The strategy of building a following through Instagram has been paying off handsomely for one new LGBTQ brand. Daddy Couture sells clothing branded with slogans “designed to unleash the extra inside all of us”.
The Daddy Couture Instagram page has gained 12,600 followers since launching in May and the growth has been accelerating, with over 5000 of those fans joining in the last 2 months. The primary target market for the brand is LGBTQ buyers, and given that this is a relatively small demographic they have done very well (in marketing terms) to establish a substantial community already.
They have also continually extended their range in the time they have been operating, expanding from just t-shirts and underwear to jumpers, hoodies and hats, as well as releasing new shirts. Gay icon Tiffany Pollard has collaborated with the brand as well, as has Chris Crocker. The growing business is likely to continue trying to work with LGBTQ celebrities.
Social media has clearly been a blessing for the new business, which is headquartered in New York, but ships all over the world.
What has Daddy Couture done right?
The company has managed to grow so fast for a number of reasons. First and foremost, and perhaps slightly counter-intuitively, they have not tried to appeal to everyone. Daddy Couture is not a brand for the mainstream, and it never will be. The business makes clothes for the LGBTQ community, and only the most “extra” members of it at that.
This works because very few other brands (and no major ones) target this demographic to the same degree. Any number of clothing lines try to appeal to everyone – very few directly compete with Daddy Couture. The lack of competition both makes it easier to attract customers in the niche and serves to highlight that the company is different to other clothing lines.
This is a very clever way to gain an audience, even when that audience is a small proportion of the population. By positioning themselves in this way Daddy Couture align themselves with their market, and make themselves a part of the community. Even if the range only appeals to 1% of people, worldwide that is still a lot of potential customers!
The brand has also built quite an Instagram community, with their artsy, kitsch page being complemented by a large number of posts by customers tagging the company in photos where they are wearing the clothes. This allows people to connect with each other over their appreciation of Daddy Couture, and helps to build a loyal following for the business.
The online retailer has also very carefully crafted a brand persona that fits in with their target market. The clothes are out, proud and loud – like the young, gay demographic that is buying them. This makes the line fun, and not only appeals to the people most likely to buy the clothes but also inspires them to feel a connection to Daddy Couture.
Daddy Couture has made itself a part of the gay community. Photo: Hadrian, Bigstock
Where to go next
While the Instagram marketing campaign is paying huge dividends, and the growth of the brand looks unlikely to slow down soon, Daddy Couture won’t be able to rely on it forever – at least, not if they want to keep expanding.
The brand could also associate itself with gay rights causes around the world. This would not only position them as a brand that cares about the community they are a part of, it will also raise awareness of their existence, and most importantly it might do some good in the world.
It will be fascinating to keep an eye on what comes next for Daddy Couture, and see if they can keep their phenomenal growth going!
Bilal Kureishi runs a copywriting agency that specialises in producing high quality, optimised articles and other content for businesses. His agency, Copywriting Services Pro, pride themselves on creating original copy that is useful for SEO and is designed to help his clients to sell their product.
What prompted you to start your professional copywriting service?
Back in 2008 I started out doing SEO for clients both locally and internationally. Back then SEO wasn’t as much about on-page optimisation as it is today. Content and page density didn’t matter either so we could get away with optimising scantly laid out content pages.
However, that’s no longer the case. Subsequent Google updates meant that the content needed to be denser and there also needed to be a lot of it for a website to rank which meant that my clients required professional writing.
I did a lot of the writing for my clients in the beginning but as my client base grew, it became impossible to optimise their websites and write content. Plus, most writers I ran into on freelancing platform were not good.
It goes without saying that outsourcing does not exactly work as most people are led to believe. Freelancers don’t meet deadlines and many don’t even have English as their first language. So, I decided to start my own service.
I’ve put together a team of seasoned copywriters, editors and content marketers all of whom ensure that the resulting content is well written and keyword optimised.
With your experience in SEO, why do you think copywriting is so important today?
SEO today relies a lot on the quality of content as much as it does on the backlinks and keyword selection. Unlike in the past Google’s AI is now capable of telling good content apart from low quality writing.
I recently did a test pitting two websites we created against each other. One had content written by our team and the other was written by cheap freelance copywriters. Both were put through the same on page optimisation in terms of making sure that the keyword densities were the same.
We also sent the same backlinks to both websites and made sure they had the same link structure. After six months we saw that the website with professionally written SEO content was on the first page for 4 of the 10 keywords we were targeting. The other website had one keyword on the first page while the others were across the second and third page.
Now keep in mind that second and third page rankings don’t mean anything in terms of traffic and conversions. So, unless you’re on the first page your chances of making any sales or getting leads is zero! I think this test proves that in today’s content driven world content is in fact king and in my experience, it is 60% of your SEO effort.
How has the way you have targeted keywords for clients changed over time?
One of the biggest changes has been in the way the keywords are used. In the past the goal was to stuff as many keywords, as many times, as possible into the content. Some SEOs did it to the point where the text was practically unreadable for a human. All of that has now changed.
Keyword usage is not about how many times it is repeated in the text. It also isn’t about using long vs. short tail as some of my clients assume.
The goal is to use the targeted keywords in the most natural way possible. Take for instance if your target keyword was ‘Mazda Sales’. In the old days you’d try to put as many instances of it as you can in your text. However, today that will get you penalized.
