Episode 90

full
Published on:

4th Dec 2023

AgoraPulse Interview with Co-Founder/CEO Emeric Ernoult: Social Media Success with Host Dimple Dang

Mesmerizing Marketing™ Podcast Episode 90: AgoraPulse Interview with Co-Founder Emeric Ernoult.

In this episode, Dimple interviews Emeric Ernoult who is the Co-Founder of a Paris-based social media management software company.


They discuss entrepreneurship, social media marketing strategies, AI, and how to build a successful business and brand.

Watch the Entire Episode on YouTube


Watch Episode 90: AgoraPulse Interview with Co-Founder Emeric Ernoult on YouTube Below:

https://youtu.be/FBjf_eNjvUg


To learn more about AgoraPulse, visit their website at: https://www.agorapulse.com/


Interested in signing up for the AgoraPulse Pinterest Challenge, get more information here and sign up:

https://www.airmeet.com/e/0e208e50-6b7e-11ee-8ff0-19ade2db7828


Free Marketing Consultation with Dimple


Request a FREE 15-minute marketing or podcast consultation by filling out this form.


Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel 



FOLLOW ME ON THREADS

https://www.threads.net/@shewearsstilettos


Visit My Links and Resources


https://sociatap.com/MesmerizingMarketing/


REQUEST A CONSULTATION WITH DIMPLE


Request a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your podcast launch strategy or if you have questions about my "Launch Your Podcast Masterclass."

 Fill out this form or email me at: dimple@mesmerizingmarketing.com


SHOP MY AMAZON STORE FOR MY FAVORITE ITEMS


For Additional Resources for Podcasting and YouTube content Creation Equipment, Visit This Page.


Connect with Dimple

Visit my website: https://attorneymarketingexpert.com/


Visit this page to learn about my upcoming live masterclasses and events.

Follow Dimple on Instagram, her Handle is @shewearsstilettos

Follow Mesmerizing Marketing Podcast on Instagram

Follow Dimple on Twitter

Follow Dimple on Clubhouse

Follow Dimple Mesmerizing Marketing™ Club on Clubhouse

Email: dimple@mesmerizingmarketing.com (Email me to request a marketing consultation or podcast guest requests).


Free Marketing Consultation

Request a FREE 15-minute marketing or podcast consultation by filling out this form.


SUBSCRIBE TO ALL MY PODCASTS


MESMERIZING MARKETING™: Visit the podcast website to check out all the episodes. Subscribe to the Mesmerizing Marketing™ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

If you are a "And Just Like That" Fan, check out my "And Just Like That Fans" Podcast for all your Carrie Bradshaw fans.

Podcast Launch Strategy Podcast

Emily in Paris Fans Podcast


Resources for Launching Your Podcast and Live Show


Join my group "Podcast Mentorship" program, learn more here and sign up.

Join my next Launch Your Podcast 1-Day Masterclass, visit this page. If you miss this class, email me to find out when the next one is: Email: dimple@mesmerizingmarketing.com

For a recording studio for both audio and video or just audio, I love Riverside.FM.

For a hosting platform, I love Captivate.FM, has great analytics and includes a modern-looking website, and has amazing marketing tools.

For editing your platform, Descript.com is amazing. You can add your intro/outro and edit out filler words. It even allows you to easily edit your videos.

For live-streaming to multiple platforms, use Restream.io

For note-taking and show notes transcriptions and so much more: Otter.ai

Promote your podcast with RSS feeds in AWeber email marketing

Hello Woofy AI-Powered Social Media Marketing Platform (Listen to episode 26 to learn more)

Listen to episode 10 and episode 33 to learn more about Otter.ai

Creating Beautiful Graphics for your podcast and podcast cover: Canva.com

You can download additional free resources here.

Need hosting for your WordPress website, check out Bluehost, they include SSL certificates in most of their hosting plans.

PODCAST EQUIPMENT

Wireless Lavalier Microphone

Podcasting Yeti Microphone  

Samson Dynamic Microphone

Shure MV7 Dynamic Microphone 

Shure SM7B Microphone

Rode Rodecaster Pro II

Some of these may be affiliate links.



Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome to the mesmerizing marketing

podcast, where we take a deep dive

2

:

into the latest marketing trends,

tools, and tips, and provide you with

3

:

the top resources you need to thrive

and make your marketing mesmerizing.

4

:

And now here's your host Dimple Dang.

5

:

For the audience, like tell us a

little bit, some personal information

6

:

about you, because I think there's

so much information that's out there

7

:

on the web that people can Google.

8

:

But let's talk about maybe when you were

a child, were you always entrepreneurial?

9

:

Like when did you get the streak to say,

okay, I want to start my own companies.

10

:

Yeah, when I was a child, when I was

six or seven years old, my parent took

11

:

me to, I was very agitated and very

hard to manage as a child, very rebel.

12

:

And they took me to, I don't know how

you call that in English, but it's

13

:

basically a guy who looks into your

eye, into the iris of your eye and based

14

:

with like a microscope or something.

15

:

Optometrist?

16

:

No, it's iridologist.

17

:

Okay.

18

:

Iridolog in French, that's iridologist,

which it's basically there's, there,

19

:

they have the science of looking at

your iris and reading what's in there.

20

:

It's, yeah, it's, it's

not regular medicine.

21

:

Let's call it, it's esoteric somehow.

22

:

And that guy looked in my eye

and said, this young boy will

23

:

never work for another person.

24

:

That was like seven or eight.

25

:

So you could say that it's rooted

back in my DNA and in my childhood.

26

:

When I was in my, when I was in

my 12 to like 17, 18, I was a Boy

27

:

Scout and it was a Marine Boy Scout.

28

:

So we were sailing as Boy Scouts.

29

:

And when I got to eight, when I got

18 and up, I became Boy Scout Chief.

30

:

So I was leading the younger Boy Scouts.

31

:

And at the time where everybody else

in my school were going partying

32

:

on Saturday night and getting drunk

and coming home with girls, I was.

33

:

Heading my boy scout people.

34

:

So I, and I was like putting

projects together, organizing camps

35

:

in Holland, the Netherlands and the

South of France with all the boats

36

:

and thing, the car behind the boat.

37

:

So I basically was already

doing some creating projects

38

:

and always taking challenges on.

39

:

So, yeah, it's, I think some people

have entrepreneurship in them.

40

:

They may or may not realize it.

41

:

I did not really realize what

it was because I studied law and

42

:

started my career as a lawyer.

43

:

But even as a lawyer, I was always

like, okay, how do I create my own firm?

44

:

How do I create my own practice?

45

:

How do I own my own thing?

46

:

So it's always been there.

47

:

And yeah, so like I, I studied law seven

years past the bar in Paris, started my

48

:

career at the French embassy as a lawyer,

helping French businesses to be settled

49

:

down in the U S start a subsidiary and

start doing business there and found

50

:

a first job at a big Chicago law firm

called Winston and Strawn in Chicago.

51

:

That's my hometown.

52

:

Yeah.

53

:

So Winston and Strawn is, I

think it's the largest firm in

54

:

Chicago as far as I remember.

55

:

Started to work in their DC

office, then moved to their Paris

56

:

office and did that until 2000.

57

:

And then had the

entrepreneurship itch came back.

58

:

And I decided to start my first company

with my co founder who has been my

59

:

co founder for the past 23 years,

Ben, who has been my CTO since then.

60

:

And yeah, that's how I got started

on the entrepreneurship route.

61

:

So.

62

:

I love that.

63

:

I love that.

64

:

It sounds like you were, you had like

all the characteristics there because

65

:

most entrepreneurs Are kind of rebels

like they don't conform to the rules.

66

:

They're actually the

ones that make the rules.

67

:

I feel like you were the one that's

like, let me create something.

68

:

Let me do this.

69

:

Let me lead.

70

:

And they're also like leaders, right?

71

:

Cause you were leading the boy Scouts

while other people are out just

72

:

partying and doing those things.

73

:

So.

74

:

I think that what you're doing

today is perfect for that.

75

:

Let's go back into when

you were a lawyer, right?

76

:

And talk a little bit more about that.

77

:

I know that you were telling me earlier

that when you were a lawyer back in the

78

:

nineties too, you came up with a business

concept to actually, um, certain things

79

:

you were doing and in terms of like blogs.

80

:

So can you tell us more about that?

81

:

Because lawyers are always like

curious on how they can do marketing

82

:

better, how they can grow their

firm, how they can use their skills.

83

:

Absolutely.

84

:

So to, to give you a little bit of

context to understand it, when you're

85

:

a lawyer in France, you are allowed,

and you work for a big law firm, you

86

:

are allowed to have your own customers.

