Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Makarand Utpat media and marketing consultant.
Q: Makarand, tell us something more about your background. How did you get to where you are today?
A: My parents were simple middle-class people. They were not entrepreneurial. In fact, my father was a school teacher while my mother was a housewife raising 3 kids. They taught me the importance of staying disciplined, hard work, honesty, work-ethics and respect that shaped my character.
I’m a 1st generation immigrant who came to US with a leap of faith to get higher education. I worked with reputed corporations like IBM and Johnson & Johnson. I rose to the corporate ranks and had the privilege of leading teams and providing oversight to multi-million dollar projects.
While I was doing great, one fine day my job got impacted and it took me back to the drawing board. I realized that I had zero media footprint and no personal brand. I also knew I was replaceable and that unless I do something about it, I will be irrelevant in the new digital economy. I went on to a personal quest and built my strong personal brand.
I took this opportunity to start my own digital agency to help other professionals and business with their branding and marketing activities. On my journey, I have authored or coauthored 4 books covering various areas such as technology, leadership, digital marketing and entrepreneurship. I’ve been inducted in the National Academy of Best Selling Authors. I have also been recognized as Top 100 influencers by the Influence Magazine. I’ve been also selected as Top 750 digital innovators by the Data Bird Research Journal. I have also published 4-hour online course on digital marketing which was approved by the world’s largest online learning platform Udemy. My journey still continues.
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Q: Can you give us insights into your services?
A: My agency offers various solutions and services to the entrepreneurs and business owners such as:
Website design and Development- Many businesses and entrepreneurs try to hide behind their websites. Websites are typically created as dull-looking, lackluster, static brochures. We design attention getting, personality driven, direct response, value-driven websites that promote your story, your brand and encourage your visitors to take action. It becomes the nucleus of your digital marketing ecosystem.
Social Media Ecosystem Creation—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram are the new NBC, ABC, CBS of today’s era where your audience is hanging out. It’s important that you need to have your business presence where their attention is. We create branded social media accounts and boost your presence on social media through various strategies.
Content Authoring and Publishing, Blog and Article Marketing- Social media and content go hand in hand. Content is your ticket to establish the connection and create chemistry with your audience. So having a solid content strategy can give you much needed mileage. Most businesses are pressed for the time so we become your “content arm” and publish thought-leadership blogs and quality articles on your behalf to build your brand equity.
Google SEO – SEO is a technical term and a process to get you discovered authentically on Google’s 1st SERP. The more links your website has the more it allows it to rank higher on the search engines. There’re many things involved such as keywords, off-page and on-page strategies such as using proper tags/ metadata/ structures, backlink creations, quality content. Content and SEO are like peanut butter and jelly (PBJ) and they go hand in hand. We don’t use black-hat techniques and only adopt authentic SEO strategies.
Creating Opt-ins, Landing Pages- Digital marketing is like an octopus with various arms fanning out. You need to know which tool or technique to apply at what point while running your marketing campaigns. While your websites are about displaying breadth of your services and displaying your brand, the landing pages are all about captivating users’ attention and converting them so that the respond to your call-to-action and take immediate action. They’re geared towards fulfilling 1 specific marketing goal such as webinar signup, buying your info product such as book, attending event, buying your product or service.
Running social media campaigns using Google Adwords, Facebook and Instagram Ads- If you are looking to drive traffic instantly and effectively, the way to do that would be through paid social (FB, Instagram) or paid search (Google). Both are legit strategies.
I also speak as a motivational speaker and digital marketing speaker at corporate workshops, fundraising events, chamber of commerce meetings, local meetup groups and cultural programs.
Q: Makarand, what advice you’ve for the business owners?
A: When it comes to building your brand or creating an online presence or running marketing campaigns, don’t try to do it by yourself. Your time is too precious and it’s wise to spend it on your business priorities and goals. Get a good social media person or hire an agency who can work with you as a sounding board and who can help you achieve your objectives so that it becomes win-win proposition.
The other piece of advice I will offer is that they feel that their business doesn’t have distinguishing factors that separate them from their competition. While there may be some commonalities, I will ask them to go back to their inspirations and passions behind starting the business. Everyone has a unique story that separates them from others. So, in a nutshell, focus on your story. Create your message accordingly. Find your voice and start sharing. Continue to brand yourself. Your story, your brand will attract some and repel some. You do not want to (and shouldn’t) cater to everyone and that’s totally ok.
Q: What other accomplishments would you like to share?
A: The biggest accomplishment I’ve is that I am glad that I took the bold decisions and that I don’t have any regrets. Few other accomplishments to my credit are:
•Best-Selling Author for the book, “How to Kickstart Your Digital Marketing”
•Selected as one of the top “Influence 100 Authorities” by the Influence Magazine – Interview and authority feature
•Chosen as “one of the top 750 Corporate Digital Innovators” by DataBird Research Journal
•Inducted in the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors
•Shared book space with Who’s Who of Corp America such as Facebook CIO Tim Campos, Pizza Hut Digital Officer Brian Concors for book, “Chief Information Officer’s Body of Knowledge: People, Process, and Technology”
•Quilly Award Winner
•Co-authored a book, “The Coach Exchange” with Viki Winterton – became International Best Seller
•Interviewed on C-Suite Network’s Best-Seller TV channel to share my insights on marketing and branding
Q: What are your goals for the future?
A: I’m launching my podcast show, soon to be released on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. I’m still playing with the names. But it is about something that we tend to take for granted, which is, we get infatuated with successful people or celebrities but sometimes, we miss the boat on understanding how they got to become who they are and what was their journey like. My podcast will be about having insightful conversations with successful people, entrepreneurs and business leaders where they tell their stories covering their experiences, journey, setbacks, wins, victories and lessons – in casual style.
My immediate goals for 2020 is to continue to push the envelope and scale my agency and my business. I aim to grow my clientele and advance their marketing goals so that they can accelerate their impact, income and lifestyle in positive way. My ultimate goal is to help influence 100,000 businesses and entrepreneurs.
Q: Makarand, what do you do in your spare time? Your hobbies, interests?
A: Yeah sure… In my spare time, I am a professional musician. I play percussion instruments and have had the pleasure of playing with some of the well-known Bollywood artists and celebrities. I love to cook wonderful curries and salads.
I believe in giving back to needy and less fortunate ones. Through a nonprofit that I’ve cofounded, our nonprofit has raised and generated more than $75,000 in donations to the various social causes such as autism, youth development, mental health issues and disaster relief.
I believe in giving back to the community and have had the privilege of sitting as a board of director, trustee, ambassador, executive member for a number of nonprofits such as Indian Roots USA, Dhol Tasha Jallosh USA, Marathi Vishwa, Bhatt Foundation Inc and Garje Marathi.
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