So, you’ll need to use ‘Mazda Sales’ but pair it up with related keywords like ‘Mazda outlet’, ‘Mazda company’, ‘Mazda showroom’ etc. So, it requires some extra bit of research.
Then there is also the fact that the standard 300-400-word page of content isn’t good enough. If you want to rank well think 1000 words and above. Depending on your industry and competition page length matters a great deal. Also, Google favours long-form content and that’s something you can figure out by just Googling and taking a look at the results.
What do you believe are the most important skills a copywriter needs?
A copywriter needs to be willing to mould their thinking process and do a great deal of research before writing anything, whether it is a press release, SEO article, brochure, etc.
I’ve seen copywriters rush the process because they want to turn in the article ASAP, get paid and move to the next. That’s what a lot of cheap freelancers do because after all they have got to make a living too. However, the quality isn’t good when you rush the process unless of course they are experts in that particular niche.
A copywriter needs to be willing to learn. Just last month we onboarded a client who had several websites selling oxy fuel welders. None of us had ever used an oxy fuel welder and we didn’t even know what it was.
So, to draft quality content for the client’s website and optimise its keywords we had to go through a learning process. However, it was worth it because even the client who had been selling the equipment for over 20 years didn’t expect the copy to be so technically accurate. He is now a long-term client.
What are some poor copywriting practises you have noticed from others?
A big issue with the copywriting industry today is people trying to rush the process. They are trying to write loads of articles, blog posts and press releases in 8 hours flat. If anything, it compromises quality, and it doesn’t do their credibility much good either.
The other problem is over commitment. A copywriter would commit to delivering a press release for instance within 24 hours but wouldn’t contact you until 36 hours later. In between there would be no communication.
Many of my copywriting clients prefer working with me because I rarely if ever push a project back several hours or days. If there is a problem my clients are informed well in advance but there rarely is because we have contingencies in place to ensure timely delivery.
I’ve seen grammar go out the window too. Most copywriters aren’t native English speakers but are so cheap that most start-ups on a tight budget choose them over a professional. That’s why a lot of the stuff I come across on the internet is poorly written.
I also get many clients who have been penalised by Google for duplicate content or for just having poor quality content. So, then it is my job to improve the copy and many times it helps a great deal.
What are your plans for the future of your business?
So, right now we are in the process of offering more writing services. We offer many different writing services, most of which are not listed on our website because the pricing varies depending on the nature of the order.
However, we are receiving a great deal of feedback and that’s reflected in the updates to our website that seem to be almost every week. People can contact us via the ‘Contact Us’ form on the website for quotes. The live chat feature is also available for anyone who wants to discuss what they need.
We are still a pretty small business so the goal is to scale it. However, we still want to retain that personalised experience which allows for my clients to contact me if they have a problem. Unlike other writing services mine is highly approachable.
Also, we take on SEO projects if the client requires it. My goal is to further expand into translation services for which I see that there aren’t many affordable high-quality services. For now, though, my focus is on ensuring that my writing and SEO clients get the best possible experience.
The all-conquering All Blacks, who have won the last two world cups and been the number 1 team in the world for 9 years straight, have been defeated by Ireland for the first time ever in Dublin. The victory for Ireland means that they have won 17 of their last 18 games, with a 6 Nations grand slam to their credit in that time along with a 2-1 series victory over Australia.
Ireland have been the number 2 team since their 6 Nations victory earlier in the year, and this match was always going to be tough for New Zealand at the end of a gruelling season that also saw them go down against South Africa. The All Blacks retain their number 1 ranking, but they have been put on notice that the Irish are after the crown.
The match was probably the game of the year so far, with the low 16-9 score in no way reflecting the attacking enterprise or skills of either team – the defence was simply exceptional. Ireland put on a number of bone crunching hits to stop the Kiwi’s in their tracks, while the black wall also held firm for almost the entire match.
The only try scored in the game came from an Irish kick when All Blacks fullback Damien McKenzie was lured out of position, with winger Jacob Stockdale winning the footrace to score the try early in the second half. Shortly afterwards Beauden Barrett brought the New Zealanders back to a single try down after a penalty goal, however the Irish managed to shut the All Blacks out for the last 20 minutes.
Ireland only beat New Zealand for the first time ever in 2016, in an exhibition match in Chicago, in a high scoring game where Ireland won through having the final word in a match that saw the lead change several times. On this occasion neither side was there to put on a show, and yet the defensive grit both teams showed was even more gripping.
The win will give Ireland a huge confidence boost leading into next year’s World Cup, where they will back themselves to beat anyone. New Zealand, meanwhile, have been put on notice that a third straight victory will not just be a formality.
The game also virtually handed fly-half Johnny Sexton the Player of the Year award, as he put on a game management masterclass to completely outshine Barrett (who has won it for the last two years). The two were considered virtually neck and neck for the gong before last weekend.
Australia are also the only side to have beaten Ireland this year, in a rare bright spot in a dreadful year. The Wallabies also beat Italy 26-7 in a scrappy game that showed that at least they can beat teams ranked outside the top 10 in the world. This week Michael Cheika’s men will be hoping for a miracle against England to end the year on a good note.
