David Ralph Join Up Dots Podcast
Tried and Tested Strategies to Start a Business and Succeed
David Ralph is back again this week with another podcast episode. This time, he has invited the Coolest Guy in SEO, Kris Reid, to join him. On this entrepreneur interview, David had Kris retell his own success story. From being an ambitious software developer from Down Under, Kris has managed to build his own SEO empire.
In this podcast, Kris shares the beginnings of his SEO career and the challenges that came along with it. Aside from that, he also discussed about immersing oneself in varied cultures and shared new ways to manage a business efficiently and productively.
He also put emphasis on knowing when to hit the brakes to achieve bigger and greater lengths of success. At the end of the episode, Kris summed his experience with some insights he learned after chasing the money.
Who Is David Ralph and How Did Join Up Dots Started?
Success is achieved when one doesn’t stop at their darkest point but rather keeps pushing forward to achieving their dream. This is what David Ralph believes in and hopes that every individual wouldn’t be a faded version of what could’ve been their brilliant self.
He started Join Up Dots with the mission to encourage people to start their own business and to make it more fun every day.
The Inspiration for David’s work “You can only see your future by connecting the dots” was a quote from the ever brilliant Steve Jobs. David and his Join Up Dots interviews aim to show people that they can be who they want to be. He thinks that seeking more fun daily makes you a bit more successful; a belief that he shared with Kris Reid
Kris Reid – From Australia to the Rest of the World
The Coolest Guy in SEO comes from Brisbane, Australia where he studied software engineering at the Queensland University of Technology. After finishing his degree, he went off to London and spent some time working on finance. Some of his former employers were Euroclear and Visa Europe which are notable names in the industry.
When Kris lost his job after the global financial crisis hit, he went home and started building his own game, Mob Warrior. On the last stage of development, he realised that he needed a way to market his game.
That’s when he started learning about search engine optimisation. He started off with a backlinking company which, in turn, became a one-stop SEO service company that it is now.
To this day, Kris dedicates his efforts and time to Ardor SEO.
How to Find New Ways of Effectively and Productively Operating a Business?
According to Kris, a global mindset is important and actually makes a difference when handling a business.
The Coolest Guy in SEO currently has remote staff in Cambodia, the Philippines, California, and Australia. He travels every now and then to visit, meet, and personally work with his team. He prefers delegating tasks to people who can help him and with the skills that are not his forte.
Another notable information Kris gave is that he dislikes putting his staff on a tight leash.
He emphasised that a manager or owner doesn’t need to be in touch with them 24/7 to be productive. Kris himself prefers giving autonomy and sharing his knowledge among his staff. This way, his team can work and relax at the same time.
Is Search Engine Optimisation Dead for Internet Marketing?
Internet marketing has been the biggest trend these days. So one question that was thrown by David was, is search engine optimisation dead for internet marketing? In Kris’ opinion, SEO is actually growing in double digits. It has had a lot of changes but all lead to the sites getting more competitive with their rivals.
Page Rank and Getting Authority
Kris explained the page rank algorithm by Larry Page. He described it to be like a thesis reference; the more credit it gets, the more authority it gets.
Websites are basically the same. The more people interacting, linking, viewing, and clicking it, the more credible it is in the eyes of Google. Kris mentioned that a site owner should follow the 80:20 rule. 20% of a person’s time should be spent creating content and 80% should be spent marketing the content.
Creating content is just the beginning of establishing authority. Kris suggested guest blog posting as one effective technique. One reaches out to another company from the same niche but in a different location. They offer an article in return for linking back to them. Both companies gain the benefits.
Using Leverage and Chasing the Money
The success Kris has now didn’t come easy. He went out of his comfort zone and conquered all his fears to build his empire now. But this hard work took a toll on his health. This is when he had to regroup and realign himself to his goals.
Kris realised that chasing for the bigger pay only led him to great dissatisfaction and frustrations. He suggested that one takes advantage of any leverage because they can only get so much. He said one should make the most of their time and find happiness while doing so.
At the end of the day, it is not the money that brings happiness but rather the growth and opportunities shared with his staff.
Kris was given a moment to say something to his younger self in the last minutes of the podcast. He told himself to take more risks, keep trying, enjoy the ride without being scared.
The full podcast episode of Kris Reid Takes the Microphone can be found on Join Up Dots Podcast Show. You can also listen to it on iTunes and Stitcher. Follow David Ralph and his podcast episodes by subscribing to his Facebook page.
