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The Early Days Podcast by DULO

The Early Days Podcast by DULO

By DULO

Welcome to The Early Days Podcast - a show about the hustle, the excitement, the doubts, the successes, the failures, the ups and downs of building a business from scratch.

We interview fellow entrepreneurs about their experience of starting businesses. As we are building our own apparel company and documenting our early days, we wanted to go behind the scenes with other entrepreneurs and find out what their early days, weeks, months, and years were like.
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The Best Way to Learn Facebook Ads | The Early Days (S3E6)

The Early Days Podcast by DULOApr 16, 2019

00:00
51:28
The Best Way to Learn Facebook Ads | The Early Days (S3E6)

The Best Way to Learn Facebook Ads | The Early Days (S3E6)

Learning Facebook Ads, building an agency business, firing your clients and much more with Mojca Zove from Super Spicy Media


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Mojca Žove is a Facebook ads expert and founder of Super Spicy Media - a digital marketing agency.

In our conversation with Mojca we talked about what it was like for her to start a digital agency business, the realisation that a full-time job is never 100% a sure thing, and the biggest obstacles to starting. As an expert Facebook advertiser, we asked Mojca to share how she learned Facebook Ads, the resources and methods that helped her master the craft, and how she deployed this channel when attracting clients for her agency. We also talked about email lists, webinars, balancing content creation and client work, burnout, firing clients, and much, much more.


Complete notes and links: https://weardulo.com/blogs/the-early-days-podcast/facebook-ads


Topics:

01:55 - Who is Mojca and starting Super Spicy Media

03:25 - Getting fired from a marketing agency

05:30 - Taking the leap to build her own business

06:30 - What was the biggest obstacle to starting earlier?

07:28 - Learning Facebook ads

08:37 - The best way to learn Facebook ads

11:33 - The biggest mistakes people do when starting with Facebook ads

13:07 - Learning to get clients

16:16 - The origin of the name "Super Spicy Media"

17:15 - Learning and doing outreach with cold emails

18:22 - Deploying Facebook ads to building a client list

19:42 - Working on retainer vs project-based projects

21:03 - Using content as a driver to earn new business

23:17 - Promoting content to drive awareness and grow an audience

25:11 - Building an email list

27:22 - How to host and promote a webinar

28:59 - Strategies for cleaning up and keeping your email list up-to-date

31:40 - Upcoming shifts in attention across social media and helping people online

34:48 - Balancing content creation and client work

37:14 - Sharing personal and professional content on Instagram Stories

38:18 - Firing clients and choosing what to work on

41:33 - How to deal with burnout and take a break

43:30 - Building an online course

46:40 - Future plans and projects

47:47 - Links and resources

Apr 16, 201951:28
Evergreen Marketing Principles | The Early Days (S3E5)

Evergreen Marketing Principles | The Early Days (S3E5)

Discussing how adding value, asking questions, and listening to the customer can help grow a business, with John D Saunders.


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John D Saunders, founder of 5four Digital is an experienced serial entrepreneur who excels at marketing. After selling several online stores, and a career as an advertising executive for the automotive industry, John decided to start his own marketing agency. The need to learn more and provide more value to others were the main principles behind his decision to take the entrepreneurial route. 


In our conversation we go through a variety of topics and John mentions a lot of resources which you can start using today in your own business. Some of the things we covered - working in a remote environment, constantly learning new things and sharing those with the world, building a business on core principles such as adding value, asking questions and listening to consumers. We also dived deep into strategies for social media marketing and growing e-commerce stores.


