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Hello Neil, it is great advantage to have you on this discussion. Tell us something about your childhood. What inspired you to develop your first job board Advice monkey?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
Well my family didn’t have a lot of money and as a child I had different hobbies than my friends. They were into sports, while I was into money. I started out cleaning toilets at an amusement park and quickly realized I wasn’t going to get rich from it. That’s what led me to bigger things like trying to find opportunities on the Internet.While I was searching for a job online I saw how job board companies were making millions, so I decided to copy them and create Advice Monkey.
--Neil Patel -
A job board and then online marketing, how was the switchover?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
It was good. Once I made friends with a few internet marketers and saw how much potential there was for making money, it was an easy transition for me.Plus I had to learn how to market my own job board, so I eventually got pretty good at it. This made the transition smooth.
--Neil Patel -
In this society where people look for secure jobs, what made you an entrepreneur? Wasn’t it a courageous decision?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
I got such an early start that I didn’t really know any other way. Most people start out working for a company and after doing it for years it becomes hard to make the transition to working for yourself. Usually you have bills and responsibilities and if your “entreprenurial excursion” doesn’t work out, you have a lot to lose.
--Neil Patel -
Digital marketing is a fresh field. Who are best suited for this genre of work according to you?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
Analytical people tend to do well with digital marketing. It’s not hard to see what other successful people are doing and replicate it. The challenge is analytics. Know what’s working what isn’t, optimizing, etc.
--Neil Patel -
How important do you think was the effect of education and schooling in this journey?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
Not much. I learned very little in school compared to from just learning on my own and going to classes. Reading information and blogs online helped a lot.
--Neil Patel -
You are known as an icon for young budding entrepreneurs. How do you handle this popularity?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
I have a heart for them. And that’s a big part of why I have kept at it with Quick Qprout for this long. It’s my way of giving back to the community and showing my compassion for young entrepreneurs.
--Neil Patel -
What guidelines would you give to someone trying to make a mark in digital marketing?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
I would tell them to keep up with the latest news on what’s working, read often, and always focus more on the quality of your work than the amount of customers you can convince to pay you. I’d rather have 2 clients paying me 250k a year each than 10 clients for 50k a year each.
--Neil Patel -
You have advisor’s like Eric Ries, Seas Ellis, Jeff Vean, Jeff Hammerbacher and Ed baker associated with your company. What do you learn from these masterminds?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
I wish I could tell you, but a lot of what I learned is related to KISSmetrics and we tend not to share private/sensative information.
--Neil Patel -
ProNet advertising was a breakthrough in the world of blogging, elaborate your journey.
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
I spent a few years on Pronet Advertising. It was a top 100 blog, but I eventually got burned out. As I was just blogging for the traffic and I wasn’t enjoying the content quality.Eventually I stopped blog and I continued my journey a year later with Quick Sprout.
--Neil Patel -
How makes your current blog Quick sprout different?
--Srinivas Sarakadam -
What makes Quick Sprout unique is I write all the content myself. Most people hire writers when they can either a) afford it or b) get too lazy to do it. By writing the content, it keeps me involved and I care more about providing my readers with valuable information than if I were to pay someone else to write it.
--Neil Patel
