Falling into a Career in FinTech and Content Marketing With Ina Yulo (S6E16)

Updated on | Sign up for learn to code tips


More and more people are using technology to manage their money these days, and it’s led to a boom in FinTech — a mashup term of “finance” and “technology.”

FinTech companies could include stock trading apps, online-only banks, income and spending analyzers, money transfer apps, and so on.

Ina YuloIna Yulo’s studies and career started with more of a passion for words than numbers. Born and raised in the Philippines, she speaks four languages fluently. She did her undergrad in communication arts, added a second degree in European Studies, then earned her master’s in Marketing Management and moved to London to work in advertising.

She fell into tech out of accident and necessity, when she realized the only well-paying marketing job opportunities were at tech companies. She started managing an IT community at BrightTALK, working on topics from business intelligence to big data. Then she heard of something new—FinTech—and put together a business plan to pitch to senior management.

That pitch led directly to where Ina is today: the global manager for BrightTALK’s FinTech and financial services community (plus their women in business community, which she also founded). She knows the kind of content that people in FinTech and financial services want, the trends in the industry, and the job landscape, and she’s here to share that expertise with us.

working in an office

In this episode, Ina talks about current innovations in FinTech, what kinds of jobs are available and what level of tech skills you might need, and her advice for startup founders and women in business.

This episode was transcribed with the help of an AI transcription tool. Please forgive any typos.

Laurence Bradford 0:08
Hi, and welcome back to the Learn to Code With Me podcast. I'm your host, Laurence Bradford. And this episode, we'll talk about what's happening in the world of FinTech at the moment, what jobs there are in fintax. In the most common mistake new business and startup owners make, that's all coming up after a quick word about how you can support the show.

Laurence Bradford 0:32
Wouldn't it be great if you could get paid to learn how to code even if you're a total beginner just starting out on your own learn to code journey? Well, I'm here to tell you that you can do this, my free eBook 28 Ways to Earn A Side Income While Learning How to Code walks you through 28 different side gigs you can do to turn your tech skills into dollars, even if you're just starting out. You can download it for free over at learntocodewith.me/sidegig today. Again, the URL is learntocodewith.me/sidegig.

Laurence Bradford 1:12
Hello again. In today's episode I talk with Ina Yulo. Ina is the global manager for bright talks FinTech and women in business communities. She also advises companies including tech giants and large banks on content marketing. She's on the women and FinTech power list and was named a We Are the City Rising Star for 2018. And she is a speaker and a mentor for business owners. I want to speak to ina because there are a lot of opportunities in tech industries like biotech, Ed Tech and FinTech. These industries are often well suited to career changers who already have experience in for example, education or finance. In our conversation today we talk about how Ina fell into a career in finance. Tech, current trends in the industry. And the most common mistake new startup business owners make. I hope you enjoy the interview.

Laurence Bradford 2:11
Hey, Ina, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Ina Yulo 2:14
Thanks so much for having me Laurence.

Laurence Bradford 2:15
I'm really excited to talk to you today and about your background and your story. It's really interesting. And to get things going, I would love to talk about what you studied in college. And I saw online that you studied marketing and communications. And you had an interest in those areas. It looks like from a young age. What drew you to those fields?

Ina Yulo 2:36
Sure. So yeah, I always had an interest in I guess my dad always said that anything that allowed me to talk, right. But I, I always like reading, writing. I think I just really had this this passion for words. So when I did my undergrad in the Philippines, which where I'm from, so I went to a school called Ateneo de Manila University and I did my undergrad in communication arts with a focus on advertising and PR. So it was really funny actually, I remember not really knowing what I wanted to do growing up as happens, which happens to most people. And I was watching Dr. That film, How to Lose a Guy in 10 days. The Kate Hudson?

Laurence Bradford 3:14
Yeah, yeah.

