Quit Your Job, Sis

From Zero to Four Figures | The Journey of Entrepreneurship w/ Author & Digital Marketer Prit Madhukar

January 02, 2023 Lindsay Hanson / Prit Madhukar Episode 152
Quit Your Job, Sis
From Zero to Four Figures | The Journey of Entrepreneurship w/ Author & Digital Marketer Prit Madhukar
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Are you thinking about starting your own business? You may be feeling a rollercoaster of emotions, from excitement and anticipation to fear and doubt.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Prit Madhukar, a digital marketer, business owner, podcaster, and the author of Zero to Four Figures. Prit shares her own entrepreneurial journey and how she was able to overcome the struggles and fears she faced along the way.

She also offers actionable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to launch their business, including taking that first leap of faith, identifying your passion, and staying focused on what you want to create. So if you're thinking about starting your own business, or if you're already on that journey, this episode is for you!

Join us as we discuss:

(1) Prit's experience with her first job and how it shaped her entrepreneurial journey

(2) How to reframe imposter syndrome and develop a growth mindset

(3) Why you should build a business that aligns with your values and beliefs

(4) Prit's #1 tip on how to make content creation easier for you

(5) How trial and error can help you grow your business in the beginning

(6) Why relationships and genuine connections are keys to business success

(7) Prit’s biggest piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting out


**How to Make Money on Fiverr: A Masterclass for Freelancers**
To kick off the new year, I'm hosting a masterclass on Jan 4th to teach you everything you need to know to make money on Fiverr. You’ll learn how to set up your profile, optimize your gigs, get your first few clients, and more! Head to lindsayhanson.com/fiverr to register now, and kickstart your freelancing biz in the new year!


Resources
Connect with Prit
Website
Instagram

Get the book - Zero to Four Figures: Lessons Learned by a Broke CEO

Note: The above links are Amazon Associate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase (at no cost to you). I only promote products that I believe will change your life & business!

Support the show

For more biz tips, BTS moments, and pissing off corporate bros, follow me on social media @lindsaymhanson! Instagram | TikTok

Want more tips to help you launch & grow your online business? Click here to join the FREE Quit Your Job, Sis Facebook Community!

Need a coach or social media manager to help you launch & grow your online biz? Work with me!

[00:00:59] Lindsay: Freelancers. Imagine waking up every morning to new orders and clients in your inbox ready to work with you. That is what I wake up to every morning on Fiverr all because I decided to create a free profile and set up a $30 gig back in 2019. That one gig is now making me nearly $2,000 a month as a part-time income stream.

[00:01:19] Lindsay: And I wanna show you how to set up and optimize your profile so you can turn five into a consistent client funnel. Whether you're a brand new freelancer looking to get started or an established freelancer who could use another income stream, might make money on Fiverr or Masterclass is for you. I'm sharing everything you need to know to set up your profile and make your first few sales.

[00:01:40] Lindsay: Plus, I'm offering a special bonus to the first 10 people who sign up. You will get a personalized Fiverr profile audit from me, where I will give you specific tips for how to optimize your gig and stand out on Fiverr's platform. So if you've been thinking about getting started on Fiverr this is your sign to start today.

[00:02:00] Lindsay: The masterclass takes place on January 4th, and spots are filling up quickly, so I would not wait. Go to lindsayhanson.com/fiverr right now to get all the details and secure your spot. That's lindsayhanson.com/fiverr F I V E R R or click the link in the show notes and I will see you on the inside.

[00:02:24] Lindsay: Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast. If you're ready to up-level your marketing and effectively grow your business online, you will not want to miss today's episode. I'm here with Prit Madhukar a marketing strategy consultant and the CEO of her own marketing consultancy, The Marketing Nomad.

[00:02:43] Lindsay: Prit started from scratch just two years ago and built an online business that allows her to be a digital nomad, and she has successfully worked with 60 plus clients from eight different countries. She's also a podcaster, YouTube blogger, Etsy shop owner, content creator, nano influencer, and recent author, and I cannot wait to hear more about her story.

[00:03:06] Lindsay: So Prit welcome to the podcast.

[00:03:08] Prit: Thank you so much, Lindsay. It's so exciting to be on your podcast. I'm really excited for today's show.

[00:03:14] Lindsay: I am excited too. So I know you've had quite the journey. So I'd love for you to share with us how you got into entrepreneurship.

[00:03:22] Prit: Oh, it's, it's been one crazy ride, Lindsay.

[00:03:26] Prit: So I'm gonna get right into it. So I actually was born in Bangalore, India. I grew up in Singapore, and then we kind of migrated back to India when I was around 12. I did my engineering here in Bangalore. And halfway through my engineering I said, nope, this is not for me. I do not see myself doing this for the next 40 years of my life.

[00:03:48] Prit: And, but I did complete the degree though, so I am an engineer technically. Though, don't ask me how I got that degree I do not know. Those years are really, really blurred. But you know, somewhere halfway through my engineering, my dad, he's a very typical Indian parent. He saw me lazying around the house during my summer holidays and he said, well, you know, I think you need to put yourself out there and get a job.

[00:04:11] Prit: And I was like, oh yeah, with my grades, no one's gonna get, you know, give me a job. And, you know, he laughed. And of course he became really serious and he said why don't you do an internship at my company? So my dad is a project management consultant and he basically took me on as an intern. At that point, I was really, I guess I was grumpy because I really wanted to relax and just, I don't know, waste a while away, my time during summer holidays and here he was dragging me to office at 9:00 AM in the morning all the way till.

