which now helps get CEOs of companies on podcasts and repurposes those episodes. They have crossed $30k MRR and their next goal is to hit seven figures by the end of the year, while completely self-funded.
19. ryrob.com ($480K/year)
Ryan Robinson started his blog ryrob.com in college as a way to share the lessons he learned from starting a business around his product, the iStash. After a viral post on HackerNews and Twitter, Ryan saw the potential to build a community around his blog and turned it into a full-time business. Now, his blog has around 500,000 monthly readers and generates between $25,000 to $55,000 in revenue each month through affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and the sale of his own digital products.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Ryan Robinson explains how he built a blog with over 500k monthly visitors and generates $25,000-$55,000 in revenue each month through affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and his own digital products like courses and books.
20. Sniply ($420K/year)
Matt Bentley, the Marketing Lead at Sniply, came up with the idea for the custom URL shortener after experiencing the problem of losing customers gained from curating other people's content. He realized that when sharing third-party content on social media, traffic is diverted away from your own website. This led to the creation of Sniply, which adds a custom call-to-action button on any shared page, directing the traffic back to the user's website. With 550 paying customers and an annual revenue of $420k, Sniply has become a valuable tool for startup founders, brand managers, and social media managers.
How much money it makes: $420K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1M
How many people on the team: 3
Sniply is a custom URL shortener that adds a custom CTA button to any page shared on social media, with 550 paying customers, including large marketing companies, and an annual revenue of about $420k, revolutionizing content marketing.
21. With Content ($360K/year)
Daniel Tay, co-founder of With Content, initially discovered his passion for content marketing while studying political science. After gaining experience as a journalist and content marketer in the tech industry, he realized the need for high-quality content marketing in Singapore and Southeast Asia. With a strong network and growing demand, Daniel launched With Content, offering specialized content marketing services for B2B tech companies. Through strategic content creation, transparent pricing, and targeted marketing efforts, With Content quickly gained traction and became a go-to agency in the region, generating $1 million in revenue to date.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 8
A Singapore-based content marketing agency, With Content, co-founded by Daniel Tay, generates a monthly revenue of $30k and recently crossed the million-dollar mark in total revenue, thanks to its focus on narrow content marketing services, transparency in pricing, and expanding the marketing funnel through various content marketing channels.
22. Restoration Digital Marketing ($300K/year)
Jeff Carrier came up with the idea for Restoration Digital Marketing after speaking to restoration owners who lacked focus on internet marketing. With their industry-specific knowledge and experience as a restoration company, RDM was able to educate the industry and generate $25,000/month in leads.
How much money it makes: $300K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Restoration Digital Marketing generates over $25,000 per month helping restoration companies achieve positive ROI through its specialized digital marketing services, and its success has been fuelled through word-of-mouth marketing tactics and developing client relationships.
23. The Digital Vibe Podcast and Network ($240K/year)
Annette Thomas, the creator and founder of The Digital Vibe Podcast and Network, came up with the idea to start her business after feeling the need to challenge herself and express herself in a way that traditional avenues couldn't offer. Through self-education and using her voice to share her story, Annette has built a network that generates around $20,000 per month through various revenue streams including brand clothing, podcast sales, affiliate sales, and book reselling.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 3
A founder shares how she built a podcast network with brand clothing, podcast sales, affiliate sales, and publishing book partnerships, generating around $20k per month, while staying true to her voice and values.
24. Mylance ($216K/year)
Bradley Jacobs, founder of Mylance, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing the freedom and financial success of working as an independent consultant. He saw a growing market of individuals who wanted to monetize their expertise and work flexibly, so he started Mylance to provide a comprehensive platform for self-employed professionals. Through organic social media marketing and customer word of mouth, Mylance has attracted and retained customers, growing to $40k/month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 0
Mylance, founded by Bradley Jacobs, is an end-to-end software platform for self-employed individuals and independent consultants, growing to ~$40k/month in revenue with 3 main value-adds: actionable guides, a vetted community, and lead generation software.
25. Audience Ops ($120K/year)
Inspired by Jesse Mecham’s talk at MicroConf Vegas, Brian, the founder of Audience Ops, conceptualized his company with the core belief that content marketing is about building assets, not tactics.
He identified that companies miss opportunities by focusing on superficial metrics such as word counts, keyword stuffing, and click-bait rather than deep customer research and email engagement.
Brian emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs and using email to maintain connections, ultimately building a valuable audience and gaining a competitive edge.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
Audience Ops, founded by Brian Casel, generated over $3,000 in revenue within six weeks of launching a validated concept, ultimately leading to a high six-figure acquisition, proving the effectiveness of productized content marketing services and strategic networking.
26. Koala Rank ($96K/year)
Arrigo, the founder of Koala Rank, stumbled upon the idea of starting his own business while working as a freelancer on Fiverr. After receiving an email about Fiverr's new Studios feature, he saw an opportunity to create his own thing and decided to click on the "Create a Studio" button. This marked the beginning of Koala Rank, an all-in-one content marketing service that now generates $8K in monthly recurring revenue.
How much money it makes: $96K/year
How much did it cost to start: $4K
How many people on the team: 1
Koala Rank, an all-in-one content marketing service for B2B firms founded by Arrigo, has grown to $8K in MRR since its launch in Jan 2020 with retention being good and March 2021 seeing a boom in subscriptions.
27. WTFBit Writing ($48K/year)
Denys stumbled upon the idea for WTFBit Writing when a Telegram community he started about cryptocurrencies gained traction. This led him to pivot from media to a content marketing agency, now generating between $2K-$5K/month by helping IT firms translate technology into human language.
How much money it makes: $48K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 0
Denys from Ukraine shares his journey from being an essay writer to launching his own copywriting agency, WTFBit Writing, which now generates between $2K-$5K/month and has helped 50+ IT companies with their content marketing needs.
28. The Customize Windows ($33.6K/year)
Abhishek Ghosh, founder of The Customize Windows blog, was inspired by his passion for electronics and programming. He launched the blog in 2010 to share his knowledge of tweaking Microsoft Windows and gradually expanded its scope to include theoretical discussions on various tech topics. Over the years, the website has attracted direct advertisers and stabilized its monthly earnings at $2,500, offering valuable content to readers in the software and electronics niche.
How much money it makes: $33.6K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 4
This case study is an inspiring story about how a founder started a blog on Microsoft Windows technology and, after a decade of hard work, dedication, and patience, managed to make it a sustainable business earning $30,000 per year, outlining the process of designing, prototyping, and launching the website and the lessons learned along the way.
29. Merrative ($24K/year)
Harshala Chavan, the founder of Merrative, came up with the idea for her business after noticing a lack of dedicated spaces for people to discuss literature. After attending a book club meetup, where she had a great discussion with others who had read the same book, she wondered if she could bring this experience online at scale. She validated her concept through participating in BPlans and growing her Instagram page, which eventually led to the launch of Merrative as a community-led marketplace for publishing talent.
How much money it makes: $24K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 0
Merrative, a community-driven marketplace for publishing talent, generates an average of $1,500 per month in marketplace transactions from their 5,000+ strong community of readers, writers, journalists, and scholars.
30. Neuwly ($1.2K/year)
Steve Christensen came up with the idea for Neuwly Live after realizing the power of connecting people through knowledge and inspiration. The initial concept of a bucket list tracker evolved into a platform for discovering and sharing experiences. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they pivoted to a virtual approach, launching a marketplace of knowledge and ideas.
How much money it makes: $1.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100K
How many people on the team: 0
Neuwly Live is a marketplace of knowledge and ideas that allows people to learn and advance together using live video, which has gained over 300 downloads in just one month.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