Complete notes and links: https://weardulo.com/blogs/the-early-days-podcast/marketing-principles


Topics we cover in this episode:

01:35 - How John started his life in advertising

03:10 - Starting 5four

03:40 - Working with a remote team

04:13 - The transition from working on the side to full-time entrepreneurship

05:40 - Taking a leap of faith and having a contingency plan

06:30 - Finding 5four's first clients and the importance of networking

07:30 - Educating yourself and sharing everything new you learn

08:22 - Add value, ask questions, listening to your consumer

09:08 - Getting used to being your own boss

09:53 - Being a facilitator rather than a boss

10:25 - The process of self-improvement and self-education

12:37 - Balancing learning with execution

14:34 - Project and task management tools

16:40 - Starting 5four solo - the good and the bad

17:24 - Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and collaborating with others when scaling your efforts

17:56 - Having the confidence to hire your first full-time employees

20:22 - The benefits and disadvantages of working with a remote team

22:56 - Balancing time for internal marketing and business development

24:46 - Moving into a marketing manager role and out of the project manager role

25:37 - Social media platforms and content strategies with the highest ROI

32:40 - Tools and apps to have when starting an ecommerce store

35:34 - Recommendations for building out the Product Description Page on your store

37:10 - Documenting your life online

39:28 - Plans for the near future

42:10 - Links and handles

Apr 04, 201945:12
Say "Yes" first, figure it out later | The Early Days by DULO (S3E4)

Say "Yes" first, figure it out later | The Early Days by DULO (S3E4)

Discussing how to building a design agency from scratch with Matt Ellis, founder of Honcho Agency


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https://weardulo.com


Matt Ellis is the founder of Honcho, a design agency specializing in web design and development. 

Matt’s built Honcho from scratch and without knowing much about the agency world. He simply learned to dive into new opportunities head first and figure out how to do things as he’s going along. It’s a piece of advice he shared a few times during our conversation. We also talked about hiring first employees, pricing strategies, finding clients, running a remote company and much more. It’s an episode rich on resources and tools that will help a lot of you to automate and facilitate processes around your own businesses. If you work at a small agency or run a remote team, this is a very useful episode to listen to.


Topics we cover in this episode:

01:50 - Who is Matt Ellis and what does he do

02:34 - How Matt got into web development

05:49 - Saying "Yes" to things even if you don't know how to do them

07:23 - Learning to do web development properly

08:30 - From freelancer to founder of a design agency

10:30 - Learning how to build an agency

11:40 - Hiring the first employee at Honcho

12:55 - Freeing more time for learning and business development

15:40 - Finding clients in the early days and financial security

17:18 - Balancing a financial forecast with hiring

19:00 - Switching from a product focus to a sales and business development one

20:30 - Tools to help with automation to free up more time

23:30 - How to choose which prospects to approach

29:55 - Where does conversion happen

31:00 - Pricing strategies: project-based vs. retainers

35:00 - Providing more value to others by learning more about your own business

35:20 - Working remotely

36:20 - Running a remote company - the process and tools

40:10 - Fluid processes and trust

41:50 - Getting new clients

42:46 - Acquiring new clients through Adwords

44:10 - Future plans for the Honcho agency

48:05 - Links and handles


FULL LIST of Useful Resources and Links: https://weardulo.com/blogs/the-early-days-podcast/say-yes-first-figure-it-out-later

Mar 28, 201952:35
Bootstrapping vs VC funding #TEDbits (S3E3)
Mar 27, 201901:48
There's always another way #TEDbits (S3E3)
Mar 26, 201901:53
Prepare a roadmap before your launch #TEDbits (S3E3)
Mar 25, 201901:26
Adjusting your prices according to the market #TEDbits (S3E3)
Mar 22, 201901:35
Lessons on launching, funding and marketing a startup | The Early Days by DULO (S3E3)

Lessons on launching, funding and marketing a startup | The Early Days by DULO (S3E3)

Sharing stories and lessons from two decades of building startups with Diane Tarshis, founder of Startup Distillery (S3E3)


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https://weardulo.com


Diane Tarshis is an experienced startup consultant who started her career in the middle of the dot-com boom and is now the founder of Startup Distillery, where she works with companies to help them navigate the muddy waters of their early days.

With two decades of experience from the entrepreneurial trenches, working with founders from all walks of life and industries, we wanted to talk with Diane about the messy beginnings of small businesses. We covered important lessons around launching a startup, such as the importance of having a roadmap and doing extra homework in preparation, we discussed the pros and cons of self-funding versus raising venture capital and when is it a good time to rely on each. We also touched on the topic of marketing and messaging - a topic near and dear to us, since we are in the middle of figuring out how to talk to our target audience.


