In today's video we are not going to review any kind of smartphone or a gadget but this video is completely educational video where you would be learning certain skills to boost your buisness Today in this video we'll be introducing before you Mr
Rishi Ganguly who is the king of email marketing Welcome Sir Hey! Thanks for inviting me here So today we'll be discussing few questions for which we need you to answer them very smartly & how you have been dealing with it for past few years So the first question is Can you run me through you journey? Like the overall timeline like how you started,where you started, when you started & what your are doing today? Sure! So basically, I never went to college, I hated studies that's
that's as far as back I want to go! I remember telling my mom I don't want to study, so she said okay fine! But what you want to do? I said I don't know! So I started doing all kinds of crazy stuff I used to sell stuff door to door People would slam the door & I'd get my ego completely smased because it's like all kinds of interesting people you find while doing door-to-door sales
And then somebody told me that you should sell these things to Rhythm House, it was a Music Shop Now I think they have shut down So, we used to sell those boxes & that began to get me started with some ideas But at the same time I was also technically inclined! & one of my friend was doing video recording, video shooting & video repairing, in those days there was a VCR In 92, 91 Like the big casette the black ones Yes Exactly! So I went & did this technical course there was a small diploma here at University site I did not learn the Engineering of how circuits are designed Resistors, Chips & Transistors But I understood the practical aspect like how to solder a part What is a PCB? Those kind of concpets became became clear as to what's inside all of these technical gadgets So it was very interesting but I couldn't see myself as a You know I couldn't go to dad & say 'Dad! get me a garage & I'll start VCR repairing & TV repairing
I just did not wan to be that guy! So My father was like what you want to do then? At that time my elder brother was finishing his Computer Engineering & he told Dad we need a computer at home now for doing some project work way back in 9293
we had a 286 Computer bought at home & I was never interested in games I was interested in knowing how does this computer work? And what is this Computer Operating system all about I would just go to the Computer Book Store just pick up these books & learn about computers I was just totally engrossed I'd wake up at 23 in the morning I'd get my dad's accounting from his books those days there was no tally also so I got it from there to a software called Lotus 123 which was like Excel but it was a black & white DOS computer, there was no Windows We actually bought a mouse later on, to run the black & white screen but that's how my computer journey started And
I decided to take up something on Computers & there was a course which was available, a Computer Hardware Course available for 3 months theory & 3 months prcatical in a company & they taught us nothing! like internship
not internship kind of you learn theory in classroom & then we'll send you to some company & make you a computer technician So I don't even know where that company is or what it was called, I forgot but I went & did that 3 months course where they taught me nothing & then I joined this company which says I'll pay you thousand bucks & you want to do this job do this job otherwise there is the door you can leave I said sc**w the thousand bucks just let me work & let me learn I had no educational qualifications, no background Networking was just entering so I learnt how networking is done from the technical point of view not from the engineering design point of view And then I worked there for a couple of years got very comfortable with talking to people, going to customers, & stuff like that
One of the companies that I was going to the customer i was going to offered me a job a full time job in their company as an IT Engineer to fix their problem Rather than calling me every now & then work here itself So that's what I did I started working for this company & my boss was a great guy, he still is a great guy I worked for him About 6 years ago, he said Rishi I think you should start your own company I said 'But I am IT Manager of your team now, we have a team of 3-4 people' What company are you talking about? You will not grow otherwise so suddenly I was pushed into we created a seperate company, the Argon Company In 2001, this was I suddenly became from managing technical stuff now I had to manage people! And boy
that was a completely different challenge Like you can really pull your hair frustrated with people And my boss used to tell me, you got to work with people, you can't just tell them what to do You have to inspire them to work Ya! I was like s**t! I didn't sign up for this man
That's when I realised it's a tough job to manage people managing computer's is a lot easier We started this company, 6 years I was there then somebody referred me to job opening at Apple as a System Engineer I was getting more money & I said to my boss I am just gonna go there! So I exited but I am still in touch with him I worked in Apple for about 3 years & that's when i saw the scale of operations was totally different In 2009, I exited & became Apple Certified Trainer So next thing was what do we do now? I met a wonderful friend, now we are partners His name is Dharmendra Rai & he said 'Rishi you know you have taught me how to use this wordpress & how to make a website' I am organising these seminars why don't you do an introductory seminar about how easy it is to make on wordpress & then you can do coaching for them, maybe one to one or a workshop if there are more than one student signing up And interestingly enough I did the first presentation & 5 people signed on the spot! I was like wow! I didn't there would be such kind of interest for that
Then I have to sit out & had to make a program now! Normally I would just teach people based on what they ask me & that's still what I do but then I had to formulate a program It took me about 2-3 years to come up with a really great one day workshop & we infact recently launched a program where we can teach you how to make your website in 1 hour In just 1 hour, you can have a website up & running It's a free seminar, people come & attend it by the end of 1 hour they would have actually created their own website While promoting these programs we actually used email marketing as a means to communicate with prospective clients to say 'Come & attend our seminar' & after that we'll give you some paid services if you want, optionally For email marketing, we started learning a lot of things that we should do & more importantly what we should not do in email marketing
We teach people the techniques the do it yourself model, the ebook is there Some people they don't have the time they say Rishi great seminar nice stuff you told us everything about it but we actually would like you to get it done So we have a team they help our company do the email marketing, so 1-2 emails a month instead of training your own internal team you can just outsource it to us & we'll do the mail blast in more nice way more professional way without getting blocked, spammed,unsubscribed, all of that stuff we make sure is done On a side note I do like to talk to people about bitcoin but that's my personal hobby, passion I am more interested in educating people about what bitcoin is & why people should learn more about bitcoin & cryptocurrencies Its a new global economy that is out there & for us to take
