[KellyDavis]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been reading and learning from this forum for some time, and I thought it was finally time to start my own journey thread.

I’m starting an OFM agency from scratch and want to use this thread to keep myself accountable and share what happens along the way.

Why OFM?​

I’ve tried a few different online business ideas before. Some made a little money, while others didn’t go anywhere.

I discovered OFM a while ago and became interested in the combination of social media marketing, content creation, sales, and creator management.

The biggest mistake I made before was spending too much time researching and not enough time actually doing.

This time I want to change that.

My Current Situation​

Right now I’m starting with:

• No clients
• No creator
• Small starting budget
• Basic content/editing skills
• Social media experience
• A lot of research but still plenty to learn

I’m going to start small and focus on getting my first creator instead of trying to build a huge agency immediately.

Traffic​

For traffic, I’m planning to test:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Reddit
• YouTube Shorts

I’ll probably focus on one platform first and see what works before trying to manage everything at once.

The main goal is to learn what type of content gets views, followers, and eventually paying subscribers.

What I Need to Work On​

My biggest challenge right now is finding the right creator.

After that, I need to build a simple system for content, posting, traffic, and customer management.

I also want to learn more about hiring VAs and automating some of the repetitive work once the business starts generating revenue.

My First Goal​

I'm keeping the first goal very simple:

Find one good creator and get the first paying subscribers.

Once I have a working process, I'll worry about scaling.

I don't want to make unrealistic claims about making millions. I'd rather document the actual numbers and see where this goes.

Why I'm Making This Thread​

The main reason is accountability.

I've started several projects before and stopped when things became difficult.

This time, I want to keep going even when the results are slow.

I'll share updates about outreach, traffic, content experiments, revenue, failures, and anything else I learn along the way.

Hopefully this thread can also help anyone else who is thinking about starting an OFM agency.

Day 1 starts now. Let's see where this goes.

 

[Dawny Oliver]

Good luck with the journey. Looking forward to seeing the updates.

 

[epalmer602]

This is probably a much better way to approach an agency than starting with the mindset of “how quickly can I make a huge amount of money?”

You've got a clear first milestone, and that's important.

I'd focus on finding one suitable creator, building a simple workflow, getting measurable traffic, and understanding the economics.

Then you can decide what deserves more investment.

If you keep this thread honest and include the boring parts—rejected outreach, failed content tests, expenses, slow weeks, and process changes—it could become a genuinely useful case study for people who want to start from scratch.

 

[dbrown]

I agree with your decision to avoid trying everything at once.

Pick one traffic platform and learn what actually works there. Study which formats get attention, how frequently you can post, what kind of audience responds, and where the traffic eventually goes.

Once you have a repeatable process, you can adapt it to another platform.

 

[kmaddox460]

Good luck with Day 1. Keep documenting it.

 

[Tammy Williams]

The emotional side of advertising is surprisingly difficult.

You spend money and naturally want immediate proof that it's working. When the numbers look bad, the temptation is to make a dozen changes immediately.

Having a written testing plan before launching helps. You already know what you're testing, what you're measuring, and when you'll review the results.

 

[TerriRose]

I think the biggest advantage of documenting everything publicly is that you'll be forced to pay attention to the numbers.

Don't just post revenue updates. Track outreach attempts, replies, calls, creators contacted, content produced, views, follower growth, clicks, conversions, and expenses.

Even if the numbers are disappointing, they'll show exactly where the bottleneck is.

Good luck with Day 1.

 

[HeatherKings6]

I'd document your outreach process as you go. Things like where you find creators, how many messages you send, response rates, and what type of pitch gets replies could become useful data later.

It might even become one of the most valuable parts of the journey.

 

[JeffreyRodriguez4]

Keep the updates honest. That's what makes journey threads worth following.

 

[KellyDavis]

This is probably a much better way to approach an agency than starting with the mindset of “how quickly can I make a huge amount of money?”

You've got a clear first milestone, and that's important.

I'd focus on finding one suitable creator, building a simple workflow, getting measurable traffic, and understanding the economics.

Then you can decide what deserves more investment.

If you keep this thread honest and include the boring parts—rejected outreach, failed content tests, expenses, slow weeks, and process changes—it could become a genuinely useful case study for people who want to start from scratch.

I agree. Having one clear milestone makes the whole process easier to manage. I'll focus on getting the basics right first.

The emotional side of advertising is surprisingly difficult.

You spend money and naturally want immediate proof that it's working. When the numbers look bad, the temptation is to make a dozen changes immediately.

Having a written testing plan before launching helps. You already know what you're testing, what you're measuring, and when you'll review the results.

Thank you! I'll keep documenting the progress, including the mistakes and lessons along the way.

I think the biggest advantage of documenting everything publicly is that you'll be forced to pay attention to the numbers.

Don't just post revenue updates. Track outreach attempts, replies, calls, creators contacted, content produced, views, follower growth, clicks, conversions, and expenses.

Even if the numbers are disappointing, they'll show exactly where the bottleneck is.

Good luck with Day 1.

That's a good point. A written testing plan can help avoid making random changes based on short-term results. I'll keep that in mind before spending on advertising.

I'd document your outreach process as you go. Things like where you find creators, how many messages you send, response rates, and what type of pitch gets replies could become useful data later.

It might even become one of the most valuable parts of the journey.

Absolutely. Tracking those numbers will help me understand what is working and where I need to improve. I'll include more than just revenue in my updates.

Keep the updates honest. That's what makes journey threads worth following.

I agree. Honest updates are more useful than sharing only the wins. I'll include the slow progress and setbacks too.