Let’s rewind the clock to where it all started, a decade ago…
To understand what led me to be in this business, let’s take a stroll down memory lane…
Back then I was involved in various ventures before starting Radical Marketing.
(Even tried my hands at a small print shop…)
Now, fast forward to the present day…
It’s incredible to see how much this business has grown and evolved over the years.
Join me in this video as I take you back to where it all began.
I’ll share untold stories that paved the way for where we are today.
This video will reveal my journey through pivotal moments, challenges I’ve faced and what made my mindset evolve…
Transitioning from a lifestyle business approach to setting our sights on becoming the leader in our niche.
If you want to be a part of this journey with us…
Consider this your backstage pass to understanding why we’re here and what propels us to move forward.
We hope you enjoy this special video about the history of Radical Marketing in this video.
Introduction
Hey guys, Terence here. Today, I wanna share with you a very special video where we’re gonna talk about the history of Radical Marketing.
The Importance of Understanding History
So why is understanding the history important? It’s because by understanding the history of Radical Marketing, hopefully you will get a better understanding of what we’ve been through, why we’re here today, why we are at this position here today, where we’re going and how we’re gonna get there, so that the vision and the mission get clearer for you.
And I think that is so important for you to buy into the vision and the mission of the business to understand Radical Marketing.
My Journey into Marketing
To understand my journey, it helps to know a bit about my background. My passion for marketing began in my late teens when I happened to come across a few marketing books at home, likely brought in by my parents. Curious, I started reading them and was immediately hooked. That initial spark followed me to university, where my curiosity deepened into a genuine dedication to the field.
Academic Pursuits
During my undergraduate studies in economics, I intentionally took several marketing courses to satisfy my growing curiosity. That interest ultimately led me to pursue advanced education in the field, completing both an Honours degree and a Master’s degree in marketing in Australia.
Venturing into Education
Because I enjoyed marketing so much, I ended up staying in academia as a lecturer, tutor, and researcher. Back in the late 1990s, I focused heavily on internet marketing. Since it was such a new field at the time, I was frequently recruited by different schools. Griffith University was my main base, but I also taught in the Master’s programs at QUT and the University of Sydney, which was an incredible experience.
Transition to Practicality
Through all this lecturing, research, and writing books and papers, I realised one thing was missing: the practical application. Even though I had my students working on real-life projects, it was not enough for me. So, I ventured outside academia. While still lecturing part-time, I got into real estate investing and purchased an existing business; a suburban print shop in a shopping centre that offered photocopies, custom mugs, t-shirts, and similar services.
Looking back, I honestly do not know why I jumped into those specific businesses, but I suddenly found myself running two: real estate investments and a retail copy shop.
Business Ventures and Challenges
The real estate business became quite successful and kept growing (not because I was particularly clever) but mainly due to good timing.
I made a considerable amount of money and moved into developments.
On the other hand, the small print shop kept going and evolved into a book publishing and self-publishing services business. Things went well on the real estate side until the 2008 Global Financial Crisis hit.
By 2009, that business went under, and by 2010, the sheer amount of debt forced me to file for bankruptcy. Yet at the same time, thanks to the publishing business, that side of things was thriving.
Even though I was going broke in real estate, the publishing company grew year after year, eventually hitting close to one million Australian dollars in turnover by 2011.
Shift to Malaysia and Changes
So, I gave up the real estate stuff to focus entirely on book publishing. However, after my daughter was born in 2011, we decided to move to Malaysia in 2012. I naively thought I could continue running the Australian publishing business with my staff working remotely, but that did not work out too well.
On top of that, Amazon launched its own self-publishing service completely for free. We used to charge thousands of dollars, and suddenly Amazon was offering it for nothing, so that business model was basically destroyed by Amazon.
In 2013, I asked myself what I was really good at and passionate about, and the answer was marketing. I decided to start a marketing agency and do some consultancy work. Back in 2013, I was not running ads yet and did not fully know what I was doing, taking on various branding and consultancy jobs that were not particularly successful. But then I noticed Facebook Ads and saw a huge opportunity. I thoroughly researched the platform, even though I did not have a client yet.
That changed when I was introduced to Aaron Sim from Wealth Mentors. He promoted international speakers in Singapore and Malaysia and was looking for a way to get bums on seats. I asked him if he had tried Facebook Ads. He said no and asked if it worked, so I suggested running a one-month test to see the results. We ended up crushing it. Compared to traditional marketing like newspaper ads, we were getting leads super cheap.
Back in 2013 or 2014, hardly anyone was doing seminar marketing on Facebook in Malaysia, and from that success, we quickly picked up more clients in the coaching and seminar space
Office Space and Team Growth
I remember back then, I was working out of my friend’s office. She didn’t really use it and said, “Hey, why don’t you use my office since I hardly use it?” I stayed there until she told me she was selling the office.
So, I just moved downstairs to a neighbour’s office. He said, “Hey, we have one little office room for rent.” I said, “Okay, sure, let’s do it.”
Lifestyle Business Beginnings
All the while, I had a mindset of, “Hey, if I can just get a few clients myself and make ten or twenty grand a month, I’m pretty happy.” So I wasn’t really thinking big or anything; I was just thinking this could be a really good lifestyle business.
Business Growth and Hiring
As I started growing a little bit, I realised, “Hey, it would be cool to find someone who can actually help me out.” I was doing all the work myself, but I was not really that good at graphic design, so I decided to get a graphic designer to assist me.
Relocation to KK and Team Expansion
At that point in time, I decided we wanted a better lifestyle and better health reasons for my family, because my daughter was coughing a lot due to the annual haze in KL. So we decided to move to KK, which is where my wife’s family is from.
My parents also wanted to move to KK from KL for the better lifestyle, so we all relocated. That is where I hired my first proper team member. I had actually hired someone else previously, but she didn’t work out.
Then I hired Angel! And Angel, if you’re watching this video, which I hope you are, you were my first real team member! Thankfully, I selected a really good one at the start, which helped me free up more time to grow the business.
Focusing on Coaching Space
Throughout all these subsequent years, from 2017 or thereabouts, we have basically been focusing on growing our clientele in the coaching space.
For a few years, to be honest, it was a case of one step forward and one step back. There were various reasons for that: taking on the wrong clients, poor hiring choices, and the pandemic did not help either. We had to pivot from seminars to webinars, which disrupted our business in the short term, even though it helped a lot long-term.
But overall, the business has now reached a point where we are genuinely focused on growing big.
Vision for the Future
That is why we have this big vision of growing 50x by 2033. In summary, that is where we came from and where we are at. Obviously, to me, this is just the beginning of the journey, and I think there are much more exciting days to come.
Mindset Transformation
One of the biggest things that was holding me and the business back was my mindset. As I mentioned, I started out with a lifestyle business mindset and did not really want to grow that big, mostly due to limiting beliefs and misconceptions.
But now, that weight has been lifted. As I grow personally, I believe the business will continue to grow as well. My mindset has truly expanded, and I am just so excited that you are on board with us on this journey.
Team Collaboration and Future Outlook
I just look forward to having an awesome team of Navy SEALs, working together, kicking ass, and making a dent in the universe.
Thank you so much for watching! I really hope you enjoyed this video, and that sums up the history of Radical Marketing.