Ina Yulo 3:15
So I was watching that. And they had to come up with that campaign called like, ice yourself for this De Beers jewelry ad. And I remember telling my mom, what is that job? I think that's really cool just coming up with, you know, with coffee with a slogan with an entire idea around this campaign and this product. So she said, Oh, that's advertising. So that's how I realized, Oh, that's a really cool job for me. So that was my first degree, actually an undergrad. So I kind of I just loved studying and I was also in the varsity softball team. So I wanted to extend my playing years, so I decided to do a double degree and extend for another year. So my second degree is in European studies, and then I focused on international business, and I said to add something else to that. So I did a minor in Hispanic studies as well. And the marketing degree that you were mentioning was actually the Master's in marketing management degree that I did when I moved at age 23. And did that in Barcelona. So yeah, a lot of studying. And, again, I can't I don't even understand how I was able to do that now thinking back.

Laurence Bradford 4:18
That's so interesting. And this was, so it sounds like you were studying in the Philippines, and then you went to Barcelona later.

Laurence Bradford 4:26
Yes. That's correct.

Laurence Bradford 4:27
Oh, awesome. And I mean, just again, looking at your background before the interview, it looks like you've lived and traveled a bunch in your like lifetime. Could you talk a little bit about that?

Ina Yulo 4:39
Yeah, sure. So I I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. So I did my all of my most of my studies there. And again, you know, left at age 23. Went to Barcelona, spent a year there. After graduation I went back to the Philippines just over summer holidays to kind of try to figure out how my life and then I bought a one way ticket to London. Because I just thought, Okay, I'm going to get back into the advertising industry. London is really where it's at when it comes to Europe. So I said, Okay, I'm going to try it out there. So I, I had no place to live. And I had no job waiting for me. I thankfully had a really good friend who's still my friend now. And he let me stay rent free in his guest room when I first got here.

Ina Yulo 5:20
So I've been living in London ever since. And, you know, luckily found a job after that. And yeah, I've been here for about five and a half years now. And when it comes to the traveling, it's just, it's just something I've always enjoyed. I think it's something that my parents probably instilled in me, from a really early age. They just always said, you know, they love traveling, they made sure that when we were growing up, we always were going to really fun and cool places. So every chance I get, I try to make sure that I do that. So even now, you know, I do live in London, but actually, in the next four weeks, I'm going to Four Weddings in four different countries. So that's going to be a little bit of a struggle, but hopefully really fun too.

Laurence Bradford 5:59
Oh my gosh, I have to ask which countries?

Ina Yulo 6:02
So I just got back from Canada. On Friday. I'm going to Norway. And then the two weddings in July are in France and Italy.

Laurence Bradford 6:10
Oh my goodness, that that makes my head spin. That's like I understand that a lot of those countries are fairly close to each other right in Europe but Canada's that's like, that's far it's across the ocean.

Ina Yulo 6:20
Yeah, definitely. I said someone was joking. Be like, Oh, is that for Weddings and a Funeral? And I said, Yeah, the funeral is gonna be mine.

Laurence Bradford 6:26
Oh, that's funny. Oh my gosh, yeah. That Wow. Because Yeah, here in the US, like, well, people will travel a lot for weddings, but it's usually you know, domestic, but still traveling across the country, like east to west coast is a five hour flight. But anyway, that's, that's beyond the point. Um, one thing that I saw on your bio that I think is really awesome, is that you speak four different languages fluently?

Ina Yulo 6:46
Yeah. So So I grew up bilingual. It's really funny because in the Philippines, I'm English and Filipino are both official languages. So it's just natural that most people I think, speak both to varying degrees, but we never I think think of ourselves. As bilingual it's only when I moved abroad that people really when people said, Oh, you speak both fluently. Oh, you grew up bilingual as an as like, Oh, I guess I did. So it's something that I guess I never thought of. So, English is my mother tongue. I learned Filipino. I started learning Filipino in school at age five, but I'm fluent now. And most Filipinos will speak a mix. So we call it taglish. Because the Filipino the more common Filipino language is called Tagalog. So I grew up speaking those two, I still speak those fluently.

