Digital Disruptors

Imagine a salesman who doesn't need to sleep, doesn't need to eat, and will work for you 24-7-365. This isn't a mythical creature, mind you. And it's entirely possible for you to employ this salesman. Want to know how? I'm joined by Nabeel Azeez, direct response copywriter and marketing consultant. He co-owns a boutique content marketing agency, Dropkick Copy, with his brother. And he's the author of a soon-to-be-published book on personal branding called, Dragon Energy: The Tao Of Personal Branding. (Links are at the bottom of this post.) Nabeel and I haven't known each other that long. My business partner - co-owner of Ubrik, Sheyaf Hashim - and him go way back. Here are a few interesting facts about Nabeel. He's been consulting full-time for just 2 years. And he's completely self-taught! Guess what he was doing before that? Procurement at a shipping company! The crazy thing is he doesn't just know how to write copy, even though that's his specialty. He has a working understanding of every branch of digital marketing! And he learned it all himself. I know several career marketers who've been doing this full-time for much longer than Nabeel but are nowhere near his level. Enjoy the show! For complete show notes and links to resources, visit our blog: https://blog.ubrik.com/nabeel-azeez [https://blog.ubrik.com/nabeel-azeez]

Dr. Corrie Block has an impressive resume. He's been a consultant and coach to business owners for nearly 20 years. MBA. PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies. Business School Professor. Published in media and academic journals. International speaker. But to me, here's the most impressive thing about him: He's joined the best of both Western and Middle Eastern business culture, to help his customers in a truly unique way. I honestly can't think of any other local consultant with his skillset, academic credentials, and vast experience. Dr. Corrie and I had a wide-ranging conversation at the Ubrik Media office recently. I had a bit of trouble coming up with a title for this episode. We covered so much ground. The best, and most important, insight I got was the importance of thinking of business in terms of human relationships. Employer and employee. Client and vendor. Board members. Tribes. When you start to think and behave this way, according to Corrie, you activate the brain chemicals of happiness, trust, and fulfillment. It turns out to be very profitable for you in the long-run. Enjoy the episode! For full show notes, visit our blog: https://blog.ubrik.com/corrie-block

If you live in the UAE and you spend any time on Instagram at all, Briar Prestidge has shown up in your feed at some point. She's a PR strategist who's been successful in joining both old-school (traditional media) and new-school (digital media) techniques for her clients and for herself. What impressed me most is that she walks the talk. All marketers should, this is a given. But some of us tend to neglect our own marketing because we're so busy serving our clients. I sat down with Briar to discover what's new in PR, and to find out whether or not traditional PR is dead. Click here to read the full show notes: https://blog.ubrik.com/briar-prestidge

A lot of people in the U.A.E. love to talk about entrepreneurship and innovation. Very few have actually done it. Of the few who have done it, fewer still are in a position to speak about it with authority. Some "entrepreneurs" are just in the right place at the right time. Nassim Taleb talks about "Skin in the Game." That's how you figure out who's "Legit" (legitimate) and who's a fraud. Naaz Noor is LEGIT. U.A.E. born-and-raised. Lawyer by training. Private-banker for 10 years before starting her own business, a legal consultancy. From there, Aseel Consultancy grew into F&B consulting, a co-working space, business incorporation, startup incubation, business services, and more. For complete show notes, visit our website: https://blog.ubrik.com/naaz-noor

When I asked Karl Feilder what tips he can give me to run my business in a more sustainable, energy-conscious way, he didn't pull any punches. As it turns out, we're being incredibly wasteful and we didn't even know it! From the lights we had on unnecessarily, to the room being too cold, to not carpooling to work, Karl wasted no time rattling off what we could be doing better. And the funny thing is, these are such easy fixes to implement. That's the problem with the status quo. Nobody cares. It gets to a point where it doesn't even cross your mind there's a better way to do things. Karl is the founder and CEO of the Neutral Group. To put what they do in layman's terms, Karl and his team work with companies to make their entire supply chain eco-friendly and energy efficient. Since founding his first start-up in 1990, which was sold to Microsoft in 1995, Karl has overseen the growth of technology companies resulting in three personal trade sale exits, two trade sale exits on behalf of external investors, and the leadership and preparation of two companies for IPO. Karl has 20 years international experience of managing technology businesses and was recognized by the World Economic Forum in 2004, as a Technology Pioneer.” He was voted “Innovator of the Year 2011” by the Middle East LOG magazine. Karl holds an MBA from Henley Management College, a B.Eng.(Hons) Industrial Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire, and is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. As far as "big business" experience goes, Karl is as credible and authoritative as they come. Which is why, when he talks about the impact businesses have on the environment and what we can do about it, people listen. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with him. And, in preparing for our chat, I was shocked at some of the facts and figures I came across. You'll have to watch the full interview to find out what they are. Read the full show notes: https://blog.ubrik.com/karl-feilder