Topics we cover in this episode:

01:53 - Who is Diane and what she does

04:56 - How Diane approached her first clients

06:36 - How to figure out what to charge

09:20 - The most common problems startups get stuck on

11:05 - The importance of having a roadmap before launch

12:55 - How to convince a stubborn founder to change direction

16:00 - There's always another way

17:21 - Bootstrapping versus Venture Funding

20:32 - The argument against going all-in on building a business from the start

23:33 - The myth of stress and the blessing of constraints when bootstrapping a side-business

27:20 - The DULO journey so far

33:05 - What to do when your business plateaus

37:41 - Can you apply lessons from one business into a new one

43:27 - The need to appeal to the head and the heart when marketing your business

45:34 - The importance of a clear and succinct message

49:10 - Future plans and project

54:29 - Get in touch with Diane


FULL LIST of Useful Resources and Links: https://weardulo.com/blogs/the-early-days-podcast/startup-lessons

Mar 21, 201956:24
Business lessons from Kanye and co. | #TEDbits (S3E2)
Mar 20, 201902:03
When you accept that everything is your fault | #TEDbits (S3E2)
Mar 19, 201901:28
Working full-time on your business | #TEDbits (S3E2)
Mar 18, 201901:54
Working with a co-founder who is also your brother | #TEDbits (S3E2)
Mar 15, 201901:55
How to create content at scale | The Early Days by DULO (S3E2)

How to create content at scale | The Early Days by DULO (S3E2)

How to create content at scale with limited resources? Discussing clever content creation models with Kareem Mostafa of Tribetactics.


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https://weardulo.com


Kareem Mostafa (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmostafa) is the co-founder of Tribetactics (https://www.tribetactics.com) - a bootstrapped content creation company which helps businesses maximise their efforts in producing compelling content across a wide range of media and platforms.

Naturally, our conversation gravitated towards the importance and value of having a solid content production and distribution processes. We went behind the scenes of how Kareem and his brother, with whom he co-founded Tribetactics, work to deliver valuable and contextually-relevant content to their clients. Furthermore, we touched on how one big piece of content can turn into multiple smaller pieces that can fuel your content plan for a month. We also talked about the importance of speed over perfection, financing the business, managing client expectations, business lessons from hip hop and much more.

As usual, you can find a bunch of resources mentioned in this episode with links below, as well as the main topics we covered in the episode.

When we asked Kareem if he had a question for you, he came up with this ask instead: “Create daily documentaries!”


Topics we cover in this episode:

01:36 - Who is Kareem and what is Tribetactics

02:30 - How the Tribetactics content machine works

03:20 - What is the GaryVee content model

05:18 - Behind the scenes of the Tribetactics process

06:35 - How to know when it's time to do something fresh

07:30 - How Kareem and his brother decided to work full-time on Tribetactics

10:07 - Managing and setting client expectations

12:55 - Breaking down the asset delivery process

13:55 - Working with clients overseas

16:12 - Working with a co-founder who is also a family member

17:27 - Thoughts on funding and bootstrapping the business

20:18 - The biggest lesson Kareem learned since starting Tribetactics

21:23 - What's the biggest challenge Kareem is having at the moment

25:06 - Speed vs Perfection

27:50 - Deploying the content model to market the business

30:02 - How Tribetactics attract their customers

34:35 - Business lessons from hip hop

36:25 - Plans for the next 6-12 months

37:48 - Ask of the day from Kareem "Create daily documentaries!"


FULL LIST OF SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: ▼

https://weardulo.com/podcast


OUR SOCIALS▼

▸Instagram: https://instagram.com/weardulo

▸Twitter: https://twitter.com/weardulo

▸Facebook: https://facebook.com/weardulo

Mar 14, 201941:14
The importance of balance in two-sided marketplaces | #TEDbits (S3E1)
Mar 13, 201901:06
Should you go with your gut when doing user testing? | #TEDbits (S3E1)
Mar 12, 201900:56
What are the negative effects of having too many tools? | #TEDbits (S3E1)
Mar 11, 201901:21
Useful resources for growth marketing #TEDbits (S3E1)
Mar 08, 201901:15
How to grow a SaaS business | The Early Days by DULO (S3E1)

How to grow a SaaS business | The Early Days by DULO (S3E1)

Discussing growth marketing for entrepreneurs with Foti Panagio of Growthmentor (S3E1)

Foti Panagio is the co-founder of Growthmentor - a platform that connects founders and marketers with growth mentors. We were first introduced to Foti and Growthmentor thanks to Julian who is an active mentor on the site.

