It’s safe to say we’ve all experienced the frustration of looking for a company online only to find no signs of life when you reach its website or Facebook page.
“That lack of activity makes it look like the business has gone out of business,” says Kimia Hamidi, co-founder of Ghostit. “Or that the brand doesn’t care. The result? Customers go to a competitor.”
Hamidi initially had the idea for an automated content-marketing company when he noticed all the business Facebook pages that were irrelevant, off-brand and not up to date. With Rahul Bhatia he founded Ghostit, which evolved to automate a wide variety of custom-content creation, from social media to blog posts to email newsletters. They describe it as a blend of software as a service and people (content creators) as a service.
“Our software platform allows us to create a custom strategy, produce online content and publish it all with a central login,” Hamidi says. “The content we produce focuses on growing page views through organic search, ranking for specific keywords in Google, increasing revenue through conversions on the site and growing email subscriber lists. We also track social engagement to understand how a client’s audience is engaging with the content.
“At the end of the day,” he says, “everything is aimed at increasing clicks on their call to action.”
Q&A With Rahul Bhatia, Kimia Hamidi of Ghostit
What was the scariest part of starting your business?
Rahul: The big scare came after a couple of months of working together. We’d picked up a few clients and there was that affirmation, but at the same time we’re wondering if we had actually created something valuable. If it’s that amazing, how are we not billionaires already? But no matter how good the idea, it takes time, it takes grinding.
Best business advice you received?
Rahul: As you build your business, there is no task that is beneath you.
Kimia: Listen more than you assume.
What advice would you give someone starting out?
Kimia: Don’t think, just do it. I see so many people starting businesses and everything has to be perfect … There is no replacement for experience.
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This article is from the April/May 2018 issue of Douglas.
