Michael Papas: The Young Entrepreneur Who Built a 6-Figure Marketing Agency by 24
At just 24, Michael Papas has turned what began as a late-night idea into a six-figure marketing agency, helping brands create content that reaches new audiences online.
Michael’s journey started in late 2021, designing nightclub flyers from his parents’ house, while working a part time job. “It helped pay the bills, but it wasn’t enough” he says. “I couldn’t sleep most nights, and I had to think harder, where’s the demand actually coming from?”.
That question led him to TikTok. Not the dances or memes, but the shift it signalled. He quickly realised that brands were no longer looking for high-budget cinematic ads. They were paying more for content that didn’t look like advertising at all. Instead of film crews, they wanted iPhones. Instead of polish, they wanted personality. The value was in content that felt raw, real, and native to the platform, what the industry calls UGC, or user-generated content. That being the case, he studied it, obsessively. The anatomy of a viral video. The three-second hook. The trending audios and the choppy, fast-cut editing style that makes content feel addictive to watch.
Within weeks, he had rebranded his side hustle into what is known now as Market Me Agency, an all-house social media marketing agency, servicing Australia wide. Offering, content creation, social media management, graphic design and website development.
It worked. Brands that once dropped five figures on a cinematic shoot started seeing better ROI from a video that looked like it was filmed in someone’s bedroom. And the big marketing agencies? “They didn’t understand it because their strategies are outdated,” he says. “My clients are interested in one thing only, results.”
Within just a few years, Michael had already worked with some of Australia’s most recognisable names, Westfield, Ray White, Adrian Portelli’s LMCT+, Jim’s Group, and more. The results weren’t just impressive, they were repeatable.
By late 2024, Michael’s vision for Market Me had evolved beyond just social media marketing campaigns. He wanted more for the business, and more for his clients. “I didn’t want to just offer digital marketing services,” he says. “I wanted to create a system. A place where brands didn’t have to chase ten different suppliers to pull off one campaign.” So he started connecting the dots.
He partnered with AP Social Agency, giving clients direct access to a network of influencers and models. Then came Social Studio Group, a Melbourne-based content studio that offered professional-grade spaces designed for modern content creation. Followed by 888Digital, for all paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Google. And to seal the deal, for brands chasing that trendy edge, he partnered up with Euphoric Rides, unlocking a fleet of luxury cars for content shoots.
It was a strategic move rooted in simplicity and scale, bringing local businesses together under one umbrella to streamline production. “I want my clients to see that we are the best in the business. How can we be the best if our services are so limited? It’s the best move I’ve ever made, all we do is act as a middleman and charge a booking fee” Michael says.
Just before the end of 2024, Michael made one more strategic move, this time across states. He partnered with Veronica B, a viral influencer based in Sydney whose presence on TikTok had become impossible to ignore. The collaboration gave Market Me’s clients direct access to one of the most recognisable faces on Australian social media for paid content placements that didn’t just trend, they converted.
TikTok Awards Australia - Sydney. Ref: @m1chaelpapas Instagram. Michael (left), Veronica B (right).
The moment Michael announced the Veronica B partnership, he wasn’t thinking small. She was holidaying in Dubai and had only 1 day left before heading back to Sydney, and he wanted to make a statement, fast. “I wanted to land her a collab in Dubai and show her how fast we hustle” he says. “So I started thinking, what’s the boldest move I can pull off right now?” He picked up the phone and cold-called Luxury Supercar Rentals, a company he’d never worked with, never even spoken to. “I told them I had an collaboration offer that’s too good to refuse and only available for the next 24 hours,” Michael says. The call led to an on-the-spot collaboration, and within hours, a shoot was in motion. The result? A viral video featuring Ahmed Amwell, Sabina Kleckova, and Sundeep Comedy. The video exploded, racking up over 1 million views online and turning a last-minute idea into viral sensation.
That same quarter, Market Me Agency was invited to attend the 2024 TikTok Awards in Sydney, one of the only social media marketing agencies in Australia to receive a formal invitation. It was a nod from the platform itself. A signal that what Michael and his team were building wasn’t just effective, it was shaping the space.
TikTok Awards Australia - Sydney. Ref: @m1chaelpapas Instagram.
Fast forward to 2025, Michael took a bold step forward, moving Market Me Agency into its first official headquarters at Ledlin Development’s ‘Flexie Vermont’ in Melbourne, led by developer Oscar Ledlin. More than an office, it functions as a full-scale content warehouse. Part office and part playground for ideas.
Market Me Agency Headquarters Melbourne - Ref: @m1chaelpapas Instagram.
What’s made the journey even more compelling is that Michael hasn’t just built a business, he’s built a formula. A model that any serious agency owner could replicate. “We can make five figures a month from just ten clients. That’s it. Ten retainers,” he says. “There are so many businesses out there, and so much demand, that every capable marketer in Australia could be making six or seven figures a year without a university degree, all you need is the right structure. It’s not complicated, it’s just overlooked.” His model is proof that success doesn’t have to be elusive. With a clear offer, consistent delivery, and real strategy, agencies don’t need to chase a hundred clients to be rich. They just need ten good ones, and the discipline to serve them well.
In the end, what defines Michael’s success isn’t just the numbers or the brand name, it’s the engine behind it all, an unrelenting drive to think sharper as an entrepreneur, move faster than his competitors, and become better in every version of himself and his business. His approach isn’t about chasing reinvention for the sake of it. It’s about seeing what others overlook, solving real problems with practical solutions, and trusting that smart thinking, bold timing, and calculated risks are still the most valuable currency in business. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to turn it in a direction no one’s looked yet.
So where to from here? We asked Michael if there’s still room to scale, if there’s another gear left after everything he’s built in just a few years. “Surprisingly, there is,” he says. “I had another late-night idea that I truly believe will change the game of SMMA in Australia as we know it. It’s something that will set both myself and the business apart as real pioneers in the space. It’ll all be revealed mid-2025, just a few months away. A really exciting project, born from a subsidiary of Market Me Agency.”