To make things interesting at the get-go, I am not a professionally trained marketer, nor had I worked in any capacity in the field of marketing, in any capacity before. Starting UR Digital, a marketing agency was not something I would ever think of, but thankfully, I accidentally bumped into digital marketing.
I am a Network Engineer by education. Until 2004, I was working as a software sales consultant, and calls and meetings were things that kept me occupied. Although people in sales do understand tidbits of Marketing, technology-based marketing was very fresh on the global scene.
The Accident of Knowing about Search Mechanism
I had a long commute to work, and I developed a strong passion for reading during this phase of my life. One day I stumbled upon the science of “How websites rank on Search Engines?” and it was instant love. Landing on this article was rather an accident. I was reading about Google’s IPO which was hot news in 2004.
Back then, I must say that things were not complicated, yet for an outsider like me, it felt like magic. Furthermore, being educated in the technology domain meant that I was super comfortable with SEO.
For some time, I read about SEO – which now is my specialization, and finally prepared for testing my newfound skills. So, after months of reading and researching in 2005, I started applying all the knowledge I had acquired on the websites of my relatives and friends, and it worked. That was a great moment of joy.
Setting Up My First Website and Business
The excitement of learning a new skill and driving results led me to set up my first website. The year was around 2007, and I remember it vividly. I started offering SEO services to clients both in India, which was where I was then, and across the globe.
My SEO skills were complimented a lot by my sales skill. At this juncture, I can’t say which skill was dominant, but anyone who wishes to start a marketing agency must be ready to be a sales guy. You will get inbound leads, you will get exciting referrals, but at the end of the day, you must close the sales.
So, all geekiness and nerdiness must have some real sales pitching and closing skills. Online networking is good, but just before closing a client, you must speak to him. And I have seen a lot of techno-marketing guys mess it up here.
In this phase, I was targeting only some small businesses because I did not have the confidence to pitch my services to larger companies. For the next four years, things remained the same and I was only doing it part-time.