Small Biz

Tyler Barnett, 24; Jason Ellman, 25

Barnett Ellman
Los Angeles

"We don't have to adapt to new media because we are new media,” says Tyler Barnett, co-founder of public-relations firm Barnett Ellman, which works with businesses targeting young consumers. Barnett says his definition of "new media" goes beyond social networking tools to include handwritten letters and faxes, which he says have been effective in getting attention for his firm's clients.

He opened the firm in 2006 on a stretch of Los Angeles' media row with co-founder Jason Ellman after working at a larger PR firm and becoming frustrated with its print-driven focus, which he says didn't take its intended demographic into account. At the same time, he says there is plenty the firm has learned from its older peers, clients, and interns. "We like to joke that we're a young PR firm with an old-school swagger." He says the four-employee firm's revenues in 2006 were around $15,000 a month and estimates doing about $30,000 a month in 2007.