In Australia personal injury law allows you to sue people and businesses if you suffer an injury due to negligence or carelessness. You can claim for physical and psychological trauma, although if your claim is contested you will need to prove that you have suffered significantly as a result of the accident.
There are many different areas that you could suffer an accident as a result of someone else’s recklessness or negligence, but the most common are road accidents, the workplace and product defects. It is important to note that the states and territories often have slightly different personal injury laws, so speak to a legal professional before you take any action.
Traffic accidents
In a traffic accident the at-fault driver is liable for costs. Photo: VPVHunter, Bigstock
If you are in a crash that is clearly someone else’s fault, they are required to pay for your repairs and cover any medical care they need. Usually this is through insurance – in fact, every state requires cars to have third party insurance (called CTP in NSW) in order to be legal to drive. If you are hit by someone who does not have insurance, they are personally liable for any costs you incur as a result.
As per San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer at Traffic Accident Law Centers you can claim medical costs (including future costs), loss of earnings if you are unable to work as a result of the accident, material damage to your car and any other damaged property and psychological trauma if you develop this. If a family member was killed in an accident you can claim funeral costs as well.
If you are financially dependent on someone who has been killed in a car accident you can also claim money from the responsible driver (or their insurance company). Passengers who are injured and their dependents can also claim for injury, loss of income and psychological trauma.
A note of caution, however: if your car hits another car from behind you are almost always deemed responsible. This applies even if you are hit from behind while stopped at traffic lights and your car is pushed forward into a car in front of you – legally, this means you didn’t stop far enough back from the car in front and you are responsible for any injuries or property damage caused to them.
Workplace injury
Photo: HalfPoint, Bigstock
If you are injured at work, as long as you weren’t being reckless, then you can probably claim personal injury cover from your employer. Workers compensation will apply if you can’t work because of the injury (the exact laws vary by state) and you can probably also get any medical care you need covered.
Some people can feel guilty about claiming what they are entitled to from their employer, especially if they believe that the accident was nobody’s fault. However, if you suffer an injury at work (and in some cases on the way to and from work, or on a work trip) then you are most likely entitled to keep your income until you are recovered.
Your employer should also have insurance to cover workers compensation, so you won’t actually be taking money from them. The insurance company, however, may try to fight to avoid paying you a cent more than they can get away with.
You can claim medical costs, lost income and psychological counselling after a workplace accident (if you need any of these), and if you have a relative who dies in a workplace accident you can get funeral costs covered. However, if you have contributed to your injuries (say, by not following the safety guidelines set by your employer) your payments might be reduced.
This area of law can be very contentious, particularly when someone is seriously injured and a company faces the prospect of having to pay tens of thousands in medical care and lost income. However, these situations are also when the injured person most needs the money, so it is important to speak to a lawyer and fight for as much as possible.
Product defects
Many people suffered severe burns from a Thermomix defect. Photo: Astropix, Bigstock
If you are injured due to a product that you have bought not working properly then you can make a personal injury claim for any hardships, costs and injuries suffered. Often if one product is then other ones manufactured at the same time and place will have similar defects, so you may be able to join a class action rather than taking on the manufacturer alone.
When Thermomix products started to malfunction with scalding hot soup inside, at least nine people were severely burned, along with at least 78 additional burns (in Australia). The company ended up being fined $4.6 million after the ACCC took them to court.
What else can you make claims for?
You can make a personal injury claim for virtually any accident that is caused by someone else – whether through negligence or a more sinister cause. This includes medical negligence, institutional abuse and the broadly defined category of “public negligence” – basically, where you are injured by someone else being careless.
If you believe that you have a case to make a claim under personal injury law, you should speak to a specialist lawyer to work out how you should proceed. You should also document all of the harms – physical, financial and otherwise – that you have suffered as a result of the incident.
Whether you are building, rebuilding or just redecorating your house, painting is a big job and you will have a lot of decisions to make. You will need to pick colours, shine and pattern, for both your interiors and exteriors. Of course you will probably already have an idea of what you want the end result to look like, but you will still have quite a journey to get there!
For the purposes of this article let’s assume you have already decided to paint your rooms, rather than use wallpaper or tiles. We also won’t get into the techniques of painting – these are the choices you will need to make whether you paint yourself or use a contractor.
Painting your interiors
Photo: Simazoran, Bigstock
According to Pizzazz Painting when you paint your interiors you will usually need two coats – a base and a finishing coat. Your base paint will essentially serve to flatten the wall in order for your finish to be smooth, and typically won’t be brightly coloured. You will need to know if you want the walls to be light or dark, however, as different shades of primer have different effects.
You will have a choice between water and oil based paint for the undercoat, and they will effectively serve to turn your wall into a blank canvas for the top coat – which is the nice colour, and where any decoration should happen.
The water based undercoat will be good for repainting, or for most traditional building materials such as timber, plasterboard and masonry. The oil based sealer, on the other hand, is better for surfaces that are a bit more absorbent, as it will block any pours that might otherwise cause your finished wall to have odd marks. Just make sure the paint is safe!
Now you need to pick the colours and patterns that will actually go on your walls, because it’s time for the final coat. Once you pick the colour and any patterns you want (remember different rooms can have their own décor) you will need to decide on what type of finish you want to paint on your walls.
