Experience – the teacher of all things

Experience – the teacher of all things Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States once said that the reward of suffering is experience. September is a special month for us as we celebrate AdMarula’s 11th birthday. The past eleven years have certainly provided us with many challenges and opportunities to learn. We have made mistakes, hussled like crazy, solved problems, adapted, celebrated as we growed, cried as we lost clients during Covid, forged incredible business partnerships, helped companies grow, and done it all over again. Here are some of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt so far: 1.Fear is the greatest stopper – when running and building a business you will often find yourself in unchartered waters, having to do things you’ve never done before. Just do it! The fear of doing it is much worse than the actual doing, and you will figure it out along the way. 2. It’s all about relationships – we may live in a tech-centric world, but behind the tech there are still real people who need real connection. The technology will change and come and go, but strong business relationships survive the ebbs and flows of change. 3. You’re only as good as your team – I know this is a bit of a cliché, but that’s because it’s true. No manager or leader can grow without the team to help make this happen. Keep your staff happy and your clients will be happy too. 4. Doing the right thing gets you farther in the long run, but not necessarily in the short run – all industries have grey areas which some businesses chose to explore in order to gain results quicker, but the damage you do to your reputation, relationships and brand will catch up with you in the long run. Do what is right, always. 5. Are you a problem finder or a problem solver? Most people would rather not solve their problems, it’s sad but true. People would rather ignore them and hope they go away, but by going to the root and solving them you save unbelievable amounts of time, pain, and suffering. So be the guy who solves the problem, not the one who finds them. 6. There is no easy business – at least not what I’ve seen. That said, you CAN make your business simpler,  which will make things feel easier. Businesses naturally increase in complexity as they grow, so it’s important to continually look for ways to simplify. Remember: Less is More! Finally, I wish you all a good Heritage Day and may we all use this day to celebrate what makes our country and its people so special. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO All CEO's Thoughts Interviews and Insights Industry News Interviews and Insights Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before 26 Oct 2022 Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before Despite current downturns in the economy, evidence shows that the e-commerce industry is picking up and going back to pre-pandemic… Read More CEO's Thoughts Never stop marketing 26 Oct 2022 Never stop marketing There’s a LOT going on in the world right now. This is not a political piece, yet it is diffiult to ignore the world-shaping events… Read More Interviews and Insights Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove 26 Oct 2022 Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove Our October profile is Sandra Jardim, mom to twins Gisela and Alaia and blogger/owner of MammaBearLove. She uses her blog as… Read More Prev123Next

Doing well by doing good

Doing well by doing good Most businesses these days have some form of CSR strategy outlining how they give back to their stakeholders, the environment or the community. Research even shows that doing good reduces a company’s team turnover rate, increases its productivity and boosts employee engagement and satisfaction. I recently did an audit of our clients and it struck me how many businesses we have in our client pool that do good while also doing well. These are businesses that have ‘doing good’ at their core – the reason they started their business in the first place. I would like to mention a few here as I find it both inspirational and encouraging to do business with companies that ultimately do good, by benefiting our community, the planet, and the people who inhabit it. Faithful to Nature was founded in 2006 with the aim to give ordinary people access to honest, affordable and ethical products. They created a world-first ingredient policy in search of clean ingredient lists and products that were free from toxins. Ultimately the company wants to create a world where the products we use do not harm us, our communities or our planet. Today they have over 100,000 followers on Facebook. Hannah products offer a healthy alternative to sanitary pads and cups for women. Hannahpad offers a zero-waste, chemical-free lifestyle which benefits women’s bodies and our earth. Hannahpad also believes in helping their communities and reaching out a helping hand. As part of this philosophy, they have created a set called the ‘Help a Girl Cloth Pad Set’ to help a girl stay in school. This is only available as a donation and has been discounted to make this affordable to sponsor a girl. Cyber Finance is a leading financial solutions provider offering a range of effective debt counselling services that provide consumers with an affordable repayment solution and ultimately financial freedom. The past two years have been tough economically and many South Africans find themselves trapped in bad debt. To date, Cyber Finance has helped over 5,000 SA consumers become debt free and has been voted the Top 10 National Debt Solutions Provider in the country. Greenfish was founded by two brothers with the intention of providing the restaurant, hospitality and wholesale industry with high-quality, seasonal and locally sourced fish and seafood products. Growing up as artisanal handline and tuna pole fishermen, their combined 60 years of fishing experience has instilled in them a deep respect and connection to the ocean that underpins everything that Greenfish does. In addition, businesses like Earth Natural Hair, Natural Options, Skin Fresh and The People’s Fund all have ‘doing good’ at their core. We are proud to partner with and help grow these brands through our digital channels and offerings and look forward to seeing them disrupt and create change for the better in the world. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO All Interviews and Insights Industry News CEO's Thoughts Interviews and Insights Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before 26 Oct 2022 Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before Despite current downturns in the economy, evidence shows that the e-commerce industry is picking up and going back to pre-pandemic… Read More CEO's Thoughts Never stop marketing 26 Oct 2022 Never stop marketing There’s a LOT going on in the world right now. This is not a political piece, yet it is diffiult to ignore the world-shaping events… Read More Interviews and Insights Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove 26 Oct 2022 Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove Our October profile is Sandra Jardim, mom to twins Gisela and Alaia and blogger/owner of MammaBearLove. She uses her blog as… Read More Prev123Next

Interview with Laura le Roux, Blogger & Head of Social at Fio

Interview with Laura le Roux, Blogger & Head of Social at Fio This month we chat to Laura le Roux, founder of the HarassedMom blog which has become one of the most read blogs amongst South African mothers in recent years. The blog aims to help mothers understand their own unique challenges and how to overcome them as part of a community. Laura is also a self-taught Social Media maestro who has spent the last 14 years working with clients as Head of Social at her digital agency Fio. Describe yourself in 3 words Creative. Organised. Passionate. What made you decide to start your HarassedMom blog? We are especially intrigued by the name 😁 I was going through a divorce (16 years ago) and needed an outlet to share life as a single mom and a friend suggested I start blogging. The day I started I was feeling particularly harassed by my kids and so HarassedMom was born. How do you find and keep your readers? Initially, it was pretty easy because I started blogging 16 years ago when it was still pretty new and developed an audience of single moms just by people sharing my content with their friends. We were all going through the same things so that’s why they hung around. What is your content strategy – in a nutshell? I fly by the seat of my pants a lot so my strategy is often not clearly defined. But as blogging has evolved so have I. My kids are also bigger now so I shifted from posting predominantly about parenting to more about sustainable living and our journey to a zero-waste life. I try now to post a mix of our personal journey and general educational-type posts. What are the benefits (for you) of working with affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing allows me to share new brands and products with my audience that I support while also generating income. It is a little less intrusive that doing product reviews or sales types posts. You also run your own digital agency, how do you juggle the two? By planning and staying organised. I try to schedule a time to work on HarassedMom each week as if it was a client because in a lot of ways it is. But I am not perfect and don’t always get it right. What are the biggest challenges your clients face in building a solid social presence? Being heard in the noise that is social media. We are quick to blame the algorithms, but the fact is we are all now competing against so many more voices than we were previously which means it is harder to be heard – even if you tick all the content creation boxes. What advice do you have for aspiring bloggers and social marketers? Just start. I believe everyone needs to start blogging. We all have a story to tell, and we should all tell it. Don’t focus too much on the numbers in the beginning, just start and the rest will come. The best advice anyone has ever given you? When you know better do better! Read more at harassedmom.co.za https://www.instagram.com/harassedmom/ All Interviews and Insights Industry News CEO's Thoughts Interviews and Insights Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before 26 Oct 2022 Why Black Friday 2022 will differ from before Despite current downturns in the economy, evidence shows that the e-commerce industry is picking up and going back to pre-pandemic… Read More CEO's Thoughts Never stop marketing 26 Oct 2022 Never stop marketing There’s a LOT going on in the world right now. This is not a political piece, yet it is diffiult to ignore the world-shaping events… Read More Interviews and Insights Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove 26 Oct 2022 Interview with Sandra Jardim, Blogger/Founder of MammaBearLove Our October profile is Sandra Jardim, mom to twins Gisela and Alaia and blogger/owner of MammaBearLove. She uses her blog as… Read More Prev123Next

