Selling Your Business on the Entrepreneur Way with Neil Ball
On this episode on the Entrepreneur Way, Neil Ball talks with the Coolest Guy in SEO, Kris Reid, about Kris’s journey towards success—how he learned about search engine optimisation (SEO) and how he started out his company, Ardor SEO. This podcast also shares tips from Kris on how to sell your business effectively and successfully.
Kris’s Entrepreneur Way
Starting out as a software engineer, Kris worked for several big-name companies. But when the Global Financial Crisis hit he lost his contract. He ended up developing a game, and at some point when he was getting it ready, he wondered how he could guide people to visit the game’s website and play it. That was when he started learning about backlinks and SEO to promote it. He also started creating tools to increase website rankings, which is now the basis of his company, Ardor SEO.
Today, Ardor SEO is one of the most trusted multi-national full-service SEO companies that help other businesses achieve success in their respective niches by using innovative online marketing solutions. Ardor SEO’s services include search engine optimisation, reputation engineering, search engine ranking, authority marketing, and link building.
On the Biggest Mistake Businesses Make When Marketing
According to Kris, the biggest mistake committed by many businesses today is that they do not communicate properly to their clients. In a way, one of their biggest and most common downfalls is talking like experts but not being able to provide solutions to the problems their customers are having. So, instead of just talking, Kris suggests that businesses should offer their customers some guidance on solving their problems or satisfying their needs. He explains:
“Every business is designed to solve some problem. But, often the person that’s looking or that has the problem doesn’t know the solution, right? So, they’re searching for the problem. It’s like, y’know, if you had a headache, Panadols are one of the solutions, but it’s like, you don’t know what it is. So, you’re searching ‘how do I get rid of my damn headache?’. And people often don’t have their marketing explaining that. And, even when they do rank for whatever that keyword is that they solve that problem, they don’t add a call to action.
“Y’know it’s like, why do you want to get someone to your web page? What do you want them to do?
“Help them move forward.”
To remedy this type of problem, Kris states that a business should only deal with a number of customers that it can cater to, build a strategy that is ideal in serving its market, and use innovative online marketing solutions that are available today.
Overcoming Difficulties in Business
As a software engineer, Kris did experience difficulties in business. But through constant learning and finding and filling his weak spots, he managed to overcome them. Now, he enjoys finding himself often engaged in sales and marketing.
Another challenge he faced in his business is growth. As it grows, so does its number of clients and the size of its staff. According to Kris, managing it has become more and more difficult.
To overcome these challenges, Kris worked with people who are fun to work with and have the same aspirations as him. In a way, he also chooses clients that fit his business—“those who also want to grow their ventures and provide goodness to the world,” he says. Of course, he has also put in place a long-term plan for his business.
The Importance of Culture in a Company
When asked for his opinion on the nature of his business, Kris states that culture would not matter much. As his company is composed of many different teams from different places, all that matters is how his team leaders manage their respective teams. Each team has its own culture, and as long as they work together, everything will go well.
When it comes to hiring people who will fit your organisation, Kris advises giving the right tests to the candidates to be able to pick those who will really understand what you need to do in leading your business toward success.
Kris’s Advice to Other Entrepreneurs on Selling Their Business
“Selling is the number one thing that you need to do in making a business; if you can sell you’ll never go hungry. Focus on becoming a good salesman.”
This is what Kris says when asked about his advice to entrepreneurs out there and how to sell the right way. On shortening the learning curve of becoming a good salesman and attaining success, he has these tips to offer:
- Get out there and keep selling
- Don’t stress about stuff too much
- Stick to a working strategy
- Read books by successful entrepreneurs
- Conduct trial and error to find out what works and what doesn’t
- Do not stop learning
- Join a network
Keeping Up with Change
To wrap up the conversion, Neil asks Kris how he and his company adapt to change, especially as they are always dealing with Google’s algorithms, which could change “at the drop of a hat” and are constantly evolving. Kris answers that you should just post quality content on your website and create quality backlinks to not to get penalised by Google.
To learn more about this discussion between Neil and Kris, listen to the entire podcast on the Entrepreneur Way. It is also available on iTunes.
About the Host
Neil Ball is a successful entrepreneur with in-depth experience and multiple achievements in the field of business. Not so long ago, he realised that sharing his entrepreneurial journey with others could help them start, run, and manage their own businesses, thus the Entrepreneur Way was born.
Through his website, Neil is able to share his knowledge with those who want to become entrepreneurs and those who already have their own businesses, with the aim to offer them guidance and take their ventures to the next level.