Your options are flat, eggshell, satin, and gloss. The look of the paints are differentiated by how much shine they give (the names are a bit of a giveaway) as well as how durable they are. Contrary to what you might assume, flat paint is the least durable while satin and gloss are the strongest, with eggshell in the middle.
Because of the durability and ease of cleaning, satin and gloss are popular choices for bathrooms and kitchens. Flat paint is generally popular for bedrooms, because it will reflect the least light. Eggshell is good for rooms that will be lived in, particularly if there are kids or pets in the house.
Painting the exterior
Photo: Vladimir Koskins, Bigstock
Unless you live in a strata unit you can paint the outside of your house whatever colour you like. When you do, however, you will have a number of steps to go through. First of all, you will need to chip off all of the old paint (if you are repainting), and prepare the surface for a new coat.
You will generally need to prime your exteriors as well, typically with an oil based undercoat. Several acrylic based paints, however, will be thick enough to paint straight on. Similar to interior walls, you will need to know whether you will have a light or a dark finish coat before you put the base coating onto your house.
You can use matt, low sheen, semi-gloss and gloss paints on your exteriors. Again, the names describe how reflective they will be. All exterior paints will be significantly thicker than your interior choices, because they need to be durable and withstand the elements.
When you pick your paint, make sure that it won’t yellow as it ages – otherwise you will find your house changes colour over time. You will also probably need a finish, which will not affect the colour but will make the paint last longer. The finish can also texture your exteriors if you want. You can also find a heat resistant paint if you want.
Painting your house is a big job, but once you have picked the right paints you will be ready to get underway. Your primer will depend on what shade you want your walls to be, while your second layer will be the actual colour you want. In the second coat you will also need to decide how shiny you want your walls to be, and how durable the paint should be.
Dominion Victory is a writer and musician who has overcome incredible obstacles in his personal life and wants to share his message of hope with the world. Dominion has written a new book “Overcome & Live Beyond” wherein he reveals his secrets to living a more fulfilled life in a seemingly bleak world.
What was your inspiration to write your new book “Overcome & Live Beyond”?
I had overcome depression and suicide and started completely living beyond them.
Over 20 years ago I found myself at a point where I was depressed and got fed up with life. I felt there wasn’t any reason to keep living in a world of frustration and misery, so in hopelessness I wrote my mum a note saying she and my family shouldn’t bother looking for me because they won’t find me anywhere again.
At that point I was going to do something nasty but in the process something happened, my mum read the note almost immediately and I heard her praying, calling my name and declaring that no matter what I did is that God shouldn’t allow me to die. That I will live and fulfil my purpose.
That made me give up my suicide ambition and the healing process began.
So I was inspired to write when I found out as a pastor, I had to give counselling to a lot of people struggling with suicide issues, then about 4 years ago I began to put the book together.
I actually left the manuscript like others which I have written also, but a few months ago I read in the news about a pastor in the U.S. who went through depression and took his own life. I was touched and began praying for the family and asking God questions when I heard a voice like a witness within me say “Go and publish that book now”. I asked which book? Because I had released an album called “Revival Outbreaks” and was thinking that’s the book to publish, but that inner voice responded saying ”It will stop this thing from happening”, so I gained clarity on what book it was.
To be honest, I wasn’t even ready for it, no plan, no budget, but I began taking steps of faith until I that manuscript began to metamorphose into a book for all to read.
It’s all about saving lives and helping people overcome and find hope, peace, joy, love and reasons to live.
The book covers difficult topics like depression and suicide – how did you choose to approach this?
As I said before, the approach is from my point of view as a person who is a success story in that subject matter. Having won that battle, seen and helped a lot of people win their own battles at different stages and time. So my approach is that of a success story .
How have your personal experiences shaped the way you wrote your book?
Well, in different ways my personal experience helped me write from a point of compassion, revealing facts, truths and solutions to the problem, which have literally saved a lot of people from their struggle.
Without giving away too much – what are some of things readers can expect to learn about in your book?
Apart from the biological and psychological facts in the book, the content discusses ways to overcoming depression and suicide.
Handling depression in a relationship
Suicide prevention
Finding hope and purpose for living
The gold focus
Spiritual alignment
The use of words etc.
It also reveals ways to overcome anxiety and fear, which also lead to depression
Highly imperative it contains “how to” or how I’ve turned my rejections to become foundations for my promotion.
How did you begin your musical career? What prompted you to work on your albums?
I had always been a singer. I sang in kid’s choir, youth choir and adult choir.
I left the choir in 2008, I started songwriting 2006 and did some on freelance work but began recording personally in 2015.
My first recording was a decision I made when I had the most challenging issues of my life.
I say most challenging because it shook the faith of people around me so I decided instead of being trapped with murmuring and complaints I should stand on that to celebrate.
And how I chose to do that was to do the recording. Life is made of choices, we can choose to amplify problems and make it so big that it overcomes us or to despise, minimise the big problem so small that we overcome it.
We can choose to infuriate ourselves when challenged or celebrate our way out of our challenges.
The latter was my choice.
And that’s how I started working on my personal albums and single releases and the purpose is to impact the world positively. You might have learnt of R2Ci (Royalties to Charities Initiative) which I began because life is not about what we get but what we give.
