This That and the Other about Naveen Kapur
Feb 19
Name: Naveen Kapur
Age: Young at heart and young in mind
Country: Global citizen who spends most of his time in India
Mission in life: To bring the Internet Marketing Mantra to as many people as possible and convert skeptics into die hard followers
The Void
I vividly remember the day the Almighty Internet stepped into India. It was a warm humid day in August 1995 and the Indian government’s office in New Delhi where you had to formally apply for Internet access wasn’t exactly mobbed. There were no trumpets, marching bands or confetti showers. Most people hadn’t heard of the Internet and could care less.
More than a decade and half later, the scenario is very different. The Almighty Internet has become the indispensable Internet for all in India and points beyond. It is on mobile phones, on netbooks and notebooks, on home security alarms, on mall kiosks and even on a home appliance or two. I have attempted in this brief personal profile to dwell on my achievements and milestones as they relate to the spectacular growth of the Internet in India. I have also attempted, in my own humble way, to establish a viable connection between the past and the future by zooming in on the present. Where do we stand today in the larger scheme of things and what are some of the possible directions we can dare to take? These are some of the questions that are sure to arise out of the debate– a few talking points that I hope to initiate as the focal points of this journey.
The Crossroads
If you asked me to describe the single most significant paradigm shift that I have noticed in the Internet space in the past one year, I will submit that it is the convergence of search engine optimization, search marketing and social media. The boundaries are blurred and the technologies that support the integration continue to race at an impressive pace. Fortunately, I have made strides in all three realms:
Milestones in SEO
It is a matter of great pride for me that all my clients’ websites rank on the first page of Google for high volume and high competition keywords. Ask me to send you my ranking spreadsheet which I update every week and I will be honored to do so. A few examples include:
www.getcheacheapsecuredloans.com
Advanced strategies I use to optimize my clients’ websites:
- High powered keyword research
- On-page SEO including metadata development and fully updated XML sitemaps
- Off-page SEO which includes over forty different strategies such as article syndication, press release optimization and blog optimization
- Recipes with many secret ingredients which I have evolved over the past ten years
Milestones in SEM
Search marketing is one of my core competencies and I can honestly say that the success I have achieved for my clients using Google Adwords and Facebook PPC has greatly solidified my client base. Increased web traffic, increased interaction and increased sales—all have added to the equation and generated quantifiable results. In 2010 alone, I single-handedly managed a Google Adwords budget of more than $25,000. My approach is simple– rev up the quality score, reduce the bid price, position the client in the top three Adword positions, and in the process, save the client tons of money. One of my clients, New Era Management Institute, experienced a 500% spike in admissions in all its undergraduate and graduate programs owing entirely to the Google Adwords campaign I manage for them.
Milestones in Social Media
Social media is the 21st century’s Ode to the Nightingale. An Internet marketing campaign today with no social media is like a train station with no platform. Through social media profile development, social bookmarking and other Web 2.0 strategies, my clients receive tremendous SMO exposure which intuitively translates into lots of traffic and lots of sales. I build these social media profiles on Facebook, Linked In and a host of other social media platforms for our clients who tell me that these profiles are a cut above the rest. They are sharp, impressive and endowed with a truly professional flavor.
Milestones in Affiliate Marketing
Google Affiliate Networks, Click Bank, Clicks Galore, Commission Junction and Revenue Wire are all my sworn partners in crime. I fervently believe that affiliate marketing is the only proven stepping stone to Internet riches. It isn’t a pie in the sky that many Internet skeptics make it out to be. Rather, it is a form of advanced online marketing which rightfully demands a well-articulated plan of action and flawless implementation. Perceived intuitively, affiliate marketing can really jingle some heavy duty change in your pockets. I have incorporated affiliate marketing not only in its various shades and nuances in each of the websites I own but also on many of my clients’ Internet properties much to their joy and ever-lasting satisfaction. Perhaps I can do it for you too and help you secure your financial future in ways that are still known to a relatively few experts.
Milestones in e-mail Marketing
The Can Spam Act and the Digital Millennium statute not withstanding, e-mail marketing is alive and kicking. It continues to remain the single most cost-effective means of reaching target audiences through clearly defined processes. I have been providing e-mail and direct marketing services to my clients using cutting-edge software which I have deployed on www.emailmarketings.net. The system and the service function exactly like Aweber and Constant Contact except for the price and the highly competitive nature of the service delivery model. The e-mail messages I routinely send out on behalf of my clients are engaging in a gentle way, informative and leave no stone unturned to drive online sales.
The Inner Circle of Entrepreneurship
I am an entrepreneur to the core and have been one ever since I graduated from university with a degree in humanities. Two years ago, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and put up my first website, www.MoreGoogleTraffic.com, for sale. I had developed the website from inception and taken it all the way to page one of Google’s search engine results for an arsenal full of highly competitive keywords including a few long tails. Before I knew it, the website sold for a very impressive sum of money and for once I found my way to the bank in high spirits. I subsequently replicated the same experience in December 2010 when I sold my second website, www.GetCheapSecuredLoans.com for almost twice the initial amount my first website had raked in at the auction block. My second website sold for a remarkable price also because of the passive auto-pilot income that it was generating each month. Although by no means a king’s ransom, the website continues to generate steady income for its new owners that is sufficient to pay more than a few monthly bills. A combination of income-producing measures such as Google AdSense, affiliate sales and CPA advertising take the credit. I have many more websites on the anvil and should you ever become interested in buying a ready-to-go income producing website with a track record of sustainability, please drop me a note and we can take matters to the next level.
Hosting the Web
If you haven’t heard of www.WebHostingMonsters.com, now you have. Web Hosting Monsters is my very own hosting service company which I have been operating successfully since 2004. I have, over the years, helped thousands of companies host their websites, dedicated servers and portals in an environment that is not only safe and secure but also highly affordable. You can also ask me to assist you with VPNs, reseller hosting, static IPs, proxy servers, e-commerce servers, customized business solutions and much more. One of my prize clients includes Spice Jet, one of India’s premier airlines which operates hundreds of flights every day all over India. If I am good for one of India’s leading airlines, I am surely good for you.
Joomla WordPress and Beyond
Joomla and WordPress are household names today. They were alien concepts as recently as 2005 which is when I first commenced developing websites on open source CMS platforms. Building Joomla and WordPress websites with e-commerce functionality, shopping carts and payment gateways comes to me naturally due to my extensive exposure and experience levels. I have lost count but I have built over 200 websites over the past six years and optimized most of them on Google. Creating websites is creative and building them in Joomla and WordPress is rewarding. I am a passionate believer in open source technologies and believe that open source is where the future of the Internet rests.
The Second Hat
Professionals around the world routinely multi-task and wear several hats all at the same time. I am not sure if I am a mad hatter who falls in this category but there is a second dimension to my professional commitment which itself has three dimensions or the 3 Ds. When I set up India’s first independent multimedia training institute in 1993 called Caba Innovatives, the Internet was nowhere on the horizon. Multimedia CDs were the order of the day and 3D animation was in its infancy waiting in the wings and getting ready to experience unprecedented growth spurts. In almost two decades, my Institute called Caba has graduated more than 10,000 multimedia, web designing and animation students most of whom eventually found their way to the country’s most distinguished media outlets and houses such as Sony Television, MTV India, Zee Television, NDTV India and CNN. In addition to my complex administrative duties, I take the time out to personally mentor my students in the art and science of digital multimedia with exclusive reference to today’s ever-expanding Internet canvas. The “Net” as it is endearingly referred to in my country, provides a level playing field for one and all. It provides you with an unprecedented opportunity to leverage technology and prove your real worth to the rest of humanity. I have taken my message about the power and potential of the Internet beyond my four walls to other MBA institutes, schools, colleges and professional bodies where I have answered hundreds of questions about Internet marketing, search engine optimization, Internet careers and the future of the Internet. I possess excellent verbal communication skills which is perhaps why many of these organizations have asked me to return to the podium year after year and engage their audiences. I have developed hundreds of multimedia corporate presentations for bigwigs like American Express, HTA, O&M, Lintas, Birla Yamaha, Zee, Taj Hotels and even the Delhi Police for whom we developed a multimedia presentation on traffic control and logistics for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. I also recall having scripted and developed a corporate presentation for a coal mine company in Melbourne Australia called Jellinbah which was a great hit. The fact that folks from Down Under had allowed an Indian company to develop their in-house presentation is indeed commendable especially since this was well before the age of outsourcing, BPOs, contact centers and Bangalore.
Post-production and Editing
Caba was the first in India to launch curriculum-based training in linear editing and post-production. Today, it is all digital and very much state-of-the-art. Our active participation in the hardware arena involved the setting up of full-service editing suites for our clients, assembling PCs and providing networking solutions at prices which were very competitive and were backed by ongoing training and customer support. Our roster of services delivered professionally on time and under budget included editing soaps for the hungry masses, corporate films, advertisements, teasers, show packaging– the works. As they say, “better late than never.” Recognition finally arrived in the form of scores of awards and certificates of commendation including the Youngest Entrepreneur of the Year Award. I was interviewed by all the major channels and I sure did enjoy my two moments of fame and stardom. I was invited by India’s #1 computer magazine, PC Quest, to write for them on topics of current interest and review new products from the multimedia realm. My full length book on Corel Draw was also published in the late nineties and I was subsequently offered a book contract by the National Institute of Information Technology. I am currently working on a book entitled “Link Building 101” which I hope to publish soon. The grand finale arrived when I received the Blue Ribbon Web Designing Award from Altavista, the precursor to Mr. Google.
The Eureka Moment of my professional career, however, came knocking when India’s Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee inaugurated one of the country’s largest Hare Krishna ISCKON Temples in New Delhi. I had conceptualized and developed a multimedia presentation for the occasion using animatronics. The event was the first official engagement of the Prime Minister on his first day of office. I received much appreciation and commendation for my creative sojourn.
Just for the Record
After pursuing my high school diploma from a leading private school in New Delhi, I attended Panjab University and graduated with an undergraduate degree in humanities. I subsequently pursued advanced-level education and training in computers in Singapore and returned to India armed with a passion to succeed. I obtained my Ph.D. in Multimedia Sciences from Atlantic International University, Florida USA (Online) in august 2003 and continue to teach and mentor students to this day. I live in Gurgaon, a sprawling New Delhi suburb with my wife, two children and a very faithful dog.
Hopping down memory lane is indeed fun. However, it should never distract us from our present and our future. As professionals who ride a rocky road paved with innovation, every action is a judgment call. What I have presented here is not meant to be a chapter from my autobiography which I hope to write some day. Rather, it is meant to share the lessons I have learnt over the years and serve as inspiration for you and me to work closely in a spirit of harmony where the means and the end are perfectly balanced with each other.
