Digital Marketing and SEO Advice for Startups
- Chris Raulf
- November 10, 2017
Starting your own business is not for the faint of heart. You’ll end up working endless hours, wear more hats than can possibly exist on this planet, pay your employees more than yourself… the list goes on and on.
And getting your significant other to understand why you wouldn’t want it any other way is nearly impossible, right?
On Monday, October 1, 2012, I started my journey as being self-employed. The weeks leading up to this date were quite stressful since I just purchased a new home and my financial obligations had increased a lot. Looking back, I think I actually needed that kind of pressure because I only had savings for about three months. I knew I had to make this work, no matter what. Six weeks into being my own boss, I was profitable.
Today, I run a successful and profitable SEO training and consulting agency located in beautiful Denver and Boulder, Colorado. We now assist local, national as well as international customers with all of their online marketing needs and we also host a variety of digital marketing courses on a regular basis.
Avoid the “Wishful-Thinking-Trap”
According to Business Insider, 42% of businesses fail because there’s no market for their product or service. Don’t fall into this trap. Spend plenty of time doing comprehensive market research before potentially ending up in the “wishful-thinking-trap.”
One of the other main reasons why startups fail is because they don’t get their marketing right. They spend time, money and resources on everything else but they often neglect making their products or services visible on Google and other search engines. They invest a ton of money into building a “cool” website, only to learn that it’s not properly optimized for online search once it’s online.
I have spoken with many entrepreneurs who have, unfortunately, fallen into one of these traps. As a result, a number of them didn’t even make it past year one. Very sad, but also avoidable.
Not sure if your site is properly optimized for Google search? Use our complimentary SEO website tool. In less than a minute, you’ll get an 8-10 page report with a ton of actionable information.
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Interested in learning how I got into business, some of the struggles I had to deal with, and where the future is taking me and my business? Jim Sugarman, Founder of 4GenNow, interviewed me for the Summit and I invite you to read the interview below.
If you have any questions or would like to stay in touch with me, please don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn.
Here goes:
What Makes Boulder SEO Marketing Unique?
Boulder SEO Marketing, based in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, not only offers the full plate of digital marketing services but also teaches anyone willing to learn how to do search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing the right way (even established and new competitors).
The demand for high-quality digital marketing services continues to grow on a daily basis. I truly believe that by passing on my knowledge, I’m able to help create jobs and allow companies on a smaller marketing budget to thrive. Boulder SEO Marketing started as a local player, then added customers from all over the U.S. and now works with companies around the world.
I moved to the U.S. from Switzerland in 2000 and my international background makes me one of the few people who live and breathe multilingual and international SEO on a daily basis. Today, I’m proud to say that I’m a sought-after industry expert and I speak at conferences all over the globe.
When and Why Did You Launch?
Back in 2008, I was determined to start a sightseeing tour business based out of Boulder, Colorado. I created a very solid marketing and business plan, did a ton of research, crunched the numbers and for sure thought that nothing could hold me back. Wrong: Due to regulatory issues and laws back then, it was simply impossible for me to enter the market. I was devastated. I had failed.
Around the same time, a friend of mine with a small business asked me if I could help him with his website and do some SEO for him. He knew that I was a marketing guy and that I did this stuff for my employer at the time. I agreed to help him and just realized that I had landed my first customer.
Over the next few years, word spread and I continued to add a few more customers on the side, working long hours after my regular job.
On Tuesday, July 30, 2012, I decided to quit my “regular” job and to start my own digital marketing and SEO agency. Monday, October 1, 2012, was my official first day in business. I started my business venture with a trip to Las Vegas since my brother and his family from Switzerland were visiting us here in the U.S.
Since this trip had been planned way before I decided to start my own business, and I had just landed a huge contract, I ended up having to work until 2 a.m. and then getting up again at 5:30 a.m. to get the work done before spending time with family and having fun in Vegas. I was exhausted but I knew that this is what it would take to make it work.
What is the Biggest Misconception that Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners Have About SEO?
Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs and small business owners will not allocate the time, resources and budget to invest in organic search engine optimization, yet they will often spend thousands of dollars on Google AdWords and pay-per-click services. As soon as the clicks have eaten up their budget, the website is no longer visible on Google. Organic SEO doesn’t happen overnight, but it will yield an ROI for months and possibly years to come. There’s no magic switch when it comes to SEO but it’s well worth the effort.
Tell Us About Your “Non-technical, Self-paced, Online SEO Training” that You Offer
Many of the attendees of our in-person SEO training classes started to ask me if the covered content will be made available in an online course. We go over a ton of information and they wanted to review the content again at their leisure.
About a year ago, I finally took the time to create the self-paced online SEO course. As of right now, it’s about seven hours long and it pretty much covers the content of our two-day certification training. I’m also proud to announce that the course is now part of an online Masters program at a very reputable University in France. It’s a great fit for anyone who would like to learn SEO at the convenience of their home or at work over their lunch break. The training will be updated on a regular basis and I’ll also continue to add new content as SEO evolves. Anyone is welcome to join our LinkedIn group where people can ask questions, share new developments in the SEO world and interact with other group members.
Anything Else, Chris?
I was a startup not too long ago, and in a sense, we always continue to be startups. If you want to stay in business, you need to be innovative and competitive on a daily basis. I hope that my session will help the attendees not only stay in business but to grow their business, create jobs and have fun while going about their business
