"The most effective way to succeed with marketing is to concentrate on creating content that establishes trust."
Anfernee Chansamooth is a content strategist, copywriter, and podcaster. His company Simple Creative Marketing is known for creating case studies and epic posts to drive traffic for web business owners so they don’t have to. SCM typically works with $1Mil+ services and software businesses that also sell online training. Anf has worked with leading brands such as Bean Ninjas, SYSTEMology, and Hub Australia. He’s been featured in Forbes, Inc, Good Men Project, and Huffington Post.
Anf calls Sydney, Australia home and he enjoys going on adventures with his wife Cindy.
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Table of Contents
Thank you so much for giving us your time! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and take us through what exactly your company does and what your vision is for its future?
Anfernee Chansamooth: The most common marketing and sales challenges are, in reality, issues with establishing credibility in the eyes of your buyers.
The most effective way to succeed with marketing is to concentrate on creating content that establishes trust.
This is why we concentrate on generating case studies for our B2B clients. Our clients have discovered that there’s nothing like a solid case study bolstered with authoritative information to convert a potential client from interested and inspired to paying customer.
My vision is to be known as the leading company to produce customer success stories that help small businesses attract great clients, build credibility quickly, and sell more effectively.
NO child ever says I want to be a CEO/entrepreneur when I grow up. What did you want to be and how did you get where you are today?
Anfernee Chansamooth: I’ve always been a massive fan of cartoon shows about exploration, such as pirate stories and a series by the name of Mysterious Cities of Gold. What I remember most is their bravery and how they worked as a team. So, I guess you could say that I wanted to be an adventurer in some way, someone who explored distant places and had thrilling adventures. I still enjoy the feeling of freedom and adventure that comes with travel as an adult, and I like being surrounded every day by people who have similar values and goals.
At university, I studied computing and information management. That led to a career in IT and project management. I worked for a Fortune 100 company until 2009 when I was made redundant due to the GFC and corporate restructuring. For the next few years, I took on odd jobs to pay the bills and developed skills in social media marketing. I was 100% self-taught. In 2014 I was the marketing manager for a national coworking company with its head office in Sydney. Things were great initially, but over time our marketing team shrunk, and I ended up wearing multiple hats and burning out. I needed to pay my rent and save up for our wedding.
I decided to pursue my own business as the stress and long hours took their toll on my health and personal life. I had observed during my time there that many of our small business clients struggled with their marketing. I didn’t know exactly what I would do next. Still, I was open to experimenting, so I took a part-time job as a digital marketing consultant for a non-profit that gave me regular cash flow to pay my rent. I launched a done-for-you article writing service as part of a 7-day startup challenge.
It was a simple landing page with a discounted launch offer for the first five customers, an explanation of what I would deliver, and a Paypal buy button. I shared this in a Facebook group that I was a member of, and within the first 72 hours, I had three clients. I eventually quit my part-time job and focused full-time on my article-writing service.
I married the love of my life in 2017. She helped me run my company, and we became digital nomads for the next 18 months. We traveled and worked from our laptops in several cities around the world. Six years since I launched my content service, we’re still going strong with a small team.
Tell us something about yourself that others in your organization might be surprised to know.
Anfernee Chansamooth: A couple of things others might now know about me:
- I had brain surgery in 2005 after being stressed and overworked in my corporate job
- I lived in Toronto, Canada, for a couple of years. During that time I hosted over 60 strangers on my couch as a Couchsurfing Ambassador.
Many readers may wonder how to become an entrepreneur but what is an entrepreneur? How would you define it?
Anfernee Chansamooth: A person who has an entrepreneurial mindset has a vision for doing something better, a hopeful attitude, an emphasis on solutions, self-motivation, and the ability to take chances.
In my experience, entrepreneurship is a skill that can be developed with training and practice. If you can recognize and address issues, have a healthy dose of self-confidence, and execute your business concept, you’ll be successful.
However, entrepreneurs have several more qualities, such as a love for what they do and perseverance, among others, that allow them to succeed in the face of adversity. Entrepreneurship is about developing specific skills and knowing how to think differently from everyone else – this mentality must be cultivated over time.
What is the importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture?
Anfernee Chansamooth: It’s essential to have a supportive and inclusive culture because it allows people to feel comfortable being themselves and brings out the best in them. When people feel safe and accepted, they are more likely to take risks and be creative. A supportive culture also helps to build trust, which is essential for any business. Especially during times of uncertainty, you want to feel like you’re working with people who have got each other’s backs.
How can a leader be disruptive in the post covid world?
Anfernee Chansamooth: For a leader to be disruptive, they must first disrupt their own patterns and beliefs. This is not easy to do, and it takes courage.
It’s crucial that a leader remains curious and continues to learn. Leaders must also be open to change and new ideas and be willing to experiment. They need to be present to social and technological advances and steer the ship accordingly.
Leaders need to be authentic and genuine in their interactions with others. Only then will people trust them and follow them into the unknown.
Having now survived the GFC and working through a global pandemic, I’m reminded that a leader’s superpowers are kindness, compassion, and empathy. Don’t lose sight of the fact that we are humans serving other humans – so treating everyone with dignity and respect is the foundation of exceptional leadership.
If a 5-year-old asked you to describe your job, what would you tell them?
Anfernee Chansamooth: My job is to help business owners tell a real story that makes others want to buy from them.
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Anfernee Chansamooth: In my third year of business, I made the tough decision to shut down the most profitable service offering the company had at the time. I felt I couldn’t consistently provide the high standards that both us and our customers expected. This meant that 60% of our income vanished in an instant.
The benefits were that we could concentrate on a more scalable product that didn’t rely as much on my availability for clients. This meant less stress on me, my team, and our clients because they could go out and find someone else who could provide them with what they required.
Leaders are usually asked about their most useful qualities but let’s change things up a bit. What is your most useless talent?
Anfernee Chansamooth: My most useless talent is that I often store random facts about pro basketball and other things. It comes in handy sometimes, but it just takes up space in my brain for the most part. I’d much rather be good at something useful!
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, we do have one more question. If you wrote a book about your life until today, what would the title be?
Anfernee Chansamooth: “Dare to Escape: An entrepreneur’s quest to live passionately and confidently”
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Anfernee Chansamooth for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Anfernee Chansamooth or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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