When Luke and Jordan Lintz started their consumer technology company, HighKey Technology, in 2016, they had no idea that they were racing ahead of an online curve that would boom in the coming years. In many ways, it was a test business. The two brothers were still young. Luke was 16 and Jordan was 19. They knew that most first businesses and first-time entrepreneurs face multiple challenges that are sometimes too hard to overcome. They planned for this by laying out a clear business strategy.
While many people can only hope to achieve what the two brothers have done – especially at such a young age – what they didn’t expect was such a massive success. As the company generated more and more revenue, the team grew too. By the time they started their social media management agency, HighKey Agency, and their Instagram growth agency, HighKey Clout, they were managing a team of writers, video editors, graphics designers, marketing gurus, and social media managers.
In a team when even the most established companies struggled to transition to an online work from home world, Luke and Jordan managed to do it seamlessly. Most of the team is scattered around the world, pulling together a wide range of creativity, talent, and cultures.
How did they transition to an Online World?
As an eCommerce company, HighKey Technology was always designed to be a remote business. When they first started their company, Jordan was still at university and Luke was at school. They worked from their laptops and homes. As they scaled their businesses and expanded to HighKey Agency and HighKey Clout, they never veered away from their original design of completely remote businesses. Jordan and Luke were always striving for complete freedom and wanted the ability to work from anywhere in the world.
Staying at home meant that more people were buying products online. With the average population staying at home also meant that a massive opportunity was arising to capture the attention of everyone by building a presence online and on social media. Most business owners have realized the massive demand and necessity for building a brand in 2020 and moving forward. However, most brands and business owners don’t have the time or the team in place to fully manage their social media presence and their business, so they turned to HighKey Agency, the social media company Jordan and Luke started after the success of HighKey Technology.
HighKey had a spike in customers seeking their full-service social media packages and press packages. This led them to rapidly hire social media managers, press managers, video editors, graphic designers, and writers from anywhere where they could find the best possible talent.
Pushing For Success During the Pandemic
Amongst hiring new employees, contractors, and enhancing their social media management strategies with new clients, the brothers were also growing HighKey Clout. HighKey Clout’s main goal is to use giveaway marketing to grow your brand’s awareness, engagement, and following. The two brothers have stayed true to every marketing strategy offers is first tested out on their own platforms.
Luke reiterates, “There isn’t a single service we offer to the clients that we don’t use for our own brands”. With more than half a million followers on each of their accounts and three seven-figure businesses under their belts, it’s clear that the strategies they’re using are yielding priceless returns on investment.
The way Luke sees it, building a personal brand is a long-term, invaluable investment. He explains, “The majority of the questions that I receive from potential customers are ‘What sort of ROI (return on investment) is associated with building a personal brand?’ and I always respond back saying, ‘It’s priceless and it takes at least 12 – 18 months to get there.’ The young entrepreneur goes on to say that everyone is capable of comprehending the long term value of building a proper personal and business brand and how this can drive endless business in the long term, but so many people get stuck in a short term mindset.
The HighKey brand grew during Covid because despite everything seeming like it was happening at the same time, Luke, Jordan, and the team maintained a long-term growth mindset. Even now, they won’t take on clients who request services for just one month. Genuine growth takes time. The proof is in the pudding, or at least in the measured success of their clients. They had one client who’s Instagram following naturally went from 3k to 100k under HighKey Agency’s management. The consistent, high-quality content led to a speaking engagement that paid 25k with travel costs, hotel, and food covered. This isn’t the kind of success you can predict, but you can aim for it with the right guidance. And this is just one of the many case studies that HighKey Agency has and continues to have.
Additional Challenges and the Motivation to Succeed
In the middle of one of the most challenging times this year, HighKey was dealt a crushing blow. Their long-term business partner, Stefan Aarnio passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. As a mentor and coach to the young brothers, Stefan’s knowledge of the business and his innovative models helped shape HighKey’s success. Luke and Jordan have vowed to take what they’ve learned from Stefan and apply it to their business every day. Luke goes on to say that Stefan’s passing was one of the hardest things he’s ever gone through,
Stefan was much more than a business partner to me; He was also a good friend and my greatest mentor.
Right now, Luke and Jordan are focused on doing everything they can to make sure Stefan’s legacy prospers. They’ve even kept his Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube accounts open and they continue to post business strategy advice and motivational pieces that align with Stefan’s views.
Stefan would have been proud of the two brothers. Their sister company Highkey Clout recently achieved one of their dreams of working with Kevin Hart, a successful actor, comedian, and businessman who collaborated with them on one of their giveaway contests. For Luke, it was one of his biggest accomplishments:
My biggest accomplishment to date was setting up a giveaway campaign with Kevin Hart at the end of June 2020. We ran a $20K giveaway with our company HighKey Clout and found a connection to Kevin Hart for the promotion. Kevin has always been an idol of mine because he’s most known for being a comedian but is actually a very educated businessman.
As the world tries to pick up the pieces of shut-down businesses and multiple lockdowns, Luke and Jordan are committed to their team, their clients, and their business. More and more people are realizing the importance of having a backup plan – one that depends on your own brand and power. HighKey Agency’s full-service packages continue to be booked up and the results show an incredible success.