How Trust'N and his small business, Lost Boy Entertainment doubled their income

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses are closed or severely crippled, music streaming is down nearly twenty percent and many stores lack essential goods. However, Christian Anderson, professionally known as “Trust’N” and his small business Lost Boy Entertainment are thriving, nearly doubling their income. Our futile economy – pre-pandemic – and even more now, Christian states, “gross income is more sustainable than ever. Everyone is sitting home; they’re looking for anything new and I believe it is due to the pandemic. People are online and they’re in need of my services.”

The music and entertainment business can be a revolving door of whose hot now and who isn't. The woes of becoming a successful artist starts with becoming a successful entrepreneur first. Anderson is a self-taught communications specialist and digital marketer, which enabled him a platform to become an established independent music artist. As Trust’N, he has amassed more than 8 million streams across all digital streaming and on-demand platforms; also charting within the first 15 positions on Apple’s iTunes chart upon his most recent music release.

Anderson further elaborates on his independent career stating, “Building any level of footing in this industry is nearly impossible. Everyone fends for their self; nobody wants to help each other and that is the prerogative systemically, and at the core of this business. I’ve been scammed, lied to, cheated – mentally, I was torn. I wanted to quite due to massive frustration.” A Commonly used phrase in hip-hop is “sampling,” defined simply by the use of a product, sound and/or idea that is re-used in an original format, Most notably, Kanye West would often sample sounds for many of his most notable songs. In light of sampling and being true to hip-hop culture, Anderson’s Lost Boy service mark is inspired by the Disney film, Peter Pan – a fond memory of his youth.

Amidst the chaos, Lost Boy was co-founded with a mission to help friends Bryce Vander Sanden, Abe Alberts and Aon Smith by co-marketing and cross-selling each other – a fulcrum that enabled his friends to become his clientele, and, proof of concept. While the collective made a tandem effort to focus on specific income-opportunities in music, the network was grown primarily through social media impacting and peer-to-peer referrals outside of music. As a result, the small business is equipped to provide music specific services such as artist & repertoire (A&R), management and promotions – but also digital marketing; social media impacting; and public relations as a whole. As per Anderson, Lost Boy has serviced over 3,000 paid clients.

What makes this small business thrive? According to Anderson, “Our niche in the market is offering comparable and sought-after services for about half of the market’s entry price, especially in contrast to an-established firm – price to admission is the key. Most of our clientele are younger kids that set the trend, affectively opening lines of communication to the rest of the market in need of our like-industry services. I believe that this is the caveat in which we were able to gain variety of clients, and more so through the current pandemic.”

Describe your clientele? Anderson states, “We are retained by financial advisors seeking notable publications on their most recent work, Tik Tok stars in their early to late teens, musicians and even real-estate agents seeking marketing. I try to approach each client with a fresh game-plan and do things a bit unconventionally. Spontaneity is a powerful tool, part of success is also inspiring your client, that also translates to better sales for us.”