[fabalyss211]

Hi Everyone

My name is Alyssa, and I'm a nineteen-year-old college student at University of Wisconsin looking to start a boutique advertising agency out of my home this summer. I'm studying Journalism and Mass Communications with a concentration in Strategic Communications (Page Ranking, Advertising, Event Planning etc.), and would really like to get some experience in these areas. After graduation, I'd like to own my own agency focusing on providing services for non-profits and other socially and environmentally conscious businesses, groups etc. I realize that this industry is one where connections and experience can make all the difference, so I figure that now is the time to start building both by starting my business, or at least an early version of it, now and offering my services free of charge or for a small fee. At least initially I'd like to offer a variety of services (PR, Advertising, Marketing, Event Planning, Consultation, etc.) so that I may be appealing to a greater variety of businesses and figure out what I may like most/be most talented at.


What I'd like to do is set up a website and some basic promotional materials explaining my purpose and then distribute them to small businesses in my hometown (Green Bay, WI) and also find clients online. I'm confident that I'll be able to come up with at least a few clients through family connections and contacts I've made on forums. I have some experience in the field as I've helped family members with promotion of their businesses and am pretty proficient with web design and Photoshop, but mostly this will be a learning process for me and I will need to find clients who understand that. As I have a full-time summer job, this will just be something extra for me to gain experience and pursue something that is right now a hobby but that I hope to eventually turn into a career, so making a profit is not imperative.

Does this seem like a feasible idea? Would I reasonably be able to charge anything for my services or should offer them on a donation basis to start?

As this will be a small start-up with little profit motivation, at least at first, I shouldn't need much start-up capital, but I'm thinking of applying for a Youth Venture (they're a sort of venture capitalist firm for young social entrepreneurs) grant to help fund production of my original promotional materials.

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I'm very passionate about socially conscious business as well as strategic communications and just want to begin pursuing these things actively.

Thanks for your help,

Alyssa