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City where you’re from: Brisbane, Australia
Hobbies: Basketball, reading
Favorite quote: “It’s better to do something imperfectly than nothing perfectly”
Twitter: @mitchills
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
To be honest I can’t remember! I don’t think there was a definitive moment for me, but I remember being in high school and wanting to start a business just because I thought it would be interesting. That was 5 years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since!
I think for most people, the decision to become an entrepreneur comes from wanting the freedom of being your own boss, the fulfilment of creating something on your own, and the thrill of ‘jumping in the deep end’ on the pursuit for success!
Who were your biggest influences? Was there a defining moment in your life?
There was a defining moment during the process, but not one that sparked the journey. To be honest I don’t think you can ‘wake up an entrepreneur’. It’s not like a movie where you wake up in the middle of the night and discover your destiny – I think you fall in love with entrepreneurship over time. It’s very difficult, and I think once you push through the initial struggle that weeds out the ‘wantrepreneurs’ you’ll discover your passion.
I remember I was in the shower once when I was working on a startup and I thought to myself ‘if this doesn’t make a single dollar, I wouldn’t regret a thing’. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but if you have that moment where you realise you wouldn’t change a thing, you’re in it for life…
Now
What are you working on? How did you come up with this idea?
I’m currently running Mastered Marketing, a social media and branding agency helping people grow their businesses. I started because I love marketing and I want to tell people’s stories. Everyone has an interesting message that can impact others, and I want to amplify that story even in a noisy world. I love design, being creative and innovating – marketing is the perfect industry to do just that!
How is your agency different and unique? What has been your favorite moment with it? What’s the vision?
We genuinely care – unfortunately there are a lot of companies out there that are totally focused on money and will rip people off (another big reason I started out to help people). I also focus on everything down to the little details to make their whole brand epic and completely unique.
My favourite moment is seeing my clients grow, and getting excited together. The vision is to have a small group of clients that we work with closely, and go completely above and beyond to make sure they are leaders in their space. I’d like to create an agency similar to Vayner Media (Gary Vaynerchuk’s agency).
What do you do with Facebook ads to get more customers?
Not exactly sure what kind of details you’re after but 4 quick tips are:
- Using creative lead magnets to offer people value in exchange for their attention, then delivering them more and more value
- Using Facebook ads to send people into a marketing funnel
- Writing creative content and Facebook posts with Post Engagement campaigns
- Doing live streams and engaging with the fans
Did you experience failure along the way? What did you learn from it?
Absolutely – anyone that doesn’t experience failure isn’t trying enough stuff! One of the lessons I’ve learned is that no two clients are the same. A lot of ‘experts’ like to teach a ‘formula’ that can be multiplied over and over. But to add real value you need to appreciate every client as a totally different person / business with totally different customers.
Value-add questions
Give the readers the best entrepreneurship advice you have.
Just get started. Honestly – it’s good to read, watch, listen and study, but all of that means nothing if you don’t take ACTION! Don’t worry about failing, everybody does. Use them as opportunities to learn and grow yourself and your business, and never give up. EVER. EEEVVEERRR.
Teach us something about content creation and content marketing. Who’s killing it in that space?
Add as much value as you can, and when you create content remember to be always be interesting, useful, or entertaining. If you’re not doing those you’re just boring and you’re creating content for the sake of ‘creating content’ or ‘being active’. If your content doesn’t add value then don’t bother!
Follow Gary Vaynerchuk’s marketing advice and you will seriously be ahead of the majority. Read his books, watch his keynotes and study his philosophies.
For more technical experts you can follow people like Neil Patel, Scott Oldford, Russell Brunson, Dan Henry, Jason Hornung and other internet marketing pros.
While working on your project, have you come across any interesting bit of knowledge that you’d like to share? (i.e. any new research finding, any new platforms, some novel management technique, etc)
I think going deeper into marketing funnels has been the best thing I’ve studied. Understanding how to create different funnels for different people, and even funnel stacking where there are funnels WITHIN funnels. Scott Oldford teaches that. It’s a bit of work to set up, but if it’s right for your audience, it can be an amazing way to create leads and revenue on autopilot.
There’s also a good platform called Qwaya that allows you to split test Facebook Ads like crazy without the extra effort that some people may find handy.
What daily habits do you have that allow you to perform at your peak?
Consistency. I just keep going. Whether it’s good or bad, you just need to keep going. It’s better to work 7 hours a day every single day, than doing two 15 hour days or pulling an all nighter every now and then.
Also – focus on ONE thing until it’s done. Multitasking is NOT good.
What should an entrepreneur focus on?
Adding value.
That’s seriously it. Find your niche, define your offering, and then do it better than anyone else.
What are some of your favorite books?
Oosh – so many! Since we’re talking about entrepreneurship and marketing, these are a few:
- Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (everybody needs to read that)
- The Art of Creative Thinking by Rod Judkins
- Jab Jab Jab Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
- The ONE Thing by Gary Keller
- The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
I actually have a list I regularly update here.
Where do you see yourself and your product in a couple years?
I’d like to scale my business to have a growing team, and start expanding my services. I would love to be a full-blown personal branding agency working with high achievers and making them #1 in their industry. Similar to Vayner Media.
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