“I’m coming for everything they said I couldn’t have.” These nine words are the challenge that get Daytona Beach entrepreneur, Nika Stark, up in the morning. The owner and mastermind behind the wildly successful StarkFeed news media website, Stark is a businessman with his eye on the prize. But what prize are we talking about?
Well, actually the prize of retiring from business altogether. 20 years old and on his second successful website, Stark has a new business goal: to get out of it!
“I want to retire and live on a yacht,” says Stark, his sneaker-clad feet up on the table. “No, scratch that – I’m going to retire and live on a yacht. In two years from now.”
Gary Vela, business associate of Stark and owner of leading Florida digital marketing agency, Web Daytona, responds to Stark’s claim with a challenging look. “Two years, huh?”
“Two years.”
“And you’ll be retired.”
“And I will be completely retired.”
The room goes quiet. Something has occurred to Vela, he just hasn’t shared it with everyone yet. Then, in a matter of seconds, both men are standing at a nearby whiteboard, with a number written out in red dry erase marker in front of them. “10-23-2020”. The date by which Nika will be retired.
“Sign it,” Vela tells him, finally. And, finally, Stark hoists his marker to sign his name to a two-year retirement plan.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
A News Media Site Success Story
StarkFeed is a news media site started in early 2018. At a gentle seven months old, this site has managed to expand and improve their online standing dramatically. With an Alexa rank of 621,000, worldwide, StarkFeed has gone from relative unknown to industry-leader in less time than it takes to make a baby.
“It’s like BuzzFeed on steroids,” Stark comments. “We produce high-quality content, and we do it consistently, and people respond to that.”
He’s not wrong about that. The site produces business, tech and lifestyle articles at a breakneck pace, complemented by a dazzling array of entertainment, news and gaming pieces. StarkFeed puts out nearly ten articles a day, all highly curated and using high-quality sources.
And the response has been impressive. “On Facebook, we’re constantly getting these messages from fans, telling us how much they love our content.”
Of course, this is a business, and Nika Stark is in it to win it. The media entrepreneur has managed to successfully monetize his news media site, combining quality content with savvy Adsense work to help break through the ranks and dominate his competitors.
All of which brings us back to the question of how this 20-year-old business owner plans to grow his business and retire before he is 23.
Nika Stark: Future Retiree
“Obviously, all of this starts with us growing StarkFeed exponentially.” Nika nods his head sagely, as waiting for me to catch up. Once this is clear, he continues. “The plan hinges on myself and my writing partners putting out the same high level of content we’ve already established for the next six months. This amounts to five articles a day, each.”
StarkFeed accepts guest posts but does not have full-time writers aside from the core four of its partners and two writers. So: check – twenty blog posts a day. Where to from there?
“At present, we’re driving 1500 unique visitors a day. Every month, it’s growing exponentially, so this is definitely the way forward. At these numbers for the next six months, StarkFeed will make enough money to hire about five full-time writers.
As a result of rigorous quality control and a lot of time, the website should be self-sustainable within six months. “Following this, we’ll take to YouTube to create viral videos and help solidify our fanbase.” This is something Stark is well versed in, having created his own content for YouTube to great success on multiple occasions.
From there, it’s on to Shopify, and then the world. “It’s all part of the process of creating something better for everyone,” Stark says. “This kind of content, what we’re doing with the site and what we’ll be doing with our affiliate projects, it’s stuff the public wants. We’ve built something with staying power – something I believe in.”
10-23-2020
With his retirement date looming, it’s Nika’s drive for success that sets him apart in his industry. So, when he says, “Watch me turn this into a success story,” you have to believe him. And, now that his life plans are immortalized online, the next two years are perfect for his news media site to take over the world.
Clock’s ticking, Nika. Because of those three little numbers, we’ll be seeing you in two years, and it had better be on a yacht.