Ina Yulo 7:26
Spanish I was improving, I went to a school that very much focused on Spanish growing up, and I, I got a lot better at it in when I was living in Barcelona. Now annoyingly enough, I can still read and write really well in Spanish. My speaking has been affected greatly because I now speak Norwegian. So I started learning Norwegian a few years ago because my fiance's Norwegian. And I just thought, you know, why not have another challenge for myself and my mother actually said, if you're serious about this guy, you better try to learn his language, so I did. And it just became the kind of new project for me. And I'm at the point that my fiance actually said that I'm close to fluent, which is really nice. And the nor the wedding, we're going to Norway, actually this week, and we've been asked to give a speech. So it'll be my first time giving a speech in Norwegian. So you know, fingers crossed, and not like.

Laurence Bradford 8:18
Wow, that's amazing. I always admire people can speak multiple languages, because I certainly cannot. And I think that's Yeah, that's really cool. So I'm transitioning a bit, but I would love to hear your story of how you first got into tech.

Ina Yulo 8:32
So yeah, it's a funny one. I didn't mean to get into tech, and honestly, it, it didn't really appeal to me. So again, I came to London wanting to get into advertising, realized that the industry was a lot harder to break into than I originally thought. So I started moving around and saying, Okay, well, you know, I did my degree in marketing. Maybe we can do something with a more general marketing spin. And then I started thinking, which is, I think something that many fresh grads do is you try to find the complete perfect job for you. So not just one that can maybe earn you enough money that you can make a living, but you want something that you're really going to enjoy on a topic or an industry that you really enjoy things like that. And that is really not the case. So I always said that, you know, the more, the more job hunting I did, the lower sort of my standards became an not lower in the sense that I was looking for bad quality jobs, but just in terms of taking all of my boxes that I thought I needed to have with a job.

Ina Yulo 9:26
So I started looking into marketing and in industries that I was interested in like fashion or sports, or food and things like that, and I just really either I couldn't find anything that fit or they weren't offering salaries that would allow me to live in central London, which is a really big issue. So I started realizing that the only marketing jobs that actually in my in my eyes gave a decent salary was the tech industry. So I honestly fell into it more by necessity than anything because it allowed me to live in central London and The company that I currently work at now BrightTALK it was one that I thought really valued its employees. They were doing really interesting things. And it seemed like they understood they were a tech company, but they're one that focused on marketing, actually. So they, our clients are marketers. So because of that, I felt like okay, this would be a good foray into the industry by being able to use the knowledge that I still had and the skills that I had, but learning about a completely different industry. So that's kind of how I fell in really.

Laurence Bradford 10:28
Yeah, and I've seen some of your belief It was like, a talk you did in the past that related to FinTech, what is that something else that you've worked in? Or Yeah, how does that tie in?

Ina Yulo 10:40
So it's, again, it's, I have, I guess, a knack for falling into things that I have no background in. So I don't have a background in financial services either. When I first joined brighttalk, I was brought in to manage our IT Service Management community. After that, I moved on and managed a few other communities so I did business intelligence. in big data, I did asset management as well. And then this new thing called FinTech. It was new at the time was coming up. And I just thought, here's a, an opportunity that I think we could really take advantage of. So I had to put together a whole business plan actually, and almost like a startup, I had to pitch this idea to our senior management team. I had to show them why I thought this could be, you know, a revenue generating community for us and where I thought the gaps lay. So I pitched that and I've been, you know, thankfully they they took me up on that offer, they said, go ahead and run with it.

Ina Yulo 11:36
Let's see what can happen. It's not actually turned into the fastest growing community that we have at brighttalk and I've fallen you know, completely headfirst into the industry in the near the talks that I give now. So I I realized after a while, after doing this and educating myself on the different topics that I I now have an expertise which allies in the the types of content that people within FinTech and financial services I just want to consume. I know what the top trending topics and insights are with people within the community. And aside from that, I realized that I was able to kind of do what I wanted to do, very early on when I wanted a career in advertising, which was that I could speak to clients, find out what their campaigns were find out what their target goals were, when it came to, you know, content and, and marketing. And I could be an add, become that sort of consultant for them where I look at their assets. And I think, how can we put together an entire package that really make sure that you're reaching your target audience and that you're, you're reaching those goals?