[00:04:42] Prit: 5 PM was not happy about it at all. And then he actually gave me a team of his own marketing people. He said the website needs a bit of fixing, you know, just the grammar and maybe the colors don't seem to match. But whatever it is, just you know, just do your thing and figurewhat what's happening there.

[00:05:01] Prit: And he probably didn't expect me to get so involved in the entire thing. I think he just wanted me to find a task and just keep myself busy. But I just fell in love with it. Like I, even the company had been there for about 20, 23 years at that point, but they had absolutely no online presence. So I even set up like a Facebook account for them, a Facebook page at that time.

[00:05:24] Prit: And then, you know, I helped them grow their audience. I think it was a two month period that I did my internship at this company and I loved it. Eight hours every single day just flew by. I didn't even know what I was doing, but I just loved everything. I also did feel a little bit sad at that time because, you know, there's a very common stigma in the society and that existed a lot more at that time

[00:05:47] Prit: was, you know, either you're an engineer or doctor or lawyer. And if you choose to be anything else, then you're probably not going to be successful. Like scratch probably you are not going to be successful. And even if you by chance find success, then everybody's going to call you an outlier. And even if you do have success, nobody really looks at you with that kind of respect.

[00:06:08] Prit: And this was heavily prevalent in that time, but this was a good 10, 10 years ago. And of course now things are changing a little bit which is good. But back then there was a lot of pressure and you know, from the society and everybody looking at me. So I said, you know, even if I wanted to make a career out of this, I don't know what it's called.

[00:06:27] Prit: I don't really see anyone else doing it, so there's no point. So I went ahead, went back to do the internship for two more years, graduated at that point, you know, both my parents. are CEOs of their own company. So entrepreneurship, I guess you would say is kind of in my blood. I've grown up listening to their stories and so I said, okay, you know, I don't want to do engineering.

[00:06:47] Prit: That's something that I'm pretty sure let me do a business degree and I, you know, start my own company someday, 10 years down the line. I have that in mind. Why not? I try that. So I applied for, you know, an MBA program. I got into a university in upstate New York. It's called Rochester Institute of Technology.

[00:07:05] Prit: And once I got there, my first class was a marketing class and sitting there in that class, Lindsay and the professor is asking questions, just, you know, kind of figuring out what the class, the strength of the class, and I'm answering every single question there. I don't know how I am doing it. I'm just doing it and it's not normal marketing questions.

[00:07:26] Prit: She asked about some campaign, and I'm talking about a campaign that Coca-Cola ran 10 years ago from then, and then I'm talking about a Maggie campaign that was three years ago. And I realized at that moment that my entire life had led to that moment all my life. I'd been reading articles about marketing.

[00:07:45] Prit: I had just had such an innate, you know, interest in that. I just didn't know what it was called. I didn't know it was called marketing. And in that class it's like, click everything, just, you know? It kind of came together and I was like, marketing, okay. That's what I wanna do with my life. And I guess [00:08:00] a little bit about me

[00:08:00] Prit: you know kind of a review is that I am someone who needs to be passionate about something. If I'm not passionate, I'm not gonna do it. I'm definitely not gonna do it. I was, you know, really looking for that kind of passion in my life for the next 40 years, and I found marketing. So fast forward, I graduated.

[00:08:19] Prit: I got my MBA degree and I was, you know, so excited to get started on my career finally, because like I said, you know, I didn't apply to any jobs after engineering. I just directly went to an MBA program. So all my other friends, they had at least like a year or two years of work experience, whereas I was just with zero.

[00:08:37] Prit: It's so naturally that was a little bit, it was scary for me. So I got a job at a top solar firm in New York that was on Long Island, and I worked there for a year. So when I was working there, I was on the student visa. Every international student, if you have taken a two year program, you get one year of a student visa where you can work and you can kind of gain experience, and then your employer will convert that visa into a student visa, I mean from a student to a work visa.

[00:09:06] Prit: As in they will file the application and then the USCIS will approve it or not approve it. So my employer also did the same process for me. They were excited to bring me on as a complete full-time employee on a work visa and unfortunately my work visa did not get processed. It, it's a lottery system basically.

[00:09:28] Prit: So there I was one year into my career and I had to leave a job that I absolutely loved, amazing colleagues, my friends, you know, a place that I had called home and I mean New York. It's pretty awesome state, in my opinion. And you know, that kind of freedom, that independence, all of those things, I just, it was really heartbreaking for me.

[00:09:53] Prit: So at that point I had to make a decision, you know, I had to come back to India. That was definite, but at that point, you know, I had two choices. One, either start something on my own. Or apply for other businesses, you know? To work full-time at other companies. And at that point, you know, I thought to myself, Lindsay, I was like, I'm already at the bottom.

[00:10:14] Prit: I mean, I can't go lower than this. I am, I don't have a job. I don't have a place, you know, everything is just up in the air. Why don't I just start something on my own? I'll give it a year. I'll try it out. If it works, it works. If it doesn't work, then I mean, I anyway, plan to submit my resumes on LinkedIn.

[00:10:33] Prit: I could do that always a year down the line. But I felt that, you know, given how much pain and anger and frustration that I was feeling at that time, I thought maybe it was going to lead to something. And I thought that if I didn't make use of that pain, that frustration and that anger into something, you know, give something a chance, then maybe I would regret it.

[00:10:54] Prit: So, in that, in that head space, basically I started my entrepreneurial journey. I became a freelancer. That's what I started with. So I came back to India. By the time I came back to India, I actually had one client. And then slowly I started building up my client base. I put my profiles up on different, you know, freelance websites.

[00:11:14] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:14] Prit: And about six to seven months in it became clear to me that I could sustain this. And of course there are a lot of things that happened in those six, seven months and we'll talk about it. But, at that point I realized, okay, this is something that I can sustain and I don't have to quit at the one year mark that I'd given myself, so why not I set up a company.

[00:11:33] Prit: So yeah, after that, in August of 2020, I actually set up my company from India. So I'm in India. My company is in Delaware actually. So from India, I set up my company, and because my company is in Delaware, it allows me to be a digital nomad. Of course this was in the middle of a pandemic, so some people may call me crazy, but I did it.

[00:11:56] Prit: And then fast forward two years while, you know, I'm actually going to be packing for my trip on Friday, I'm flying to Hyderabad just on a whim for a weekend. And you know, that's the kind of life that I lead right now.

[00:12:09] Lindsay: That is amazing. What a journey. And looking back, how do you feel now about, you know, do you think that if your visa didn't get rejected, would you be an entrepreneur right now or would you still be working for that same company?

[00:12:27] Prit: I definitely think I would be working for that company. I mean, I loved the company. It was just amazing, and I know that I would've given it at least five years of my life. Yes, I'm pretty sure of that.

[00:12:37] Prit: And I think that, you know, I mean, I did have the plan of starting my own business 10 years down the line. So I would have become an entrepreneur eventually, but I think that the whole visa situation just backtracked my plans. It just made me go for it right now. and

[00:12:55] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:12:56] Prit: Yeah, that was, that was a rollercoaster ride, I guess I would say.

[00:13:01] Lindsay: Yeah. It's funny how we kind of put those timelines on ourselves, like, oh, well that's something I'll do 10 years from now, when in reality we could probably make it happen right now, we just don't believe that we can.

[00:13:12] Prit: Absolutely. I really think that, especially for me, like, I mean one of the biggest, I think, imposter syndrome that I had when I first started out was that, you know, there were all of these people who had 10 years of experience.

[00:13:25] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:25] Prit: And you know, and I, here I was with one year of experience and I mean, I was a newbie entrepreneur and here were other entrepreneurs with like five years of entrepreneurship, would I make it, where do I go from here? You know, that was definitely a huge imposter syndrome that I had to deal with in the beginning.

[00:13:42] Lindsay: Mm. Yeah. So how did you kind of work through that imposter syndrome? Because I know it's something that probably every single person listening is feeling too.

[00:13:51] Prit: Yes, so one thing about me is I have ridiculous optimism. I do . I think that's just, that's just very innate in me. But if you were to ask me about actionable steps to overcome imposter syndrome, this is something that has worked for me.

[00:14:06] Prit: For me, understanding that my imposter syndrome exists is one thing. And understanding that imposter syndrome and my actions are not mutually explosive. I mean they are, you know, I can have imposter syndrome, I can also work towards my goals. And I think that was a fundamental thing in me that yes, I am fighting a little bit with my self-confidence.

[00:14:31] Prit: I am dealing with all of these things, but that shouldn't be stopping me from taking actions. Those are completely irrelevant things. So as and, and one of the things about imposter syndrome or even confidence for that matter, is it doesn't actually come before you do the task. It always comes after you do the task, after you prove it to yourself and again and again, you keep doing it.

[00:14:54] Prit: That's how your confidence builds. There is such a misconception when it comes to imposter syndrome and confidence that you need to be steady. You need to have all of it figure it out before the task. But in actuality, it's, it happens as you do the task and it happens after you complete the task and prove it to yourself.

[00:15:14] Prit: So I think understanding that it's okay to have imposter syndrome sitting in the corner waving at me while I'm, you know, setting up my business. I think understanding that was a fundamental mindset shift for me, and I really attribute that if you ask me it's just know it exists, but I still go ahead.

[00:15:34] Lindsay: Mm. I think that's such an important switch cuz it's so easy to hold ourselves back because we don't feel confident enough.

[00:15:41] Lindsay: We don't feel like we're ready. We feel that imposter syndrome and that self-doubt and it, and we feel like, okay, I can't, I can't get started. It's like I'm paralyzed. I can't do anything. But when you realize that those are just thoughts, they're just feelings. And you can still take action. Even if you're feeling doubtful, even if you're not a hundred percent confident, you can still do the things, work towards your goals, put yourself out there.

[00:16:06] Lindsay: That's when everything changes, right?

[00:16:08] Prit: Absolutely.

[00:16:08] Lindsay: Cause it's really not about, it's the same thing when people ask me like, how did you overcome the fear of quitting your job? I'm like, I didn't. I was terrified to quit my job. I just did it anyway.

[00:16:21] Prit: It's so true. That's such a, that's such an entrepreneur answer. You know, when somebody asks you, how did you overcome your fear?

[00:16:29] Prit: Well, I didn't different, but yeah. That's such an awesome answer. Yes.

[00:16:35] Lindsay: I love it. Okay, so then what were those first few things that you did that helped you to see success within that first year of your business? It sounds like you started out on some freelancing platforms, right?

[00:16:46] Prit: Yes. Yes. So do you want, in terms of mindset or like marketing strategies. Which one would you want me to start with?

[00:16:54] Lindsay: Ooh, let's start with mindset.

[00:16:57] Prit: Okay. Perfect. So, mindset. I think the first thing that I really, really, really needed to understand was I did not need to have all my ducks in a row. I think that, you know, especially when you are at a full-time job, it's, you know, your tasks are handed to you, all your deadlines are set by someone else.

[00:17:15] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:15] Prit: Everything external is controlling your actions and your thoughts and your day. When you are an entrepreneur, everything's on you, and it can feel like, okay, I don't have a plan. I don't know what to do next. I don't know how to get to point B. Whereas in your full-time job, you have that sense of comfort, you have that sense of security.