87

:

You have your own clients.

88

:

That's the rule.

89

:

That's the basic rule.

90

:

You're not an employee.

91

:

You're kind of an independent

contractor to the firm you're working

92

:

for, even the, even large law firms.

93

:

Not everybody, but most

lawyers, uh, operate this way.

94

:

So when I got back from DC and I had, I

learned this knowledge at the, uh, when

95

:

I, at my job at the embassy, I knew how

to do visa for people who want to go and

96

:

live in, in, in the U S and I randomly

stumbled upon French entrepreneurs and

97

:

business owners who wanted to move to

the U S and start their business there.

98

:

And I knew how to get their visa.

99

:

So I started to do a

couple of visas for them.

100

:

And, and it was a very lucrative work for

me because on top of my 10, 000 a month.

101

:

Regular salary I was

getting from the firm.

102

:

I was also adding on

top of that,:

103

:

And I was basically charging

in the early days,:

104

:

And then I move up to,

to, to 4, 000 a visa.

105

:

And I got pretty successful because

I was billing it on success.

106

:

So I was, it was zero if I didn't get

the visa and it was 4k, if I was getting

107

:

the visa and people loved it, but I was.

108

:

Kind of stuck with the volumes.

109

:

Like I didn't have a lot

of prospects coming in.

110

:

And one day I was, I've

always loved technology.

111

:

So in the late nineties, I was among

the first having an email, having my

112

:

own websites and building my own website

with HTML, CSS, it was ugly as hell.

113

:

But I, at one point there was kind

of a beginning of the blogs and you

114

:

could actually create content and

update your website with content on it.

115

:

It was.

116

:

It was probably the ancestor of WordPress,

what I started using in the late nineties.

117

:

And I created a website where I

explained all the different types

118

:

of visa and how all the forums,

you could download all the forums.

119

:

I give you the roadmap.

120

:

Okay.

121

:

Step one, you do this step.

122

:

Do you do that?

123

:

Step three, step four.

124

:

These are the things you

need to be careful about.

125

:

If you, if you buy a business, this is

the kind of business you want to buy.

126

:

Not that kind of business.

127

:

Uh, you can put the money into escrow.

128

:

Here's a list of escrow you can

work with, blah, blah, blah.

129

:

It was basically the recipe of how you

get a visa to start a company in the U.

130

:

S.

131

:

And my colleagues at the firm,

they looked at me like I was crazy.

132

:

I said, why are you putting

all your knowledge on the web?

133

:

People are going to steal it and

they're going to do it themselves.

134

:

And they're never going to pay you.

135

:

I said, no, that's not how it works.

136

:

People don't want to do that.

137

:

Business owners.

138

:

Other things to do than

creating, doing their own visa.

139

:

They don't have time for that.

140

:

They run a business.

141

:

They make money with their business.

142

:

It makes no sense for them

to learn that new skill.

143

:

The only thing they want to know

and make sure about is that I

144

:

know what I'm talking about.

145

:

And when they see all that information

I put online, they're like, Oh,

146

:

this guy knows how to get a visa.

147

:

I'm going to contract him and pay him

and just going to get my visa and that

148

:

That thing became incredibly successful.

149

:

I think after the first year I made

as much money with my own customers.

150

:

I work a lot on weekends, by the way,

because you still have to work eight hours

151

:

a day for your firm, sometimes 10 hours a

day because firms like Winston and Strong,

152

:

they don't let you do that very easily.

153

:

That's like a 15 hour

day at a firm like that.

154

:

I work a hell of a lot, but

at the end, after the first

155

:

year, I was on top of the 10 K.

156

:

I was making from the big law firm.

157

:

I was making some, sometimes

seven, six, seven K a month on,

158

:

on the visa stuff that was doing

just basically taking my weekends.

159

:

And when you think about it and

you think about modern marketing

160

:

in 2023, it is still the same base

provide amazing content for free.

161

:

So people are like, Oh, this

guy's interesting, or this company

162

:

is interesting or whatever.

163

:

And based on that, you're going to

start creating a flywheel of prospect.

164

:

We're going to come to you because

they recognize you as the expert

165

:

who can solve their problem.

166

:

So by creating amazing content,

you can position yourself as a

167

:

thought leader in your space.

168

:

So don't, you're, what you're saying

is don't gatekeep your best content,

169

:

actually share it out with the world.

170

:

Cause a lot of people think,

Oh my God, if I share it.

171

:

Other people are going to steal my ideas.

172

:

They're going to take it.

173

:

So they have like the wrong mindset.

174

:

So what you're saying is like, when

you have great content, share and

175

:

share it freely, like you shared

all of that content about the visas

176

:

very graciously and you didn't hold

anything back, but as a return.

177

:

You got rewarded 'cause people viewed

you and your website as a thought leader,

178

:

but they didn't want to do it themselves.

179

:

What?

180

:

They know that you were savvy

enough to do it for them.

181

:

So it actually ended up

getting you a lot of clients.

182

:

So that was brilliant.

183

:

I love that story.

184

:

Yeah, and what I, I didn't do any of that

back then because there, there was no,

185

:

the concept of lead gen didn't exist.

186

:

The concept of CTA and form and download

downloadables and all that stuff.

187

:

If I had to do it again, I would

have still provided the content

188

:

for free, but I would have made the

forms or the templates unloadables.

189

:

Hey, leave me your email and take

the form or take the template.

190

:

And that way I would have generated

leads and that kind of stuff.

191

:

So, but it's still exactly the same thing.

192

:

Marketing has not evolved that

much in the past 23 years.

193

:

Yeah, exactly.

194

:

So if you were to give three tips.

195

:

To let's say, even like for lawyers,

because you have been in the legal

196

:

industry, you practice law and all that.

197

:

What would be three tips that

you would give out for lawyers

198

:

in terms of marketing in 2024,

because:

199

:

Well, I think the basics,

that basic is still the same.

200

:

So first and foremost, think really

hard about what you're passionate about.

201

:

In the field of law, what is it

that you're really passionate about?

202

:

Because what, what's going to allow

you to create great marketing and to

203

:

be a great marketer on top of a great

lawyer is that people are going to

204

:

feel the passion and you're going to

be so passionate about the topic that

205

:

you're going to want to write about it.

206

:

You're going to want to

start a podcast about it.

207

:

You're going to want

to do videos about it.

208

:

You're going to want to

be spreading the news.

209

:

There's this thing from the Supreme court.

210

:

That's amazing.

211

:

Look at the consequences for other.

212

:

People have to feel that you

absolutely live and breathe your stuff.

213

:

So think about what passionates you.

214

:

If you're not passionate about

law, , we're not gonna be a

215

:

good marketer about law, right?

216

:

So think about that.

217

:

Once you have your passion and you've

nailed it, and this is the thing.

218

:

So for example, if you do m and

a, you can't just do m and a, you

219

:

have to do a specific subset of m

and a, like FinTech, m and a, or.

220

:

Tech M& A or medical, whatever

it is, insurance M& A.

221

:

So pick a niche, don't go broad,

pick something very nichey.

222

:

So you're going to speak very closely

to the ones who are very connected

223

:

to that niche and a niche always have

specificities and it's going to help you

224

:

adapt your content to people who are going

to react in like, Oh, this is exactly for

225

:

me because I'm a tech, I'm a tech CEO.

226

:

And this tech M& A is.

227

:

It's speaking to my,

it's music to my ears.

228

:

And, and once you've done that, then find

the media you're most comfortable with.

229

:

Some people are fine on camera.

230

:

Some people are shy and

they don't want to be seen.

231

:

And they, whatever,

like it's very personal.

232

:

But pick the one that you enjoy the most.

233

:

Being on the camera.

234

:

Do you enjoy talking?

235

:

Then maybe a podcast is best.

236

:

Do you enjoy writing?

237

:

My co founder loves writing and reading.

238

:

I'm not a writing and reading type of guy.

239

:

So if that's what it is, do a medium.

240

:

Start a medium blog, that kind.

241

:

So identify what you enjoy

creating, whether it's video

242

:

or sound or audio or writing.

243

:

And then once you've picked that,

Start the practice like once a week,

244

:

come up with a topic, come up with

something that you feel is exciting and

245

:

interesting and create the content and

then start sharing it, it's going to be

246

:

small in the early days, but it's, if

you do it consistently and you always

247

:

think about how can you promote it,

to whom can you send it, eventually

248

:

you will grow to something meaningful.

249

:

Now, the promotion part obviously is key.

250

:

So be strategic about that.

251

:

How are you going to make

sure that this is being seen?

252

:

When I did my stuff in the

late nineties, SEO was easy.

253

:

I was probably the only person in

the entire French speaking countries

254

:

who created content about visa.

255

:

So visa, US visa.

256

:

So I was.

257

:

If you search for U.

258

:

S.

259

:

visa Etats Unis in

French, boom, that was me.

260

:

Today, it probably wouldn't

happen, but you know what?

261

:

I'm pretty sure there are still

opportunities even in SEO for a

262

:

French speaking lawyer to create

content about French speaking business

263

:

owners who want to go to the U.

264

:

S.

265

:

I'm pretty sure it is

still possible today.

266

:

Yeah, absolutely.

267

:

SEO is huge.

268

:

I mean, especially for lawyers.

269

:

I mean, that's how you're going

to get found online, but also

270

:

social media is equally huge.

271

:

So, I mean, thank you for sharing

your perspective on all of that.

272

:

And before we dive deep into

Agora Pulse, my question is.

273

:

Why is even like social media important

for lawyers, for business owners,

274

:

for entrepreneurs, like, why should

they really invest their time into

275

:

producing content, posting it every day?

276

:

What's like the biggest advantages

that you see of doing that?

277

:

And maybe even of not doing that.

278

:

Cause there's people that

don't do it or they do it.

279

:

They're not consistent with it.

280

:

And I believe that part of

building a personal brand.

281

:

Doing social media is that

you have to be consistent.

282

:

So what are the biggest

advantages you see of doing it?

283

:

And then also for people that aren't

doing it, what would you say to them?

284

:

Yeah.

285

:

So back to the promotion piece,

it all starts with the content.

286

:

If you don't have any content

to share, having a presence on

287

:

social media is a waste of time.

288

:

What are you going to share?

289

:

We had for breakfast or for dinner,

like nobody's going to be interested

290

:

about your social media if you

don't have amazing content to share.

291

:

So it starts with the content.

292

:

So everything we, I, we we've said

earlier is valid and leads you to, okay,

293

:

now you have the passion, now you have

the niche, now you have the content.

294

:

How, where are you going to share that?

295

:

How are you going to make people aware

that it exists and they can check it out?

296

:

That's where social media is, is

probably in:

297

:

channel that you need to leverage

and you need to, you need to seize.

298

:

Web and SEO is one, but as web

and SEO, social media takes time.

299

:

If you start writing content,

SEO is going to catch up.

300

:

It may take a year and a half, two

years before you start having enough of.

301

:

SEO presence to start getting

prospect in same for social media.

302

:

It's the exact same thing.

303

:

There's no shortcut, whatever you choose

as your main channel to distribute the

304

:

amazing, the amazing content you're

creating, it's going to take time.

305

:

But if the content is amazing, there

is no doubt people will come to it.

306

:

If the content is amazing and you

constantly post on LinkedIn, for example,

307

:

whether it's video, whether it's text,

people are going to start noticing and

308

:

little by little, your followers are

going to grow and people are going to

309

:

engage with it and thank you for that,

for sharing valuable content that's

310

:

helping them and little by little,

it's going to, it's going to grow.

311

:

What you can do to help it grow.

312

:

There are a lot of tactics about the

hashtags you can use and, and engaging

313

:

with other people in your space who

then engage back and get to know you.

314

:

So you can do engagement, you

can use those kinds of tricks.

315

:

You can do listening, trying to listen

to questions on Twitter about your stuff.

316

:

Like, let's say you're an MNA

lawyer in tech MNA, is there anybody

317

:

talking about tech MNA on Twitter?

318

:

Go run a tech M& A listening

search on Twitter to see if there's

319

:

anybody asking, Hey, do you know

a tech M& A blah, blah, blah.

320

:

And then you can go in and say, yeah,

I know someone here's a, I wrote a blog

321

:

post exactly about that two years ago.

322

:

Here's the link.

323

:

You can read about it.

324

:

Maybe it's helpful.

325

:

So you can have, you can do a little

bit of that and are here and are there.

326

:

And eventually.

327

:

Your notoriety online on social media

is going to grow month after month.

328

:

And up until you get to a point

where, Oh, you wake up one morning

329

:

and you have thousands of people

reading your stuff every morning.

330

:

And then you're like, okay, now I'm a,

now I'm a star in my space on social.

331

:

And if you do that, you

always end up there.

332

:

I have at least four or five friends

who have above 1 million followers on

333

:

YouTube now, which is an achievement.

334

:

This, they all started at zero.

335

:

Like, like, like me today, I'm not the

YouTube guy, so I'm not big there, but

336

:

there, there were, there was one day when

they said, okay, I'm, I'm totally in non

337

:

existent on that social media platform.

338

:

I want to be present there and I

want to have a big following there.

339

:

Start with the content.

340

:

Then go with the distribution and

do it consistently and use all these

341

:

tricks to get the world to notice.

342

:

And one day you wake up and

you've built an audience and here

343

:

you are, let's be honest here.

344

:

It is hard.

345

:

It is not for everyone.

346

:

Not every lawyer is going to be

a YouTube star next year, right?

347

:

We, we know that, but if you are

passionate about that and you want to

348

:

grow and you want to be a top notch lawyer

in your space, that's how you do it.

349

:

Yeah, I mean, and you know what?

350

:

Right.

351

:

But it doesn't happen overnight.

352

:

So, but what we see outside looking in,

when we see someone, they have a million

353

:

followers on Tik TOK on YouTube, or

they have a huge following on LinkedIn.

354

:

We don't see all the work and effort

that was put into it, but the person

355

:

who's done it has, and sometimes that

could have taken them five years.

356

:

One year, three years, 10 years.

357

:

We don't see that part.

358

:

And then I think one of the issues is

that when people start doing something

359

:

in terms of marketing, whether it's

SEO, whether it's having a podcast,

360

:

whether it is writing blog content

or doing reels on like TikTok,

361

:

YouTube shorts, all those things.

362

:

I think people give up too easily

because with social media, I think

363

:

people look at it the wrong way.

364

:

I think they think, Oh, I can just post

up for a month and I'm going to get

365

:

all these leads and clients coming in.

366

:

And you and I both know that's

not the reality of it, right?

367

:

With social media marketing, if you just

start today, it can realistically take.

368

:

A year or two before you get leads

coming in however I think the main

369

:

thing is having that online presence

is so critical because when someone

370

:

Is deciding whether they want to work

with let's say that attorney or that

371

:

business versus someone else They

are going to look them up online.

372

:

They're going to look at

their social media channels.

373

:

They're going to look at their

website They're going to look at if

374

:

they've been You know, mentioned in

the press or anything, and they're

375

:

going to compare and contrast.

376

:

And I think that having a social

media presence or having a podcast

377

:

or having a YouTube channel, I think

it gives you instant credibility.

378

:

And that credibility can be

the difference between losing a

379

:

referral or gaining a new client.

380

:

What are your thoughts on that?

381

:

Yeah, if I was an M& A lawyer still

today, you know what I would do?

382

:

I would start a podcast and a blog.

383

:

I would basically do blog, podcast

and YouTube, the three of them.

384

:

Um, I would do the video interview and

then that video interview would become

385

:

the podcast, the video and YouTube, of

course, but also the podcast because

386

:

you have the audio and I would have a

transcript become the medium blog post.

387

:

And I would interview tech

CEOs who sold their companies.

388

:

And I would interview them on, okay,

let's talk about the legal side of things.

389

:

What went wrong?

390

:

What was complicated?

391

:

What didn't you understand before

that you now understand that was

392

:

like an aha moment for you on,

oh, that's why I need a lawyer.

393

:

That what are the things that the, the

other side tried to negotiate and stick

394

:

into the contract that you refused.

395

:

And it was the right thing to

do because those things are very

396

:

risky and dangerous for you.

397

:

Let's talk the legal aspect of the

deal and not the money and the,

398

:

and the big PR and all that stuff.

399

:

Nope, I don't know of anybody doing that.

400

:

And I'm a tech CEO now, and

that doesn't ring a bell.

401

:

So the day I need, if I have my

lawyer, good for me, but if I don't

402

:

have my lawyer, who I'm going to

turn to, I'm going to turn to the one

403

:

who is interviewing all these tech

CEOs that are being acquired, right?

404

:

And you don't have to be their lawyer, by

the way, you can just reach out to them.

405

:

Hey, I heard you just sold your company.

406

:

I would like to interview you on

the legal aspect of your stuff.

407

:

I would, that's exactly what I would

do if I was an M& A lawyer today.

408

:

And I wanted to be known

for the tech M& A lawyer.

409

:

That's the example.

410

:

I love that.

411

:

That's a great example.

412

:

And it's a strategy.

413

:

I think everything, when it comes

to marketing and social media,

414

:

you have to have a strategy.

415

:

A lot of people start doing social

media, but they don't sit down first

416

:

to formulate a strategy that's going to

help them obtain their business goals.

417

:

And they just start like haphazardly.

418

:

Right.

419

:

So I think you have to have a

strategy and that's really important.

420

:

So let's dive into, let's start talking

a little bit about Agorapause like.

421

:

What inspired you to start this

company and what was the problem in

422

:

the marketplace that you were trying to

solve when you first started the company?

423

:

Well, so when we first started

in:

424

:

that went busted since then.

425

:

And for 10 years, we failed at trying

to be successful at that first company.

426

:

So the 2000, 1000, and.

427

:

10.

428

:

End of 2010, the company was named

Affinities and basically the ID

429

:

behind it, it was a piece of software

online in the cloud that allowed you

430

:

to create your own social network.

431

:

So think about this, in 2000, in 2001,

we released a software that allows

432

:

you to create your own social network.

433

:

Facebook started in 2004, , so being

too early on the market is not a good

434

:

thing when you're an entrepreneur.

435

:

So that we pivoted that to.

436

:

B2B white label technology,

and then kind of an agent

437

:

build an agency on top of that.

438

:

So it was really hard.

439

:

And during all these years,

I almost didn't pay myself.

440

:

I was minimum wage for

four years in a row.

441

:

So it was really tough, especially when

you you've been paid really well by, by

442

:

an American law firm in Paris and in 2011.

443

:

We randomly stumbled upon someone

who wanted to do contests and

444

:

promotions on Facebook, and we started

building contests and promotions

445

:

on Facebook for that business.

446

:

And then another business,

and then another one.

447

:

And then we basically started to become

an agency that was running Facebook apps.

448

:

And we saw a company that had.

449

:

Done that, but in, in a SaaS way, in a

way that it was a platform that you go,

450

:

you would go, you subscribe for 99 a month

and you could create all the apps you

451

:

want and start them on your Facebook page.

452

:

So that's how Agorapulse got started as a

platform that allows you to build Facebook

453

:

contests and promotion on your Facebook

page in that was launched in:

454

:

Today, this part of the product

does not even exist anymore.

455

:

We don't run contests and promotion

on Agorapulse because we quickly

456

:

realized that the business was very bad.

457

:

It was high churn business.

458

:

The customer would come, do a contest

and stay two months and then leave.

459

:

And the money was churning constantly.

460

:

So we said, okay, that doesn't work.

461

:

This is not going to build

the business we want to build.

462

:

So we pivoted that to.

463

:

The social media, which is okay.

464

:

We only have Facebook.

465

:

We need to add Twitter and then

Instagram and then LinkedIn and

466

:

then this and then that, and we

only do contest and promotion.

467

:

We need to do message management and

publishing and measurement and reporting.

468

:

So between 2012 and 2016, we spent four

years adding features and to move from,

469

:

we only do contest and promotion to, Oh,

we do the whole social media management.

470

:

360.

471

:

Feature set and in 2016,

I think we were okay.

472

:

And in 2019, we had a solid product

and now we have a very solid product.

473

:

Like it's one of the best on the market.

474

:

And what's, what, so if people

know over social media management

475

:

software, they probably heard about

Hootsuite or Sprout social, those

476

:

are our main competition, basically.

477

:

And when you look at us versus them,

there's one thing that's us versus

478

:

them that I'm very proud about.

479

:

They both raised 270 million.

480

:

We've raised zero.

481

:

So our company is completely bootstrapped.

482

:

We're 170 people across the world.

483

:

We make 24 million of annual revenue

and we have never raised money.

484

:

So that's something I'm proud about.

485

:

So with the customer we

work with, we're basically.

486

:

More like them, most of the customers we

work with, I haven't raised 200 million.

487

:

They've built their business

out of sweat equity.

488

:

Right?

489

:

So that's one thing, but really the

thing I'm very proud about is that

490

:

we build an ROI engine return on

investment engine that allows us to

491

:

tell you where conversion and revenue

is coming from on social media.

492

:

So if you do social media.

493

:

Uh, if you do a lot of activities on

social media, but you're not really

494

:

sure which one is working, which one

is not, we're going to give you a

495

:

detailed understanding on what your

private message are doing well, your

496

:

comments are doing well, so your Twitter

is doing well, your LinkedIn is doing

497

:

well, so we can see Really give you

a hint on what's working and what's

498

:

not at the conversion level, at the

business result, business impact level.

499

:

So that's the thing that

separates us from the competition.

500

:

Otherwise we do the publishing and

the engagement and the listening and

501

:

the measuring the everything at least

as well as the others on some stuff.

502

:

They're a little bit better on this.

503

:

We're a little bit better,

a little bit better on that.

504

:

We all do publishing.

505

:

We all do monitoring.

506

:

We all do listening.

507

:

We all do reporting.

508

:

Our own way.

509

:

Some people prefer ours.

510

:

Some people prefer someone else's.

511

:

That's competition.

512

:

That's life.

513

:

Right.

514

:

At the core, what separates us and what

makes us a little bit different is this

515

:

measuring ROI and business impact aspect.

516

:

Well, I think measuring ROI is so

important because you need to know

517

:

if your marketing is working or not.

518

:

And if you're taking the time to

post, let's say on LinkedIn and the

519

:

content on LinkedIn might be different

than what you post on, let's say,

520

:

Instagram and Facebook and so forth.

521

:

So I think it's really key.

522

:

to have the data because if something's

working better, then that you can invest

523

:

more time and effort into say LinkedIn

and that's more where your target audience

524

:

is because each platform is different and

different platforms also have a different

525

:

target audience where for some businesses.

526

:

LinkedIn, maybe where their target

audience hangs out for others.

527

:

It might be Instagram for others.

528

:

It might be Tik TOK or Facebook.

529

:

And having that data, I think is so

instrumental in the success of everything.

530

:

And then when you say like it kind

of tracks ROI, is it basically

531

:

giving analytics of like, okay,

this is your, these type of posts

532

:

got the most amount of engagement.

533

:

How does it actually know

what turns into like.

534

:

Sales though, or does it?

535

:

Yeah, it does.

536

:

If, if in order to measure that it, it,

it does, if you have a link redirecting to

537

:

an, to an asset, to a marketing asset you

have on your site, that's a downloadable.

538

:

That's whatever, that's a free trial

for us, for me, that's a free trial.

539

:

So we measure how many free trials

we get or how many downloads we get

540

:

or how many webinar registration

we get or event registration.

541

:

So you have to have something to measure.

542

:

Obviously there's nothing to measure.

543

:

If you were to say, hello, good morning.

544

:

And that's where your post ends.

545

:

There's nothing to measure behind it.

546

:

But as soon as you say, Hey, we're

releasing this event on like, we're

547

:

having an event in December of about.

548

:

Pinterest marketing because we're

releasing a new Pinterest integration.

549

:

So we have Pinterest as a keynote

speaker, like it's a creative event.

550

:

It's a virtual event.

551

:

And so we're promoting that event,

but that event is just value for them.

552

:

It's free.

553

:

It's really, if you're interested about

how can I make Pinterest work for my

554

:

business and you're an agency, it's also

for agencies, then that event is perfect.

555

:

So when we promote that event,

obviously there's a link to register

556

:

to that event and that link.

557

:

What we do, and by, by the

way, I, I patented this.

558

:

So I filed a patent with the USPTO

to patent the, how we do it, but

559

:

we automatically turn that random

link that you're including, that are

560

:

including in your post that's leading

to your event, for example, where.

561

:

We're UTM izing it automatically.

562

:

So we turn that link, that's a

normal link, to a link that's

563

:

entirely tracked and that's minified.

564

:

And when we, then we connect with GA4,

with Google Analytics, and we repatriate

565

:

through their API, everything that

happened after that link was clicked.

566

:

And we connect the dots between

the post, the link, and what

567

:

happened after the link.

568

:

So we're able to tell you, oh,

that post that you, James, posted

569

:

on LinkedIn at 9pm last Tuesday.

570

:

It got five registrations to our event.

571

:

Congrats, James.

572

:

Thank you so much for helping us.

573

:

And we're adding this to our

employee advocacy feature.

574

:

So if you have all the, all the

people in your firm promoting that

575

:

event, and they're spreading that

on their own LinkedIn, we're going

576

:

to track all of that as well.

577

:

So you're going to be able to say,

Oh, all the employees among all the

578

:

employees, these are the ones who help us.

579

:

Share the news of that

event based on those.

580

:

We got that many visitors on our website

and based on those visitors, we have

581

:

that many registrant to our event.

582

:

And at the end of the day, you're able

to attribute business impact to what your

583

:

team is doing on social media with you.

584

:

So that's, yeah, that's how we do it.

585

:

And I'm super passionate about

that because I'm passionate about.

586

:

Knowing what's working and I feel like

social media has been put in the bucket

587

:

of the must do, but don't want to do

it kind of stuff by many businesses.

588

:

Ah, we have to do social media

because like we have to have a

589

:

website of the early 20, 2000s.

590

:

Right.

591

:

And I really want to change that.

592

:

I want to say, yes, we have to do social

media because now we know it can work

593

:

and we know we can measure it so we can

have a strategy because it's really hard

594

:

to have a strategy, a marketing strategy

when you have no idea what's working.

595

:

Exactly.

596

:

I love that.

597

:

I think that's an amazing thing

that you guys can track that because

598

:

you have to know what's working.

599

:

That's definitely key.

600

:

Now let's talk a little bit about,

I would love to get your thoughts

601

:

on AI because AI is big things like

chat GPT, open AI integrations.

602

:

How are you incorporating

AI into Agorapulse?

603

:

And what are your personal thoughts on

AI and where it's where it's heading?

604

:

Because it's growing at a

very fast pace right now.

605

:

Yeah.

606

:

That's definitely the question

of the month, the question

607

:

of the year, the decade.

608

:

Probably my co founder recently told me

that we always overestimate the impact

609

:

of a technology when it just got out,

but we underestimate it in the long term.

610

:

So in the short term, we overestimate

what it can do, but in the

611

:

long term, we underestimate the

deep impact it's going to have.

612

:

Look at the impact of the web

and 20, 20 years, 25 years later,

613

:

looking at the impact on mobile.

614

:

10 years after mobile became

really ubiquitous, back to social.

615

:

Like there, there are a lot of shifts

in our world that we overestimated

616

:

when we first, they first got out, but

we totally under, we had no idea what

617

:

they would disrupt in the long run.

618

:

So I am humble and I think I have no clue.

619

:

Of about the level of disruption AI

is going to have on everything 20

620

:

years from today, but I think that

today people's expectations are too

621

:

high and the technology is not ready

yet to meet those expectations.

622

:

Anyhow, what I see in the next,

I don't know, two to three years,

623

:

it's hard to see further than that

is that AI is going to disrupt some

624

:

industries and some businesses.

625

:

Businesses that are providing a

service that you can actually go

626

:

to chat GPT and ask something, and

they're going to give it to you.

627

:

And it's almost the same.

628

:

Those businesses are going to suffer.

629

:

The best example of

that is Stack Overflow.

630

:

So Stack Overflow is a place where

you can go and ask questions about.

631

:

Co pieces of codes and stuff like that.

632

:

ChatGPT can build a piece

of code for you now.

633

:

So people don't go to Stack Overflow

anymore and they go to ChatGPT and

634

:

Hey, you write me a JavaScript piece,

piece of JavaScript that does X,

635

:

Y, and Z and boom, and here it is.

636

:

And you have it.

637

:

So you, the, the traffic on Stack

Overflow, I think I've gone down by like

638

:

50 or 60 percent in just six months.

639

:

It's crazy how disrupted

this business is by AI.

640

:

So that's one example of those

who are going to be disrupted.

641

:

And then for many others, AI is going

to be an add on, a companion, like a,

642

:

a, a vitamin, if I may say, that you're

going to add a layer here and there.

643

:

And I think we are one of those.

644

:

So for example, AI can help you

improve the content you create.

645

:

So you type in something and say,

make it shorter, funnier, longer,

646

:

formal, more of this, more of that.

647

:

So that we have already, we've

integrated that on the content.

648

:

I think very soon we're, AI is going to

propose content based on past content

649

:

that you've posted that was successful,

got a lot of engagement, lots of

650

:

clicks, content from your competition.

651

:

Like look at this guy and this guy

and that guy and propose content

652

:

that looks like them, or look at

their best content in the past for

653

:

AI is going to be doing all of that.

654

:

Proposing, suggesting, keeping

you in control because at the end

655

:

of the day, you have to stay in

control about your voice, right?

656

:

You have to, I don't believe for a minute

about you putting a bot, turning it on

657

:

and moving on to something else and coming

back to your social presence four months

658

:

later, just to realize that your bot has

been praising Nazis or anything silly.

659

:

Oh my God, what happened

on my social profile?

660

:

So you have to stay in control and you

have, it's, it has to be your voice.

661

:

Yeah.

662

:

That AI is going to give you so much

more inspiration and curation, and that's

663

:

going to help you be a lot more efficient.

664

:

That's for sure.

665

:

It's going to improve efficiency for sure.

666

:

So when you reply to people like,

Oh, you could reply this, like

667

:

suggesting a reply, it's already kind

of happening in many support tools and

668

:

it's going to get better and better.

669

:

So you're going to be

faster, more efficient.

670

:

And, and this.

671

:

Keep your own voice, but tell

it, tell it better, basically.

672

:

So that's what AI is going to do

in our, in my industry for sure.

673

:

And it's going to find

insights into your analytics.

674

:

It's going to do a great two extra X,

basically going to look at a lot of

675

:

data out of this massive amount of data.

676

:

This, and that is what you need to

know, and that's what AI is gonna do.

677

:

So making sense of a lot of the things

that today we're, we don't have time

678

:

to check and audit it basically.

679

:

So that's how I see AI in our industry.

680

:

But beyond that, I have to

admit that, I don't know.

681

:

It's quite exciting being an entrepreneur.

682

:

I'm more excited than afraid.

683

:

I'm more looking forward to it than, yeah.

684

:

Than being scared by it.

685

:

Yeah.

686

:

But it's gonna be, you're,

you're embracing ai.

687

:

And I think that's what I

always tell people like.

688

:

You can't ignore it anymore because it

is here to stay and it is not, it's not

689

:

a trend, it's not a fad, it's here to

stay and it's moving so fast that if

690

:

you don't start embracing it now, this

is like what I do, like I'm a marketing

691

:

and AI strategist, but my head's

spinning every time there's something

692

:

new that comes out and it's changing so

quickly, but people that are more old

693

:

school and they're resistant to it, I'm

going to say they need to start paying

694

:

attention because it is here to stay.

695

:

And every platform I look at for

social media management, all Even

696

:

website design, they're all have

incorporated some element of AI built in.

697

:

And that's why I was asking you as well,

because I was going to, I already knew

698

:

the answer is going to be probably, yes.

699

:

I just wanted to know what exactly it is.

700

:

And with AI, like you have to put in

your own human intelligence into it.

701

:

That's what I say, but really you have

to, you can't just like, yeah, turn it

702

:

on and then that's it, but you really

have to put in your own intelligence

703

:

because what you put in the input.

704

:

Is really essentially the output that

you're going to get, if it's going

705

:

to be good content or bad content.

706

:

So I think it makes a big difference in,

in how you prompt AI and how you even like

707

:

now with chat GPT, you can set up your own

custom GPTs and custom AI agents and bots.

708

:

So I've actually set one up for myself.

709

:

I set one up for lawyers.

710

:

I'm setting up a couple of other ones

and you can program it to literally.

711

:

Right.

712

:

Content and the tone that you want,

the style that you want, the, it's

713

:

going to know your brand voice.

714

:

It's going to know all those things.

715

:

And this is something that

it's like, it's here already.

716

:

Right.

717

:

So as the future evolves, right.

718

:

What are, or is there anything that

maybe it's top secret, you can't

719

:

disclose it, but is there anything

new and exciting besides maybe, or you

720

:

can elaborate on the Pinterest one of

any integrations or any new features

721

:

that you're adding into Agora Pulse?

722

:

Oh, we're adding a ton of stuff in the

next 12 months, but really the one I'm

723

:

the most excited about is the advocacy we

call, we used to call it the ambassador.

724

:

It's still in beta right now, but

it's going to be, I think they decided

725

:

on, they settled down on advocacy.

726

:

So it's going to be advocacy feature.

727

:

It's basically when you're a small

medium business and your social media

728

:

presence is not that great, like

it's okay, but it's not that great.

729

:

It is hard.

730

:

And again, you remember my passion is

attributing success to social media.

731

:

It is hard to create success out of

organic social media on your own.

732

:

It really hard.

733

:

And that's something we discovered and

realized as we were helping our customers

734

:

with our social media ROI feature.

735

:

If you cannot do it alone, ask for

help and ask, create an influencer

736

:

program or work with influencers or.

737

:

And we can call them

influencers or ambassadors.

738

:

Find people who are excited about

your business and your company,

739

:

and you are okay to be your

voice in the outside on social.

740

:

Work with your employees

if they are okay with that.

741

:

And don't be alone trying

to be successful on social.

742

:

Do it as a team.

743

:

And that feature is allowing

businesses to do that.

744

:

And as a business.

745

:

I can tell you that I

am excited to use it.

746

:

Like, let me give you one

very simple, basic example.

747

:

We share job openings for our, for all

the jobs that we have, we offer right now.

748

:

And there are jobs that

are pretty hard to feel.

749

:

Web developers are one of them.

750

:

Product managers or product

designers also quite hard to recruit.

751

:

When you have a bunch of web developers

and product managers and product

752

:

designers in your team, and you encourage

them to, Hey, here's a job opening.

753

:

Can you share it on LinkedIn?

754

:

Can you help us spread the word?

755

:

And so, so first you get colleagues

that you enjoy because they're

756

:

part of your network and they're

your friends and you know them.

757

:

So can you help us do that?

758

:

And if they do that, and

you can know who did it.

759

:

And you can know how many applications

you got from who in the team.

760

:

And you can celebrate that.

761

:

And you can go on the all hands meeting on

Wednesday and say, guys, this is amazing.

762

:

Jenna, she shared her, the job opening

on LinkedIn, and we got three applicants

763

:

who are this guy and that guy, and

we are actually in the final process.

764

:

Jenna, so much for helping.

765

:

How do you think she's going to feel?

766

:

She's going to feel amazing.

767

:

And you're going to feel amazing.

768

:

And everybody's going to like,

Oh my God, that's amazing.

769

:

That's great.

770

:

I love that story.

771

:

I love that we can be a part of

the success and have an impact.

772

:

And.

773

:

Stories like that cannot exist with

you in a vacuum trying to promote

774

:

your own business on your own.

775

:

It has to be based on you leveraging

the teams or team of employees or

776

:

a team of external ambassadors.

777

:

So that feature for me is exciting

because I can see how I can use it.

778

:

I can see how I can make it part

of our plan to succeed on social

779

:

and not do it on your, on our own.

780

:

Thank you for sharing that.

781

:

I love that.

782

:

I love that.

783

:

So a few more questions about Agorapause

in terms of who it's ideal for, is

784

:

it more ideal for specific types of

businesses or like meaning, like, is

785

:

it better for solopreneurs, small to

midsize, like who's the target audience?

786

:

Yeah, we're not, we're not

targeting solopreneurs.

787

:

I'm not going to lie.

788

:

We used to, that's how we got started.

789

:

But today, the.

790

:

Solopreneurs can find enough in

the free native Meta platform and

791

:

oh, they go natively on LinkedIn.

792

:

So like solopreneurs are very careful

about how they spend their money.

793

:

And when you tell them,

oh, this is 49 a month.

794

:

Oh, that's expensive.

795

:

Well, 49 a month is not expensive.

796

:

This is nothing for me.

797

:

It is absolutely nothing,

but for them it is.

798

:

So there's a mismatch between the value

we provide and how they value that value.

799

:

And for them, that's

not good enough because.

800

:

The level of complexity they have

to deal with is not that great.

801

:

So they don't need so much of a complex

tool to deal with their own problems.

802

:

So we're more like SMBs

of 50 plus employees.

803

:

I would say something like

that and mid market businesses.

804

:

So if you think about.

805

:

If you think about a law firm,

like we discussed earlier, if

806

:

you're a solo lawyer on your own,

you probably don't need a tool.

807

:

You probably want to do it on your own.

808

:

And before you even consider a tool,

build a presence, build a content, get

809

:

some level of success, and then you'll

understand how a tool can use you.

810

:

But don't start with the tool.

811

:

It probably doesn't make sense.

812

:

If you're a 50 people law firm with

someone in charge of marketing, and

813

:

it's, it is something really, you've

already invested in and you want to

814

:

make, you want to keep investing in it.

815

:

It's working, but you.

816

:

But it's a bit messy and chaotic,

then a tool is probably a good idea.

817

:

So I'd say the four agencies, we

usually say it's 10 people plus, so

818

:

more than 10 people in the agency.

819

:

And for businesses, it's

probably about 50 people.

820

:

But you know, it depends if you're

super, super active on social,

821

:

maybe a 30 people company can see

value in using a tool like ours.

822

:

And you have a lot of

profiles and a lot of people.

823

:

Involved in the social media work,

but I'd say if you're a small,

824

:

you're probably better off going

native and using the native tools and

825

:

figuring it out without learning a

tool or spending money on the tool.

826

:

And yeah, we, our, our self service

plan started 49 49 a month when you pay

827

:

identity or 69 a month, if you don't.

828

:

So they're still very affordable, but.

829

:

What I've noticed is the smaller

they are, the more immature they

830

:

are in how they market on social,

the less value they see in the tool.

831

:

So they tend not to buy it or not to stay.

832

:

Yeah.

833

:

Thank you.

834

:

Yeah, that makes sense.

835

:

And the thing is there are so

many platforms out there already.

836

:

I mean, they can use buffer for free,

things like that, but it's more so like

837

:

Agorapulse is tailored towards companies.

838

:

That really need analytics.

839

:

They want to know data, right?

840

:

They want to know like what's working,

what's not, so they can do more of that.

841

:

And they're really doing

things on a larger scale.

842

:

So that makes, that makes perfect sense.

843

:

And then what about in terms

of Agorapulse, how did you

844

:

and your co founder grow the

company throughout the years?

845

:

Because one of the hardest things about

having company and when you start out, it.

846

:

Doesn't always work.

847

:

Like you said, the other company

you had, it failed, right?

848

:

But part of entrepreneurship is not

giving up and trying things differently.

849

:

So what are some things that

you've experienced along the

850

:

way and maybe some tips you can

provide to other people that are.

851

:

On their entrepreneurial

journey on success.

852

:

Yeah, we could make an entire

podcast interview just on that alone.

853

:

It's been a day on it.

854

:

It's a loaded question.

855

:

There's a lot, there's

a lot there for sure.

856

:

If I summarize to the key pillars

of what you have to keep in mind,

857

:

when you start a business, the

first thing that's really important.

858

:

So you mentioned not giving

up is important, but not being

859

:

stubborn is important as well.

860

:

So not obsessing about.

861

:

Not giving up on something that doesn't

work is you should give up at some point.

862

:

Like knowing when to give up is

also a skill is also important.

863

:

So I would say don't give up too fast,

but make sure that if you're not giving

864

:

up, what you're creating is going up into

the right in some way, shape or form.

865

:

So if what you're doing is going

up into the right in a way like it,

866

:

yeah, the business is increasing.

867

:

It's only 500 a month more.

868

:

But it is 500 a month more.

869

:

And my goal now next quarter is to do

a month, more than:

870

:

You have to go up into the right.

871

:

You have to feel that you have

to get that feeling of progress.

872

:

If it is progressing.

873

:

And it's probably worth not

giving up and keep working on it.

874

:

So that would be the first thing, but do

give up if there's no progress, if there's

875

:

no progress and you don't pay yourself and

you're miserable, and it's been a year,

876

:

it's probably worth giving up now and

not hurting yourself, obsessing about it.

877

:

That would be the first thing.

878

:

The second thing, which is kind

of linked to the first thing is.

879

:

Be ready to adapt quickly.

880

:

Be ready to change, be okay to change our,

when I look at the first business pivoted

881

:

three times in 10 years, so we did, they

were entirely different three times.

882

:

And Agorapulse pivoted probably twice.

883

:

So the product we have today

has absolutely nothing to do

884

:

with the product we had in 2012.

885

:

Nothing is completely different.

886

:

And.

887

:

The business who succeed are the one

who adapt the best and the fastest.

888

:

So be always on the lookout.

889

:

So who do I need?

890

:

What do I need to change?

891

:

And if the change is small, that's fine.

892

:

If this change is big, that's fine too.

893

:

If you have to make big.

894

:

That changes, like go ahead and do them.

895

:

That the second thing, the third

thing is find a way to learn fast.

896

:

Like you have to learn fast.

897

:

When you start a business, nothing,

it's as, as if when you exit law school

898

:

and you start working for a law firm, I

remember me, nothing, you're absolutely,

899

:

you're clueless and then you go, you

take, you have your first job and then

900

:

you learn, Oh my God, like at such a

speed, like the amount of stuff you

901

:

learn by doing the work is tremendous.

902

:

Building a business is the same thing.

903

:

On day one of building a business,

you have no clue what you're doing.

904

:

And you, you have to find, you have to

find all the ways you can to learn this.

905

:

By doing and by surrounding yourself

with mentors and peers and people

906

:

who are, who have done it and

are a little bit ahead of you.

907

:

And so read books, get people who are

a little bit ahead of you and invite

908

:

them to lunch once a month and ask

them question, I had this problem.

909

:

What do you think?

910

:

Be part of clubs or network groups that

are locals to you so you can see them

911

:

and meet with them on a regular basis.

912

:

Be ready to learn fast because you have

to be aware that you know, nothing, and

913

:

you don't know how to build a business.

914

:

And you don't have no, you don't

know how to grow that business.

915

:

And you will have to

figure it out on the go.

916

:

So I keep telling, I mentor

a bunch of entrepreneurs who

917

:

are tech SaaS entrepreneurs.

918

:

And the one thing I keep telling them

is like, you are not the right person

919

:

to take your business to the next level.

920

:

You're not yet that person.

921

:

Now it has to be your commitment

to become that person.

922

:

So what are you doing

to become that person?

923

:

What's your plan?

924

:

And every entrepreneur should be

asking themselves that question.

925

:

I am not the right, we

are 23, 24 millions now.

926

:

I am not the right person to take

this business to a hundred millions.

927

:

I know that.

928

:

What am I doing to become that person?

929

:

You're becoming that you're going to

do what it takes to become that person.

930

:

You're going to adapt and continue

to learn and being willing to pivot.

931

:

Yeah.

932

:

I think those are such great tips

and advice for entrepreneurs.

933

:

And I appreciate that.

934

:

So thank you for sharing that.

935

:

And is there anything else

about Agorapulse that I didn't

936

:

ask that you'd like to share?

937

:

No, not really.

938

:

I mean, we, we are, despite us

being based in France, we are

939

:

a truly international company.

940

:

We have half of the

companies outside of France.

941

:

We have 30 people in the U S

almost 20 people in Canada.

942

:

Now we have people in Mexico,

in Argentina, in Ireland, in the

943

:

UK, like all over the place and.

944

:

It's an amazing team.

945

:

So if you ever get in touch with our

salespeople or support people, asking

946

:

them questions, you'll see how caring they

are and how helpful and kind and smart.

947

:

You can only know that for sure once

you've had interactions with the team.

948

:

But if you, if any of the listeners ever

have a chance to talk to any of my team

949

:

members, they'll probably feel that.

950

:

Deep level of care and

expertise and willing to help.

951

:

So that's something I'm very proud and

happy about when you build a business.

952

:

I think the, the top of the pleasure

as a business owner and an entrepreneur

953

:

is to wake up in the morning and

start interacting with your team

954

:

and feel like I love that person.

955

:

That's amazing.

956

:

This conversation we just had was so

fulfilling and constructive and helpful.

957

:

And when you feel that day

in and day out, you're in the

958

:

best you're, that's happiness.

959

:

That's what it is.

960

:

People look for happiness.

961

:

That's exactly what it is.

962

:

It's the people you spend your days with.

963

:

You absolutely love doing it with them

because they are a plus in your life.

964

:

Yeah, I love that because it

always comes from the top.

965

:

Right.

966

:

And if that's the culture

that you are promoting, right.

967

:

As the leaders of the organization, I

think the employees see that because

968

:

when you have a support staff, that's

rude or they're lazy or they're whatever.

969

:

And it's a reflection of like top

down like the management because

970

:

they're not being trained properly

or they're not being told like,

971

:

Hey, this is how we operate here.

972

:

This is our culture.

973

:

This is how you treat people.

974

:

This is our mission statement,

our values and what we stand for.

975

:

And that should be

instilled in every single.

976

:

Employee globally.

977

:

And that's like, when you like, for

example, you take the example of Sam

978

:

Altman and the recent open AI development,

or you've heard about all the madness.

979

:

It's like a literally

like a tech soap opera.

980

:

And what you'll notice is like his team

and his staff, they literally have been

981

:

so loyal to him that they all said they're

going to walk out and quit if they don't.

982

:

Reinstate him.

983

:

Right.

984

:

And I actually just did a podcast

episode on that two days ago.

985

:

And because it tells you like that person

is a great leader because he actually

986

:

has the ability to influence people and

to lead them to take action and that

987

:

his team and his staff respects him.

988

:

And I think when you are

leading a big organization and a

989

:

company as CEO, whatever it is.

990

:

I think that it's really important that

your team and your staff respect you

991

:

because if they do There's going to be

more loyalty from them than if they don't

992

:

I think they're not really going to take

pride in the work that they do but it goes

993

:

to show like if you treat your team with

respect and All of those things, they're

994

:

probably going to show it back to people.

995

:

And so that's one piece of advice.

996

:

Treat people the way

you want to be treated.

997

:

That's always a good rule.

998

:

And by the way, sometimes, sometimes that

means that you expect a lot from people

999

:

because I expect a lot from myself.

:

00:49:42,271 --> 00:49:46,121

And when my board comes to me and

is like giving me challenges and

:

00:49:46,121 --> 00:49:51,121

giving me high goals and pushing me

to go beyond my comfort zone, I'm

:

00:49:51,241 --> 00:49:54,441

it's discomfort, but at the same

time, like, okay, that's their role.

:

00:49:54,441 --> 00:49:56,211

And I'm going to, I'm

going to push for that.

:

00:49:56,711 --> 00:49:57,531

And I also.

:

00:49:57,876 --> 00:49:59,226

Do the same thing with my team.

:

00:49:59,226 --> 00:50:02,036

And I think they appreciate

that when they're being pushed

:

00:50:02,566 --> 00:50:04,876

outside of their comfort zone,

because that's where they grow.

:

00:50:05,366 --> 00:50:07,696

So like you, you have

to give them that too.

:

00:50:07,696 --> 00:50:12,116

It's not only being nice, but it's also

being that person is going to push them

:

00:50:12,146 --> 00:50:16,175

to become the best version of themselves,

which sometimes means that you have to.

:

00:50:16,436 --> 00:50:17,316

Push them a little bit.

:

00:50:17,436 --> 00:50:17,666

Yeah.

:

00:50:17,716 --> 00:50:22,086

I think people confuse nice and

being a good leader and being a

:

00:50:22,086 --> 00:50:24,046

good leader is not only being nice.

:

00:50:24,056 --> 00:50:25,846

Sometimes it's also pushing a little bit.

:

00:50:26,516 --> 00:50:26,906

Yeah.

:

00:50:27,126 --> 00:50:27,646

I like that.

:

00:50:27,646 --> 00:50:31,486

I love that pushing them because you're,

you have to push them to do better and

:

00:50:31,486 --> 00:50:36,186

to want more and to set like a higher

bar and higher standards for their

:

00:50:36,186 --> 00:50:38,526

work and for everything that they do.

:

00:50:38,526 --> 00:50:39,396

So I love that.

:

00:50:39,656 --> 00:50:43,366

So I'm sure you have one or two of

these, but do you have a favorite quote?

:

00:50:43,876 --> 00:50:47,356

That you like to live your life

by or that has really inspired

:

00:50:47,356 --> 00:50:48,346

you throughout the years.

:

00:50:50,441 --> 00:50:54,611

I don't really have a quote or a

philosophy of how you live your life.

:

00:50:54,891 --> 00:50:55,181

Yeah.

:

00:50:55,181 --> 00:50:59,591

But the, well, how I live my

life definitely is passion and

:

00:50:59,591 --> 00:51:00,981

the stuff that passionates you.

:

00:51:01,381 --> 00:51:04,751

All of this and any job, by the

way, if you're a top lawyer in a

:

00:51:04,751 --> 00:51:06,731

big firm, your job is hard as hell.

:

00:51:07,281 --> 00:51:09,390

Any job, creating a business.

:

00:51:09,881 --> 00:51:11,401

Life is tough.

:

00:51:11,451 --> 00:51:12,061

It's hard.

:

00:51:12,881 --> 00:51:17,111

If you're not passionate about doing

it, you give up because you're sane.

:

00:51:17,331 --> 00:51:18,231

You don't want to be hurt.

:

00:51:18,281 --> 00:51:19,441

You don't want to feel pain.

:

00:51:19,461 --> 00:51:22,881

So you're not going to do something

that you don't absolutely enjoy doing.

:

00:51:23,181 --> 00:51:27,121

So having the passion for it

and being genuinely happy.

:

00:51:27,336 --> 00:51:29,496

But what you do is absolutely crucial.

:

00:51:30,886 --> 00:51:35,366

Recently, I've been telling my marketing

team a lot about, we've been talking a

:

00:51:35,366 --> 00:51:39,776

lot about marketing attribution, and I

had a lot of pushback of people who said,

:

00:51:39,776 --> 00:51:41,526

yeah, but you cannot measure everything.