How influencers are reviving the affiliate model

Before the pandemic, the traditional affiliate model’s long-term prospects were questionable. With Facebook ‘s acquisition of Youtube, the phasing out of third-party cookies and the rise in popularity of Instagram, things were looking a bit tough. Now, 2 years into the pandemic, and the outlook has changed somewhat. Statista estimates that spend on affiliate marketing will reach $8.2 billion in 2022 – it’s highest jump since 2015. This is in no small part due to the increase in popularity of influencer marketing and influencers using the commission payment model. Affiliate marketing for influencers is essentially a way to earn a commission payment on the clicks or sales you drive on behalf of brands. In order to earn this commission, influencers will use uniquely trackable links (known as affiliate links) to track how many clicks or sales were made. Some influencers and content creators are making a full-time income just by using affiliate links on their Instagram account. The attraction for influencers lie in the fact that they can share affiliate links  whenever they would use a regular link, with the added bonus that they’ll earn a commission payment on the sales they drive. And there are generally no contractual obligations for how and when they share affiliate links, so they pretty much have control over how the content looks. Of course it is important to appropriately disclose affiliate links and be transparent. It is always a good idea to include a clearly visible label or hashtag. While the “old” way of doing affiliate marketing is still alive and well, it doesn’t always highlight the unique strengths that influencers bring to the table, especially for brands. Many brand affiliates were traditional bloggers or media publishers who had their own websites to promote or review a brand. You could only find product demonstrations, walk-throughs, or reviews from these kinds of publishers. Real, high-quality influencers don’t recommend products they don’t use or trust themselves, and their vast audiences are often aware of that. So this makes influencers one of the best ambassadors you can have for your brand. As true fans of your brand, they’ll champion your products and recommend you more times than the average consumer or traditional publisher. As a brand, looking for influencers to promote your brand there are a few things to bare in mind; always make sure they aren’t already promoting your competitor; create collateral they can use in their accounts; consider launching co-branded landing pages; consider offering an exclusive affiliate rate. Happy selling! The Publisher Management Team

Thank you 2021

The last term always feels a bit like a race to the finish line. With private schools starting to close from next week, many of you will be looking forward to some well-earned rest. Some of us will be working right up to Christmas, because for the e-commerce industry this is after all the busiest time of the year. Whether you will be working or taking leave, celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah or just spending time with family, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support this past year; to our publishers for delivering the results, to our clients for their continued belief in us, and to our employees for going the extra mile every day. AdMarula wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for you. We also wish you a successful Black Friday and hope that it will in part make up for lost revenue during lockdown. It is encouraging to see that some of our programs that were paused have been restarted, and that clients are starting to increase budgets and channels again. (Please note that our office will close on the 23rd of December and re-open on the 3rd January.) We look forward to taking on 2022 with you. Onwards on upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO

Biggest digital marketing trends for 2021

The last 12 months have changed the world – perhaps for good. We have had to deal with an unthinkable amount of change in a relatively short space of time, and very few industries have been left untouched. But what trends are we likely to see in Digital Marketing in 2021? So far it seems to be centered around two distinct, yet contradicting principles; becoming more human/personal to the user, while simultaneously becoming more sophisticated technologically, especially when it comes to optimization and campaign management.   Inclusivity Users no longer want to see  want to see the same homogeneous content we’re accustomed to from previous decades. In 2021, digital marketing includes media and subject matters that cover a variety of races, sexualities, religions, etc., as well as representation for people with physical disabilities and learning disabilities. This includes the content for your imagery and videos, but also the topics you discuss in social media and blogs, or even the line of products you offer. Featured snippets & no-click searches For many, many years, the goal of SEO has been to get your listing in the “position number one” spot of search results. Now, going into 2021, the end-goal is continuing to shift to more SEO visibility in “position zero.” Position zero refers to Google’s “featured snippet”, and 2021 SEO marketing trends are prioritizing it above all else. The featured snippet works differently than other search results entries—for one thing, it’s separated by a small box and located at the top. More importantly, it also displays extra, relevant information with the attempt at answering the user’s question without them needed to click on it, prompting the nickname “no-click search.” Sustainability: loud and proud Just like the digital marketing trend of inclusivity, people in 2021 are similarly passionate about environmentalism. They want to make sure the brands receiving their money are just as concerned for planet earth as they are. With 81% of consumers strongly feeling companies should help improve the environment, what we’re seeing is a popularity boost for sustainable and eco-friendly brands, especially for younger consumers. This goes well-beyond the market for green products—every brand can benefit by broadcasting their sustainable practices. Ad-blocker blockers The digital marketing trends of 2021 aren’t all about positivity and progress—it’s also about overcoming obstacles like ad blockers. With 27% of internet users expected to use ad blockers in 2021, many marketers are having their primary stream of traffic automatically cut off at the source, including PPC campaigns. If your ads do fall victim to ad blockers, your best strategy is to adapt—don’t waste time trying to convince potential customers to change their own preferences. Readjust your advertising budget to suit other, more fruitful campaigns, like influencer marketing or sponsored content. Younger audiences don’t respond well to display ads anyway, but they do respond well to influencer marketing, so making the switch is advisable in any situation. Interactive content Here’s a trend that’s technically been around for awhile, but it’s just now being recognized as a best practice. Interactive content doesn’t just promote more engagement, it also improves the user’s enjoyment. Interactive content like quizzes, open-ended questions, surveys, contests, giveaways, polls, calculator widgets, etc., can do wonders for your brand. At the very least, they increase the length of time users engage with you, which helps your standing in algorithm-based searches and feeds. Local SEO Google frequently updates their local SEO algorithm, so if you’re a local business, you should continuously update your business’ appearance in local results too. In a way, local SEO is even more powerful than broad SEO—people searching for a specific type of business with their geographic location have more intent to purchase, so it’s easier to convert them. For starters, you have to get verified by Google. You can do this by signing up for Google My Business and either claiming your listing or creating a new one. This helps you rank higher in Google SERPS, and also gives you the chance to offer additional information about your company to online searchers. Don’t forget we’re here to help so shout if you need anything! The Publisher Management Team

Make your customers the hero of your story

I sometimes have to pinch myself when I realise AdMarula is now in its 9th year of business. It feels like just the other day that me and the other co-founders walked into an investor’s office and pitched our idea: to start the first, truly transparent performance marketing company in South Africa. It was a little terrifying to be honest. We didn’t know much about the industry, only what we’d heard from various publishers and advertisers. But clearly there was a need for our idea, and we had determination on our side. Capital, determination and a good idea however, will only get you so far. We knew we couldn’t get the business off the ground if we didn’t have two other vital ingredients: publishers and clients. The problem was, we needed one to get the other – a real catch twenty-two situation. Did I mention we were determined? We figured that if we could get 5 brands on board, the publishers would eventually come. And so we set off on a mission to find 5 advertisers who were willing to be our first customers, and literally help launch our business with us. We thought it would be hard, and in some ways it was, walking into an established company’s office and asking them to become a client of a business that technically didn’t exist yet. But then the value proposition was pretty simple. All we needed was their buy-in, a bit of their time and their messaging, with virtually no risk, but potential for great up-side. A new sales channel not previously explored, so what did they have to lose? Such is the power of the performance marketing model. After a few weeks we had signed up 5 clients, and we could go ahead with launching the business, which in turn has created jobs, business opportunities and sales for hundreds of brands and publishers over the years. And our journey continues. I cannot wait to celebrate our 10th birthday next year, hopefully with a big bash where you will be invited. I am truly thankful for the past 9 years at AdMarula, and in our story our clients (especially those 5 founding clients) are no doubt the heroes. Had it now been for their faith in us and our idea we would not be where we are today. And so I encourage you to make your customers the hero of your story. Get to know them, go the extra mile every day to not only provide excellent service, but to fix things when they go wrong – because they will. Like any business owner I’ve had my fair share of ‘fire fighting’ over the years, but most clients are more forgiving than you think. As long as they see that you are truly sorry for your error, and that you are doing everything in your power to repair the damage (and keep it from happening again), you are likely to at least get a second chance. On a more serious note, the Corona virus pandemic has forced the businesses world into unchartered waters and we understand that many of our clients and publishers are heavily affected by this. I want to assure you that we are open for business, and we trust that by adhering to the advice given to us by the people who know best, we will all get through this together. No doubt this Easter holiday will be a more quiet one spent at home with your family. Wherever you are, take care, stay safe and please get in touch if you need help with any of your campaigns. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO

Voice search for Affiliate Marketers

When preparing your affiliate marketing activities for voice commands, it’s good to know if your target group is likely to use voice search. For example, a survey done by searchengineland.com of tech-savvy users, show that he age group with the heaviest voice search usage is the oldest group, ages 65-plus. 88% of respondents aged 65 or older use voice search at least a few times a week. 50% of users ages 65-plus claim to use voice search 1-3 times per day. For companies targeting this age group, voice search should absolutely find its way into their marketing mix. Interestingly, the age group just below this one – 55-64 – had the lowest voice search adoption rates among all respondents, with 32% of respondents indicating they rarely or never use voice search. Perhaps this age group is more accustomed to searching for things using screens, whereas the oldest age group is less technologically-savvy and enjoys the ease of searching and interacting using voice commands. Voice command and Google Search Traditional search through search engines is still going strong, regardless of the growth of voice search. Certain processes of affiliate marketing will stay the same through Google Voice Search. After people reach a website, found with the help of voice search, they can land on your affiliate website and become a referral after clicking your affiliate link and purchasing a product. However, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), will be a bit different. You will need to optimize your affiliate website for voice commands rather than typed keyword queries. Including questions in your content is one way of preparing your site for search commands, because many search commands are questions. Direct purchases with voice command There are definitely some points to consider when looking at the link between voice command and direct purchases. As more people start using voice command to order products, this can affect people who would otherwise sit behind a desktop, find products on Amazon and look up some reviews online. This could be a review from your affiliate website, for example, in which case you would lose this referral due to voice command. Now if you are were an Amazon affiliate, the question would be, will you lose referrals because voice command is on the rise? And the answer is yes and no, because you can also argue that users who want to buy in this quick and convenient manner would be the ones that go directly to the purchase website without doing more research. How much your site will be affected by direct purchase through voice command in the future will also depend on your niche. Some products are more suited for a quick purchase through voice command, while other products require more investigation before purchase. Don’t hesitate to contact our team if you have any further questions about your website and voice search. Happy selling! The Publisher Team

November profile: Nicole Coutinho, Lifestyle & Fashion Blogger

This month we chat to freelance writer and Beauty, Lifestyle & Fashion blogger, Nicole Coutinho, also known as ‘The Little Guru’. Whether it’s trying a new beauty product she reviewed, going on a spontaneous getaway for the weekend, or trying a great new restaurant, she hopes her readers will feel inspired and educated after visiting her blog. Read more about her adventures, suggestions and what it’s like to run a successful blog in the full article. Describe yourself in 3 words Driven, Compassionate and Creative When I was a kid I wanted to be… A Veterinarian! I have always adored animals and would rescue all of them if I could! What made you decide to start a blog? So many reasons but 2 stand out the most- 1) I was introduced to the blogging world by a co-worker and fell in love with a blogger called Natalie. Her posts were hilarious and her photographs of the amazing places she travelled to were just breath-taking- I was inspired because I absolutely love photography too.  2)My husband is a major outdoor junkie and made me one in turn so I thought, what would be a great way to share my experiences with my family and almost keep an “online journal’ of all our adventures?! The Little Guru was born and slowly I discovered my love for all things beauty and lifestyle too! What were the biggest challenges to get it up and running? Time… When I started my blog, I was working two jobs at the time and really just needed a creative outlet, but to find the time to sit and create content was difficult. I would write my posts on notepads and head to an internet café on my lunch break to dedicate time to my blog. It was hard but totally worth it! How do you keep users interested in your content? Blogging is about writing about what interests you but more importantly, if It will be relatable to your readers. I have come to realize that now more than ever, is how people can relate to you. The Lifestyle/Fashion blog space is quite competitive and crowded. How do you make sure your blog stands out?  It’s definitely very competitive at the moment and I think the key would be to be honest with your readers. For instance, If I’m reviewing a product, I want to be absolutely honest if that product works for me or not. There is no point raving about a product that really isn’t working for you, just so that the brand can “like” you. Credibility is important and I think brands do appreciate it. Technology is developing and changing faster than ever before. How do you keep up with the pace? It’s scary to say the least but it’s the future. We are almost forced to stay up to date with the techno world because it’s just necessary, but I guess I learn from fellow bloggers, read what’s on trend and stay consistent. Any advice for aspiring bloggers/writers? Be patient and consistency is key. Keep in mind that successful blogging requires a lot of time. Blogging also requires a lot more than just content creation like SEO, social media, networking etc. so if you’re not fully committed it will be your downfall. Your favourite a) restaurant, b) beauty product and c) travel destination, at the moment Man, I just love food so this one is difficult, but one that stands out would be Lima. Clinique Fresh Pressed Vitamin C Serum Venice- The food, the gelato, the floating city is just bellissimo! How will you be celebrating Christmas this year? Our family goes big! We celebrate from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day staying up all night opening presents, playing games, singing and quite frankly, just being Merry!

