From BHS Class of 2020, Corey Skidmore Creates Start-Up Marketing Business, Media Maniacs, LLC
By Julie Perine on July 31, 2021 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
A 2020 graduate of Bridgeport High School, Corey Skidmore planned to open a start-up marketing business upon his proposed 2024 graduation from Fairmont State University.
But he decided not to wait.
The 19-year-old finance & marketing major is owner of Media Maniacs, LLC, meeting the advertising needs of clients throughout the state and region.
“I work in all types of social media – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Spotify, YouTube, Google and others, as well as do Website development,” said Skidmore, who is assisted in his business by 2019 BHS graduate A.J. Goodwin.
Among local clients are Rejuvenation Med Spa, Bridgeport Express Care, WVU Medicine and Hillbilly Hatchets.
It was Bridgeport High School Journalism teacher, Brad Bonenberger, who taught Skidmore to edit video and inspired him to pursue marketing as a career.
“I knew a lot about media, but just didn’t know where to take it until I attended the School of Marketing at Fairmont State. They helped me figure that out,” Skidmore said.
He said he likes the idea of helping businesses grow and providing the average business owner a chance to succeed in its online marketing endeavors.
Media Maniacs is not, however, Skidmore’s first business. He and older brother Tyler operate Fly Guys, creating fly fishing videos and tying fully loaded fly boxes and selling them to clients all over the world.
In fact, it was Fly Guys that provided a foundation for Media Maniacs.
“I was running ads on our Instagram and hearing from other businesses that there was a market for that kind of thing,” Skidmore said. “So, I took it upon myself to create the business.”
He plans to continue both businesses throughout his education at Fairmont State, where he also pursues information systems as a concentration. He plans to achieve various certifications as well.
Skidmore is also an employee of McDonald’s, providing landscaping services to stores across the region. An avid outdoorsman, he has also volunteered this summer with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources.
Media Maniacs accepts clients from anywhere in the U.S. By the time he graduates college, he hopes his business will have grown enough to serve as his livelihood.
Reach out to Skidmore via the Media Maniacs LLC Facebook page or text/call 304-838-3554.