Laurence Bradford 12:41
Got it. So backtracking maybe a bit, I should probably ask this first, too. Could you just talk a little bit about what brighttalk does in like, what your role looks like there?

Ina Yulo 12:52
Yeah, of course. So BrightTALK is a b2b content and demand generation platform. So we have over eight millions scribers around the world. And these are professionals who come to BrightTALK on a regular basis. And they watch webinars, videos and talks to help educate themselves, make sure that they're up to date in the current trends, and also help them solve the challenges that they face in their professional lives. So I sit in the continent communities team. And I, personally am the global manager for a FinTech and financial services community. But I also launched and now run our women in business community. So a big part of my role is knowing my audience inside and out.

Ina Yulo 13:34
So I need to know again, what are these people interested in? What sorts of topics are they searching on? What do they want to learn more about? And then another part of my role is then I look at who are the biggest thought leaders in these industries that I run? How can I invite them to come on to BrightTALK and actually be those speakers and, and share their insights with our audience. So a big part of it again, is making sure that the audience is growing. we're attracting More new users via the content that we have. But also that the current users we already have, we're nurturing them and really making sure that they're part of this community that they are turning to bright on habitual basis because it provides them with that those insights that they really do need and are searching for.

Laurence Bradford 14:17
Gotcha. Okay, that all makes sense. So, so with the fin with with FinTech, is that the content that you're producing? Does that mean the people consuming it work in the FinTech industry?

Ina Yulo 14:29
So it's a bunch of different angles, I guess most of it, it would be people who work in the FinTech industry, or the financial services industry. So the more old school, you know, banks or incumbent sort of financial institutions, we've seen that a big chunk actually the users come from tech companies, just because tech companies so let's say that you know that the IBM's and the Intel's they are continuously trying to improve on their product ranges and these are products and software that is being used by the individuals in the financial services and FinTech industries, so they need to understand how can they make sure that the tech that they are actually producing is still in line with the changing needs of that customer base.

Laurence Bradford 15:09
Got it? And could you talk a bit about, like, just some of the big topics and innovations that are happening in FinTech at the moment or in financial industries tip, to be totally honest. I mean, I'm not a finance person. So I kind of just like see those two things as the same thing, but I get what you're saying that, like, a big bank may be different than like a little, you know, like an acorns kind of map where that helps you invest every month or something. But anyhow, if you could talk about some of the things are happening there would be great.

Ina Yulo 15:42
Yeah, of course. So, I mean, over the past few years, you know, Acorns is a good example, especially in the US. Over here in the UK, we've had a few what we call, you know, challenger bank. So those are companies like Monzo, Revolut, Sterling bank, and what they've tried to do is really, I guess, combat the way that traditional banks do their business. So they tried to see okay, what are the things that you know, the modern day customer actually is not happy about when it comes to their current financial services provider? How can we change that. So these banks are app only bank so they don't have a brick or mortar brick and mortar, location, you access everything you know, on your phone. It's contactless payments can pay with your phone, you can see all of your brand balance on your phone and pay people very similar to Venmo in the States, you know, if you've got, let's say, a Monza account, you can just transfer money very easily to another Monzo user. Monzo actually just launch in the US as well. So that's the the more the challenger bank side of things.

