Interview with Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director – Fabulous Media

By Deepak Kanakaraju in Digital Marketing — Dec 2, 2020

Mr Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director of Fabulous Media, has been in the digital marketing industry for the last 15 years. His latest venture GoCommercially aims to empower SME’s and budding entrepreneurs of the world to determine their own success. He was PAN India brand ambassador and official spokesperson of Truecaller. He is a bicycling enthusiast and has a deep passion for technology, design and innovation.

Further, Let us hear from him

Hello and Welcome Nikhil,

Sure, I come from a family without a business background and I’m the only one in my family who got into the business. One can not expect to get support for business or entrepreneurship from the family if none had been in the business, let alone support to get started in a new age industry, as Digital was in 2005.

Now, my career began when I stepped into digital marketing in the year 2005 because of sheer luck. I have been an artist with a scientific fervour, so it didn’t take long for me to learn that to succeed in digital marketing, one has to have a good grasp of consumer consumption behaviour, design, and technology. I began learning online and soon after I found myself in the biggest digital marketing firms in India at that time, as a part of a team that had India’s first 3 Google certified professionals working with me. But life unfolds in its own ways, I began my own company with employees who had no background in digital as such, but who came from really downtrodden families and needed work. I trained them myself and that’s how Fabulous Media was incepted, which now has a proven track record of serving 800+ clients over 31 nations for 12+ years.

But that’s not what I am proud of as much as I am proud of the fact that I get to help the budding entrepreneurs of India with my latest venture GoCommercially. GoCommercially is a platform to enable the small and medium-size businesses of India to find their presence online with all the digital tool & tech needed for helping them establish their business online and to grow sustainably.

Along with running these enterprises, I have certain philanthropic inclinations as well. I have run a digital agency long enough to realize that life is not about the money you make because you can always make plenty if you do things right. Life is about the difference you make in the lives of people around you. And that becomes your legacy. I am not in the business to just make money or attain a materialistic status. I am in the business to generate a legacy, and the best way I believe I could do that is by helping people scale up their businesses so that the entire economy grows and more people could have the opportunity to live a good quality of life. LinkedIn Profile

According to you, what’s the best way to start the day?

The best way to start the day would be my morning routine, so let me tell you a bit about that. I am strictly a morning person and am very fond of looking at the red sky in the morning right when the sun is about to rise. I wake up, drink plenty of water to hydrate my body, which I believe we all must take very good care of. After being done with the morning chores, I like to stretch myself with a few Yogasanas and do some breathing exercises. This, I have experienced, calms my mind and prepares me to take the day head-on. Then I have a light breakfast, usually consisting of some seasonal fruits and dried nuts. This gives me enough energy to start the day the right way. Then my secretory helps me navigate through the appointments for the day. This is how I start my day and would advise anyone I care about to do the same.

Who do you look up to? Who is or has been your inspiration?

I have certain ideologies that help me navigate through this world. One such ideology is never to be stringent about a specific role model. I don’t have one, but many people who I derive inspiration from. These people don’t even have to be the bigshots in their respective domains. I think if you are a good student, even inanimate objects could inspire you. People learnt a lot about patience from the earth and the trees. People have been inspired by the depth of the ocean. I have an insatiable hunger for learning, and I learn from anyone and everyone that fascinates me. More recently, I connect with Gary Vaynerchuk because I am an admirer of his simplicity and brute honesty.

What makes digital marketing different from traditional marketing?

As I said before, digital marketing has shown double-digit growth in about a decade. Digital marketing has disrupted the market by breaking the geographical or socio-linguistic boundaries of traditional media. It’s much less expensive and produces more results as compared to the traditional marketing channels. Not to undermine the importance of traditional media options which are still relevant in a handful of industries, digital marketing has a scope that goes much farther and wider than any other channel that we have seen yet.

What are your three favourite digital marketing tools?

Google Adwords
Google analytics and
GoCommercially Platform

How would you define success in your career?

As I said, I am an artist with a scientific fervour. I like to find out the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises, startups and other businesses to reach their target audience and solve them using the right marketing tools and technology. If I help such businesses scale up faster and save money at the same time, I’d be content with that and call it a success for me.

What is your biggest dream in life?

My biggest dream in life is to keep on being a learner as I am. I aspire to keep on helping as many businesses scale up using my years of experience in the digital domain. I wish to rise in the hierarchy of the world by helping enough people achieve their goals, and be a good role model for the upcoming line of entrepreneurs.

What’s worth spending more on to get the best?

The time we spend taking care of health, be it physical, mental, emotional or social, gives exponential returns. Only if a person is detoxified and healthy can they position themselves to harness the full potential of their mind and body. When one does that, not only do they excel in their career but also help others around them climb up the ladder of growth. So spend a considerable amount of time taking care of your health regularly. As they say; Health is the true wealth.

Lastly, would you like to say something to our readers?

Invest in yourself. The first essential you all have to invest in is your health. Only when you are healthy can you begin to think about your career and otherworldly businesses. So plan out your day in such a way that you read and practice healthy living tips every day. Another thing I’d like to share with the readers is to set pragmatic goals for yourself.

Thank you, we truly appreciate your valuable time spent with us.

Wishing you the best in all your future endeavours.

Cheers,

Deepak Kanakaraju