Oct 11, 20188 min read

Neha Patel - New Era Digital Marketer

I knew that I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and being in the field of Digital Marketing and Web development it led me to tremendous opportunities. - Neha Patel

Stage Name: Neha Patel

Home Town: Montreal, Canada

Profession: Digital Marketer and Web specialist

Enterprise: WEB247.Solutions

ENTREPRENUR

FOUDNER & CEO

In search for the Top 100 Self Made Entrepreneurs from around the global, we've looked into the tech industry assessing the roles of women founders and CEO who are leading today's industry. As a result, I had the opportunity to conduct an insightful research on modern day digital marketing plus I got to learn more about female founder roles in tech industry was profound.

I had the privilege to interview Neha Patal, who started as Graphic Designer now a founder of WEB247.Soluions based in Montreal, Canada. As a Digital marketer and web specialist expert I'm beyond excited to have Neha Patal as our feature guest on NEECEE LEXY blog to educate our readers plus inspire them.

According to Catalyst census about 20% of United States software developers are female leading company founders. The diversity in the world of technology with respect to the ratio of men to women owned companies is still lacking. However, they are making some progress with so many millennium generation startups companies founded by women are on the rise. On October 7th, Business Insider reported that "women hold just 9% of the wealth linked to shares in tech startups".

Digital Marketing History: The digital technology industrial revolution started in 1990, an era for the age of science, rise of digital tech and mass production. Thus, in recent years the way in which consumers engage with social media has shifted due to advance technology. This shift has provided tremendous opportunities for both small businesses and large corporate business to connect with their consumers through social media faster then ever before.

Focus on using Omni-Channel relation had increased digital marketer flexibility to access large data in fraction of seconds. In addition, Digital marketers have the ability to optimise reports, company dynamic trend changes to provide stellar results. This information translate profit to these companies.

Like I've mentioned earlier, our lovely guest feature Neha Patel, the digital marketer and web specialist in today's interview will be discussing her knowledge. Plus, the power of online tools and how she allocated her expertise to help entrepreneurs through WEB247.SOLUTIONS services.

Please welcome Neha Patel, tell us about yourself?

Being a woman of color and being brought up in a small town in India, things are not always that easy.

When I moved to Canada at age of 21 years old. Sometimes I felt insecure and at times invaluable in front of other smart and talented individuals out there. But I always pushed myself to participate in growth and leadership activities. I quickly realised that it’s all about self confidence and your will to improve everyday and become the best version of yourself, if you’re confident in yourself and comfortable in your own skin nothing can beat you. Sure there are different kinds of people who have different kinds of abilities but no one has what you have and you are always going to be unique.

Being in the field of Digital Marketing and Web Development made me realise that with the power of online tools and resources does not only give us great opportunities but we can also collectively bring change in the world for better.

How did you get your start with your enterprise Web 247 Solutions?

I started as a freelance web designer and developer. Soon I realised that I always had the entrepreneur mindset and I need to do more than just build websites. I started making contacts, joined meetups and started to network a lot. I come from a family with no entrepreneurial background so everything was new to me. I learned that making new contacts and networking opened the door to not only more opportunities but also helped learn different areas of business.

I started small, then started learning different skill sets. Hired freelancers from countries like India, Bangladesh, Egypt to do small tasks of my projects. Slowly I learnt to build processes and proper protocols for various tasks.

Take us through a day in your life as a female entrepreneur.

Health:

In my daily life I have a fixed schedule, I like to wake up early and workout. Time to time I break that ritual but I still try to follow it as strictly as possible. I almost cook everyday or alternate days. Coming from India I am used to eating fresh meals, though I don’t do time consuming cooking everyday but something quick and healthy. Going out for a run or a walk is really important for me and I love being outdoors.

Work and tasks:

I plan my week by writing down important task in a little diary and scheduling everything on Google Calendar. This helps me remember even smaller tasks and things like paying bills. I spend my day working, meeting a client whenever needed or do a conference call if possible.

I use Hubspot CRM to track emails to clients, schedule a meeting or create a task. It helps me track communication with clients all in one place. Though Hubspot is not something I use to manage all the tasks, for that I use Trello for the time being.

Upcoming talks in Entrepreneurship

I am giving a talk on how to protect yourself as a freelancer at WordCamp Rochester on October 13, 2018. Though the schedule for the conference is not up yet, here is a link to the website.

WordCamp is a conference where designers, developers, digital marketers, entrepreneurs share their ideas, tips and strategies about WordPress which is a CMS to build and manage content of dynamic websites. To learn more head over to this link.