Ina Yulo 16:41
And those have been around for quite some time now. And what I think when it comes to rising trends within FinTech in general, I would say that AI or artificial intelligence is a trend that people have been talking about for quite some time. However, I think one of the biggest changes this year is not just about using AI for AI sake, but a big thing. Actually, there's been a shift as to how can we make sure that the customer experience is improved when it comes to how FinTech service providers are releasing new products. So that I think has been the biggest change. Is that okay, Ai, this is a really cool technology we can, we've proven that this can be of use to us, it can help us better our lives. But how can we now use AI? Now that we know more about it? How can we use it to make sure we're actually giving our customers a much better and more improved service that would make them be loyal customers to us? And also potentially actually shift away from their more traditional financial services providers?

Laurence Bradford 17:43
Got it. And then what about other like? So you mentioned challenger banks. What about like other kinds of apps or startups that are emerging that still relate to financial services or technology but they're not like bank?

Ina Yulo 18:00
So I can share actually some of that I that I actually use. So one is Azimo. So Azimo is a money transfer app. So you know how like, I guess back in the day, you'd have to use a very expensive money transfer service if you wanted to, you know, just send money across borders. So as in was one that I use, because I have my fiance and I actually invested in a property in Manila. So on a monthly basis, we have to be sending money over to pay for that property. And before we'd have to go through the really either either banks or traditional money transfer services that a lot of the time Take a big chunk out of that payment. So you know, it's not just about the money that you're transferring and having to deal with exchange rates, but they take a big chunk of that commission. So Azimo is again that cross border payment service very similar to others such as when I can think of is transferwise. For example, transfer go with another one we have in Europe.

Ina Yulo 19:00
That's one that I use to, again, move money across borders in a much cheaper and convenient way. And I think that one thing that FinTech companies actually also have over more traditional services is that they are, I think, more approachable to again, their target consumer is someone like me who I would much rather do stuff on my phone or on my computer, I'd rather have, I want, you know, a 24 hour kind of live chat service that I can just ask questions to, if I have an issue, I don't want to have to call somebody, I don't want to have to go to a bank branch or you know, even just a physical branch for this company, in order to sort my issues out. So awesome was one example again, that you know, cross border payments and money transfer. Another one that I've recently started using is a free trade, which is an app that allows me to actually buy and sell stocks on the stock market. So it's just really made I think, you know, that that idea of, oh gosh, you know, buying and selling stuff. Or, you know, getting on the stock market, getting involved with that. That has always been, I think such a foreign concept to me and one that I never thought I would get involved in just because it seemed very intimidating. So free trade, I opened the app on my phone, I can very easily you know, the user experience is really easy, where they say, okay, loads of money here via your, your, the card that you've attached, I load some money. Okay, here's how much each stock cost for these companies. Here's how the stock has been performing over the past week over the past month.

Ina Yulo 20:29
If you'd like to buy and buy the stock, click this, I go ahead and I buy, then I see if my investments are rising or falling. And then at any, you know, time, I can say actually want to sell this now. Okay, I want to buy these now. It has made me I think it I think one thing that FinTech companies have done very well is that they've really empowered users. Because there are many users like me again, who look at these sorts of topics or these these products and think, well, I could never get involved in that because it's it's way over my head. It's made it very approachable. I think very easily to use.

Laurence Bradford 21:01
Sit tight podcast listeners, we're taking a quick break to hear a word from our sponsors.

Laurence Bradford 21:07
Technical psychics have had a massive impact on my life. Shortly after I began learning to code back in 2013, I landed a gig as an assistant to a more experienced web developer. That gig was my first step towards working as a freelancer later on. even learn to code with me, which is now my full time job began as a side project. I am so obsessed with side gigs because they are the perfect way to build up your experience and confidence as you transition into tech. Even more, they enable you to try out different aspects of tech before committing to a new career path in any particular direction. I really recommend them. Because I love psychics so much. I put together a free ebook to help you start your technical side gig journey so you can earn extra money every single month while advancing your skills. Inside this free guide you'll learn which skills you need for these 28 different side gigs, how much money you can make from each, plus tips on how to get started on whichever ideas speaking to you. You can get your copy completely free over at learntocodewith.me/sidegig. Again, the URL is learntocodewith.me/sidegig.

