Interested in digital marketing? Get ready for a tableside chat with Paul and Shreya. You may have already noticed them. Paul Counts isn’t new to OSP, but now both Counts and Shreya Banerjee have a bigger role in promoting digital marketing through OSP.
Grab a cup of coffee. Sit in a comfortable chair. And let’s find out more about Paul and Shreya during our tableside chat.
Tell Us a Little about Yourselves
Paul keeps busy with three beautiful kids with one of them even being a teenager! He’s a big fan of all things Disney and passionate about the Washington State Cougars. Paul loves working through those initial jitters to speak to both large and small crowds, getting more excited than nervous. Most people put public speaking as their biggest fear, but it’s one of Paul’s favorite things to do.
Shreya admits that she loves to eat much more than she loves to cook. Her ideal scenario? To have someone else make delicious food for her! Perhaps that’s why most of her closest friends are good cooks! She enjoys watching movies and just like Paul, anything Disney.
What Encouraged You to Give Online Marketing a Try?
Paul wasn’t even a teenager yet when he began his career in sales. He became the junior sales rep for a custom screen-printing and embroidery company. Paul was ambitious back then, too, because after a year, he realized he could expand the market beyond his school. Why not reach out to other schools, too? And you guessed it! He used the power of email marketing and selling online. At the age of 12!
Paul convinced the business owner to get a company domain name so that he could send clients attachments of their designs. Not only did he learn how to market the products using the new website, but he discovered what SEO was back in 2000! Once he learned about online marketing, he was hooked! And the rest is history . . .
Shreya felt the draw of online marketing back in college and tried a few things. Nothing jelled, so she took the traditional route of 9 to 5 in an office. She remembered the flexibility of it, though, and when her son was 5, decided that was the way to go.
Not that it isn’t hard work. It is. Most people think it’s not. Shreya says that she works harder than she has in any of her past jobs, but here’s the clincher: it doesn’t seem like work. She loves what she does, plus she can work around her family’s schedule. That sure does make it a win-win. Not only that, Shreya has applied the strategic thinking she learned in college and in her previous jobs and applied all of that to online marketing.
What Do You Like Best about Digital Marketing?
Paul is quick to say that it’s all about time. He’s worked for himself for most of his adult life. Because of that, he’s been able to be there for his kids and their most important moments. Add to that? Paul feels as though every day is a weekend day.
Not only that, but online marketing is never boring. It’s constantly changing and evolving. You have to stay on top of what is new, or you get left behind. After 21 years of marketing online, Paul is even more excited about it now than when he began! How many people can say that about the work they do?
But perhaps more than all of that, Paul loves it that with the proper strategy, you can compete in the majors. That’s right. You can outperform global leaders and brands online with a fraction of the cost, if you just know what you are doing.
Shreya proved her point with an example. Flexibility! As she was being interviewed, she and her son were listening to Disney music while he played with his dragons. Every now and then, the little guy came over to give his mommy a big hug or to show her how powerful his dragons are. Most of her days are like that. Sure, there are times when she’s attending a professional meeting that her son must wear a headset, but most of the time, they are “working” together.
Shreya also appreciates the strategy and business development needed to market online. Success doesn’t mean making a quick buck. It’s about creating a sustaining business. She loves those precious “aha!” moments their clients have when Paul and Shreya lay out the sales funnel. Talk about job satisfaction!
Time to Brag a Bit! Tell Us about Some of Your Successes
Paul celebrates the success of their clients and students, along with their own. They created a new website for a publicly-traded client, making good use of SEO, Pay Per Click (PPC), email marketing, copywriting, and Facebook Ads. The results? A 24% increase in revenue to the tune of $8 million year-over-year growth. Now that’s definitely cause for celebration!
Marketing Counts also has sold over $10 million dollars in information and software products online. They know how to craft and create winning sales funnels that get tremendous conversions.
On the other side of the coin, they’ve also dramatically reduced the money clients spend on advertising. As much as 90%! How? They combine effective copywriting of ads and the proper setup to get more clicks for less money. Money saved is money earned!
Shreya loves working at Marketing Counts because they both understand and appreciate the creative AND the technical side of marketing. Often companies focus on only one side of marketing. Shreya and Paul both emphasize that writing good copy is just as important as setting up your ad a certain way.
What Do You Focus on When Coaching Small- or Medium-sized Businesses?
At Marketing Counts, they focus on what they call their FTE or 3 Pillars Formula. This first pillar is the Foundation (F) of the business which includes the website and landing pages, the content on both of those, and the company’s strategy. The second pillar is Traffic (T) which focuses on getting traffic to the foundation. And the last pillar is Engagement (E) which includes social media and email follow-ups to engage with their audience. Marketing Counts follows this formula with all of their clients.
What are the Most Important Points You Need to Know about Digital Marketing?
Paul will tell you that consistency counts! Somewhere in that comment, he’s playing with his last name, but seriously, consistency is what separates those who have a long-term successful business and those who don’t. For example, if YouTube is your favorite traffic method, then you need to commit to posting often, optimizing your videos, and creating fresh content. The same goes with paid traffic. You need to consistently test and tweak the ads.
The other point is good old-fashioned grit. Running a business is not easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Strive not to get discouraged. When sales dip, have the grit to stick it out. Business success is often more about mindset than it is skill. The most important skill, though, is capturing leads. Once you learn how to capture the contact information of your potential customers, that’s all you need to build a sustainable six- or seven-figure business.
Shreya advises that OSP entrepreneurs must keep it simple and follow the FTE formula. Set up a simple landing page for your foundation. Find and master a traffic source where your audience hangs out. Drive all traffic to your foundation. Capture the leads from your landing page and engage with them by either email or a phone call.
Best Tip for Those Just Starting?
Paul realized how important Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was right from the start of his experiences with digital marketing. Paul’s tip? Make your website more visible to grow the quality and quantity of your website’s traffic.
Shreya invested in mentors to help her create a strategy to move forward. Shreya’s tip: Develop a clear plan to move forward, and then execution is the easy part.
And What About Me and My Business?
Excellent question! That’s the entire point of this article. We all want you to be successful! Both Paul and Shreya emphasize the Three Pillar Formula: Foundation, Traffic, and Engagement for successful online marketing. The Online Sales Pro (OSP) software and app allows you to follow the FTE Formula, and it’s super easy to use.
With OSP, you can engage your leads and current customers by linking your Email Service Provider and an email list. Launch a sales campaign. Set up a series of training segments. Inspire or inform your sales team. It’s easy to do all of this with OSP.
Join Paul and Shreya in celebrating digital marketing success! Tap into their experience and expertise by joining the OSP Facebook Group and learn from the best. Use this web and mobile app to build your business. Give OSP a try and see how easy it is!
