18-Year-Old Peter Szabo: High School Dropout, Digital Marketing Star The Slovakian teenager started making Facebook ads when he was just 11 years old.
By Nathan Resnick •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Students don't usually drop out of high school to improve their future prospects, because school can be a vital time to develop the you'll need to make it in the real world. For 18-year-old Peter Szabo, though, attending school was holding back growth on his already-developed digital marketing agency.
Peter was 11 years old when financial trouble affected his family in Slovakia. Peter needed to make his own money, and what started as a Google search on how to make money online has turned him into one of the most sought-after Facebook Ads experts.
Success didn't come overnight. He started making just pennies a day as an affiliate for online courses. Over time, those pennies turned to dollars, dollars turned to hundreds of dollars and on his biggest sales day, Peter brought in $10,504. He realized that his skill for selling online courses really stemmed from his ability to effectively manage ad spend on Facebook.
Related: Drop Out Like Zuckerberg? No. Learn to Be an Entrepreneur in School.
Peter realized his talent was in social media marketing, not selling online courses. This realization pushed him to shift his focus and develop a full-fledged digital marketing agency that drives return on investment. Three things make his marketing strategies different (and allow his agency to grow):
1. A radical sales pitch
When an entrepreneur starts a business, they need to understand what will set them apart, whether it's a brand, intellectual property or something else. Then, they need to figure out how to tell a unique story about themselves and the thing that makes them different.
Stories tie to emotion and emotions sell. That's why, when Peter he pitches clients, he starts by understanding their story: How did they get to where they are today? From there, he doesn't dive into how his agency can help them grow. Instead, he explains how his story of becoming an entrepreneur intertwines with theirs. This paints the picture of a win-win situation.
Related: These Young College Dropouts Built a $14 Million Company in Just Over a Year
2. A guarantee
This pitch has been around for decades and we see it all the time. Every business should incorporate some sort of guarantee, yet digital marketing agencies can rarely have one as their industry requires a lot of customer data to drive results.
Though Peter knows delivering results can be tricky with some clients, the first thing you see on his website is, "Your ROI is Guaranteed." This is what sets him and his pitch apart -- he is willing to hold his work accountable with results. If your business is looking to develop a guarantee, see what others are doing in your industry and try to up the ante.
Related: Beanies, Tees and Steez: How Shaun Neff Built a $100 Million Business Out of His Backpack
3. Proof of success
There is a fine line in business between being cocky and showing what you're capable of. In some cases, it is smart to show your past success. In others, it will be frowned upon. It's all about presentation.
Peter devotes a whole page of his website to the success stories of his past clients. These successes are broken into case studies, actual screenshots of messages from customers and even video testimonials. Though a disclaimer clearly states at the top of the page that the company's best results are not typical, it does portray a strong image of the agency's potential.
Developing a radical sales pitch, having a guarantee and showing your success can grow almost any company -- digital marketing agency or not. So, try putting these three points into practice at your business now.