Laurence Bradford 22:26
Yeah, I definitely feel like there's a lot of different i mean i i you know, live in New York and just on the subway every day I see ads in the subway for different kinds of investing or saving or banking apps. So I definitely think it's it's become so much more accessible over the last few years without a doubt. But for someone who is like maybe maybe they're interested in finance, or they have a finance background even and maybe they've worked at a bigger bank, but now they want to work in tech and kind of stuff. Which pass a bit? What kind of jobs? Are there available at some of these FinTech companies for people with tech skills?

Ina Yulo 23:09
Sure. So there's tons of fear. And in all honesty, I think that I would say the majority, maybe that's a, you know, blanket statement. But I would think that the majority of the people who were working at FinTech companies, especially at the beginning, were from those bigger banks. And most of the time, I think I may not Well, a lot of the time, they didn't have those tech skills. But a lot of time they didn't. They were properly on the, you know, financial side or the management side, and decided to come into FinTech companies, because just like any company, you will have jobs ranging from all different types of departments. So I think one of the biggest issues that we may talk about marketing, actually, one of the biggest issues that FinTech companies had in the very beginning, especially is that their heads of marketing, their CMOS, they were people who were at the big banks, but maybe did not do marketing there. So that was an issue and is that they just thought, okay, we're from the big banks. We need Know what it takes to build a brand, but we never did it ourselves. But then now they're coming in starting things up in this new kind of FinTech startup company thinking that they could do that too.

Ina Yulo 24:11
And they could actually spearhead that growth, just for this just for the fact that they were working in a traditional bank beforehand. So especially if you've got tech skills, there are so many types of jobs within, you know, a FinTech company, you can be a developer, you can work on the product side of things, you can be in, you know, the IT team looking at infrastructure. tech skills are also obviously very advantages even if you're in a non tech focused role, like marketing, you know, having that knowledge of the actual technology and what drives your product is, is always something that would help you in essential in making sure that you're standing out and you know, cutting through when it comes to the all the hype and standing out across competitions.

Laurence Bradford 24:53
Yeah. So, transitioning back to your role at bright talk. So you mentioned you manage, like the FinTech Financial industries groups. And then I think you also mentioned women in business, right?

Ina Yulo 25:05
Yes.

Laurence Bradford 25:06
All right. Awesome. So how so like, what what are some of the the topics in the, in the conversations that are happening then we talked about FinTech. But on the other side with women in business?

Ina Yulo 25:19
So for women in business, the reason why we launched that was because we saw that there was a rise in people on BrightTALK, looking for content and, and looking to develop their their skills better when it came to, I guess, softer skills. So people within women in business again, that's the title, but it's not just for women. There are a lot of female focused topics. You know, like returning to work if you have just had a baby, which obviously can be done as your father as well, but it's a conversation that happens most of the time with women. But the topics that have actually really been resonating in that community are things around along the lines of negotiation. Whether that's negotiating for a sale with a client, or negotiating your salary or negotiating, you know, a promotion and things like that. Some other topics that have been popping up are how to deal with burnout, how to find and retain good talent. Another big one has actually been on within the startup community is on investment. So how to pitch for investment, how to improve on your presentation skills, things like that.

Laurence Bradford 26:29
God, that's all really interesting topics. And we've done various podcast episodes in the past that have focused on some of those things like in detail, like I know one, we talked all about maternity leave and returning back to work, we'll make sure we add a link in the show notes for people who are listening. And we also actually spoke about negotiation in the past on the show, so yeah, in the show notes will include links to all those relevant episodes. So yeah, that's that's really great though. So I I'm also doing your background And you do a lot of mentoring with startup and business owners. And I would love to hear like, what are some of the most common mistakes that you see people making when they're starting out?

