Selar's Growth and Marketing Manager Milton Tutu: 'At about 24, I’m leading a marketing team of a company that has paid over $1,000,000 to African creators in just 2021'

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Oct 15, 2021

Hello. I hope you have had a great week! And I hope your weekend is relaxing and enjoyable.

Welcome to the first edition of Noticing newsletter. Each week, I’ll be featuring a different African marketer and asking them questions about their journey. You could just learn a thing or two.

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Milton facilitating a session at the Disruptive Marketing Clinic in Abuja

When I asked Milton to tell me more about Selar, he said, “Selar started 5 years ago. But became the talk of the town just last year. I would say this is one of the effects of the pandemic. And we were just there to help people make money, learn and share as they were staying at home. And even now that they’re out. We are building what people love and want. And this is why people would keep using, recommending and talking about our product. It’s the same for every product that builds for human.”

Here's more of his story:

Hi Milton, so let’s kick off with you telling us what it is you do every day.

I eat every day. Is that a good enough answer? Just kidding.

I work with Selar.co as a growth and marketing manager. So basically what I do is to do things that move the needle. I mean, we’ve different goals we want to achieve at Selar. And many values we want to give. So on a daily, I work with teams and stakeholders to achieve these goals to meet the user’s needs and drive business results.

So what actually got you interested in a marketing career?

Well, I studied computer science — my ordinary national diploma (OND) was in computer engineering and my BSc was in computer science. I’ve always wanted to know about computers right from high school. But I later realized I’ve people, motivational and selling skills. So when I was still in school, I created my first digital product — an eBook. I was in my 100 level at the time, nearly 15 year old. And I made my first N100,000 selling that eBook. I'll never forget it. Felt too good to be true. When you go from giving out for free every time, to suddenly getting paid for the same thing you’d given out for free, it's fantastic.

This is what got me interested in a marketing career. As soon as I understood I could sell and market things that people need, I made up my mind that I’d ditch my boring black and white CV and go into marketing. After earning N100,000 which was a lot of money then, I went on to work for someone as an Influencer. I also did some marketing for my classmates. In the university, my classmates were business people. We had people selling chin-chin, donuts, and many other things. It was surprisingly lucrative because there were a lot more people than I expected with extra money to market their product to the whole school. So that is how I slowly started out in marketing.

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What was your career path to get to where you are now?

A very wiggly one. I started as a motivational speaker in university. A friend and I would usually go from school to school to say what motivational speakers usually say. Not like those motivational speakers that try to tell you to "I did this even though my life is worse than you, so get off your lazy ass and do it!"

Then I went into writing articles and poetry. I wrote a book as well. But while I was very happy with the finished product and had some great feedback and praise from friends as well as strangers, it didn't sell. Not even a single copy. And I later discovered copywriting. I think I was at 200 or 300 level then. So I decided to learn Copywriting. I spent about N400,000 learning about copywriting and some areas of Psychology. After doing copywriting for a while, I made the move from just copywriting for businesses to core marketing. I started doing Facebook Advertising, Social Media Marketing and handling 360 marketing projects.

Then I went on to join Vestpay - a Fintech company, as a market research analyst. I led the marketing team in performing and creating market requirement documents using primary and secondary research methods to improve and develop products. I later moved to consult for Aimtoget Technologies in Ibadan. My small team and I handled all their marketing. Interestingly I was just doing my NYSC when I did this. And I was just 19.

After my NYSC, I moved to PH. I worked with a few companies and then moved to Lagos State to start a new life. After spending a few weeks in Lagos, a company called Imaginarium reached out to me to acknowledge my work and wanted me to be a product marketer for one of their products. I took the offer. And after 3 months of joining, I was promoted from that to a digital marketing executive. And I got to work with CBN, RiteFoods, UPS, Zenith bank etc. Then I got the Selar job.

Wooow! That was a journey, I must say. So professionally, you’ve been in the industry for how many years?

I’ve been around for quite a while. I would say 6 years-ish. But funny enough, I’m young. I’m a very very young man.

Really? How old are you?

I’d be 24 by December 18th.

Omg! You’ve been actively doing marketing for 6 year-ish? Interesting. You know, in marketing, it’s rare to see someone this young to have 6 solid years-ish work experience.

Haha! You’re right, Lolade. At about 24, I’m leading a marketing team of a company that has paid over $1,000,000 to African creators in just 2021. And managing a very huge marketing budget. I know it’s a rare thing…

A big flex. Well-done. So what’s the best thing about your job?

I get to shape culture. Like right now, we are talking on the phone. Someone innovated this to shape culture. We literally can’t do without it now. Same thing for Social media. A lot of people can’t do without social. The other day; Facebook, WhatsApp and IG went down, everybody went into panicking mode and felt like the world would end that day. That’s why I love my job.