What is the core message throughout all of your work that you want people to know?
Going through my works you will always find messages of salvation, hope, faith, revival, peace, love and grace. Those’s what I represent and have become my message to the world.
What can people expect from you in the future?
We’re presently working on establishing the WCDSC (World Centre for Depression and Suicide Control) which might be the first online based mental health centre in the world.
The purpose is to reach beyond boundaries with professional care and interventions when required.
It will bring together, global mental health professionals like suicidologists psychiatrists, clinical psychologists in reaching out to people online via the website social media or save a world app.
I will have some recordings and releases in 2019 as well.
David S. Wills is a professional IELTS tutor who is passionate about helping people improve their English speaking and writing skills. His website, TED IELTS, serves as a library of his handpicked best IELTS resources, with many of them being comprised of freely accessible TED talks. David also provides a service for checking and correcting essays written by those pursuing a higher IELTS score.
David answered some questions about his website and its content.
What inspired you to become an IELTS tutor?
I actually fell into IELTS by accident, many years ago. I had been teaching English to kids for a few years and found myself between jobs. I got offered a teaching gig in China one day, and I took it because I thought it would be interesting to live in China. On my first day, my boss told me, “You’d better start learning about IELTS,” because the students there were really only interested in improving their IELTS scores. So I read up on the exam and pretty soon I was teaching regular IELTS classes.
What prompted you to create the TED IELTS website?
As an IELTS teacher, I often looked online to find materials to use in my classes. There are some really great websites out there… but there’s also a lot of not-so-good stuff as well. Over time, I had built up my own repository of teaching materials and I felt that I might be able to put them online, and produce something better than what was already there. The original idea for the website was to publish loads of lessons about the videos from the TED Talk website. You know, they’re free to view and I figured I could just make lessons based around them. However, once I began padding the site out with other IELTS lessons, those other materials became much more popular! The website has sort of changed focus quite a bit since that first idea, but we still use TED videos sometimes.
What are the common features of the resources on your site that you think make them good for those pursuing a higher IELTS score?
Good question! I am constantly amazed by how much bad advice there is out on the internet in regards IELTS. Sure, there are some good websites, but there’s just so much nonsense floating around. People are churning out books filled with mistakes, and promoting a lot of untrue ideas and suggestions for IELTS students. It’s really misleading. I try to offer down-to-earth advice that avoids false promises. I hate those websites that say, “Learn this one phrase and get a band 7!” It’s embarrassing. I just want to give students the best materials, and to do it for free. A lot of people taking the IELTS exam can’t afford expensive books and courses, so I put everything on my site for no charge.
In your experience, what do you think is the biggest thing that holds people back from achieving a higher IELTS score?
I think that a lot of people see IELTS as a system to be beaten. They look for “tricks and tips” to beat the IELTS examiners. But ultimately, it’s just a test of your language skills. Someone with really good English could get a high IELTS band score even if they had no idea about the exam. It’s all about testing English language proficiency. That’s all. People want shortcuts, though. They look for the easiest way to get a good score. But there is none. It’s all about hard work and effort. If you’re willing to do that, then you’ll get where you want to go in the end.
For someone who has just discovered your website, where do you recommend they begin with IELTS preparation?
That’s a tough question, actually. Where do you begin with IELTS? I’d recommend first finding out about the structure of the exam, and then check out some past exam papers. That’s really the first thing you should do. You need to figure out what level you are at (0-9) and then make a realistic goal. You’re not going to jump from a 4.5 to a 7 in a few weeks or even a few months. As I said before, IELTS is a test of English ability and you need to improve step-by-step. If you have a weak spot (and for most people that’s writing), then you need to devote some time and effort to that. Finally, you have to take a two-pronged approach to IELTS, which means continuing to do normal English practice but also work on exam skills.
What do you believe could be improved with IELTS testing to make it ‘fairer’ for participants?
I just posted an article about this a few days ago and it got lots of interest. People are always saying “IELTS is unfair!” because they don’t get a score as high as they wanted, but honestly it’s really a pretty good exam. It tests students’ English skills very well, and there isn’t much about that that’s unfair. However, one thing that does come up sometimes is that the questions may be either biased or too obscure. For example, in the speaking exam sometimes there’s a question about some really random, difficult topic, and you have to share your experience… but many students have no experience, so how can they answer? In the writing, I’ve seen people being asked about gap years, but for most of the world’s population, a gap year isn’t really a viable option. I feel that’s a bit culturally biased towards European students.
What does the future hold for your website? Are you seeking to expand it to provide even more helpful IELTS resources?
Yes, we absolutely are looking to expand. For one thing, I started a YouTube page earlier this year and we’ve been uploading occasional videos. I want to continue doing that more regularly and build up a bigger collection of videos offering free, helpful advice to all IELTS students. We’re also expanding into essay correction to help people get their writing scores up. Writing is one of those things that it’s really hard to improve. If you practice the other language skills, you usually get better and better, but with writing you just continue making the same mistakes over and over unless you have someone give you feedback. Aside from that, we post about two new articles each week, and give out free advice on Facebook to any IELTS student who wants information.
Aman Gupta is an entrepreneur who started his own company in the year 2014. He went onto launch FirstFate Social Network in the year 2016, and has come a long way in the creation of his social network FirstFate. He finally reveals some of the story behind his success.