[00:17:36] Prit: So navigating through that and understanding that it's okay if I didn't have everything figured out. It's okay if I just had my first step that's it. That's all I needed. I think understanding that was very, very important for me, and I think just trusting myself to figure out a way was one of the biggest mindset shifts, because up until that point, I didn't really have to trust myself on anything.

[00:18:04] Prit: Like I said, you know, I mean, even while growing up, I was in a very protected environment. I was extremely privileged to be in a protected environment. It was not until that moment that I was like, okay, well can I do this. And I think just having that explicit trust in myself that, you know what? I trust that I will be resourceful, resourceful enough to figure this out.

[00:18:25] Prit: I trust that I will either ask for help when I need it, or I will figure this out on my own. I think having that inherent trust was a huge mindset shift. So yeah, these were two big ones that really gave me that push to start.

[00:18:39] Lindsay: Mm. Yeah, I feel like we are the same person. I'm like, this is, is she talking about herself or is she talking about me three years ago.

[00:18:47] Lindsay: Cause that's exactly what was going through my mind. And I think that's another thing, you know, when people ask, how did you have the confidence to quit your job? It was like, well, I trusted myself. I trusted that I wasn't gonna let myself fail. That's true. And yeah, like I didn't know how it was gonna work out, but I knew that it was.

[00:19:04] Prit: Yeah.

[00:19:04] Lindsay: I knew thatI was capable of figuring it out or capable of finding the right people to help me figure it out.

[00:19:10] Prit: Absolutely. And you know, I mean, I wouldn't say, you know, trust yourself not to fail, because I think failure is a huge part of this process.

[00:19:18] Lindsay: Well, yeah.

[00:19:19] Prit: Multiple times. But I think trust yourself to pick yourself back up.

[00:19:23] Lindsay: Hmm.

[00:19:24] Prit: After you fail. I think it would be a better way to phrase it for me, because you're gonna fail a lot. Like I'm that, I'm not even kidding. You're gonna be disappointed a lot. You're gonna fail a lot. But that's all part of the process. That's all part of it. And I think that when you sign up to be an entrepreneur, you need to be mentally prepared about these things as well.

[00:19:43] Prit: That it's not always going to be what you see on social media or what you see in newspaper articles. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

[00:19:52] Lindsay: Yeah, there definitely is. And that's a good reframe cuz by no means have I not had any failures.

[00:19:57] Prit: Yes.

[00:19:57] Lindsay: Along the way, you guys. But yeah, I love that so much. And I think part of it too is like there's almost a benefit to the fact that I was maybe a little bit naive about what I was getting myself into.

[00:20:09] Lindsay: Because if I did know what I was getting myself into, I might not have done it . Like I didn't realize, yes, that entrepreneurship was gonna be like, personal development journey where I would have to look at trauma from my childhood. And like when I say trauma I don't like, but I mean, you know, money mindset stuff.

[00:20:29] Lindsay: That's something that you have to look at. And there was so many beliefs that I had picked up on around money, around worthiness, like self-worth is a huge piece of it. And it's like I would've had no idea to expect all the things that I've had to work through, but like I'm so glad that I went on this journey or else I never would have looked at them you know.

[00:20:50] Prit: I think you hit such a beautiful point, Lindsay, because I think that fundamentally, if I have to look back at the last three years of my entrepreneurial journey, it's that I have understood myself. Like I think that this entrepreneurship journey has not been about my clients or my products or my services.

[00:21:08] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:21:08] Prit: It has been about me and it is true for every entrepreneur. And you know, just as Lindsay just now said, your entrepreneurship journey is fundamentally a personal development journey for you. And you have to embrace it because the more you run away from it. , the more your business is going to suffer.

[00:21:26] Prit: And the more you actually understand yourself, the stronger your business foundation is going to be. So I think like Lindsay absolutely nailed it when she said that this was a personal development journey. I mean, I like you said, I feel like I'm just listening to myself talk too.

[00:21:41] Lindsay: I know it's, we're very similar.

[00:21:44] Lindsay: It's a little bit freaky. Okay. Let's dive into the marketing side of things. What would you say were some of the things that you did early in your business in that first year that really helped your business to take off?

[00:21:58] Prit: Perfect. Okay. So first off, I think, let me start with one mistake that I made because I think that's important for me to start with.

[00:22:05] Prit: One of the mistakes that I made, because I'm a marketer, I overcomplicated my marketing. Because I thought that, okay, hey, yeah, I'm a company now. I've gotta do all of these things and all of those, you know, stuff. But I didn't have the resources. I didn't have, I only had 24 hours in a day and I was a solopreneur.

[00:22:23] Prit: I, I still am, even though I do, I have, you know, reached a point where I can outsource, but still, you know, I consider myself a solopreneur at this point. I think in my book, and that's something that I've written as well. One of the easiest way to go about this entrepreneurial journey is just to understand that you just need people to find you.

[00:22:43] Prit: That's it. All you have to do is figure out paths for people to find your business and your products. You don't have to overcomplicate it with like tons of marketing strategies because when you are starting out, when you are at ground zero, and you implement all of these marketing strategies and trust me, I've done it.

[00:23:01] Prit: You are just going to mess it all up. Because those marketing strategies that you hear on social media and you hear everywhere else, they need a foundation. They're good strategies. I'm not saying that they're not good, but they need a foundation. So primarily, I think the first step for every single entrepreneur out there is to create paths for people to find you.

[00:23:23] Prit: Okay whether that's your website, whether that's a social media platform, whether that's a blog, whatever it may be, the specifics don't matter. What you have to do is create paths for people to find you. Not just that once you've created maybe one or two paths, try to interlink them if you've created more.

[00:23:42] Prit: Interlink all of them, so that people are staying on your platforms, they're finding you, and then they're moving on to different kinds of platforms that you are on. Because the more they're on your platforms, the lesser time they're on your competitions. It's just as simple as that. You know, as much as you can, you know, implement all of the complex things.

[00:24:02] Prit: And trust me, I have done it. But fundamentally, when I look at my marketing today and, and it is quite strong and the reason is because all I did was just think, okay, how are people going to find me? That's all. All I do is answer that one question and it's just easier for me to figure out my marketing, and this is coming from a marketer.

[00:24:21] Prit: I know that some people don't have a background in marketing. It gets overwhelming, super, super fast. So, yeah, and, and you know, sometimes you're not at that stage where you can outsource it. And, and I understand that because I've been in that money crunch as a broker, entrepreneur, for the, like the first year and a half.

[00:24:37] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:24:37] Prit: So I could not, like, everybody's like, oh, you can outsource this. And I was like, where is the money? There is no money to outsource this, you know? So, you know, and it's such a conundrum as well, because people say that you have to outsource to get money, and then you say you don't have money, so where are you gonna outsource?

[00:24:54] Prit: It's just confusion. . Absolutely. So I usually say, you know, just figure out paths for people to find you. That's number one. So what I did at that time, I didn't have money to build a website, so I got a free website. I think Wix was offering free websites at that time. I'm not sure about now. This was like three years ago.

[00:25:11] Prit: And so I created a, you know, a website for people to find me. I put my profile on every single freelance platform I could find. Like I said, I was just creating paths for people to find. Once I got out of freelancing and I started my own marketing consultancy firm again, I started with my social media platform, my YouTube platform, my podcast, my Etsy, I mean, and even now, my book.

[00:25:35] Prit: All I'm doing baseline is I'm creating paths for people to find me. That's it. .

[00:25:40] Lindsay: Mm. I love that kind of phrasing too, because I think it changes that perspective of like, oh yes, I have to go out and find my ideal clients. And it's like, well, what if you don't? You just have to create that path for them to find you.

[00:25:54] Lindsay: And then also thinking about, okay, well what's the easiest, like how can I make it as easy as possible for my ideal clients to find me right. And that might be your personal Facebook or Instagram account that you already have, you know, friends and family who might benefit from your services, or it might be freelancing platforms

[00:26:15] Lindsay: right. Because I think that's something that can hold us back in the beginning too, cuz we're like, where do I even start? I have to be everywhere. I have to be on all these platforms and it's like, choose maybe one or two paths that you know, where people can find you and you can bring your people in and kind of, what's that low hanging fruit like, what's the easiest path for your people to get to you right?

[00:26:34] Prit: Absolutely, absolutely. And like, I mean, it's been three years and I've been building each of these platforms, but I didn't start all of them at once. I first started with my website. Then I did Instagram for six months, then I, you know, added YouTube to the mix.

[00:26:47] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:26:47] Prit: And over time, as your business builds, you have the resources to outsource and you will also have a little bit of time for different platforms.

[00:26:56] Prit: So, you know, I'm a little bit of an extreme where I'm on so many different platforms. But, but the point is that, you know, I'm a marketer as well, so I'm able to manage my time and stuff like that and I actually do want to be an influencer, so I'm heading in that direction. You may not want to be an influencer, you may just want to be a digital entrepreneur.

[00:27:17] Prit: You know, there are different aspects to it. So I'm pursuing what is the path that I look forward to and what makes me happy. I like content creation. I want to be a content creator. So that's the path. So don't you know if you hear that, oh my god, Prit's on all of these platforms. Don't get but that's just my path.

[00:27:34] Prit: That's just because I love content creation, and that's just a path for me. For you 1, 2, 3, however you decide that should be good enough, as long as you make those strong and you interlink all of them.

[00:27:45] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I think too, it's such a good example that like you know, you basically started from scratch.

[00:27:52] Prit: Yes.

[00:27:52] Lindsay: And I think a lot of people feel discouraged cuz they're like, well I don't have like a big audience on social media or something. And that's why I love these stories so much cuz it's like you were starting from zero. I started from zero. I mean, I started with my Instagram account and 127 followers who were all people I knew in real life.

[00:28:11] Lindsay: Like that is what I started with and it's now turned into this business with a podcast. And a TikTok and multiple streams of income and clients all over the world. And it's like, you, you don't need an audience to get started. Everyone starts from zero.

[00:28:27] Prit: Absolutely. I mean, my mom was the only one showing up for my lives for a very long time

[00:28:32] Prit: guys. Like for six months, my mom was the only one saying hi. She was like right in the next room. So yeah, I've, I've been through that and she was the one asking questions and commenting. So yeah, we've all been through that. You know, shouldn't be afraid that. It's just a funny story for you to tell later on that just like Lindsay, right now. So you know it's part of the process.

[00:28:53] Prit: It is. I know that people get so scared, they're like, oh, what if nobody shows up to my launch? I've had seven product launches up until today in this last three years, and my first six, I had no sales. I mean, probably for my six, I had two sales, but five product launches, zero sales. It's the reality of it.

[00:29:12] Prit: But I don't regret any of them because I needed to go through each of them. I needed to learn those lessons to get to my seventh and most amazing launch. And now from my book, like everything's just so clear how to go about the launch and what to do and all of things. So yeah.

[00:29:28] Lindsay: Yeah. I'm so happy to hear you say that cuz it's so easy to just see everyone on social media saying, oh, I had a six figure launch, or I launched and sold out my programs, or like whatever.

