Grill The Marketer VII, The Last Crusade has a very special guest panellist which we're super excited about hosting, so we thought we'd tell you a bit more about him!
We first approached Paul Ramondo to be our guest for our April event when he had just returned home from San Diego as a speaker at Social Media Marketing World - but alas our April event didn't go ahead.
Finally, the calendars aligned and we could host Paul for our October event, but before you come along and fire your questions at him (and us) we thought you could do with some background!
Paul Ramondo is a Perth boy who's also spent a lot of time in the US, including attending college there. He considers himself as much American as he is an Aussie and calls New York his second home.
He's held a wide range of jobs over the years (including DJ, promoter, retail, delivering booze to offices for Friday drinks) but the career he's built RamondoMedia on is Facebook Ads Management.
He's a Facebook Ads Ninja.
But you don't wake up one day with that job title, so let's look at how he came to be an international keynote speaker, vlogger and media buying pro.
Before Facebook...
Yes, there was a time before Facebook. And that's where Paul started using social media for marketing purposes. You see, Paul had always wanted to be in a band - but he had no real musical ability (that's not entirely true though - we'll circle back to that) so he thought the best way to get involved in the music scene when you couldn't play an instrument was to be a promoter.
Enter Paul's MySpace era. As an emo kid, he used MySpace (who remembers MySpace?) to sell tickets to gigs at HQ in Leederville among other Perth underage venues.
After studying marketing at UWA, Paul's first 'big boy' job was at a boutique startup social media marketing agency. Which is where we met and he mentored me through my internship learning to build Facebook apps, devising content strategy and perfecting community management.
Fast forward to today, the platform choices might be a little different - but the general philosophy is the same. Make sure you get the right messages to the right people and you can use the power of digital marketing to create long term business growth.
Paul started consulting while he still worked in an agency and incorporated RamondoMedia in 2015. Since then he's worked with Porsche®, RedBull®, Choice Hotels™, Boral® and Australian Sports Nutrition.
Paul’s work has been featured on Bloomberg, ABC, Foundr, Thinkific and Social Media Examiner.
Do what you love
I asked Paul what was the most rewarding part of his job as a Facebook Ads ninja and agency owner - and the answer was very clearly true from the way his eyes lit up.
He LOVES helping people.
He thrives on training, mentoring and sharing his knowledge of social media sales and digital marketing skills and experience to help others. Especially in the e-commerce space.
Give him a product to sell and all the numbers and get out of the way. His knowledge of media buying coupled with his background in finance combine to make a lethal combo.
The psychology behind crafting messages and helping business people understand their market makes him tick.
Ads, lead gen, conversions, awareness...these are all vehicles in which to help your clients achieve their business goals. But you can have the best ads in the world, and if you don't have a holistic view of the business, and a quality offering, you're not going to last the long haul.
Long term relationships - not quick fixes
"You can't peddle shit"
You can have the best strategy, the most amazing creative, the best targeting and incredible ads, but if your product is shit - it's not going to work.
Ethical marketers don't take a management fee for campaigns they know aren't going to return. Paul and I couldn't be in more agreement on this philosophy.
Paul rigorously vets his potential clients to ensure they're a good fit for his business before they can work together.
Being someone's Facebook Ads manager should be about entering into a long term profitable relationship for both parties. As they benefit for your skills and grow their business, you make your fees, and in return grow the client's services and receive referrals from your happy clients.
All work and no play
If you've met Paul, or watched any of his video content you'll be struck by his energy, enthusiasm and passion for life.
So how does someone who could legitimately be on an energiser ad wind down? He told me he's not that complex - he likes to exercise, including the gym and walking in nature 6 days a week, socialising with his friends, and playing Fortnite.
Putting down the phone, stepping away from the screen and looking after his physical and mental health are priorities for Paul to decompress.
He's also the vocalist of a band, One True North (I told you we'd circle back to the talent thing) which brings his career dreams full circle. All he wanted to do as a teen was be in an emo band, and now - because of the career path he's been on for the past 11 years, he can live out that dream. Isn't life funny like that?
Random Ramondo fact: Paul's love of video games prompted him to teach himself to animate as a teen and spent hours in his room making stick-figure animations.
As far as career highlights go, Paul's favourite moment (so far) was speaking at Social Media Marketing World. He'd set himself a 6 year goal, attended for 5 years and was then asked to take the stage in 2020.
It's actually quite lucky is was still able to go ahead before COVID took hold, but Paul packed the biggest room at the conference venue and delivered an engaging and passionate keynote on his specialty topic - Facebook Ads.
This is second to his goal of "getting the f*ck outta my own way" and launching his own agency in 2015.
But don't think he's resting on his laurels. Paul's still got big dreams. He'd like to lead a team of passionate marketers and step even more out of the technical side of his business - leaving his dedicated staff to implement autonomously as he works more inside his creative genius zone.
Something I'm sure many marketers and business owners alike can relate to!
Being a full-time YouTuber is also a goal that stokes Paul's creative fire.
Words of wisdom
I asked Paul what advice he has for upcoming marketers and this is what he shared with me.
Have a good product/service. Long-term success is built on good products marketed authentically and fills a specific need to your market.
Price your services correctly.
Sell to the right market.
THEN, and only then - look at the creative and promotional strategy. Your digital strategy isn't a magic bullet.
Paul doesn't consider himself a personal branding expert, but as someone with a strong personal brand I wanted to get his thoughts.
He told me that his personal brand is an extension of his personal beliefs and thinks authenticity is key in this arena.
You do you, but the closer you project your own values, the more easily it is to attract the right clients...and in the same vein, stop attracting the wrong ones.
Plus - if you're doing brand you, no-one else can replicate that. Dr Seuss wasn't messing, No-one's you-er than you.
Who do you look up to?
Gary V is a definite inspiration to Paul, but after having the opportunity to meet him on occasion, Paul decided that following his marketing idols was messing with his ability to communicate authentically as himself. So he's stopped consuming content from his idols.
He now concentrates more on following marketers who are doing cool things from a technical perspective like Jon Loomer, Charlie Lawrence and Gavin Bell and cites them as worth following to discover the more technical side of learning Facebook advertising.
Grill The Marketer
I asked Paul what he's most looking forward to about Grill The Marketer, and unsurprisingly he really just wants to help people get better results from their Facebook Ads.
His goal when speaking is always "how do I provide as much value as possible to ensure the attendees who are choosing to spend their money and attention (arguably the most important currency we have as humans) on me - how do I make it as valuable an experience as possible so they walk away being informed, engaged and entertained."
Sound like he's ready to drop some knowledge bombs on our audience!
You can find out more about Paul on his website, read his Facebook Ad case study, or come along to Grill The Marketer where you can see him in his first public speaking engagement in his hometown!
We recommend not missing this opportunity.
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