Growthmentor is Foti’s first attempt at entrepreneurship and in our conversation, we touch on a lot of topics around the early days. We go behind the scenes of the process of idea validation, transitioning from full-time employment to part-time entrepreneurship, the biggest challenges facing the business today, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and much more. As we go along, Foti shares a lot of useful resources, tools, and methods he uses to steer the growth of the business (check out a list with all the links below).

We also gave Foti the opportunity to ask you, our audience, to answer this question of the day: "What is your biggest pain point in growth [marketing] that you have right now?"


Topics we cover in this episode:

02:44 - Who is Foti and the origin of Growthmentor

05:20 - Previous startup experience

06:04 - Foti's first steps into solo entrepreneurship

08:40 - How Foti validated the idea for Growthmentor

13:50 - Transitioning from a full-time job to part-time entrepreneurship

15:00 - Balancing family and co-founder relationship with a spouse

17:15 - Splitting responsibilities between co-founders

18:50 - What's the current focus of the Growthmentor team

24:00 - Foti's current biggest challenge

26:40 - Timeframe to start monetizing

27:20 - What KPIs is Growthmentor tracking

28:22 - How are they tracking KPIs

31:15 - Plans for Startup Grind

32:36 - Nailing the elevator pitch

35:08 - Resources and techniques for starting and growing a business

37:27 - Delegating work to virtual assistants

38:00 - Following up with cold leads and personalized outreach

39:30 - Resources for growth marketing and performance marketing

40:22 - Future plans, targets, and ideas for the next 6 months

46:40 - How does Foti go around selecting mentors for the platform

50:00 - Foti's question to the audience: "What is your biggest pain point in growth [marketing] that you have right now?"


Useful Resources and Links:

Connect with Foti -  twitter, LinkedIn

Check out Growthmentor 

AdWords - Google's advertising platform, useful to run A/B tests

instapages - quick landing page creation

2018 Marktech Landscape Plan - overview of marketing technologies for 2018

Trello - project management software

Google Drive - document and cloud storage set of tools

IndieHackers - a community of entrepreneurs

Zest.is - marketing content aggregation

useloom - a browser extension that to share a recording of your screen with audio and video

UpWork - if you want to look for virtual assistants

woodpecker.co - automated cold emails and follow-ups

Mar 07, 201953:22
S2E30 - Kitchen confidential with Julian and Marin

S2E30 - Kitchen confidential with Julian and Marin

Time to wrap up Season 2 of our podcast! We took the opportunity to have our 30th episode as the last of the year and the season. On this season finale, it's just us the founders (Julian and Marin) and we had a very informal conversation about the past year, the constantly evolving DULO brand, finding our purpose and how there are slight differences for each founder, as well as our plans for the next 12 months.

Thank you to everyone listening! We really appreciate your time and attention. We hope you find value in the content we put out on this platform! If you have suggestions on how to make it better or you have requests for topics you'd like to hear more of, drop us a line on social @weardulo.

Until 2019!
Dec 13, 201851:55
S2E29 - How to turn a side-project into a full-time gig - Pat Walls, Starter Story
Dec 06, 201855:57
S2E28 - Jackie Fast: How to ask for help when you are just starting

S2E28 - Jackie Fast: How to ask for help when you are just starting

On today's episode, we have Jackie Fast - founder of Slingshot Sponsorship, REBEL Pi, and a participant on The Apprentice.

Her first business – Slingshot Sponsorship – was started in her bedroom in 2010 with just a laptop and £2,000. Six years later, Jackie sold Slingshot for millions, having worked with notable international clients including Sir Richard Branson, the Rolling Stones, Shell, Red Bull and many more.