[00:29:40] Lindsay: And I think it's just not reality for so many of us. Or they might be, you know, 10 years into their business. And like you're in year one feeling like you're supposed to be selling out your launches. And it's like, I can't even tell you how many launches I've had where no one signs up. Like I can't even count.

[00:29:57] Lindsay: I, I don't even know most of them to be completely honest. Like, it's just part of the process. And so I think it's so easy to get discouraged in the beginning cuz you feel like, everything's supposed to be working on your first try, but it's not. So much of it is trial and error and figuring out what works for you.

[00:30:15] Lindsay: And so if you're able to embrace those launches where no one signs up, instead of internalizing that yes, and being like, oh, I failed. Just looking at it from that marketing perspective, right, of like well okay, what's not working here? Is it not the right product? Am I not speaking to the right people? Is it some, am I not communicating the value like

[00:30:36] Lindsay: Because it's never about you. It's always about just some, somewhere in that marketing channel and marketing funnel there's a disconnect, right? And that's just such, I think, such an important mindset to have as an entrepreneur.

[00:30:51] Prit: Yeah. Not just that, I mean, in the beginning stages, you can't expect everyone to be interested in your product.

[00:30:56] Prit: I mean, you're still growing as well, and you need to build that trust that takes so much of time. It's not as easy as, you know, people say, oh yeah, they met me and you know, they trust me. No, it's not. You know?

[00:31:08] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:31:09] Prit: And there's so many factors that go in as well. Maybe people with the bigger launches, maybe they have a huge budget for ads.

[00:31:16] Prit: There are so many different resources that they may tap into, may not have that you may not have. There's so many different factors so understanding the reality of the entrepreneurship journey and more than understanding, accepting it is one of the best things that I have possibly done, and I can see that Lindsay has also done as well, like even to this day with my book launch.

[00:31:37] Prit: As much as I have expectations and as much as I hope for something. I am prepared for the reality of it because I have my audience size. It is limited. Even though I'm not published by any major publishing company, I'm self-publishing. So I have my own expectations and there is a path to that, so I have to accept that.

[00:31:57] Lindsay: Yeah. So I'm curious, in your business so far, have you done any like paid advertising, Facebook ads or anything like that? Or has it mostly been just organic marketing?

[00:32:10] Prit: So for my business, no, I have not done ads at all. Even when it comes to my consultancy firm, I hugely advocate organic marketing. I, because, I mean, as a very newbie entrepreneur, I guess I wouldn't say newbie now at this point, three years in, but you know, the budget is always a little tight and

[00:32:30] Prit: there's always something else that you have to reinvest it, even though you have probably a good inflow of clients at some point. So for me, I hugely advocate organic marketing, and that's what I even do consultations for. I don't consult for paid ads. However, for my Etsy digital shop, yes. That I do use ads for that. But

[00:32:49] Prit: that basically takes the ad money from the sale. So I prefer that version because if I'm paying upfront, I don't have the resources for that. But if it is taking out of a sale that is happening, then yes, I do have the budget for that. So that's where I'm at right now, and I think that's like a very smart money move that I guess I have made.


[00:33:10] Prit: So I wouldn't personally pay upfront for ads at this stage of my business, but if it is taking a cut out of my existing sale, then why not?

[00:33:20] Lindsay: Yeah. That's pretty cool. I didn't know that you could even do that with Etsy, so.

[00:33:25] Prit: Yes. Yes.

[00:33:26] Lindsay: That's good to know. But yeah, I mean, I am the same way. I love organic marketing.

[00:33:31] Lindsay: I preach it all day long, like yes, that's what I've built my business on. I've never run Facebook ads for my own business. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and maybe I will at some point, but to me it's just so cool to see the audience that I've built organically. You know, and I think because I was, you know, the one having to create the content and put all the effort into it, it's like,

[00:33:55] Lindsay: I learned so much by doing that, that I don't know that I would've learned by just hiring someone to make Facebook ads for me you know?

[00:34:02] Prit: Yes, absolutely. I 100% agree with that. I mean, I, as a marketer, you know, when I was at my full-time job, I have placed ads and I have done the old ad thing. But for me, I think it was more about the budget I did.

[00:34:14] Prit: I really did not have, like, I could not even afford $12 a month to pay for a resource that was important for my business when I first started out.

[00:34:21] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:34:22] Prit: And you know, I did not take any money, monetary help from my parents. I didn't want to. And so that was just my choice. So for me, I guess it was more budget, but at the same time, I guess I, I really wanted to understand the process of getting there.

[00:34:38] Lindsay: Yeah, I completely agree. So I know the answer to this question is probably gonna be, it depends, but how much time would you say you need to put in in order to create an effective marketing strategy? And I, I guess maybe specifically like a social media marketing strategy.

[00:34:57] Prit: All right. So I get this question asked a lot by my clients, and this is something that has worked for me personally.

[00:35:03] Prit: Okay. The first step is to understand that you are not a markerter. You are a business owner. Okay. That is the fundamental mindset shift that I personally had to make because I was a, I was like in the marketer mindset mode. So 24 hours a day. I was just creating content. I was just doing that and figuring my whole life and putting it, and I forgot to do like the administrative tasks about

[00:35:25] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:35:25] Prit: you know, doing your business. And then like, I didn't forget to do my taxes, but you know, I kind of put them on the back burner. And, you know, and did them only in the last minute and almost cried trying to file them. That was like a whole process. I mean, and then client work and all of that when things started actually piling up.

[00:35:42] Prit: I realized, hey, I am first a business owner. I'm not a marketer. So here's something that has worked really, really well for me. List out all of your business tasks. Okay whatever they may be following your taxes, doing administrative work. If you have to clean up your room, add that in. All of those things.

