The Social Media Marketing Wunderkind

MakingBank S3E25 with Ben Malol

People are always looking for a way to get rich quick. They’re constantly asking ‘What is the magical venture that will simultaneously fulfill my creative drive, give me tons of cash, and all the freedom in the world?’ I’m not going to say it doesn’t exist, but…it doesn’t exist. At least not at the beginning, and usually not with all three components.

You might find something creative with freedom that doesn’t make you a ton of money. Or you could find freedom and cash flow, with a mind numbingly tedious venture.  You might even be lucky enough to find something creatively fulfilling that makes you money, but still consumes every waking minute of your life. Pick your poison.

Ben Malol joined us on this week’s podcast and was very candid about the beginning of his career in ecommerce. After a few “learning experiences” in affiliate marketing and Ebay, he found himself quite successful in a short period of time working in the Shopify space doing drop shipping. The thing he had been looking for—a virtual gig that actually made him money, was finally making him money, but he found it soulless. He had the freedom and the cash, but no creative satisfaction or pride in his work.

From that realization, he was able to transition into a marketing, branding, and advertising space that opened up and entirely new revenue stream for him. He created a marketing agency, Facebook ad program, and education space that allowed him to make money, gain freedom, and stretch that creative muscle he had sacrificed in his early career.

How did he do it? He took a blueprint and built something bigger and more specific to his brand from it. “The biggest struggle that I had to really grow from was following a blueprint track. It’s like going from being responsive to the environment to actually taking initiative and responsibility for the environment.”

There is only so much you can learn from courses. They are immensely helpful for jumping into an unknown marketplace, but what can make or break an individual is whether or not they stick to the prescribed path or start to cut their own once they understand the landscape. That is the difference in what took Ben Malol from a financially profitable online career, to the idealized trifecta of entrepreneurship: money, freedom, creativity.

In the past few years, the practice of mindfulness captured the imaginations of millenials and entrepreneurs alike. The goal of mindfulness is to achieve an active state of focused relaxation by purposeful attention to thoughts and sensations without judgement.  Without using that specific technique, Malol attributes his success to a similar idea.

“People think they’re not successful because of some outside scenario, but they’re not successful because they’re not aware or conscious to what they’re doing.”

Don’t blindly follow a how-to on ecommerce, or clickfunnels, or affiliate marketing, or whatever the next digital cash cow may be. Take purposeful action that enhances the goal of your specific pursuit. You are creating your career, and Malol’s radical success theory?—take responsibility for it!

The blueprint’s are great. Online courses have so much to offer. But the person who takes autonomy over their ideas and pursuits will achieve far greater success than blindly following a generic plan. Challenge and test the systems you follow to glean the best results for yourself.

To learn more from Ben Malol and his Facebook Marketing genius, or to just have a damn good time check out his Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube.