Meet Marina Lotaif | Founder & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marina Lotaif and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marina, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
“How did I end up here?”

I sat staring at my computer screen, not believing what was in front of me.

It was February 8th, 2016.

I had just joined my dad at the travel agency he founded back in the 90s.

One of the first projects I decided to tackle was to revamp his company’s website.

But website creation was a complete foreign concept to me.

That website was hindering our business, so I knew it had to be changed.

I wish I had an actual photo of it to share with you.

For you to have an idea of what it was like, imagine a website with at least 10 buttons in the header.

A website that, when you clicked on any particular page, said that that page did not exist.

A website that had no clear path for its visitors to follow.

No purpose.

And that did the opposite of convert visitors into subscribers into sales.

It seemed like its point was to drive people AWAY.

That was the website I had in my hands.

I thought changing it would be easy: just a call away.

All I had to do was call the company which designed the website, mention everything I wanted changed, and BAM!

The changes would be live and well.

But of course that wasn’t the case.

I called the company, and they had preset templates that I could choose from.

No option to design the website from scratch as I had beautifully pictured in my mind.

No option to add and feed a weekly blog.

No option to modify the copy at a moment’s notice.

All I remember hearing was no, no, no, no, no.

And worst of all, even a tiny, minuscule change cost an exorbitant amount of money.

And I had to pay EXTRA for each, tiny customization after that.

My heart dropped.

I was on a journey to update an outdated website, and there was absolutely nothing I could do.

But that’s when a thought hit me:

I, the tech nobody who had never written a line of code in my life, who knew nothing about website design or website creation, could take matters into my own hands.

Although I was all eager and excited, I found myself at a standstill…

I didn’t know where to start.

Google was open on my screen, but I didn’t even know what I had to search for.

One of my first searches was probably along the lines of ‘create your own website’ or ‘how to create a website for beginners’, always followed by NO CODE.

Let me just tell you this:

There was a LOT of trial and error.

Previewing and re-doing.

Playing around with different images, sizes, fonts, and arrangements.

But after a few months of experimenting, I finally had the finished product come together.

I was proud! I actually did it! And I did it MYSELF!

That’s when I realized that a framework of what to do when, and in what order, would’ve been immensely helpful.

And so that’s what I did…

I created the dream fremework that I wish I had when I started out.

The framework that would’ve saved me a ton of time…

effort…

stress…

and research…

… trying, and trying, and trying to piece together different YouTube tutorials and blog posts, to make something of it, hoping something would stick and something would work.

That’s how Yes To Tech came into being.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m Marina, and my goal is to help you say “Yes To Tech” by sharing simple tutorials for non-techie entrepreneurs on how to navigate the tech side of online business with ease. I always go above and beyond to deliver as much value as I possibly can, with actionable training and zero fluff, on topics including:

– Starting and growing your online business
– Designing a brand that wows your ideal audience
– Creating a profitable website that stands out from the competition
– Growing a highly engaged email list that helps you make sales
– Driving explosive amounts of traffic to your blog so that it works for you, so you don’t have to

I decided to start Yes To Tech a few years ago out of a dream I had to have a location independent online business that would allow me to help a vast number of people all around the world. But, and here’s the big issue I confronted: no one knew who I was in the online world. So for a while there, I was unsure if I should actually take the leap and do it.

Basically, I had two options: 1) I could keep doing what I was doing, working at a regular 9-5 job that didn’t fuel my passion or help me achieve my dream to have a location independent business, or 2) I could take a risk, and start an online business that would give me the freedom to do what I want, where I want.

As you might have guessed, I chose that second option. I decided to take a risk, go out on my own, and, although I was all eager and excited, everyone thought I was crazy. I don’t blame them. I understand where they were coming from. It’s not like I had a huge following, or a client base to back me up.

The jobs I had in the past were in completely different industries: headhunting and travel. Even I was a little scared since I was entering a completely new realm.

I was a one woman show with zero audience. Zero email list. Zero website. And a zero following on social media.

I started small, like many of you. I took things step-by-step, tested out the waters, and had a lot of cricket hearing moments. Blip blip blip, no change, minuscule change, then back to zero. I don’t know if you can relate, but I had moments when I thought I was a complete failure, and that this would never work out. Like, what the heck am even I doing?

Still, I showed up every day. I was consistent, and kept going, even when the urge to give up arose.

At first I had a gradual increase, which lifted my spirits, and then, in less than 6 months from starting my business, I was amazed. I managed to get hockey stick shaped results, without paying for expensive software or Facebook ads.

I must say, getting those results is life-changing. I’m actually living my dream of running a successful and profitable location independent online business.

I live in Brazil, I’ve recently travelled to Barcelona, Budapest, and London, a few months ago I was in Portugal, and just in a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading to Miami, New York and Nashville.

I also work my own hours by helping you, wherever you are in the world, to achieve results for your own businesses (that means that on one day, you can find me taking the morning off, doing a really fun zumba class on a random Monday, and on another day, you can find me at my desk taking an inception selfie right before a webinar), and I also earn thousands of dollars in revenue every month on autopilot doing something that’s not dependent on my time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Places To Visit in São Paulo

– Parque do Ibirapuera (our version of Central Park, I wouldn’t say it’s as nice and well kept, but it’s nice nonetheless).

– MAM, MASP, Pinacoteca do Estado, and MIS (museums worth visiting, and the exhibitions change regularly).

– Rua Oscar Freire (our version of Boston’s Newbury Street).

– Whereas in Rio people go to the beach, people here usually walk around malls for fun and on the weekend. The nicest ones are Shopping Iguatemi, Shoppink JK Iguatemi, and Shopping Cidade Jardim (which was meant to be São Paulo’s version of Miami’s Bal Harbour).

– There are a bunch of great restaurants with different types of cuisines no matter where you go. The following ones have delicious food: Naga, Nakka and Ohka (3 Japanese restaurants), Rodeio (meat), Modern Mamma and Tatine (2 Italian restaurants), Arabia, Manish and Almanara (3 Arabic restaurants), Mani and Manioca (2 Brazilian restaurants), and Rascal and Barbacoa (all-you-can-eat buffet).

– Watch a soccer game. The best stadiums are Morumbi, Pacaembu, Allianz Parque and Itaquerão.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’m not a one-person online business show. Far from it. Although I’m the sole person who runs Yes To Tech, I often work with Nadalie Bardo to offer even more value. We have two joint Facebook groups together, Boss Blog Collective and Grow Your YouTube, often host masterclasses together, such as the PinPerfect Masterclass, and have more joint projects brewing in the pipeline. Don’t know where I’d be without my business bestie!

Website: https://www.yestotech.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yestotech

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/yes-to-tech

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarinaLotaif

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yestotech

Youtube: http://bit.ly/youtubeyestotech

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/yestotech TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yestotech