But roughly this is my journey so far So the next question would be what got you interested in this sector? Actually that's an interesting question because I can stumble on it more than had a plan You know I don't think 'I want to become a website coach' it was never like that Somebody said Why don't you teach people how to do a website
karey kya? theek hai karte hai! that's how I got into it then one thing led to the next, and before you know it I am a website coach man No plan at all, it just happened, I had no idea where I wanted to go I had ideas about lots of things but this one just seemed to pick up Thanks to Dharmendra Rai, my partner of the trainer's expo, he does the marketing I do the technical stuff
So the next question is quite interesting, I'd like to ask you how easy or difficult it is to build a website? So the title of my talk is 'Making a website is easier & cheaper than you think' I think the title of my seminar should respond to that question But definately somebody came to my seminar & asked me Rishi I use an iPad can I learn on this how to build a website I said 'No, you do need a Computer' Whether its a desktop or laptop, you need a mouse you need the computer to the website at this point Maybe 1 year down the line you guys come back & do an interview, I'll say 'You know what you can do it on an iPhone yaar'
So if you know how to use gmail or ow to use facebook that's the amount of text skills you need to build your website If you do posts on facebook bas utna text skills hai its enough to do a website on wordpress Next question is about marketing Since you are from a marketing background So I want to ask you about What are the skill sets that are needed to become a good digital marketer? You know Digital Marketing is about a lot of things Just to name a few as you have mentioned Email marketing is one form of Digital Marketing You also have Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, these are another form of digital marketing
You also have Google's Search Engine Optimization that's one form of Digital Marketing When you search for stuff on the Internet, if your website automatically comes at the top, that is the result of good digital marketing For example, I never say for Digital Marketing Email Marketing is the one & only tool It is one of the tools available for us It may work for you or may not work for you depending upon what buisness you are into, what are your products, services you are selling to your audience, email marketing may or may not be the ideal tool
So in terms of skill sets knowing how to get people to opt in through a website, through an advertisement, as in people should opt in for whatever it is you are talking about that you should learn by using various tools When it comes to SEO you want to make sure that you either have the expertise, there are a lot of courses out there, so learn about SEO, how to become an SEO expert knowing how to target your audience what are the criteria's that will help you to get best results for the amount of money you are putting in So the next question is about Email marketing When we talk about Email marketing how beneficial it is for any kind of business? as in small,medium or a large scale business? Just if you could give us a gist of applications of Email Marketing Well, say for example in my case I do a lot of free seminars The titles of my topics Currently I have 3, First one is Email Marketing So my topic is 'Boost Your Business with Email Marketing' 'Making your website is easier & cheaper than you think' I've just introduced the latest one, 'Create your website in just one hour' These are some of the titles of my talks Now these talks I do as a part of getting engaged with interested parties Typically I would send an Email asking them if they would be interested in attending seminar on these topics So for the one's who reply, I have a standardised reply so as to how they can learn about my next event & where they can register & come for the program So this is how I use Email Marketing as a foot in the door strategy
So as we are moving towards the end of the discussion there are only 2-3 questions left So now I'd like to target the main question that what do you think the marketing sector or the marketing strategies would look like in next 5-10 years? Ya!! That's an interesting question because Quite frankly I have no idea what is going to happen in next 2 years Technologies change so quickly and most technologies today that are coming in are very disruptive So you know I don't know if you have heard about what happened to Kodak and so many other stories If people don't change with times you'll be left behind
So I can't be singing the Email Marketing Song & carrying the Email Marketing flag for the rest of my life But, what's gonna happen in next 5 or 10 years, I have no idea In the next 6 months some new technlogy comes up & surprises us all, I'll be like wow! we had no idea we could do something like this Some smart guys come up with a technique scrap all the old methods, lets do that method Since you have made me familiar with seminar's which you deliver at various places what are the frequently asked questions which you get from the audience in those seminars? Like the one's which you think 'arre yaar! ye toh hamesha hi poochte hai' So this is the one question which you'd always have to answer in every seminar For example, In website making they would come and ask me 'Will I be able to do it?' They are basically unsure If its actually that easy because once they see my seminar, they feel its super easy
But that's one of the common question that comes up with respect to website making For Email marketing typically the question is I am in this business will it work for me? I provide so & so services, will it work for me? Can we discuss? Can I get some of your time to talk about my business? Usually my email marketing seminar ends with a note of 'here's the ebook, all that I have spoken about, all the details are in there so this would be the one broad question I get in the email marketing seminar So the final question for today is what sort of advice you'd like to give to the Startups like us about Email Marketing or the usual Marketing strategies So
Again as I said, Digital Marketing is the core Not core as such It's a big mothership, and the others are the satellite options Email Marketing is on of the tools
Facebook, Google ads is another tool, SEO is other tool these are all various tools for Digital Marketing All of them come at different cost, skill sets, expertise, one has to learn these techniques It depends, as i said there's no blanket answer In your case what I would say is I would like to understand in depth I know you guys have a Youtube channel, a website to promote products & do product reviews But I would need to understand more about it, maybe SEO is something more for you guys to look at I don't have any specific answer for your organisation
What you guys should do for a startup Or any startup for that matter I need to get into a discussion The whole backgrund & how it works That's what will help you to answer this question better I never tell people 'This is what you should do!' So that was our quick conversation, maybe not that quick, So this was Rishi Ganguly
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