What can social media do for you?
That’s something that
Karma Digital Marketing can answer. This full service digital marketing agency has been built from the ground up and is centered in the heart of LA. From social media management and graphic & web design, to guerrilla marketing and digital solutions, the
@KarmaDM team knows how to do it all for you and your company.
Read what entrepreneur, CEO, digital marketing expert, and USC alum Tito Goldstein had to say about his company and his thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene.
Pitch us your service in three sentences or less.
KarmaDM is a full service digital marketing agency, specializing in social media. Our mission is to push the limits of creativity and quality in the growing realms of social media marketing, guerrilla marketing, and digital solutions to reach new frontiers of success for our clients. With a passion seldom found elsewhere, we work with our clients to produce creative and unique digital marketing plans, exceeding our clientele’s expectations with turn key digital solutions for less than the cost of adding a single member to their own team.
What made you decide to focus your company on that service?
After working for several other firms, some of which were social media oriented and others positions that involved general marketing, I realized that there was a huge gap between the potential of the services and the service that these agencies offered. A company paying for social media service shouldn’t be handed off to some intern who knows very little about social media marketing. Yes it is true that your average teenager is more adept in social media realms than 95% of 40-50 year old business owners, but in reality this doesn’t mean much when you switch over from personal profiles to business pages within the social media world. Best Practices can mean the difference between 10,000 impressions per month with a growth of 20 new fans, and 50,000 impressions and 100 new fans. Simple things like the time of day you post, how much you post, the time of content you post and how it is presented to the ordinary user. Karma Digital Marketing implements own best practices to every campaign, and then re-tests these best practices to find specific-optimization for each client and their target audience.
How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture?
4-8 people. Our team has focused ambition, we all believe in helping our clients and often become attached to our clients as if we were a part of their team as well. We are laid back but organized, relaxed but relentless when we need to be.
How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with funding?
All the initial funding I provided myself, which for the most part was money that I didn’t have. After about $1000 of software purchases, $300 in online hosting, and whatever else I paid for I had credit card debt of approx $1700 (my credit limit). But luckily within a month of building a website with my own inexperienced web design skills I had signed my first client.
My advice for young entrepreneurs, would be, just to go for it. A friend of mine once told me that if you were going to fail at any venture the right time to do it would be between the ages of 20-25. With the way bankruptcy law in the U.S. works, you can default and have your credit score back to acceptable before your 30. Its a wierd way to look at it, but if you need something to comfort you from the fear of failure just don’t worry to much about it. you don’t (or at least in my case) don’t have to much to lose. What can the collections guy get out of a broke college student?
How do you deal with competition? Do you keep tabs on other companies that are doing similar things?
In social media its always good to keep up to date on what is going on, and that includes other firms, new trends and also the social media sites themselves.
Tell us a little about your background? What made you want to start your own company?
As all my friends were searching for jobs coming out of college, the thought of waking up at 5 am to do finance, or working my way through corporate ladders sounded miserable. By taking my own skills and honing them, I was able to create something I am proud of, a product and service that I am proud of, all the while doing it on my own terms without all the politics, nepotism and scratching to win some rat race.
What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene?
I haven’t had much experience with it, but I will be participating in the USC startup weekend this september and I look forward to being more involved with other entrepreneurial ventures.
What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur?
Not knowing whats coming next. With a job you have many benefits that you simply cannot afford to give to yourself from your own fledgling company funding. Almost all the money goes back into the company.
What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from?
My company depends on its clients, as such I have made it a priority to spend the entire first month of any campaign researching my clients brand identity. By doing this I ensure that I don’t alienate clients by posting improper material or in improper forums. Ultimately
What are your next goals? (Either for the current venture or for the company as a whole)
I am looking to start some new projects and maybe even pass on the managerial oversight duties of Karma Digital Marketing to someone else. But as of yet those are just ideas.
…Here’s one last note from Goldstein about business, social media, and his company:
