Interview With Pranjal Poddar | Social Media Marketing | Copywriter

Pranjal Poddar a Social Media Marketing practitioner and Copywriter. He has experience in content strategy and branding on various social media platforms.
While everyone was just studying during college which is not a bad thing, he went the extra mile and started a YouTube channel named ‘K Bye’, worked with major brands, participated in national level contests, and did fairly well.

He was also part of the core organizing team as a Social Media Specialist for my University’s inaugural TEDx event (TEDxDYPatilUniversity).
In his 4th year graduation, he co-founded a food page on Instagram named “Jugaad pe Swaad” which has helped him brand himself as a Digital Influencer and become part of several brand collaborations and social media campaigns.

He is currently working as a Copywriter for a leading media research company in Mumbai with the mission to hone his skills in writing and become an expert in creating content of all formats. Today we got a chance to interview him, let’s know more about him.

We hope this can inspire you to become a successful person too! It is worth listening to a successful entrepreneur or to people who share their success stories? We can significantly learn many things from the experiences of them, by listening to their story.

Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:

Q1) Tell us a little bit about your journey?

Hi readers! While I was set to become a biotechnologist after completing my MTech in 2019, I found my true calling in content creation. I have always been someone who believes in side hustles and an Instagram page that started as a side hustle in college paved the way for me to get a copywriting job after college. Deep diving into copywriting helped pique my interest in marketing and step by step my journey in building a personal brand began.

Q2) How did the idea for your business/start-up come about?

As the country went into lockdown in March 2020, the time saved due to the absence of commuting helped me become more consistent with posting content. The platform which I chose to focus upon was LinkedIn and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. With a mix of strategy and unconventional content, I was able to reach out to key decision-makers and start my journey as an independent consultant/freelancer.

Q3) What was your key driving force to become a content creator?

What motivates me to put content consistently is a conversation with new people. My goal is to put out relatable content and when it connects, it gives me the opportunity to meet new people every day who have interesting stories and perspectives themselves. Also helping someone with my learnings gives me personal satisfaction like nothing else.

Q4) What service(s) or product(s) do you offer/manufacture?

As a consultant, I help founders and key decision-makers build their personal brands online or get a social media content strategy in place for their respective businesses.

Q5) Why should people choose your product/services?

I’m result-oriented and believe in pitching ideas/services that have been tried and tested by me and attained results.

Q6) How do you market your business, and which tactics have been most successful?

The majority of my leads are inbound and good content does the trick for me. However, if executed well cold email marketing has also brought in good results. Especially from an ROI point of view.

Q7) What risks are you facing?

The best part about building a personal brand is that you’re in control of most things involved. Personally, I am careful about the content I put out and make sure it caters to the audience I’m targeting since every platform has its own unique audience.

Q8) Did pandemic (COVID 19) affect your business? If yes how?

While it saddens me to see how badly the pandemic affected multiple sectors and caused job losses, on a personal front, lockdown gave me a chance to deep dive into marketing and content creation and gain an important shift in my mindset when it comes to being consistent. My learnings and social media growth also helped me grab a better opportunity and freelancing gigs with people from around the world.

Q9)Have you considered any alliance/partnership/funding?

While I intend to be a solopreneur for the time being and run my personal business bootstrapped, I am always up for collaborating with people and businesses especially when it comes to content/marketing.

Q10) How many hours a day do you work on average & can you describe/outline your typical day?

I am not someone who follows a routine actually. Since I love what I do, I start as soon as I wake up and work until late at night with the usual Netflix and workout breaks in between. Maybe I will adopt a more routine lifestyle once the office reopens and life goes back to normal.

Q11) What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?

As a content creator, I fear inconsistency and losing the connection I have built with my audience. With time I have realized that you cannot always come up with mind-boggling content but you can definitely show up every day and help people out in whichever capacity possible.

Q12) What comes first for you, money or emotions?

Over the years, I have definitely had a shift in mindset when it comes to money vs emotions. Now I focus more on controlling my emotions, maintaining a level-headed approach to things, and investing my energies in the long-term aspect of whatever I do.

Q13) Tell us about your early life & how has being a content creator affected your family life?

I had always been a science student and good at academics. But deep down, arts was something that highly fascinated me. After completing my MTech, the logical choice for me was to venture further into biotechnology, be it a job or further studies. But I had faith in my content creation skills and took a leap of faith. Luckily, my parents supported my decision as well, and overall, we’re all happy how things have panned out for me, especially the last year.

Q14) What piece of advice would you give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs?

I would suggest college students find out time for their side hustles and go beyond just studies. Invest time in something you like, upskill yourself in that field, pick 1-2 social media platforms where you connect with like-minded individuals, and make content around these things. If one does this even for 6 months consistently, freelance/internship opportunities will be there for sure and it will also put them in a great position for an awesome first job.

Follow Him@

Website	https://thecasualphilosopher.in/
LinkedIn Handle	https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranjal-poddar/
Instagram Handle	https://www.instagram.com/thecasualphilosopher/
Twitter Handle	https://twitter.com/casual_pranjal

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