How to Become a Successful Digital Entrepreneur | Sobhana Jaya Madhavan | Avi Arya

Monetizing opportunities open up to those people faster than this entrepreneur who's got a great business but nobody knows. Hello, digital marketing, content creation. How did that change your life? I believe that if you don't share that unique experience with people, you may be doing a disservice to yourself in society at large. These are the 20 efforts that I took and this is when things started working. And so therefore it is possible to be a family first successful entrepreneur.

Hello everyone. I'm Shobhna Jaya Madhavan joining you from the unceded territories of Coast Salish Peoples in the beautiful city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. I am the associate Vice president of Simon Fraser University. I am the chief impact officer of CODE in Chennai, India and the president of the BC India Business Network. I am delighted to join Avi Arya today. Avi is the founder of Internet Moguls and we're going to have a conversation about many topics and we're going to kick off with some myth busting. So Avi, welcome.

Thank you, thank you for having me and thank you for doing this.

Yeah, I'm just absolutely thrilled to have this conversation on a topic that you're very passionate about, entrepreneurship and you are, in my mind, the entrepreneur extraordinaire. And I've had the chance of listening to you speak and speak with entrepreneurs, but also to experts in the field. So I want to talk about something that is in the realm of myth bursting. What would you say are some of the common wrongs that people do when they come to a place like Canada and they get into the field of entrepreneurship with the dream of becoming an entrepreneur?

Right, That's a very good question. And so couple of things, it all has to go down to the human level, right? Every, every time we do something, we're first human and then we are entrepreneurs and then, you know, we are service providers or whatever. So at a human level, doesn't matter what kind of entrepreneur, you feel judged and you have that imposter syndrome. Am I good enough? Have I done this as many times? So I've never made a million dollars. How can I tell how you know, how can I, how should, how can I even talk to people? Hey, I made only a million dollars. How can I talk to people? By the time I made my first 10 million, somebody's made a billion. How can I talk to people? This story that your, that goes on in your head as an entrepreneur is never going to end. So you have to reverse it. And so that's what we will do. People wait the wrong that People do is that they wait for the world to validate them enough times. So if you validate me for a million dollars, I'll talk to equivalent of $100,000. That's the kind of value that the entrepreneurs give to themselves. Now, in that time lost, there are other entrepreneurs who are hungrier to get known. And because they get known, they get the most expensive. They have access to the most expensive currency today, which is not the US dollar, which is another human being's attention. And then monetizing opportunities open up to those people faster than this entrepreneur who's got a great business, but nobody knows. So that's one major mistake. The second thing is that when people try to get out there and start talking, they generally feel that they need to have a camera in front of them and they need to have topics ready. Hey, I'm an introvert. Hey, I'm not an introvert. But I don't know what to say. I've never said it. I'm not a public speaker. I don't know topics. How should I do it? Editing video, YouTube, overwhelmed. All of this happened in the entrepreneur's head because he's solving so many big problems. And he knows that there are many variables that work together to make things happen. But all those variables can be outsourced. But when it comes to creating content, they get it wrong because they feel everything has to be done by them. Well, I feel the easiest way to do a conversation for an entrepreneur, for a personal brand to get noticed is to invite a friend, a colleague, a co founder, somebody in your company, an intern, and have them have a freewheeling chat with you. Because then you that nothing is scripted. Whatever your life experience is, you're sharing with that other person. So for example, in a interview setting, if you ask somebody 10 questions, one question, one answer is one short Instagram reel or small IGTV video, and three videos together could be one episode. So in one hour, you can at least do two episodes and 10 reels so you have enough content for the whole week done. But they get it wrong because they feel everything has to be done by the. So these are the two things that I commonly see.

Amazing. I mean, I think you've touched on something that probably globally people can resonate with. In terms of the two mistakes that people do, I want to just dig a little bit deeper into the validation that people are waiting for. Would you agree it's tied to fear? Fear in our minds 100%.

And a lot of people say that fear happened because we were cavemen and there was a saber toothed tiger outside. And that's why we still think that. I don't know. I don't know. I only take their word for it because some of them are experts and many people are saying some truth to that. But I think the fear of being judged is one of the biggest fears that people have. And yes, it has to do with parenting and all of that, but you can never completely remove it. I mean, there's nobody who's going to be born with fearless, but it's a beautiful journey to embark on. I am on a journey to become as fearless as I can every day by creating content. What will happen, how many views, how many subscribers, how many content, how many comments is is the secondary benefit? The first is at the end of every shoot. I have seen liberation in people's eyes. I something, you know, I don't feel shackled anymore. And then another half an hour the mind takes over and then back. But for some time they feel so this fear of it's then this becomes fun because this is how I see it in my head. So this is my mind and I can think, hey, you know what? Today I created two pieces of content and I think I'm feeling good and I'm going to now hire a team and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do more Instagram. And after three, four hours I'm like, oh my God, I can't do it again, I can't do it again. But I've at least made a plan to do something next week and I'll execute 20% of it. The next time I maybe go on stage and I'm feeling confident, I speak in front of my boardroom, my own team, then I'll speak in front of a large team. Then I'll say I'm speaking in front of 500 people. And that's how it happens. And then you start understanding, by the time you start getting off over this fear, you start realizing that there is a like I think it was Einstein or Nikola Tesla who said that to understand the world, you need to understand it's all frequency and vibration. So when you're on stage or when you're creating a video and you're talking to somebody, even if it's a one on one conversation, you realize that after a certain amount of time there's no script. It is something that takes over and what needs to be said is being said and your vibrations connect with people. And then people send you comments saying thank you very much, you Changed my life. Hello, digital marketing, content creation. How did that change your life? Not a spiritual guru or whatever, but when you realize that any single human being who's walked the planet even for five years has a unique experience and that unique experience, I believe that if you don't share that unique experience with people, you may be doing a disservice to yourself and society at large by not sharing how you got over even that tiny bit of fear. So yes, it is fear, but it's a beautiful game. The process of trying to get over it, amazing.

You touched upon. Even if you've lived just five years, you have a unique story to say. Absolutely. And I think the differentiator, you know, amongst people is a lot of people share their stories, but very few have the gift of sharing their stories in an authentic and real way. And I think your stories resonate with me and millions of people around the world because of authenticity. Can you just sort of explore that a little bit with me as an entrepreneur? Why and how is authenticity a big deal?

So I'll answer this question in two parts. One is how and thank you for saying. Thank you for acknowledging that it gave me more fearlessness to be able to create more videos when I get that validation. Two parts. One is what is being authentic as an entrepreneur and second, how I am working towards that in, you know, with myself and my company. Being authentic means. It does not necessarily, it does not necessarily mean that you are open about every private aspect of your life because that is that journey is to be taken one step at a time. Because yes, there is social media backlash and all of that. So being authentic just means that you, you have the, I won't say guts. I'd say you have the power to be vulnerable to some extent, to whatever extent you're comfortable with and share one anecdote. I will not share anything about my family. I'll just tell you that we all get up in the morning at 5 o' clock and we pray together, for example, or I drop my kids to school or is what I do with my spouse, you know, we go for an evening walk with our dogs. So for example. So for everybody who's listening to the answer of this question, I feel authenticity is to be able to, to let people into another to your part, to one a sneak peek into your world where you feel fear and other people connect with you, say hey, I'm also like that, you know, so, so there's a, there's a vibrational on if you do this content and you haven't met Those people, there's a vibrational handshake, hey, you know what? And then you feel it. People are saying, thank you for saying that to me. Now my journey on being authentic. So I always struggled with, you know, throughout my growing up years, being extremely overweight and stammering. So I wanted to share a lot, but the first thing was people would laugh at the way I spoke. So I. I was not able to break through. So let alone sharing a vulnerable story, I can't even, you know, I can't. So. So that stopped me for the longest time, and. But eventually, when I got into work and entrepreneurship and I started following people who I really admired, I realized that my mom always said, abhi, your goodness is your strength. And I used to say, mom, really? And she said, never question that. And obviously, we had many conversations around goodness being your strength and all that. When I started believing in Sobna, that's the time when I said, people who will like what I say will connect with me, and then everybody won't. So that gave me a big sense of fearlessness. And so that's when I started sharing about Raya and Abhiana. And people can say whatever things because they're girls and people can comment and all of that. So I try to keep Divya away from the longest, you know, the thing. But I still talk about her a little bit. She doesn't like it very much, but I still do a little bit. But so that being, you know, that every. I'm a family person. I was torn for so many years, traveling back and forth, I was torn every time I took a flight. It was an emotional decision to leave the house here and then go for every single meeting. I mean, 12 times in a year, you don't leave your family and come back. Like once a year, we go, you know, I'm feeling bad. And then after two days, you forget about 12 times a year, going and coming, going and coming. So I was feeling torn. And the outside world was all about, oh, my God, you're doing so well on stage. Can I have a selfie with you? And all that internally. Only thing was, am I being a good husband? Am I being a good father? That's the only question. And when I work very hard on it, but obviously things have to happen, universe or whatever. And when this. When it started working in that favor that I'm able to spend more time, you know, like all the time now at home and with the family, I want to share this. You know, I want to share. I said, you know, this is what happened? This is, These are the 20 efforts that I took and this is when things started working. And so therefore it is possible to be a family first successful entrepreneur.

Amazing. Amazing. So I want to just wrap up with one last question going back to the theme of the myths and some of the problems new entrepreneurs have when they come into a country like Canada. So let's say there is an entrepreneur today, they really want to start creating digital content in Canada. They don't know what to do in their first episode.

Right.

Suggestions?