Ina Yulo 27:12
Sure. So yeah, so I do mentoring across different startup hubs. So in different cities, most of my mentoring is around is around, you know, marketing, digital marketing or building a community. So I think the biggest mistake that startups make when it comes to those key topics, is not really knowing their audience. So you know, you get a lot of founders, especially, who think here's my product, here's why it's so amazing. And here's the audience you want to reach. Sometimes those two or all of those are actually not completely aligned. And it's very evident from the get go. And because of that you can't have or assume to rule out a proper marketing strategy. If you don't actually know who you're targeting. And sometimes they do say again, oh, yeah, I know who I'm targeting it's Person A. And then when I start asking more questions about Okay, well then, if it's Person A, let's say even just stupid questions like how old person A, and they give me an age range that can go anywhere from 16. Let's say, Oh, it's a, we have a, we reach a wide audience.

Ina Yulo 28:18
So anyone from ages a 21 to 60. That's way too wide, even if they might have customers in that age range. I need to know, if you're walking down the street, and you bump into your target consumer, how old are they? And that's when they give me an answer like 42. And then I know, okay, it's a 42 year old. So let's say the last ad that you pushed out that was very much targeted at, let's say, a senior citizen, is that 42 year old going to be attracted to that ad if you are actually targeting that ad to your 60 year old client, so that's a no. So things like that, you know, I really push them on these questions that become more and more specific, but that helps them I think, tie their messaging more. And also again, you know, Sometimes editing the entire campaign because the sometimes this these sorts of exercises make them realize, Oh gosh, we thought we knew who we're targeting, but actually who the kinds of people who would be, who would use our product more don't fall into that initial target we had. So then they have to revamp things and again, adapt and adopt their strategy based on who they've decided to be that target audience.

Laurence Bradford 29:21
So what have you learned from mentoring other people?

Ina Yulo 29:26
So one thing that I think I've learned is, so I am always very inspired by the founders that I meet, because I have I haven't personally founded a company of my own right. So I think that one thing that they have always, it seems to be a common trait throughout them is that if you have a good idea, you just honestly need to go for it. And I know that sounds completely cliche, but it's something that I heard all the time and said, Oh, God, I get it. But actually put yourself into that position. And if you think that that idea has legs, honestly, the worst thing anyone can say is no. And if they do say no Go find someone who will say yes, that's the biggest thing people say, you know, someone will say no to you, but they don't really tell you what to do after that. So go to someone who will say yes.

Ina Yulo 30:08
If you don't find someone who will say yes, that's when you actually need to, I think be a little bit more practical and revisit that idea. And look into it and think, okay, maybe this idea is just really not going to work. So you need that reality check too. But I think that, you know, you need to be able to step outside and say, let me just test it. If it doesn't work, then it's back to the drawing board. But you'd never know and you'd keep actually be, you will be harping on or holding on to this really bad idea. Without knowing it was a bad idea just because he didn't go out and test it and see if someone thought that that was something that could you know, I guess balloon or explode into a really great company.

Laurence Bradford 30:46
Yeah, I really like that advice. What is like a small way a person could test something like maybe they have an idea and it's just the first side project or something small they want to build what's like a fast and easy way they can See if it could work or not?

Ina Yulo 31:02
In all honesty, you know, put together a small focus group of family and friends. That's the easiest thing, right? Because, and try to see also within your family and friends, though, which ones would be your target audience? So again, that's the best way is that don't just go all throughout, like don't show your grandma something that might not be might be for a millennial, right? So if you think, Okay, this is going to target millennials think who most my friends are millennials and then test it out on them and ask them for their honest feedback. So say, you know, try to explain your company to them, try to explain what you're trying to do to them. And if you can even explain it to family or friends, or if they cannot understand it from you. So these are people who know you inside and out. You know, they know your tone of voice. They understand you on a regular basis. And let's hope if they don't get what you're trying to push, then that alone, I think should show you that you need to revisit maybe again, not the idea itself, but maybe how you position it.

Laurence Bradford 31:55
Yeah, that that's that's a good idea. And I liked what you said about Well, actually, I don't know if he said this, but I was thinking this when you're talking that it's like so much better to like know whether the idea whether it's big or small, like if people actually want it or not, as you said, positioning it well or not, before you go and spend a bunch of time and money or whatever building it, and then realizing later that maybe it wasn't the best idea or should have been refined a bit or something?