[00:35:57] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:35:57] Prit: Basically, if you're the janitor, you're gonna put that in as well. Okay? Whatever time you have left over from that, that should be the time that you allocate for your content. Okay. So as Lindsay said, yes, it does depend, but there is a strategy to it. There is a technique to figuring out how much time you have.

[00:36:16] Prit: So for me, for example, if I only have like after all of my tasks, client work, everything excluded out of it. If I only have three hours a week for content creation, I'm only going to create that much content. So for me, it could be maybe one podcast episode, one YouTube video, and maybe three reels a week. That's it.

[00:36:35] Prit: I'm fitting it to the time that I have on hand instead of saying, oh my God, I wanna do five podcast episodes this week, and three YouTube videos, and you know, you will never be able to fit all of your tasks. If you set your content first. But if you figure out your tasks and then understand how much time you have left over, that should be your marketing because primarily you are a business owner.

[00:36:59] Prit: You are not a marketer, you're not a marketer working full-time at a job. So I think this has been like one of the most effective things. And of course this is going to change from time to time. There are a few months when I have like an overload of client work, so I have to reduce my content creation time and accordingly the frequency of my posts

[00:37:16] Prit: will decrease or increase depending on that, and that's okay. That's absolutely okay because I'm able to fit everything. If you ask me what is my secret of managing so many different platforms, I'll say it's this. It's because my content creation is the last item on my list. Everything else comes first, and then I plan my content creation based on the time that I have left, and that includes guys

[00:37:40] Prit: that includes including my self-care time, including the time that I wanna take for vacation. That's all important too. Whatever is good for my mental health, it goes into that time. Whatever I have remaining, that's the time that I spend on my marketing. That's the time I spend on my content creation.

[00:37:55] Lindsay: Hmm.

[00:37:56] Lindsay: I love that strategy. Honestly, I probably need to apply it myself because it's so easy to get overwhelmed.

[00:38:02] Prit: Yes.

[00:38:02] Lindsay: And like I always have a million ideas for content I wanna create and. Platforms I wanna be on and like things I wanna do. And it's just not reality for me to be able to do all of those things, right?

[00:38:14] Prit: No.

[00:38:14] Lindsay: So if I'm able to figure out, okay, here's how much time I can dedicate to content every week, what can I accomplish realistically in that timeframe? And staying consistent with that?

[00:38:24] Prit: Yes.

[00:38:25] Lindsay: Because I think in the beginning we think, oh, in order to have an effective marketing strategy, I have to be everywhere and I have to be creating YouTube videos and reels.

[00:38:35] Lindsay: and static posts and email marketing and blogs, but you really don't. If you get really good at just one of those channels.

[00:38:43] Prit: Yes.

[00:38:44] Lindsay: You could have an amazing business just from that.

[00:38:46] Prit: Absolutely.

[00:38:46] Lindsay: Right. And then as your business grows, you're gonna have the ability to outsource and you're gonna have more time.

[00:38:52] Lindsay: To create your content or have someone create it for you right. So starting with one thing and fitting it into a realistic timeframe of what you have in any given week is so important. And honestly, it's something that I need to remind myself of. Still three and a half years into my business.

[00:39:12] Prit: I think it's so easy to look at like other people and say, oh my God, they're doing five Instagram posts a week.

[00:39:17] Lindsay: Mm-hmm.

[00:39:17] Prit: I really need to do that. And for me, you know, one of the reasons, like, I think it's a huge secret, I guess it's not a secret, but you know, one of the things is even when you are creating content, create content that makes you happy. Honestly, like when I first started, my YouTube videos took I think eight or nine hours to edit.

[00:39:34] Prit: Like they were just insane okay. Like it's, I, I couldn't only just take two hours, that's it, because I reduce the amount and two hours is like, really pushing it. And if you see there's like a dramatic shift. But whatever content I'm creating now is simple, is easy, it's nice. It's just 10 to 15 to maybe 15 minutes long.

[00:39:54] Prit: That's it. And I don't overdo that. So I think also in terms of your content creation, understand what makes you happy and what kind of content fits in that time that you have. So a lot of people, they look at me and they're like, oh, prints on so many different platforms. But if you actually take a look at the individual platforms, you'll see that it's just probably two hours of my time that I spend on, on my podcast is just literally an hour a week

[00:40:19] Prit: that's it. That I spend on my podcast. So it's also understanding what kind of content fits into that. So that takes a little bit of a trial and error. God knows how much I've tried and, yeah. Or, and gone up to like, I think there was one point in time when I was, you know, trying to learn Premier Pro.

[00:40:34] Prit: And I was doing like 16 hour edits and I was like, I'm not an editor. Why? Why am I even doing this? That doesn't even make sense. You know, at some point, yes, I will outsource and stuff like that. But yeah, these are all

[00:40:45] Prit: learning curves.

[00:40:47] Lindsay: Yeah, no, definitely. So tell us more about your book.

[00:40:51] Prit: Oh, I'm so excited about it.

[00:40:54] Prit: So by the time this podcast is released, I know that it's gonna be out. So this was basically a year and a half in the making this book. When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I realized that there were not a lot of resources about the initial stages of anyone's journey. Anyone's entrepreneurial journey.

[00:41:13] Prit: And you know, while there are so many good books about entrepreneurs hitting seven, eight figures, you know. And written by them, none of those strategies actually apply to the initial stages when you are absolutely broke. When you, you know, you're scared, you're lost, you, you don't know what to do next. All of those things, they, they don't necessarily apply to that.

