An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t be afraid of jumping into something new, as you will learn along the way. I had vastly different experiences throughout my career with all different profiles. I had no experience when I started Google ads, so I learned the best practices on my own by continuously testing and experimenting with ads and keywords and analyzing conversions over a period of time. The same is true with social media ads. The algorithms are continuously changing, the crypto market is uncertain, and you can’t be sure what previously worked will work again.
As a part of our series about Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution, had the pleasure of interviewing Vivi Lin.
Arifa is the Director of Marketing at Exidio where she leads brand, partnerships, and marketing and communications. She has worked in digital marketing and advertising for over seven years across several industries. In the blockchain space, Arifa worked for a digital assets events company where she designed, managed and executed global marketing campaigns, and has also worked extensively as a marketer in the Cosmos ecosystem.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path? What lessons can others learn from your story?
I am an accidental marketer. Without any prior knowledge, I started with google ads for a healthcare ecommerce brand targeting the US market and managing a catalog of 15k products on 15 different websites. I then ventured into marketing blockchain events on search engines in addition to social media, email and media publications.
Now I am the Director of Marketing for Exidio dVPN worldwide.
Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?
I am currently overseeing marketing for Exidio dVPN on social media and managing a community of influencers and ambassadors in different geographic locations. In addition, I work with a PR agency for media communications, creating educational content about the Sentinel blockchain. In addition, with the launch of the Exidio dApp subscription plan, I will start paid advertising on search engines and social media.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My family provided me with all the examples I needed to become who I am today. I was always taught to be independent. I have seen females in my family working & managing multiple things, learning new skills, and preparing for competitions & exams, even before the internet became a household thing.
What are the 3 things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
1. Growth potential. There is a use case available in blockchain for nearly every product or service, the tech eliminates borders, and the market keeps growing in terms of investments, adoption, and introduction of new use cases. The global cryptocurrency market cap is $2.05T with 14,000 cryptocurrencies and 430 exchanges. The global equity trading volume is 37.7 trillion while that of crypto is 1.8 trillion.
2. Use cases. Blockchain is powering new models of change, advancing knowledge, and helping social organizations create shared systems of record that respond to corporate donors’ requirements. The technology ensures assets and impact on the environment can be tracked, audited and communicated. For example, product traceability, where you know the coffee you are drinking is sourced in a responsible and sustainable way. Imagine solving one of the world’s deadliest problems: plastic pollution with blockchain technology.
3. Governments turning to blockchains for transparency. Blockchain voting, judiciary, law and order, land and registration. Again, it brings the possibility of imagining a world with reduced corruption as we progress into the 21st century.
What are the 3 things that worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?
1. Hacking. Blockchains were once hailed as unhackable, but more and more security holes are appearing every now and then. In 2020 alone, $3.8 billion were stolen in hacker attacks.
2. Lack of adoption. Track and trace capability is an amazing use case, but it also requires the suppliers to adopt the technology, and it is limited to the larger organizations which are still struggling for wider adoption, let alone the smaller ones which have to struggle with cost.
3.Skills gap. Even after 13 years, blockchain is still considered an emerging technology and the skills needed to develop and use it are in short supply. The marketplace for blockchain skills is highly competitive and demand for engineers is surging by more than 500% year over year. Despite the growth and progress, mass adoption of blockchain is still far away given the huge potential.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?
I think it’s important right now to bring it back to basics and what I’m helping build right now as part of a dynamic, caring team, and the direct impact on people everywhere that this work is having. It can be pretty dramatic in some cases, as reported here by Al Jazeera.
Right now, as our dVPN technology is still just reaching and beginning to protect for the first time people in various wartorn, unstable parts of the world like Ukraine and Iraq, we’re still at a place as a company at Exidio–and I’m still at a place in my life and career–where delivering dVPN tools to people in really bad situations is easily some of the most obvious good we get to bring into the world each day. I think that to be a humble part of the burgeoning global privacy movement as an individual marketer, and then as a contributing member on such a great team- that alone is the high point for now.
As you know there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 5 things that you would advise
to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?
1. Keep experimenting in marketing. Whether it’s Google ads or Facebook, nothing works the same every time you run a campaign, especially over a long duration. For example, I ran a Facebook ad for a blockchain event which generated 35 leads on a small budget in a duration of two days targeting five South East Asia locations. I used the same ad three months later and it generated much fewer leads. Usually, there are no cookie cutter solutions! Be mindful and creative every new time out.
2. Don’t be afraid of jumping into something new, as you will learn along the way. I had vastly different experiences throughout my career with all different profiles. I had no experience when I started Google ads, so I learned the best practices on my own by continuously testing and experimenting with ads and keywords and analyzing conversions over a period of time. The same is true with social media ads. The algorithms are continuously changing, the crypto market is uncertain, and you can’t be sure what previously worked will work again.
3. Continue to upgrade yourself. Marketing is never enough. We as human beings are continuously evolving. Even during the worldwide lockdowns resulting from the pandemic, people found new ways to learn and enjoy. And as a marketer and advertiser, I need to understand the patterns and psychology of my target group to maximize results.
4. Take the lead. Never wait for someone else to give you a chance. Women need to pull up the chair & sit at the table to voice their ideas. It’s never too late, no matter which industry or educational background you come from, the important thing is how you recognize to cultivate the power within you.
5. Bring innovative ideas. There are many ideas waiting to be manifested. Give energy to your ideas and keep your focus intact, and things will fall into place.
Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?
Cultivate women leaders with continuous coaching & mentoring outside of their work profiles and provide fair opportunities to women in all positions. Performance cannot be judged by age, marital status, family responsibilities, hair color, etc. Women deserve equal rights & respect at every position.
What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?
“Be Yourself & be independent. Become someone that people look up to for inspiration.”
I have seen girls getting married at an early age, settling down in household chores, and leaving their jobs; some never even see the office or a career. This life experience showed me the importance of being independent and making sure to look out for my own professional development.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Stop Judging Women. Stop being partial to women based on age, marital status, and clothes. Women deserve equal opportunities. In fact, women are often better equipped as leaders as they have a holistic approach and are more inclusive.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arifa-raj/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution With Arifa Raj Of Exidio was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