From humble beginnings, Aman has used AR (augmented reality) in innovative ways in order to make his network stand out, the network which originally began as a platform for sharing first reactions and opinions.
Aman answered some questions about his social network and how he has been able to grow it into what it is today.
What was your inspiration to start FirstFate and compete with the big social networks out there?
Though I am, what you might say, an introvert by nature, I have always believed that social media can be a big tool in bringing the entire community together, and by community, I mean every single person in the world. It’s what makes us human – the sense of togetherness, love and passion towards things we love. But often I saw that in social networks, that the true meaning and opinions were getting lost just to please the crowd. It happened to me, when there are a person who I knew who posted something that I know they didn’t believe in, as a comment, just because rest of the comments and opinions were like that. There’s nothing wrong about it, it’s just how it evolved. And no one likes to be bullied anywhere, so we usually go along, and the original person who had asked for the opinion on the photo, didn’t get to hear the real opinions, which is usually people want in a real conversation.
That’s where the idea came to me, that one of the core things that my platform would provide, would be the ability of a person to give their first opinion on the content being posted, without being able to see how others reacted. Of course, you could be biased in that, but after you rate it, and then when you are able to read the comments, you are more likely to either put your point across or learn something and change your perception. And the original user would actually get the honest opinion of their friends, just like an actual conversation where we can see how others feel, sometimes via their face expressions or via body language. So that was the foundation, the first stepping stone, the second one being privacy.
So whether it was asking an opinion on a party dress that you would be selecting for your special night or first impressions of a marketing promotion that you will be doing later, this would help users get value out of their network as well as get the network involved as well. I knew if I had to start from somewhere, that had to be it. Plus, nobody else was doing it, so I thought why not me! Plus that’s where the name of the network came from – FirstFate, the first fate or the first reaction of your post.
I knew at that time that it would be challenging because they are already some pretty big names with millions and billions of registered and active users. But I knew that they also started from zero, and so could I, if I could give some value to my users. That’s the primary aim of FirstFate – to provide the users with the best possible social experience so that no matter who they are and what they stand for, they are able to get the best experience and share their thoughts and knowledge, with each other.
How did you achieve and maintain growth with FirstFate?
We weren’t backed by a VC or anything, so it was more like a slow and steady kind of path for us. Also we aimed for a long term success, not just a spell of few months and poof, the app has lost its appeal to the users. So we didn’t really mind the slow road that we took.
We initially started advertising the app on Play Store, and got the word out to app bloggers, who could review the app to get it the initial visibility that it needs. We didn’t really had much unique to offer in the first year of the app, apart from the core concept of ‘FirstFate’ of honest, unbiased first reactions, so that could’ve led us to a rocky road as well. But we were able to reach milestones that we planned realistically, and helped us to maintain a reasonable standard of daily active users.
Sure, in hindsight, a VC funding could’ve helped us, but personally, I loved the experience and it taught me a lot as well, as an entrepreneur. The experience was great and I am extremely happy with the result. Ours isn’t a big team, in fact, I played the role of developer, social media manager as well as handled user acquisition, and so I donned multiple hats simultaneously, which was fun. (laughs)
I had a couple of guys initially for the Android and iOS part, and help with the social media graphics, so that helped a lot. In the end, only the dreamer knows about its dream, and now I want to share this dream with rest of the world, and really provide them a great social experience.
How did you bring AR (augmented reality) into the social experience you have created?
Screenshot from Firstfate.com
The thought of integrating AR came to my head in 2016, I think, that we should improve upon the current experience of, you know scrolling, to something better, that will bring a lot of excitement to the users as well as bring them some value. But the idea got delayed due to some reason, but in late 2017, I set my eyes on it again.
Not many people know this, but I coded most of the android app of FirstFate myself, including the entire AR part. So you can see it was such a daunting task to think about that I didn’t really know where to start. I had to manage the everyday business as well, but that actually worked to my advantage. I was really able to take my time through it all, and most of the features got refined in my head, as I was developing it. So when the first version of AR, which is known as TimeLoops, was released, it changed to this much better version than what I had in mind, in the beginning.
I wanted to make it extremely user friendly, so that anyone is able to enjoy it, so we didn’t complicate it – you go to any place you can think of, open the TimeLoop screen which is nothing but a camera preview, and the app uses your GPS location along with in-built sensors in the phone, to show all the moments shared by other people near that location till date, directly on the screen over the camera preview. You can interact with the moments like reacting to them or visit the person’s profile etc. You can refine it to see only your own moments like a Throwback journey, or see moments created by your friends or see the secret ones left just for you. I know, right? What’s social media if you cannot leave secret messages for your friends and loved ones. (laughs)
Sharing content as AR TimeLoops is also simple. You take a picture or video, or pick one from your phone gallery, add a caption and share it. You can customize the post by changing the time as well, if it’s an old picture, and you can set its privacy to Public, Followers or Private. And yes to leave secret ones, just tag that person in the post. Once you tag a person(s), only they will be able to see it whenever they use the timeloop feature near that location.
It’s new, it’s exciting and the initial response has been phenomenal, so we are extremely happy.