Interview with Tony Seifart, MD at Incredibility

This month we chat to online marketing veteran and entrepreneur Tony Seifart. An electrical engineering graduate from UCT, Tony has spent nearly two decades in the digital marketing space in various roles including strategist, lecturer, and speaker. In 2015 his company won the Best E-Commerce Company in Europe, Middle-East and Africa from the Business Excellence Awards, and has been nominated again for 2020. Over the last three years he has built up and sold out two online businesses as well as reading his Honours in Theology. When he is not speaking at events or lecturing, he is running his own impressive list of online companies. We pick his brain on the do’s and don’ts of building a successful business online. Describe yourself in 3 words. Stubborn, Loyal, and have I said Stubborn already? When I was a kid I wanted to be… A Fireman! My best friend Craig wanted to be a cop, and since we both couldn’t be cops, I decided to be a fireman! (you can’t defy 5-year old logic!) Tell us about Platinum Club – where did it all start? A few years back I came across a podcast where the guy was giving people advice on how to structure their finances to get out of debt. I bought the course he was promoting, and the information is brilliant. But I realised that nothing like that existed for South Africans – the advice he was giving was mostly relevant only to Americans. Financial Advisors are incentivised to sell policies, not to really help you. Bank Managers are incentivised to sell you debt. But there’s no structured system to help people plan their financial futures without a proper plan. The Platinum Club was born out of the idea of providing the resources necessary for someone to follow a structured path to create their own financial plan. Of course, we need to be careful because we’re not registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, so we can’t provide advice – we only provide the tools to create the plan. Once people have a strong plan they can chat to their own Financial Advisor or CFP to put the plan into action. We’ve now also branched out into building our own Legal App for members and partnered with law firms so that our subscribers can now access legal advice 24/7 via an App (so no wasted airtime sitting on a phone). How do you decide which verticals to go into? When I started out with online lead generation, the only companies using lead generation was Insurance companies, so I didn’t have any other choice. Loans and Insurance seem to go hand-in-hand, so I’ve always focussed on those two areas. Why do some internet businesses fail while others succeed? Adaptability is probably the biggest challenge for online businesses. The bigger a site becomes, the harder it gets to change it when circumstances change (and it’s usually at government’s whim). When regulations change, you’ve got to change. When other people see what you do, they try and copy you. They dump large amounts of money into CPC campaigns, which then drives the price up. That’s been the biggest challenge for us. Unfortunately the smaller guys can’t ride out the storm. You’ve got to pick a strategy and system where big guys can’t bully you out of the market. Which channels have proven most successful in attracting visitors to your site/s? In the past we used email campaigns (the CPA put a stop to that), and we moved to Social Media and traditional CPC. Native gets us a lot of traffic, but very low conversion rates. We’re excited to be partnering with AdMarula on some of our new projects though. What is your experience from working with affiliate marketing? Gees, I love Affiliate Marketing! It’s the easiest way to make money online – you don’t have the come up with products and services, you just sell someone else’s product! The most valuable lessons learnt in your professional career, so far? Cash is King. A deal isn’t really done until the money is in the bank. I’ve had so many deals signed and sealed but collapse at the point of payment. What advice do you have for aspiring online entrepreneurs? Don’t be afraid to dump an idea that isn’t working. Some people spend months (years?) on building the “perfect” website, that costs them a fortunate, but never makes a single cent. If a business idea isn’t working, dump it and move on. Best advice anyone has ever given you? Never Give Up! Never Surrender!