Spyros is the Founder of Pay Per Character Advertising on TheTextPage and he is one of the youngest students ever to be offered an MBA course in Britain. Spyros has always possessed an entrepreneurial spirit. He grew up in Greece and moved over to the UK to pursue his education.
When he was 15, Spyros started working at a local radio station where he managed advertising campaigns and took an active role in production. He received his bachelor of Recording Arts from Middlesex University. Spyros conducted a lot of freelance work as a sound editor and music composer for radio and TV in the UK.
At the age of 23, Spyros was accepted to the Kingston University Business School to pursue an MBA and follow his career pursuits in the entertainment industry. In order to pay for his degree, Spyros came up with TheTextPage.com, the first ever pay per character advertising that consists of 100% text. TheTextPage has received international coverage and Spyros has raised the full amount of £17.000 to pay for his tuition costs.
Hey Spyros, Welcome to YHP, How are you doing?Spyros, YOU’RE one of the youngest students ever to be offered an MBA course at Kingston’s business school, how do you feel about that? Why did you decide to study your MBA at Kingston?
I feel great and honoured to be offered a place into an MBA course at my age. Kingston University run the MBA course for the past 25 years, I think it is a very clever choice, considering other MBA courses available. The University is very welcoming and in a very nice location.
Can you quickly give us some background information about yourself?
I am 24 year, very motivated to do things and passionate about it. My work experience moves from entertainment industry (music, film) to broadcast media (radio, TV) where I actually developed marketing and advertising skills and mentality. Business came by to combine what was already there and only make it better.
My bio http://www.linkedin.com/in/SpyrosPyrgiotis
Tell us about your company?
Thetextpage is the only website on the net that consists of 100% text, offering low cost high return advertising optimized for search engines. Advertisers can choose the text that best describes their company, which may be a slogan or a selling point. They can also choose their colour and their font. Thetextpage will stay online for 3 years (but it may more at no extra cost to advertisers). Advertisers can choose and purchase their text from thetextpage.info, as thetextpage.com should be consisting of only text. Thetextpage.info is all the information, my blog, testimonials and my press list.
You studied sound engineering, how were you able to put up such a site?
I have a bachelor in Recording Arts, other than that I am a very creative person and generally I’m getting involved with many things from a young age like photography, graphics, film but I also have a basic web design knowledge, enough knowledge to motivate me and make me go ahead. So with a lot of will and some help from friends in some technical aspects I managed to built the website.
How have you been able to maintain balance in your education and work?
I motivate myself as much as possible and I’m going with it. It can be very hard sometimes but considering that what you do is your passion, motivates you even more. I’m very good in prioritizing things and I don’t waste time. I take action immediately and I cope with it.
How did you come up with the consent? What inspired you?
There were 3 main reasons that made me come up with the thetextpage.
First, the way our brains adapt to new media. It is what I call the keyword-effect. Quite often we do not read but we scan the text and being attracted by keywords. There is so much content and internet is so fast. The phenomenon can be easily realized on twitter. We often scan over tweets to find what interest us based on keywords and that happens almost subconsiously.
The second reason I set up thetextpage was to establish Pay Per Character advertising (Textvertising). Text and links is the way we get and we share information online. The increasing popularity of twitter and search engines, that attract billions searches per week makes the phenomenon clear. We get information through text and we go where we want to go through google or other search engines. A Text Link has started to seem and perceived more as information rather than advertisement and we feel familiar with it.
The third reason was the impact that thetextpage will have in search engine optimization. Advertisers can place and optimize their text at a very low cost for display at thetextpage.com but the same time they taking advantage of the popularity of thetextpage as a brand. Google indexes thetextpage very often and that said it indexes also all the links that are within it.
How has the entrepreneurial journey been so far?
All the journey was very educational and rewarding. I gained so much that will help me in my future prospects. It had its ups and its downs but it was all a great experience.
What has been your most memorable moment so far?
There are so many memorable moments, the day I was called for a national interview is sure one of the most memorable.
Did you have any disappointments and how were you able to bounce back from them?
I did have my downs. It was a very hard task to establish and make people realize the potential of such an unconventional idea. I knew the potential was there, I never stop believing and I found no reason to do so. That would bounce me back to work every time.
How is the business doing so far? How many adverts have been sold?
The business is going great. I have so far sold more than 13000 characters and made my fees. However, now thetextpage is getting more successful and more people have started talking about it. Google indexes 200+ results for thetextpage every day. The low price but also the advantage of search engine optimization has helped in making thetextpage a success. The individuality and the artistic side of it is something that makes people wanna be part of it.
Have you or are you looking to secure any investments for the site?
No thoughts at the time being.
What should we be expecting next from you?
I’m following my passion when it comes down to whether I should do something or not. I am working on different ideas already but over the next year I will focus first on my studies.
What is the most valuable lesson that you’ve learnt so far?
Being able to think big is not enough, you have to do big. “Think big, do big” is the saying for me. Thinking big without taking action is often daydreaming. Regardless the difficulties and your fears you much go ahead. It takes action to make the impossible seem possible, hard work to make it probable and harder work to make it happen. Determination is the most important requirement.
Thanks Spyros, We wish you the best
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