What were some early challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
Getting the first few users was tough, because as you know, social apps or social networks in general, are different from other apps, in the sense that they derive their value out of how many of our friends and people we know, are on it. So to convince people that FirstFate can be a big thing and with their support, will actually be a big thing, was challenging.
Another challenge was what is commonly known as chicken-and-egg problem in startups, that you initially need content creators more than the consumers, otherwise neither of the two will see any benefit of the platform. The way we went about solving these two problems, was inviting bloggers, vloggers, travellers and other content creators to our platform via their existing social media accounts. I emailed them, discussing about the advantages of the platform, and how they can derive value of it.
The start was a bit rocky, no doubt about that, but eventually as the word started getting out, the process became a lot smoother, and now we have over 100,000 registered users, which is just a drop in the ocean which we are targeting. It’s a long road and we are very excited about the journey.
We made sure that every feature we developed solved a problem that either users were facing or a problem which they didn’t even realize was setting them back. Be it like collecting RSVP in Events or sharing stunning pictures or sharing your opinions via videos, we added a bit of our secret magic sauce to make it more unique as well as more realistic, which we feel is required in this day and age when we are moving towards virtual space. We really believe that our AR TimeLoops feature, along with Lookies where you can see any spot in the world at this very moment, MapMyJourney which allows you to see hangout spots recommended by friends directly on their FirstFate profile, our awesome FaceFilters and other features which have been curated to give actual value as well as realistic experience, if not real, will really impress our target users, which is everyone on this planet, and maybe beyond. (laughs)
How have you made FirstFate an attractive place for businesses to connect with consumers?
Early last year, around May 2017, we launched this feature called FirstFate Discover. It allowed the business owners and entrepreneurs to showcase their products and services on the “Discover” page. The reason we launched a separate in-built service for this was simple – we wanted businesses to be able to reach targeted customers and clients who are actually interested in the service they provide.
It worked in a very simple way – while you are uploading a photo or a video on your FirstFate account, you had the option to set the post as a ‘Promote’ type. Now once you have set this as a promote type, users or your followers can express their interest by tapping an ‘Interest’ icon which showed up alongside your post whenever someone saw it. Now initially when your network is not large enough, you could promote this post by setting a daily bid which allowed this post to be visible on FirstFate Discover. Now whoever visited this page, will be able to see all such posts uploaded by various businesses around the world, and filter them via their requirements. Now once they express their interest by tapping the icon next to the post, directly on the Discover page, as a business, you can chat with them directly via the app like ‘Hi, you recently expressed interest in one of our products. Would you like to chat about it?’.
So what this did, was improved your sales funnel to the people who are actually interested in the service, not just random ad impressions. And using the chat option, you can directly close the sale quickly. And since all this is connected to your business page, you also are able to portray the trust level of your business that an authorised business representative is chatting with me. And here’s the kicker, like I mentioned, that you bid per day. So here, let’s say you bid $10 per day. So your Ad will be shown on the Discover page, sorted by preferences depending on your bid and the keywords, and it will be shown for the entire day. There’s no cap on impressions. We have a simple philosophy on that – Why should you suffer, because your content was so awesome that millions of people viewed it. This also allows startups to show their creativity in the content they upload, to catch the attention of users. Since they are set for the entire day, they don’t have to worry about reaching people outside their service area.
We are also developing a self-service advertising portal, where users can create and place Ads, on the home feed of their target audience, based on their locations and demographics. We plan to launch it early next year in 2019.
What does the future hold for FirstFate? Are there any new AR implementations on the horizon?
We will continue working on Android version, plus bring the iOS version upto speed with the Android one. Currently, we have launched till Lookies on iOS. So AR TimeLoops feature is missing. Also, we are excited about introducing new features for both users and businesses. Recently, we launched this feature called LiveDraw, where users can share images and draw on it simultaneously, in realtime collaboration.
So, this feature is useful for professionals and executives, who let’s say, are working on an Ad copy or a design, as well as for users who wish to play a game amongst each other. Currently, two users can use this feature. But we plan to increase it to 4, then more, for a group chat. For business and freelancers, who work on the gig economy, which I personally believe is the future of business, we are coming up with ways to enable them to sell their services safely, using the FirstFate platform.
Our focus for now is on User Acquisition, since we believe that once people see the energy and potential of this social network as much as we do, they will surely join and use the platform. We are big on privacy as well, like I mentioned earlier, so that’s a positive for people who shy away from the social media due to privacy concerns. We don’t track or gather any data outside of the app, nor do we plan to. Whatever you share within the app is all we know about you, just like your followers. And trust me, that’s enough. Sure, everyone loves to collect as much data as one can, but for now, we don’t really see the point.
Yes, regarding the AR, since it’s a completely new thing, we are excited about developing new features for it. We are also working on a special AR feed that only your selected followers or users will be able to see, so that you can share data for a special group. It’s just one of the many things that are going in my head, and I am really excited about it. We are also in touch with few VCs, to raise capital, to speed up this process and bring the future to the present sooner than later.
The future is bright, and we are optimistic as ever, that we’ll do our bit to make it better and more awesome.
Jonathan Holland is the owner of RestorationSOS, a California based water damage restorations firm. Jonathan talked about his inspiration for getting into the business and his successful approach for dealing helping people who have suffered sewage / water damage in their homes.
