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Alice Ding

MiApple Inc. is a full-service digital marketing company with its headquarters in Toronto that specialises in integrated digital marketing solutions for the Golf (and other sports) and Resorts sector. For those professionals who want to expand their golf business, this company is a perfect choice since they provide top-notch website design, digital advertising, marketing strategy, and other golf marketing services.

At MiApple Inc., their main goals are to help their clients craft and adopt new technology for their golf businesses and make their golf business ramp up in the marketplace. Furthermore, we make sure that our clients get all the elements necessary to take their business to the next level. We’re more than just a digital marketing agency – we are your business fuel that will drive your business to the road to success.

Tell us about yourself?

Alice Ding’s former path as a senior IT consultant (who worked for SpaceX, Hollywood websites, Walmart, unicorn companies, etc.) and CTO in the renewable industry serves as her doorway to fully discover her burning passion in life, which is to turn her digital marketing agency dream into reality. A few things happened unexpectedly. Due to her curiosity and interest in digital marketing, once again, the fire in her heart ignited. From that moment on, her entrepreneur moment started. This is not shocking since, at a young age, her love for reading led her to read Bill Gates’ biography. It motivated her to be a successful entrepreneur like him.

Vast and long experiences gained from her previous jobs have greatly contributed to the realization of MiApple’s core vision, which is to assist small-to-medium digital marketing businesses to reach their own dream company. Due to her background and experiences, together with a talented team of marketers and developers, there is no doubt in which MiApple is standing right now.

As the leader and founder of MiApple Inc., Alice found a unique business management way and niche field to focus on and start with. Since 2020, the company has taken the opportunity to dive into the Golf Industry exclusively in Digital Marketing Business. It offers a timely and new approach to the golf industry with the integration of digital marketing.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Since the company successfully proved to its very first client in 2015 that they are worth trusting, the door to more opportunities and success has opened. Confidence in the company has finally set off. As a matter of fact, over one hundred clients from small to medium companies in North America have reached for the company’s expertise when it comes to digital advertising, email marketing, SEO, web design, social media marketing, and data crawling. Through this, the company formed excellent partnerships with many of its clients. They have had the pleasure of working with their clients to help redefine their digital marketing efforts, particularly in the Meals and  Entertainment Industry, E-Commerce Industry, Supermarket, Fashion, Real Estate Industry, etc.

If I could go back in time a year or two, I would say we would be way more specialised and focus on one niche area, not all the industries. We helped one of the very well-known Fashion brands and E-commerce – Marol in Italy. We helped a well-known bedding linens franchise – Hometrends. We helped well-known architectural and law firms in the Toronto Urban Area. However, the net profit was not that high due to being a generalist, not a specialist, so our service was not the top one for any industry. We decided to dive into one industry deeply to become one of the top marketing service agencies in this industry later on. We should have made this decision as early as possible. This was one of the most significant milestones in the company’s journey.

What problem does your business solve?

We elevate the golf business to the next business level. With our world-class integrated digital marketing strategies, we can help golf and resort owners create a result-driven business in North America.

We observed that most golf businesses are still traditional, and their digital assets are outdated and uninspiring. Yet the digital world is becoming more and more high-tech as time passes. Not to mention, clients keep transforming and updating their needs faster than the marketplace, so as a business owner, you should not just sit back and wait for potential clients. At MiApple Inc., our main goals are to help our clients craft and adopt new technology for their golf businesses and make their golf business ramp up in the marketplace.

Furthermore, we make sure that our clients will get all the elements necessary for taking their business to the next level. We’re more than just a digital marketing agency – we are your business fuel that will drive your business to the road of success.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Inspired by the great company of Apple Inc., Alice Ding grows her own version of a simple yet reliable and progressing MiApple company. The word “Mi” means small and young, which basically evokes the refreshing, growing, and continuing years that the company will face. One might say that it is nothing to compare with the giant companies that withstand strong storms, but this digital marketing agency has more to offer.

It was her unwavering love for golf that pushed Alice Ding to establish and run the MiApple company. As a matter of fact, the green colour in their logo represents the “lawn, golf, and sun”. Another thing is the letter in the logo. One can easily associate the company’s initial letter with the golf ball. This is a simple logo, yet it creates a remarkable impact on those who will look at it. It signifies the company’s passion and dedication to offering its services, especially in the field wherein they excel the most. These elements give off a golf enthusiast vibe. This also hooks the attention of clients who are inclined to golf.

But wait, there’s another reason that makes this company worth it. The pandemic has significantly affected the Golf Industry. This point in time marks a more lavish opportunity for Alice to elevate the Golf Industry to the digital world. She understands the despair of every golfer as they need to stop playing at golf courses for a long time due to the pandemic. She and her team came up with the idea to summon golf professionals to exchange insights without going on the actual golf field.

This unlocks the door for more ways to connect with golf players all over the world without having to meet them personally. Something magical happens at that moment. Through virtual golf simulation, a lot of engaging activities and services were offered. They turned outdated and uninspiring golf websites into more high-tech and innovative sites. This was made possible through their creativity in crafting and adopting new technology for the golf businesses and making golf businesses ramp up in the marketplace.

Apparently, Alice’s vast and long experiences gained from her previous jobs have greatly contributed to the realization of MiApple’s core vision, which is to assist small-to-medium digital marketing businesses to reach their own dream company. Due to the CEO’s competitive background and experiences, together with a talented team of marketers and developers, there is no doubt that MiApple is standing right now.

Truly, the fruit of the CEO’s labour in planting her seed of a dream has been harvested well and will grow for more seasons to come. Here’s to a growing and improving MiApple Inc.

What is your magic sauce?

Since Alice is a golf enthusiast, venturing into this industry is a lot more interesting and fun for her. Another thing is Golf Digital Marketing Business is just in its first bloom in the digital industry, meaning the company has very few competitors, particularly in Canada. For this reason, golf owners also benefit since clients are local. The company can have New York golf course clients and Seattle Golf course clients at the same time or Toronto Golf course clients. This truly expands the business quickly with more and more clients all over the world. The use of SEO (search engine optimization) also boosts the number of local clients.

It is important in a local business or the golf industry since many people use Google searches or maps to find golf courses, etc. This outstanding outcome led to the development of golf courses, resorts, driving ranges, other outdoor and indoor golf, golf stores related to the management of software, and golf and resorts related to WordPress Themes/Plugins.

Aside from the golf industry, Miapple Inc. also extended its service to the Resort Industry this year. The Golf and Resort Industry serves a good combination. This makes the company a distinguished and unique kind of digital marketing company. From this perspective, the team can study and understand these two industries in a more specialized and focused way.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

Our plan for the next five years is to continue with our digital marketing service. We are now developing client management/tee time booking/accounting/POS/marketing automation integrated software for golf clients. We will try to be more aggressive to get more clients, maybe expanding our clients from North America only to Europe and Australia also. We hope to be one of the best digital marketing agencies in the golf and resort industry all over the world.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

There were lots of challenges at the beginning.

We spent lots of time getting our first client in 2015. Our first client was actually not related to golf but an e-commerce website design.

Also, it is not easy to manage projects and control project costs within a tight budget and compete with other agencies.

As a digital marketer, we always need to learn to keep up the pace. The digital knowledge is updated quickly nowadays.

Other challenges are how to keep great employees and client relationship management.

The most challenging aspect for us now is getting quality remote contractors and managing projects better.

How can people get involved?

You can email us at aliceding@miapple.ca or visit our website at www.thegolfclub.info