Ina Yulo 32:24
Yeah completely, because you know, if you think about it, marketing is a lot of it is about measuring, measuring metrics, and then also reacting to that, right. So I always say that nothing is worse. I mean, so I, I always say that it is even worse, to keep doing something wrong, and spending time and effort and wasting time and effort on it. Just because you don't realize that it's wrong. So it's so much better to actually be doing something, getting a trigger finding out that actually, this is not going to work and then you can take a step back and change direction. Because I always say when it comes to clients that I think that I deliver way more value to them when I tell them what they're doing wrong, versus when I tell them what they're doing, right? Because when I tell them what they're doing, right, that's just a pat in the back. And that's just basically telling them, okay, keep doing what you're doing. You're doing great. Okay, it works. You're right, versus saying, hey, that thing that you're planning to spend a lot of time and money on? Actually, we've already seen that our data has shown through our tests, that's not going to work. Here's the response been really low. You shouldn't put any more money into that, that I believe is more valuable.

Laurence Bradford 33:31
Yeah, I feel like that's like advice I can apply to a lot of areas of life, not just business because I do feel like a way to really show people you care about them is by like, yeah, like being in a loving way, of course, like being honest and loving and kind of like giving constructive criticism because it actually shows that you really care about them and their future and their decisions and like, what you know, the choices that they're making for I think cuz I was listening to a podcast the other day, I think I'm parked ticularly thinking like parents and children and like how important like not always praising your children is out have kids but it was an interesting thing I was listening to and like giving your kids proper discipline, it'll actually make them like, better people. But that sort of reminds me even though you're talking about an advertising campaign, but like a similar idea, they're like giving them the hard truth in a nice way, but it'll actually just make everything better in the long run.

Ina Yulo 34:24
Oh, definitely.

Laurence Bradford 34:25
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming on and chatting today. Where can people find you online?

Ina Yulo 34:30
Of course, thank you so much again, for having me. Yeah, for anyone who wants to find me online and you know, ask questions or give feedback, anything like that. I am on twitter at Ina Yulo. It's the same handle for Instagram. So that's I-N-A Y-U-L-O and same name as well for LinkedIn.

Laurence Bradford 34:47
Awesome, thank you.

Laurence Bradford 34:54
Thanks so much for listening today. If you want a reminder of anything that was covered in the episode, just head on to learntocodewith.me/podcast, you can see all previously published episodes there. And if you enjoy Learn to Code With Me podcast, please consider becoming a patron of the show. By pledging just a few dollars per month you'll get access to a bunch of patron only bonuses and privileges, like the ability to vote on the topics of future episodes. To find out more, go to learntocodewith.me/pledge. Thanks and I'll see you next time.

Key takeaways:

  • Not being able to find the exact kind of work you initially had in mind can be a good thing. Sometimes you fall into a particular job or industry that you never considered, but end up thriving in
  • If you spot an opportunity to take on a new initiative in your current role, don’t be afraid to pitch it to your boss
  • New FinTech companies are changing the way traditional banks do things, making services better for users and empowering them to manage their own finances
  • When you start a business, it’s important to know who your target audience is and make sure your product aligns with that
  • If you have an idea for a business or product, explain it to your friends and family, particularly those who fit your target audience, and see what they think.
  • The worst thing someone can say is no, and if they do, you can go find someone who will say yes. If you can’t find someone who will say yes, that’s the time to revisit your idea. It’s better to find out that something’s not going to work sooner rather than later
business planning

Links and mentions from the episode:

Where to listen to the podcast

You can listen to the Learn to Code With Me podcast on the following platforms:

  1. iTunes
  2. Overcast
  3. Stitcher
  4. Spotify

If you have a few extra minutes, please rate and review the show in iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show. I would really, really appreciate it!