How a Solo Social Media Strategist Hits $40K/Month

How a One-Man Agency Hit $40K Monthly With Viral Social Media

Zach Williamson runs a one-person operation from San Francisco that pulls in $40,000 each month. At 29 he owns two major channels—Culture Crave and Latest in Space—with over one million followers apiece. Alongside these, he offers social media management, graphic design and paid ad campaigns to clients like Rolling Stone, Friday Beers and ESPN.

Early Beginnings and First Wins

Zach started at 18 after noticing paid links everywhere on social feeds. He built gallery sites, taught himself SEO, and monetized with Google AdSense. Within four months his first account hit 100,000 followers, then a million by month eight, using Twitter and Instagram. A CollegeHumor internship expanded his network and led to paid projects that sharpened his strategy.

Growth Tactics That Still Work

Consistency was non-negotiable—posting multiple times daily kept algorithms happy. He blended trending topics with eye-catching visuals, engaged every comment and tagged relevant channels. Zach built relationships with peers, traded shout-outs, and tested new platforms quickly. He tracked performance metrics and doubled down on posts that attracted highest engagement.

Landing High-Profile Clients

Using his personal channels as proof of concept, Zach pitched content plans to big names. A cold DM to ESPN on Twitter won him a project on a short-form sports show called Buckets. Each success led to more referrals, and soon he managed campaigns for major brands, offering a full suite of services from copywriting to ad buys.

Relaunch and Scaling

In 2023, he revamped Culture Crave with fresh branding and daily shows on Snapchat Discover. The account gained 300K followers quickly and now sees over one billion monthly views. This relaunch serves as a live demo, attracting new clients who want similar growth on their channels.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Zach’s playbook shows that disciplined posting, trend focus and proactive outreach can turn a solo side project into a high-revenue agency. Building your own brands first creates a living portfolio, while free audits and cold messaging open doors to paid work.