Beautiful. Because this is, I'm sure this, this question is searched very often as well. So thank you for asking that question. So when people come in, unfortunately most of the time the thing that people get wrong is they feel that when we have to share content with people means that I have to show I'm an expert, I've done something. But the thing is the hero or heroine of the, of the, of a story in any movie is somebody who faced a challenge, went back to their in herself and said, should I be good or evil? Picked one choice and then took action. And accordingly, people labeled them as the hero, hero or the villain of the story. That's. So that could be that you landed from India or anywhere in the world or you know, Brazil or London or wherever you came to Canada and you realize that the first rental basement that you book is 50 kilometers from your downtown. How do you feel that time? Just document that. Start with that. Start with your dilemmas. And then, then what did you do? Did you still honor the three month tenancy agreement or did you say, you know what, forget this, I'm going to go elsewhere and show that to people. And people, people would, people will follow you. Your dilemmas, the challenge, what you did, what came out, you know, we all have a, you know, know good and a bad. What did you pull out and then what happened? And if you, even if you made a mistake, you know, let's say this is a mistake I made and I think you guys should not make it. That connects you even deeper because hero has to make mistakes. Otherwise the movie finishes right. I did a very good job. End of movie, they won't watch the second episode. So be vulnerable enough to share whatever's happening. I went, forgot to get Canadian dollars, got only Indian rupees, or bought only US dollars or went to the college. And you know, first day, you know, I had my introduction ready but I, you know, I started stammering when I saw my teachers because you know, the accent was not, or I stopped talking. You know, I got Cramped up because. So don't. Being a hero means somebody who's facing struggles. Because that's. When you watch the movie, a hero doesn't mean, you know, I walked into college and I, you know, aced the exam or whatever. So when you come to Canada, talk about your struggles every day and talk about how you're not able to do it and somebody else is able to do it and how you want to learn from them, or if you overcame something like, you know, for a lot of people, it's getting their first compass card and taking the first sea bus. I did it myself and, you know, mom, what I did. So I came here and there's a bus and then the metro, and I did that, and I figured it out. Now the commute is 15 minutes, you know, like three for three hours. It was so overwhelming. That is a victory. And a lot of people who are going to come are going to be able to shave off two hours from that commute just because of that one video of yours. So hundreds of people will watch that video, even not if it's not millions, hundreds of videos people. If everybody shaves off two hours from their commute by you sharing that, you added him enough value as a content creator, as an entrepreneur, as whoever's coming to Canada. So anything that you're going through, share it, because others are going to be going through that same sort of challenge as well, and that's when you'll be doing a service to yourself. Everybody was new to Canada and the platform of YouTube or Instagram, wherever you share this information.

Amazing. Thank you so much for that, Avi. I'm sure that we're going to see a number of new Canadian entrepreneur videos and reels out there.

I hope so. I hope so. That's. That's. I mean, I almost feel that I'm on a mission to tell everybody, where's your video? Where's your video? Where's your TED Talk? Where is all of that? Like, go out there and share your message. Because, you know, like they say, your mess is your message, and don't wait for everything clean to make it happen. You know, like, when I have the perfect house, I'll call you for dinner. Or, I mean, if you're a friend, you come. You know, when it's not perfect and, you know, maybe together we build it better, make it better. So your mess is your message. And whatever mess, whatever message you want to communicate does not have to be a perfect life. The imperfect life is what people resonate with. And what a life that everybody has. So go ahead and show it as much as you can.

Thank you. That's amazing.

Thank you so much. Hi guys, Avi here. Thank you very much for watching this episode. It's so much fun bringing all of this to you. But honestly it is difficult editing, post production, getting people together. But when you watch till the very end, it feels great. So thank you very much. Now I'm going to give you something, an opportunity to connect with me and my ecosystem. I have an email called workwithavyariamail.com now, what are the possibilities of working with me? Number one, if you are somebody who's liking this content that I'm putting out and saying, you know what Avi, I want to get into your coaching, I want to get into your ecosystem, I want to understand how this works. I have a school called the Internet Moguls Business School where we have two programs for entrepreneurs. Send me an email at work with Aviaria subject Internet Moguls Business School and then tell me about your business, what are the challenges that are happening? And accordingly, one of ours sales consultants will call you, they'll tell you about your business and finally they'll connect you with me and we'll see if you're the right fit to work together. Number two, if you want me to consult with you, just consulting one on one, understanding your business, giving you a three month, five month roadmap. So work with Avi Arya, subject consulting and then give me all the details about your business. Next, if you want my agency to help you, you could be a product or a service, a coach, a trainer, whatever you want us to help us. Set up your get known, get leads, get sales and set up a proper system for you. Then same thing, work with Aviarya and in the subject you will write agency help and in the end tell me exactly what you want me to do for you and what are the challenges that you face. And if you want to work with me in my team as a freelancer, as part time, full time, you know, get into the team, work remotely from anywhere in the world. Again, work with Avyaria and say I want to join your team and then tell me about yourself. Ideally for all these things, when you put in a subject, follow it with a nice micro video. So I know more about you because I check every email myself and I'd love to get back to you and connect you with the right people in the right company. So eventually when we talk we have all these things figured out. Finally, if you want to interview me for your podcast or your YouTube channel. Email me at podcast with avyaria mail.com so there you go. Two ways to connect with us. Work with Aviarya and you've got the multiple options and you've got podcast with Aviarya and we can podcast together. So thank you very much for watching the videos. Don't forget to watch all these videos. Send me an email. Would love to hear from you. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. My name is ABHI Arya signing off for now. Look forward to seeing you in the next video. There's a link over here which has got all my emails for you to get in touch with me as well. Click on the link and get in there. See you. Look forward to hearing that email from you. Bye for now.