Koala Rank

Arigato Loporte spent years working as a freelancer on Fiverr, initially doing content writing and gradually shifting toward content marketing strategy. His best month on the platform earned him $3,500, but he grew frustrated with Fiverr's limitations—particularly the studio feature that was supposed to help him collaborate with other freelancers. "I couldn't really find a way to collaborate with other freelancers on Fiverr," he recalls. "So I just decided to leave and use the money they'd paid me to actually build my own." He had observed repeatedly that small B2B firms and consulting companies understood content marketing intellectually but didn't know how to execute it properly. They'd publish blog posts sporadically without strategy or connection to lead generation. This became the kernel of Koala Rank.

Arigato bootstrapped the entire operation, launching in January 2020 with just the $3,500 from his final Fiverr month. The service wasn't a software tool but a systematized process built from years of consulting work. Clients would purchase an all-in-one package that included content strategy development, editorial calendar creation, content production, and marketing automation setup—complete with content upgrades and lead routing to sales teams. Pricing was tiered: $399 setup fee plus $900/month for two pieces of content, scaling up to $1,800/month for four pieces. He started small—just himself and one team member—but worked with freelance writers to fulfill deliverables. Early on, his positioning wasn't sharp; the website's blog content skewed general and consumer-focused rather than targeting B2B decision-makers specifically.

His first customers came organically from his Fiverr network. One early client, Ubi.co, initially approached him for basic content writing. Arigato educated them on the broader content marketing opportunity and convinced them to upgrade. In return, they gave him permission to guest post on their Internet of Things analytics platform, which generated high-quality backlinks back to Koala Rank. He also claimed a Clutch.co agency directory listing, which brought qualified leads. By the time of this interview (mid-2020), he had five paying customers, with some on monthly plans and some on quarterly retainers. The math worked out to roughly $4,000 MRR—a few clients had opted for the four-post tier.

His most successful piece of content was "Is Blogging Dead?"—a strategic, FAQ-optimized article targeting a 140-search-per-month keyword. It ranked #1 and drove meaningful traffic, though he acknowledged it attracted mostly consumer searches rather than B2B leads. He'd published only five blog posts by mid-2020, with the last one in March before COVID-19 hit productivity hard. He explicitly recognized his initial positioning mistake: "The positioning is the most important. It wasn't because of the content marketing—the expertise was there—it was the positioning." Rather than trying to compete directly with Neil Patel and Growth and Convert on massive keywords, he pivoted toward long-tail keywords and recognized that early-stage agencies should focus on closing partnerships and validators first, then use those case studies and authority to fuel content. He was planning a rebrand and new content push targeting his refined positioning for small B2B firms specifically.

By mid-2020, Koala Rank had stabilized at five customers, $4,000 MRR, and a two-person core team supplemented by freelancers. Arigato was 24 years old, single, getting six hours of sleep per night, and preparing to relaunch with sharper positioning and consistent messaging. He'd learned that online business wasn't just for elite entrepreneurs—it worked incredibly well for niche communities and small business segments. His immediate goals were rebranding, refining positioning, and launching new strategic blog content. The partnership model with Ubi.co had proven that leveraging early customers' platforms could accelerate authority and backlink acquisition without competing head-to-head with established players.