We’re shaping culture at Selar. A lot of people can now easily put out what they know easily without bothering about the cost of publishing. What about TikTok? It has fundamentally changed video creation in the last 3 years. This is what we are doing at Selar. Shaping how people sell digital products and services.

What’s the worst?

Uncertainty.

Ah, uncertainty. That’s one bitter truth. How do you fill the gaps when you’re not doing the various day and night jobs?

Cook in all forms. I like cooking a lot. I listen to podcasts. I am currently listening to how to take over the world on Spotify. Also, Music in all forms. I like Kendrick Lamar.

But I’ve a very poor social life. I am always indoors.

Nice. So last month, I read that Selar has paid African creators $1,000,000 in Nigeria. Would it be a bad idea to tell us about Selar?

Selar is a platform where anyone can go to sell their digital products and services. You have written an eBook...? Just create an account on Selar and put up your eBook for people to download for free or for a fee. And you can collect payments in more than five currencies, including Naira. It shouldn’t take you more than 2 mins to set-up your account easily.

Selar started 5 years ago. But became the talk of the town just last year. I would say this is one of the effects of the pandemic. And we were just there to help people make money, learn and share. We are building what people love and this is why people would keep using, recommending and talking about our product.

We have a lot of features that help you keep track of your products and services on Selar. For example, if someone checked your product and didn’t complete the action you wanted them to complete, we’d send you an email to let you know that Mr XYZ checked out your product but didn’t take the action you wanted.

Just so easy. We have a solid product, amazing team, and amazing users.

Amazing product, Milton. I have an eBook on Selar too. And people have been able to grab it easily. So Milton, who have you worked with along the way who has influenced you?

I’ve been lucky to work with lots of other talented people. Everyone you meet has the potential to influence you, you just need to keep your eyes and ears open, listen and learn.

That said, there is one person I owe a lot to. My previous employer.

I learnt a lot from him. He influenced me so much. He showed me the ropes. He was hugely important in my leadership development. Now I’m in a managerial role, I'm practicing everything I learned from him. Especially being empathetic. He was very invested in my growth. It wasn't always easy but we learnt our craft together, encouraged each other, rowed about nothing and everything. I treasure the work we did together because it is the physical embodiment of the effort we put in and hopefully some reflection of our ability. It was a pretty intense time. I have to thank him – a lot of my confidence and skills were honed with him.

He was hugely important in my development.

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Tell me one important thing you’ve learned that you’d like to pass to other marketers

You don’t know it all.

So, learn and experience new stuff. Then test, test, test, and optimize. And listen. Also, do the work. Don’t just take courses and call it a day. This is what I see everywhere these days. Do the actual work. Start now. And start with what you have. I mean, I checked your profile, Lolade. And your bio-copy shows you know what you’re doing.

And also, invest in relationships. Be intentional in creating real relationships.

Name two products you can’t do without and tell us why

It has to be Apple products. It has been a critical product to doing my job. And I can’t do without google docs. It allows me to work collaboratively with teams. And also get feedback.

I use Google Docs a lot, too. I haven't used any office products in about a year. So what 2 pieces of work do you wish were in your portfolio?

Ahh! This is a very good question. There’s this campaign Apple did. Think Different Campaign. The ad didn’t talk about the product and that’s the beauty. 99% of corporations do the exact opposite to this. I've probably watched it many dozens of times at this point – without getting teary. It seems irrational to feel such emotion about a brand. But as a marketing person with a relationship to Apple products I suppose I feel a powerful connection to Apple. I really wish I was on that project. Solid one.

Now, let’s bring it home. There are a few brands that have been doing great marketing in Nigeria. You see those guys at Airtel, they’re amazing. And also, there’s this campaign I saw. I think the most recent Abeg App. The story was about a lecturer trying to sleep with a student who didn’t even fail. And e later cast. The storytelling was so good. The filming was top notch. So amazing. And I wish I had that in my portfolio.

I love the Abeg ad too. It was written by Chuka Obi. Now, let’s shake things up, Milton. What question do you wish I’d asked you?

Hmm! I think you’ve done so well with the questioning. Just like my final word, yeah. Don’t stop learning. I just enrolled for a degree. Just to learn new things. It’s not really about the certificate. But to learn from the experience. To learn new things. And to meet new people.

And before I remove the shackles, tell us where we can find you online

Milton Tutu everywhere. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

Website is miltontutu.me

Thanks Milton, it’s always fun talking with fellow marketing professionals. Here’s to many more years of hunting down the big idea with a club. Cheers.

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Oh, last thing

Let me know your thoughts and feedback as we get this thing moving.

Noticing.

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