What prompted you to get into this industry and start your business?
Helping people! Assisting homeowners in times of need while doing it in the most professional way possible. Every water damage is different than the other and there is a challenge at each project to how to approach it and restore it in the fastest and best way possible. At the end of the day, to us there’s nothing more satisfying then knowing we saved one’s house and belongings and truly help to bring them back to their life.
What difficulties did you face starting the business and how did you overcome them?
The main and most important challenge was how to let homeowners and people in need of help feel safe and secure with us. In such times, when one’s belongings or house are saturated with water there’s a certain sensitivity that needs to be applied as well as assertiveness. The process needs to be clear and simple to understand as this is not the time nor place for fine print and open questions. Action needs to be taken and fast in order to prevent further damage (such as mold). To make things even easier, we can bill the homeowner’s insurance directly and have them cover for the damage should they are properly covered by one. Most important thing is to listen to the home owners, his needs and questions and make sure they feel safe and are a part of the process. Never keep them in the dark, after-all it’s their house that is being taken care of and their life which we restore.
What’s the most important place in the home to immediately check for water damage?
Best place to check after a storm or a flash flood would be your basement. A flooded basement is one of the most common water damages we see in the restoration industry, especially in the East Coast where storms, flash floods and basements are more common. Any other place would be due to a specific reason such as toilet overflow, running sink, and so on. Most important thing is to always keep an open eye. If you see wet spots on the wall or ceiling this might be a sign. Same for a mold odor at the house, this might be a sign that there’s a hidden water damage – maybe inside the walls.
What’s the most common issue that you help people with on a restoration job?
There are multiple water damage issues that are common.
We deal mostly with:
– Crawlspaces
– Storms and floods
– Sump pump failure
– Burst pipes / leaking pipes
– Malfunctioning Appliances
– Plumbing issues (where sometimes water damage can occur inside the walls)
What sets your service apart from other providers?
We provide immediate response 24/7. Our local associates react immediately and contacts the home owner within minutes form the time a request is submitted. In addition, a fully equipped restoration team is alerted and ready to be onsite within 30 – 60 minutes.
We try to put care first. We understand these are not easy times for anyone and professionalism goes a long way in the process and this is why we try to help with everything we can, not only the water damage.
Hari Ravichandran is the founder and CEO of iSubscribed, a holding company that aims to develop and collect new data security disruptors. Hari has been involved in the digital world since 1997, and has very recently walked away from his first company to found the new tech start-up.
He and many of his colleagues previously worked at his old company, Endurance International Group, which he founded in 1997. By the time he left, Endurance was a publicly traded company with 3,500 employees, and Hari was the CEO. So why did he walk away?
A new start
Hari had been at the helm of the company he founded 20 years earlier which was publicly traded and generated over $1 billion in revenue every year, but he was looking for something else.
The most exciting time of Hari’s life was when he was building Endurance from the ground up, solving problems, working with customers and developing new software to meet their needs. Despite the success of the corporation, he longed for the excitement and challenge of a start-up.
In order to get back to what he does best, and enjoys most, Hari left Endurance earlier this year and started iSubscribed – with his most motivated and capable colleagues. The result is a motivated start-up, with the advantage of having a highly experienced team that knows how to build a brand and platform.
Starting iSubscribed
The new company has already developed a new easy-to-use antivirus software platform called Intrusta. iSubscribed is the holding company and Hari creates new companies for products that he acquires or develops.
A holding company is essentially a parent company that owns a controlling stake in other businesses. Alphabet Inc., for example, owns Google. The benefit of this is that the holding company doesn’t have to directly manage many different products in different areas; instead, they oversee the operations of their subsidiaries.
This type of corporate structure enables the subsidiaries to build their brands in their individual niche and increases the overall efficiency of the business. It also means that the CEO isn’t swamped trying to make high-level decisions across different niches, and can focus on one thing at a time.
In Hari’s case, this model will allow him to focus on developing software and starting or acquiring new companies.
Hari and the rest of the iSubscribed team intend to continue developing new software and creating different solutions for consumers. They are also on the lookout for other promising startups who are passionate about protecting consumers, using their experience in building and scaling a business to realize new ideas as effectively as possible.
Lessons from Hari
Hari intends to take the lessons he learned from Endurance and apply them to the new companies he is developing under the iSubscribed umbrella. These lessons are primarily to keep some perspective when making decisions as a new business and developing the right culture to enable a company to grow.
When he started Endurance 21 years ago, Hari felt like every decision he had to make was integral for his new business. He needed to find the funding to keep his dream growing. He also felt like taking big risks would be the only way to succeed – and he succeeded in a big way!
However, with the experience, he gained he has learned that sometimes the best thing to do is not take the risk, but rather to take a longer view and build the foundations of a stable business. Mind you, this is a lot easier to do with plenty of funding and a holding company behind you than it is as a brand new start-up!
Hari also learned the value of developing a strong company culture in the early stages of a business. Many entrepreneurs believe that culture is something that they would like, but developing a business strategy and working on their product is far more important. This attitude leads to a lot of start-ups with good ideas, run by good people, to fail.
The main lesson we can take from Hari’s story, however, is that it’s never too late to go back to doing what you love. It is also more important to be doing work that you love than to fit some narrow definition of success.
