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On my recent trip to sunny Miami, I had the pleasure to meet and chat with Marco A. Calamassi who is a so-called “Webpreneur”, with multiple digital ventures in several industries. We have friends in common and It was an interesting business talk.
Marco Calamassi (aka Cala) has always been the “creative scientist” guy who loved to spot gaps in society and think of innovative ways to fill them. After high school, he followed his American dream and moved to Malibu, California where he attended Business Management at Pepperdine University. Back to his motherland, he started managing some of his family businesses in retail and Real Estate but he quickly understood that offline/local/brick-&-mortar were obsolete concepts. Freedom is his mantra and he decided to go all-in with digital ventures since then.
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Here what he had to say:
▸Tell us a bit about your brands and ventures. What are you working on atm?
Marco A. Calamassi: Right now I’m focused on leveraging social media influence, communities and followings for clients. The last 2 ventures I launched are a white glove social media “growth” service to help brands & personalities optimize their exposure on socials, called IGfront.com and a full-stack marketing company for influencers under my name marcocalamassi.com. Plus, I have 3 established brands in the ecommerce, concierge and advisory space. I’m busy!
▸How did you promote your companies in the early days? How do you get things started?
Marco A. Calamassi: It depends. Every industry, business and audience are different. I’m a planning geek. I know that action, energy, execution are important …but a good blueprint is crucial. I usually go “organic” first (social content, email marketing, communities) and then I scale with paid advertising and all the bells and whistles.
▸Tell us a case study of one of your clients ?
Marco A. Calamassi: 6 months ago I was approached by a fitness influencer, through a friend we had in common and I worked for in the past. This woman was a former TV host turned into fitness trainer. She had a huge following from her previous profession but no business background or digital knowledge. Long story short, we crafted together an appealing offer for her audience and we marketed it. She is doing around $ 200k a month with 40% net profit. Social influence is not a fancy, it’s real business.
Marco was born on the Chianti Hills (Wine!), near Florence and Siena.
▸What are the secrets to success in your most successful platform (Fb, Twitter, IG, Snap, Ecommerce, etc)?
Marco A. Calamassi: There’s no secret. People buy solutions. And they buy trust. The plan is to narrate a story that organically and genuinely offer a solution to your audience. And you must look honest and knowledgeable in doing so. Once the “tribe” is there, it’s just a matter of time before they buy from you. And selling your first $1000 is 10x harder than selling your first $1000000.
▸Teach us something we don’t know about social media ?
Marco A. Calamassi: Do you know that even Pope Francis has an Instagram account ? Most people don’t ! Social media will 1000x in the next 20 years. You better get good at it.
▸What do you think you do better than most people? How are you able to do it?
Marco A. Calamassi: I don’t think I’m better at anything, honestly. I worked hard in limiting my ego and that’s when I made the shift from weak to satisfactory results. I can tell you that everyday I’m better than the day before, at anything I do. And that I try to do everything at my best cause “how we do anything is how we do everything”. At the same time, I’m fully aware of my weakness and my forte.
▸What are some of the best books you’ve ever read?
Marco A. Calamassi: Not “Think and Grow Rich” like 99% of marketers and webpreneurs would say. A book I consider like a Bible is “Breakthrough Advertising” by Eugene M. Schwartz. If you want to invest $500 wisely, go get it! (yes, it’s that expensive). I read all kinds of stuff, though. From worldwide news to essay to financial analysis to learning materials. But I have to admit that I spend more time watching. Not TV or movies. I watch 3-5 hours a day of educational videos, lessons, tutorials, guides, blueprints, case studies, courses. Youtube can be the most valuable education you can have if you search the right stuff.
▸Where do you see yourself and your brands in a couple years? What’s your goal?
Marco A. Calamassi: I don’t aim for big changes because I constantly change and I love my life while doing so. My life is an incessant and fulfilling adjustment, if this makes any sense. My goal is to keep living a free, successful and healthy life and sharing it with my beloved ones.
Favorite quote:
Audere Est Facere (To Dare Is To Do)(It’s also tattooed on my arm!)Social accounts:
Instagram – Facebook – TapBio
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