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In 2020, two professionals from different continents teamed up in the U.S. with no background in paid traffic. Ukrainian-born Ruslan Fedchenko and data analyst Tim Shkarovskiy were hungry to make their mark. After a tech startup collapsed, they accepted a challenge: master Facebook lead-generation for an affiliate firm. Months of losing money turned into consistent gains once they cracked a repeatable creative testing process.
Starting with almost no budget, Rus and Tim consumed every blog post and podcast on media buying. They launched dozens of ad sets each week, learning the hard way which angles, hooks, and formats drove the lowest cost-per-lead. Early victories—a handful of profitable campaigns—proved the model worked and fueled their determination to keep iterating.
Realizing creative was their most scalable edge, the duo hired designers and videographers to pump out static images, motion graphics, and long-form videos. They constructed a split-testing protocol: launch 10–15 variants at once, track click-through and conversion rates, and then double down on winners. They refined copy using attention-grabbing headlines and clear calls to action, always tying each ad to a tightly matched landing page.
As profits rose, they built an in-house dashboard to unify metrics across accounts and traffic sources. This tool gave real-time insights on ROI and spend allocation. Hiring compliance experts ensured ad approvals under evolving platform rules. They resisted the urge to hire too quickly, only onboarding new media buyers once their core campaigns were fully dialed.
By early 2023, PowerFox Media began taking equity stakes in e-commerce partners instead of simple affiliate payouts. A deal to run a $20 million brand’s traffic yielded $5 million in revenue within 90 days, validating their move into full performance marketing. That shift not only jacked up margins but aligned incentives and unlocked new growth avenues.
PowerFox Media’s rise to $12 million in annual revenue rests on three pillars: aggressive creative testing, a data-first mindset, and strategic partnership models. They demonstrate that founders willing to embrace risk, invest in systems, and expand from affiliate to performance marketing can achieve rapid, sustainable scale.
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