Who we Are
oday more than ever, knowing what not to do is so important…
We know what it’s like to have to start over and step up. We have lived life to the full, flying high and then coming back down to earth with a thud. From losing businesses, breaking partnerships, and making bad lifestyle choices, we have been faced with financial ruin and absolute failure. We have had to pick ourselves back up again and start over. We had to embrace a new mindset, learn from our mistakes, and get back on the proverbial bicycle. We have learned a few times what not to do, especially in times of fear and panic. We have a team of great minds and good hands to serve you with.
A new way of doing business
Wherever you are from, as you begin to emerge after varying levels of lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic it is evident that things cannot and shouldn’t be the same. In many cases the lockdown has shown that more and more businesses can be conducted online. Now more than ever your business needs to be effective and ecologically sustainable in the digital realm.
For decades the business focus has been on “getting as much as you can,” plain greed and exploitation. What is called for, now, is a focus on “enough,” on ecologically sustainable businesses providing enough to kickstart, restart and grow the economy. To have businesses that can treasure values such as happiness and emotional wellbeing and for them to co-exist with material prosperity. The Universal Law of Compensation says it best. You will be rewarded proportionally according to;
The need for what you do… Your ability to do it… and we like to add, the value you provided!!
This is where we come in…
Whether you are starting up or stepping up, you don’t have to do this alone. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world have stated that their success stems from their ability to surround themselves with a great team. Together with our full time team we have a network of experts that we can call on to work with you on growing the business and brand that you desire, that gives you the confidence to build your sustainable business.
The Right People …
Business Consulting · Brand Strategy · Digital Strategy · Web Design · SEO · Social Media Management · Content Management · Design Services
Meet Suzanne
Our founder and “everything Business” expert
Born and raised in the UK, Suzanne thinks, eats, drinks, breathes, and lives the world of the entrepreneurial business owner. As a single mom and breadwinner, she could not sit around and wait for things to happen. She had get out there and make them happen. And she did. That’s why she became the first ever female corporate director in South Africa’s Out-Of-Home industry. Working with many blue-chip clients, she realised she had a real flair for airports and developing new advertising sites which would give top-end clients fabulous brand visibility.
The corporate world she worked in back then, was fraught with red tape and moved at the speed of a rusty oil tanker. Developing innovative new sites at airports required a nimble speedboat. So, she quit her top-dog job, patiently waited out a miserable restraint of trade cynically imposed by the “OOH old-boys club” and one year later, founded a women-only media business which specialised in airports. She and her then partner built a beautiful business and literally ate the other airport media owners’ breakfasts. At its high point they sold this great business to a listed company.
Bottom line is Suzanne has been there and done that. She understands the world of business, from what corporates want, to how to get entrepreneurial start-ups airborne and flying at speed. After having wasted a significant amount of her own money (don’t ever get her started on the non-delivery story of these supposed international experts!) on worthless website builds and impractical online experts, she concluded over a very stiff G&T that most business owners are not getting the ROI they deserve from their digital spend. Knowing that things had to change and being completely fed up with this digital status quo, Suzanne created The Best Digital Agency. She then surrounded herself with a small, focused, highly specialised team who get the job done for you, efficiently, professionally and cost effectively.
Suzanne is an ICF accredited Master Coach, an NLP accredited Master Coach and an internationally accredited Thinking Into Results corporate success facilitator and a published author. From 2012 to 2015 she hosted what then was Africa’s only business coaching talk radio show and got to conduct many in-depth business success interviews the best of the best, including her heartthrob, James Caan from The Dragon’s Den. Suzanne is passionate about two things, Making You Think (another business project of hers, launching soon) and Making You a Successful Entrepreneur (which you will be when you have her and her team in your corner).
Meet Glen
Our “everything Search” expert
Glen has been doing Search Engine Optimisation full-time for many diverse websites for over 15 years. What’s really important, is that Glen absolutely loves SEO and what initially started out as a hobby many years back, has now become his primary field of expertise and focus. What he knows for certain is that the world of SEO is an ever-changing one. That’s why what worked really well six months ago may not be as effective now, because of how often the likes of Google change and update their algorithms. Glen always laughs out loud when he hears of “SEO experts” whose sales pitch guarantees that they will perform “SEO miracles in no time” on your website. He knows that whilst certain baseline fundamental SEO principles must always be applied to each and every site, achieving phenomenal SEO success is a very much a trial and error, test and learn exercise.