[00:41:33] Prit: And that's why I wrote this book. I'm gonna say the name, and I think it'll make more sense about what the book is about. Yeah. So it is Zero to Four Figures: Lessons Learned by a Broke CEO. So that one is the name of the book. So that is the name of the book. I think it encompasses everything. There are 65 stories that I have written.

[00:41:54] Prit: These are real life stories from my own personal journey and 65 lessons that I learned from each of those incidents in the last three years. So this book is basically a compilation of all the stories and all the lessons. And that includes, you know, absolutely raw and personal. How I made my mindset shifts, how I implemented strategies to grow my business.

[00:42:17] Prit: Money mindset shifts that I had to make, even with respect to relationships, how I had to change my mindset, dealing with relationships, and of course, I mean myself, that's the name of one of the chapters as well. It's me, completely. And I think that's like, that takes the biggest part of the book because that's the most important part of the journey as well.

[00:42:36] Prit: So that's what's my book about. It's got every single thing that you know, you probably need for the beginning stages of your journey. Like I said, Zero to Four Figures, and it is by a broke CEO. So you know that the strategies are, if you are broke and you know you're looking for some sort of direction, I think that this book will be helpful.

[00:42:57] Prit: And if anything, I know that this book will provide that kind of support that all of us as digital entrepreneurs, we need, regardless of which stage we're in, to say that, hey, no, we've been through that. I've been through that. I know exactly what you're going through, and it's okay. It will pass. Or I'm in it with you and I'm going through the same thing you know?

[00:43:16] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:43:16] Prit: So just understanding the realities of what happens in an entrepreneurship journey. I think that was the fundamental important thing for me, and that's what my book converys.

[00:43:26] Lindsay: That's such an amazing resource. And so we're recording this before the book is released, but do you know where people are gonna be able to find the book?

[00:43:34] Prit: Yes, absolutely. So you'll be able to find it on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Kobo. Any place, you know, any online space that you name it, you will be able to find it. And I will also, I think Lindsay will be putting the link in the description box as well. So yes.

[00:43:48] Lindsay: By the time, this is released we'll have the links so they'll be in the show notes for you guys. And I'm super excited to get this book. I mean, I wish I had had that three years ago. Because you're right, there really aren't a ton of resources out there, and it's so easy to feel like you're alone. And like you're behind and like you're messing it up and it's like, no, this is exactly what the first year of your business is supposed to look like.

[00:44:13] Prit: Absolutely. You know, it it, like I said, I mean, I think that social media or other people maybe I, I guess it's probably, you know, maybe it's the reality, I don't know. But for me, my reality was very different.

[00:44:26] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:44:27] Prit: It wasn't their reality and I, I was broke. I couldn't afford $12 a month as well at one point.

[00:44:32] Prit: And then the fear, all of those things, I mean, it's a natural process. And I, and I know that Lindsay too has been through all of that.

[00:44:40] Lindsay: Yeah. Amazing. All right. Prit, any final advice that you have for the woman listening who is about to launch her business?

[00:44:49] Prit: I think that if you are really passionate about something, you are very, very lucky because not many of the people out there get to find something that they are so passionate about, that they can actually, you know, feel the, the light in their soul, what I call it.

[00:45:06] Prit: And if you are lucky enough to have something like that, if you have that kind of mission and that purpose and that passion. I would say you owe it to yourself to see it through that. That's my final message. You owe it to yourself to see it through, regardless of the ups and the downs, all of it. Because you never know the life that you are going to be creating unless you actually start living it, unless you actually actively create it.

[00:45:32] Prit: So take that leap. Take that leap. Absolutely. And you know, if you wanted to get a sign, maybe this is your sign to just get started.

[00:45:41] Lindsay: Hmm. I love that so much. You guys go grab Zero to Four Figures. I can only imagine how powerful it is. I mean, this conversation's been incredible and if you have 65 stories in there, like I cannot wait to read them.

[00:45:56] Lindsay: So where else can people connect with you Prit if they want to get connected with you or if you have any resources? Feel free to share them as well.

[00:46:05] Prit: So I am The Marketing Nomad everywhere. So that's like my podcast where I share marketing tips on Instagram, where I just share mindset tips for business owners and for people in general as well.

[00:46:15] Prit: And then on my YouTube, I usually have conversations with people about mindset as well. So, The Marketing Nomad everywhere. Definitely do come and say hi. Let me know what you liked about this episode and you know, I look forward to connecting with you. And Lindsay, thank you so much for having me on your podcast.

[00:46:31] Prit: It's been so, so enjoyable, you know, meeting a fellow entrepreneur and you know, just saying, oh, me too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Been here kinda thing.

[00:46:40] Lindsay: Yeah.

[00:46:40] Prit: It's been so much fun doing that. So I absolutely enjoyed every second of this.

[00:46:45] Lindsay: Yeah. Well, thank you for coming on. This was amazing. I enjoyed it too. I had so much fun.

[00:46:51] Lindsay: And I know that there are plenty of new and aspiring entrepreneurs listening who probably were saying the same thing to themselves the whole time so.

[00:47:01] Prit: Well high-fives there all around. Thank you so much, Lindsay. Thank you guys for listening all the way up until here.

Learn about Prit and how she got started in her business
Why you should start your business today vs waiting until you're ready to
Tips on how you can overcome imposter syndrome
Discover the secrets to achieving early success in your business
Marketing strategies that new business owners can use
How to make it easier for your ideal clients to find you
Recommended ways on when to use paid advertising and organic marketing
What kind of marketing strategy works for new business owners
Learn about Prit's new book for aspiring entrepreneurs
Final piece of advice for those who want to launch their online business