Jackie is now the founder of REBEL Pi, an ice wine brand. Relatively unknown, ice wine production is the rarest and riskiest in the world. With this exceptional product and brand, Jackie is slowly conquering the world and is also a participant on The Apprentice! If that was not enough, Jackie is also a best-selling author with her book PINPOINT.

In our conversation, we touched on the early days of Jackie's career as a founder of Slingshot, how she exited the business, took time off to decide what to do next, how she started REBEL Pi and her experience on The Apprentice. We also talk about the importance of asking for help, how to do sales, branding, and distribution, and much, much more.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate us, and spread the word with your friends and colleagues! Together, we can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs!
Nov 29, 201834:18
S2E27 - 6 lessons from 12 months of building DULO

S2E27 - 6 lessons from 12 months of building DULO

On this episode, Marin and Julian (the DULO founders themselves) sit down and share their top lessons learned over the course of the past year. 12 months is a lot of time when building a business and mistakes are a normal part of the journey.

Got questions for us? We would be happy to answer them, and hopefully, help someone else who is building a business.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate us, and spread the word with your friends and colleagues! Together, we can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs!
Nov 15, 201811:24
S2E26 - How to protect your IP, patents, and going door to door
Nov 08, 201843:55
Slog 54 - Influencer efforts continue
Oct 30, 201804:18
Slog 53 - Influencer Campaign
Oct 23, 201803:56
Building a Product vs. Building a Business

Building a Product vs. Building a Business

On this episode, we talk to Shane and David from Can 2 Pan Strain. Can 2 Pan Strain was specifically developed to solve dry paint stains and debris and is the only solution for a no mess strain from the paint can directly into the painting pan. While talking to Shane and David we found out there is a lot of overlap to how they approach business and how we at DULO do things. Some of the topics we touch on in this conversation: - working with a co-founder - what triggered them to jump into entrepreneurship - building a business when balancing a full-time job - product development & manufacturing - collecting feedback early on in the process - marketing strategies Make sure you check out their business online on c2pstrain.com or say "Hi" on Facebook by looking for the C2P Strain page.
Oct 18, 201847:32
Slog 52 - IG live question, merch and a cool podcast.
Oct 16, 201803:05
Finding Joy In Work Through Play And The Importance Of Quitting

Finding Joy In Work Through Play And The Importance Of Quitting

On today's episode, we welcome back Nathan Kontny, CTO at Rockstar Coders, but also a blogger, vlogger, and a constant experimenter and learner. Nathan was our guest last year while being the CEO of Highrise - a popular CRM solution from Basecamp.

In our conversation with Nate, we discuss his transition and life after Highrise, how he enjoys playing with multiple projects as a way to learn new skills and experiment with technology. In addition, we talked about content, branding, and how to market a new project. We also dived deeper on the topic of quitting and the importance of it when it comes to reinventing yourself and prioritizing your goals.

You can say Hi to Nate on twitter @natekontny (https://twitter.com/natekontny). You should also check out his writing on Medium (https://medium.com/@natekontny) and subscribe to his vlog on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoJLANojCUUCsitmf8a3ug).

Check out also Nate's latest projects:
- Rockstar Coders (https://www.rockstarcoders.com/)
- Summersault App (https://ninjasandrobots.com/somersault-a-vlogging-camera-for-your-phone)
Oct 05, 201852:21
Slog 51 - It's been a confusing week
Oct 04, 201805:00
S2E23 - Skip the gatekeeper and go directly to your audience

S2E23 - Skip the gatekeeper and go directly to your audience

On today's episode, we have David Michaels - senior vice president of the Daytime Emmy Awards at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. David is a top producer with a successful track record in both live event and television production. He has been instrumental in facilitating the transition from a network to a digital-first broadcast of the Daytime Emmys. I was introduced to David by one of our former guests from last season - Kent Speakman, founder of KNEKT TV - and if you enjoy this episode, I highly recommend you check out the episode with Kent.