Glen will always remind clients that each website is different, each target market is different, each core business objective is different, and therefore, each SEO “sweet-spot” is different. As such, SEO success comes from keeping the site active and dynamic and by constantly providing new, original content too, because in the world of SEO content is king. That’s where you come to the digital success party and proactively partner with the Best Digital Agency. We guide you into this important partnership so that you’re crystal clear about what you need to do to help us, to help you even more. Glen is very plugged into the world of Google and spends much of his spare time liaising with their subject matter experts to understand how he might find that success generating, online, competitive edge for his clients.
Glen is camera shy and has shared the loves of his life Pino and Gina , you’ll get to meet Glen in your monthly Zoom meeting…
Meet Jacqui
Our “everything Digital” expert
Jacqui is an educator (also known as a teacher, for those of us who are still old school) by profession and launched South Africa’s first-ever, and only, monthly glossy magazine for teachers in 2007. Being a educator means she is highly trained in the art of knowing how to keep things simple and articulate a message in a way which is effective, understood and delivers maximum impact. Think about it, those are the exact core skills and critical competencies you need in the digital media expert who is helping you with your business. Verbose, confused waffling is out. Concise, crystal clear communication is in.
Did you know that your content management must align seamlessly with your Digital Strategy? Are you doing this in your business right now? If not, what’s the cost to you both short and long-term? If you’re not doing this already, breathe. This is what Jacqui is absolutely brilliant at, and so much more! She is an ace in this digital landscape, so much so that she lectures on Digital Media to Rhodes University postgraduate students in Journalism. She has also delivered many talks and training workshops on social media management for business owners at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship.
Jacqui’s been on radio and TV many times too, providing specialist strategic insights into the world of social media during high profile events like the world-attention-grabbing Oscar Pistorius murder trial. Jacqui has managed the online presence and communities for a number of high profile clients including boutique hotels and popular television shows. Having been at the cutting edge of digital media for well over a decade, she instantly knows what will work and what won’t. And, that’s why when you onboard Jacqui, you know you’re in safe hands, and, that you’re getting real value for money too. Her realm of expertise extends into influencer marketing and knowing how to amplify brand content in campaigns for B2B enterprises and B2C brands. Recently, Jacqui became involved in social activism through a partnership with the newly launched Cyber Awareness Institute of South Africa, delivering talks to schools, teachers and parents on digital safety, cyber bullying and good citizenship in the Age of Information. With Jacqui at your side, your business can only go skyward.
Meet Chris
Our “everything Numbers” expert
Chris is happiest when he is interrogating numbers. His birth chart carries only The Arrow of The Enquirer, so no wonder he loves to mine data and get lost in the detail. He has a M.Sc. degree in Zoology (more specifically Applied Ecology) and loves interconnected systemic thinking. In 2000 he parted ways with the world of scientific research and went into retail banking. Within a few years he’d worked his way up to GM and EXCO level and was responsible for large teams of people and having to deliver against demanding new business targets.
Chris’ three favourite questions are: What do your numbers say? What did you sell today? How much money did you make today?
Yip, he’s a black and white kind of guy and if you’re not selling and making money then he’ll be the one asking you the tough questions as to why this is. Chris has made many guest appearances on radio and television and taught a series of critically important business success creating lessons on Making Moves, an entrepreneur enabling television screened on CNBC Africa a few years back. From 2012 to 2015 he and his wife Suzanne hosted Africa’s only business and success coaching talk radio show. The podcasts from their radio shows are hosted online and still being used today by many people who simply don’t have the funds to access specialists to help them with their business. When he is not interrogating numbers, or doing Ph.D. research, Chris loves to play golf and the old golf saying “You Drive for Show And Putt for Dough” really inspires him. That’s because to significantly sharpen up your business doesn’t always require expansive and massive change (as in a 330+ yard drive). Often, quantum leaps forward in performance are created through rifled focus and minor alignment changes (as in sorting out those few nasty inches which are making you miss the critically important putts).