:

00:51:41,536 --> 00:51:42,636

You cannot see everything.

:

00:51:42,706 --> 00:51:43,846

What you see is.

:

00:51:44,051 --> 00:51:45,631

Just the tip of the iceberg.

:

00:51:45,641 --> 00:51:49,631

There's so much happening in dark

social and in going, people going to a

:

00:51:49,631 --> 00:51:54,241

mobile on Safari, and then they go to

their desktop on, on Chrome and then

:

00:51:54,251 --> 00:51:56,151

the tracking doesn't work this way.

:

00:51:56,151 --> 00:51:57,011

So you lose it.

:

00:51:57,021 --> 00:51:58,581

So you're never going to

get the attribution, right?

:

00:51:59,151 --> 00:52:03,841

So my, my late, my list, my latest quote

on that was like, yeah, I understand

:

00:52:03,841 --> 00:52:06,951

that tracking is only giving you the

tip of the iceberg, but you know what?

:

00:52:06,981 --> 00:52:07,701

There's no tip.

:

00:52:07,711 --> 00:52:08,771

There's no freaking iceberg.

:

00:52:08,786 --> 00:52:11,196

So you'd better track something.

:

00:52:11,196 --> 00:52:14,456

So at least you can see something and

make decisions based on what you see.

:

00:52:14,836 --> 00:52:17,186

If you see nothing, there's

probably nothing going on.

:

00:52:17,486 --> 00:52:21,986

So if you cannot see the tip of the

iceberg of your marketing and the result

:

00:52:22,006 --> 00:52:24,216

you get, there's probably nothing there.

:

00:52:24,266 --> 00:52:25,616

It's probably not working.

:

00:52:25,626 --> 00:52:29,046

So that was, yeah, if there's no

tip, there's no freaking iceberg.

:

00:52:29,336 --> 00:52:29,936

I like that.

:

00:52:30,806 --> 00:52:31,076

Yeah.

:

00:52:31,551 --> 00:52:32,191

That's perfect.

:

00:52:32,211 --> 00:52:33,161

I love that.

:

00:52:33,191 --> 00:52:33,781

I love that.

:

00:52:34,031 --> 00:52:35,261

This has been amazing.

:

00:52:35,261 --> 00:52:38,661

So we will link, of course,

Agorapulse and the show notes, but

:

00:52:38,661 --> 00:52:42,571

tell the audience where and how they

can connect with you or any other

:

00:52:42,571 --> 00:52:44,431

things that you wanted to promote.

:

00:52:44,431 --> 00:52:47,791

If you have any special promotions

coming up or anything that you

:

00:52:47,791 --> 00:52:50,011

wanted to let everyone know about.

:

00:52:50,541 --> 00:52:50,771

Yeah.

:

00:52:50,871 --> 00:52:54,301

Well, connecting with me the best is

LinkedIn because that's the social

:

00:52:54,301 --> 00:52:55,691

network I'm the most active on.

:

00:52:55,751 --> 00:52:57,881

I'm not so active in the others anymore.

:

00:52:58,606 --> 00:53:04,026

And so you can find me at Emre Garnou,

E R N O U L T E N E R I C on LinkedIn.

:

00:53:04,056 --> 00:53:07,206

And when you invite me, please

add a note to the invitation.

:

00:53:07,206 --> 00:53:09,176

Say, hi, listen to your podcast on X.

:

00:53:09,676 --> 00:53:12,686

That way I know that's a legit invitation.

:

00:53:12,716 --> 00:53:17,676

Cause I get like, I think 25 to 30

invitations a day and I go through them.

:

00:53:17,676 --> 00:53:20,736

But when I don't know them and there's

no, I disregard because otherwise

:

00:53:20,736 --> 00:53:21,806

my LinkedIn is going to be a mess.

:

00:53:22,581 --> 00:53:25,371

And I'll happily accept the invitation.

:

00:53:25,371 --> 00:53:29,571

And if you have any ask for me, I'll re

I'll reply to every invitation that I

:

00:53:29,581 --> 00:53:31,801

haven't asked that's that I can help with.

:

00:53:32,471 --> 00:53:36,791

So that's the way and on, on promotions,

like we have this, we have this Pinterest

:

00:53:36,881 --> 00:53:38,651

event, so it's for agencies only.

:

00:53:38,651 --> 00:53:41,371

So it's probably not going to be that

interesting for most people, but if

:

00:53:41,371 --> 00:53:44,691

you're an agency and you're wondering

how you can leverage Pinterest to.

:

00:53:44,906 --> 00:53:46,586

You better business on social media.

:

00:53:46,586 --> 00:53:50,846

This does that event coming up mid

December, that may be interesting if

:

00:53:50,886 --> 00:53:54,566

the podcast get released before, I

don't know, actually, yeah, actually

:

00:53:54,566 --> 00:53:57,576

it will, so I'm going to ask you to

send me the link to that so I can

:

00:53:57,576 --> 00:53:59,626

actually put it in the show notes.

:

00:53:59,626 --> 00:53:59,856

Yeah.

:

00:54:00,211 --> 00:54:01,061

Yeah, I'll send it to you.

:

00:54:01,131 --> 00:54:01,611

Promise.

:

00:54:01,691 --> 00:54:02,021

Okay.

:

00:54:02,541 --> 00:54:02,801

All right.

:

00:54:02,821 --> 00:54:03,811

Well, this is a pleasure.

:

00:54:03,811 --> 00:54:05,191

Thank you so much for being on the show.

:

00:54:05,431 --> 00:54:06,491

It was a pleasure too.

:

00:54:06,521 --> 00:54:11,401

Well, I, and thank you for working

on Black Friday, which is, which is a

:

00:54:11,431 --> 00:54:13,281

testament of your dedication to your work.

:

00:54:13,281 --> 00:54:15,321

So you probably have a passion

for what you do as well.

:

00:54:15,811 --> 00:54:16,160

I do.

:

00:54:16,161 --> 00:54:17,721

And have a great weekend.

:

00:54:18,321 --> 00:54:19,161

Thank you so much.

:

00:54:19,161 --> 00:54:19,881

Thank you so much.

:

00:54:21,318 --> 00:54:24,528

Thank you for listening to the

Mesmerizing Marketing Podcast.

:

00:54:24,618 --> 00:54:27,948

If you found this episode valuable,

please subscribe to the show so

:

00:54:27,948 --> 00:54:31,248

you don't ever miss an episode and

also share it with your friends.

:

00:54:31,518 --> 00:54:35,058

Dimple would be so grateful if you

could take a minute to leave a review

:

00:54:35,238 --> 00:54:38,658

and visit the podcast website to

check out all the latest episodes.

:

00:54:38,753 --> 00:54:42,833

At www.mesmerizingmarketingpodcast.com.

:

00:54:43,073 --> 00:54:47,543

That's

www.mesmerizingmarketingpodcast.com.

:

00:54:47,633 --> 00:54:49,373

And follow Dimple on Clubhouse.

:

00:54:49,378 --> 00:54:54,413

Her handle is at Marketing Expert and

also join her mesmerizing marketing club.

:

00:54:54,413 --> 00:54:58,433

Also on Clubhouse for live rooms,

on top marketing strategies for

:

00:54:58,433 --> 00:55:03,563

entrepreneurs and business owners who

want to mesmerize their marketing.

Show artwork for Mesmerizing Marketing™

About the Podcast

Mesmerizing Marketing™
Mesmerize Your Marketing
Mesmerizing Marketing™ Podcast talks about the latest and most innovative marketing strategies, apps and brings actionable tips and strategies that you can implement to take your business to the next level.
Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for Dimple Dang

Dimple Dang

Dimple Dang is a passionate marketing expert that helps law firms, doctors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses take their marketing to the next level. Dimple is the Host of “Mesmerizing Marketing” and the founder of the “Reels for Lawyers Challenge” Dimple is skilled at SEO, WordPress website design, content creation, blogging, and Instagram. Dimple is also a contributing editor for “Attorney-at-Law” magazine and writes articles on online marketing and social media for the legal industry. Dimple is the founder of the “Lawyers Mastermind” club on Clubhouse and the “Mesmerizing Marketing™” club on Clubhouse. Dimple has an extensive sales and marketing background and has sold over a million dollars in PPC marketing when she was working for a nationwide marketing firm. Dimple is a professional speaker and hosts her own rooms on the Clubhouse on a regular basis. To connect with Dimple on Clubhouse, search for her by name or the handle @marketingexpert.