In this episode, we cover how David and the Academy think about new distribution channels, the benefits of avoiding traditional gatekeepers in content production, the effect of technology and social media on reaching a broader audience worldwide, and much, much more.
Sep 27, 201833:50
Slog 50 - A bit monotone, but important
Sep 25, 201804:51
Slog 49 - Do you like the background music?
Sep 22, 201806:25
S2E22 - How a passion grows into a business, Dale Spoonmore
Sep 20, 201842:45
Slog 48 - DULO at the Emmys
Sep 18, 201802:59
Slog 47 - Birds and new prices
Sep 14, 201805:26
S2E21 - How to grow at your own, comfortable pace

S2E21 - How to grow at your own, comfortable pace

This week, we had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Adam Moore - a mental health specialist, counselor, and an entrepreneur. Adam is a licensed marriage and family therapist and co-owner of Sela Health, which operates mental health counseling offices across the US.

We had a wide-ranging conversation with Adam about how he and his wife are building a sustainable business, at a slow, comfortable pace. We dive deeper into that topic and discuss the advantages and thinking behind such a strategy. In addition, we explored the thinking behind adopting a strategy of engagement on Instagram and online as a means to build deep, lasting relationships with people. We also covered the journey Adam has been through while transitioning to full-time entrepreneurship - for a long time maintaining a balance between a full-time job and building the business.
Sep 13, 201837:48
Slog 46 - Nearly forgot to record this one
Sep 11, 201803:51
Slog 45 - Busy Saturday
Sep 08, 201804:52
S2E20 - How to decide when to leave or stay in a job?
Sep 06, 201840:36
Slog 44 - Some new ideas brewing

Slog 44 - Some new ideas brewing

Marin gives a preview of the vlog and is starting to write his Founder's Newsletter. Julian is excited about some new product ideas before a call with our manufacturer. Let us know what might be valuable to you for us to cover in these slogs ❤️ We appreciate and anticipate all questions!
Sep 04, 201804:01
Slog 43 - Recording and working while traveling
Sep 01, 201803:25
Slog 42 - Biodegradable fabrics and podcasting

Slog 42 - Biodegradable fabrics and podcasting

Julian is on the move and thoroughly testing new technology. Marin's excited about our podcast 🙏 Thanks for listening, we ❤️ your 👂 Check weardulo.com, if you're in need of a dress shirt or entrepreneurial content 🙏❤️
Aug 28, 201803:16
Slog 41 - Ryan Carson on the Early Days podcast
Aug 24, 201803:41
S2E19 - Ryan Carson: The Importance Of Knowing Your Why

S2E19 - Ryan Carson: The Importance Of Knowing Your Why

Our guest on the show this week is Ryan Carson. Ryan is the founder and CEO of Treehouse - an education platform that makes it easy to learn code and find a job in tech. Fun fact - both Julian and I are students of Treehouse and the work that Ryan has been doing over the years has greatly impacted our lives.

During our conversation with Ryan we covered many topics around entrepreneurship, education, and having a purpose. Some of the things we discussed in depth include: being mission-driven, knowing your why, asking for help, documenting your life and journey, becoming better at sales, and the importance of equality and inclusion in education.
Aug 22, 201849:33
Slog 40 - Amazon and the 750% increase
Aug 21, 201803:40
Slog 39 - Best slog yet
Aug 17, 201805:17
S2E18 - How Do You Go Far By Simply Asking?

S2E18 - How Do You Go Far By Simply Asking?

On this episode, we have Hafeez and Chris who bring you "The Roommates" podcast - a late-night conversation taking you behind the scenes of "becoming" featuring all the people, conversations, and perspectives you’d experience on the way.

This episode is a great continuation of our previous chat with Kevin Horek on the topic of how to start a podcast. This time out, we focused more on the distribution side. We went deep with Hafeez and Chris to understand how they think about distribution, quality, and value-creation, plus much, much more

Make sure you check out The Roommates podcast and if you want to say "Hi" to the guys, you can do so @roommateshtx on social.

Thank you for listening and if you enjoy this episode and find value, share it with a trusted friend or colleague. We would also appreciate your love and rating!
Aug 16, 201831:33
Slog 38 - Short but sweet
Aug 14, 201802:42
Slog 37 - Marin finds his voice
Aug 10, 201807:16
Slog 36 - Repurposing video content and creating an Alexa skill.
Aug 07, 201803:13