Taking Breaks

Because canadian summers are short we try to take breaks often in summer to do fun activities like an excursion to a Roller coaster theme park, fishing, kayaking or any other kind of site seeing. Did I mention I am sucker for outdoor activities.

What is the inspiration behind your enterprise Web 247 Solutions ?

I started working as a Graphic Designer after graduation though later on I geared towards web design. I started web247.solutions because I wanted to feel independent and learn more than doing just one task that is building websites.

I knew that I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and being in the field of Digital Marketing and Web development it led me to tremendous opportunities.

Why did you go into online / Digital Strategy and not any other industry?

After working in the online world for a very short time I realised how powerful it is and how we can make an impact with the power of the online tools we have today. I have worked with several clients, freelancers and organizations by now. Each and every step of the business has taught me something new. I have also taught coding to adults and kids at organizations like Canada Learning Code and For Us Girls.

How do you balance your entrepreneur life with friends that don’t understand the challenges we experience?

I must say that I am very blessed in this area of life. I am very selective of who I surround myself with and I literally took this moto “Quality over Quantity” seriously, when it comes to choosing friends I hang out with.

I have friends who are not necessarily entrepreneurs but they very well understand privacy and challenges in my life. And at the end of the day the relationship with most of my friends stay unaffected even though we go days without chatting and we are always there for each other in times of extreme joy and also in times of need like someone close passing away, or even moving.

There are 3 kinds of people we hang out with. Our close or best friends, just friends and business acquaintances.

Close friends are ones that don’t meet us often, some live miles apart but are always there for us when we need them.
Just friends are the friends who are good for outings and to hang out with for company, they are not necessarily there when you need them.
Business acquaintances are people who tend to hang out with you at events, conferences and they share business ideas, and business favours like contacts and resources.

As an female entrepreneur what are some of your most memorable experience(s) you had working at Web 247 solutions and why?

I don’t think I have the most memorable experience from web247 yet because I always set my expectations really high, but I have a lot of great experiences in life in general.

Building my business helped me learn different aspects of financials and technical difficulties that may arise when you don’t have that background in your family. To come across hardships and overcome them is a great achievement and lessons from which I wish to pass on to young entrepreneurs, youth in schools and colleges. When I volunteer at non profits to teach coding I try to teach them tiny bits about entrepreneurship.

I could say that being able to pay for my siblings college tuition and my parent’s home was something that I achieved with hard work and determination.

I felt really happy and excited when I could share things that I learn and the power I have for good and to make a difference. It could be anything, just helping out a friend in her business, getting a client to the next level in their business or teaching coding to adults and children time to time. But this is not it I aim to achieve more and set higher goals for web247 and myself.

What advice you give to young entrepreneurs who are contemplating following in your footsteps?

If I were to share a few things with young entrepreneurs they will be, be patient and don’t be hasty when you are building your business, success does not come overnight. You have to put in a lot of work to be successful and be ready to do that. To be more organized and productive create rituals for your day, set out goals in your journal and document each and every step you take. So that one day you can look back and reminisce things that you should not repeat and things that should always be repeated.

Remember what they say:

“A job well begun is half done”

Invest time in learning new things, especially computer skills. At least Google tools, Email marketing tools and basic programming. Learning these basic things will surely put you ahead of the curve.

Spend time around like minded people, who elevate you, motivate you and learn from each other. Network more even if you are a shy person, break out of your comfort zone and put more effort in being more outgoing. And last but not least serve first, before pitching something. Direct selling does not work anymore, help your audience first and then they will likely be happy to buy what you have to offer. If you care about the people you serve, money will follow.

What can we expect from you in the next 2 years or so with Web 247 Solutions?

Web247 will be a 360 solutions web agency for Web Development and Digital Marketing, though that is what we do right now. I aim to help big companies but at the same time, also influence youth so that all together we can change the world to make a better place.

Who are other talented social media or digital strategist influencers you would hope to collaborate with?

I follow a lot of great people like Robin Sharma for mindfulness and productivity, Roberto Blake, Pat Flynn and Neil Patel for Digital Marketing. Though I haven’t thought of collaborating with anyone yet.

Thank you so much Neha Patel, That was well articulated interview and very informative I MUST say. For anyone who is looking for digital marketer or webs specialist to improve their website content make sure to check out WEB247.Soultions for more info. I look forward to see you conference videos and hopeful attend your future speaking conference. Once again, thank you and we look forward to re-interviewing you in the near future. Continue to influence youth with your message.