Th3 Core
Why We Are Here => Water Cooler => Topic started by: 2much on June 26, 2012, 07:02:18 PM
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Before Penguin, things were going pretty good. I was doing a great job for the same 5 or so clients that I'd had for about 6+ years, making decent money for almost no work. I would buy links, switch about 10% of the links out every 6 weeks, and buy low quality links to beef up their numbers. Then, collect nice monthly checks.
Penguin hit, and all my sites were decimated, with all of the clients cancelling. My fiancee's business also tumbled as he runs a link brokerage firm.
When I first posted here about 2 months ago, I was out in the cold. Had no idea what Penguin was about, how to move forward, or how to get back in the game. The same day Penguin hit we closed the deal on a new property with 3+ acres, a 5k sq ft. house, and a 2k sq ft guest house. It's a fixer which needs a TON of work to even be habitable. So you can imagine my shock to find myself with "The Money Pit," 3 kids, and my revenue streams out cold.
So I got to work reinventing myself. I haven't kept up with social media or new developments in the industry, so I had to start from scratch figure it all out. Twitter? What the heck is that? Why in the world would I pin anything? I'd dabbled but didn't know much.
But I got to work figuring out. I resuscitated all my old social profiles. Create a bunch of new ones, including Google+. Met a guy on Google+ who was kind enough to throw me a few bones and help me along in the discovery process. Started writing a ton and guest blogging to gain visibility. Started adding people I'd met back in the days and reading/following their stuff.
Well, on Friday, I got my very first phone call. Someone that I'd added on Facebook had come across my profile, went through my site, liked what I'd been writing, and wanted to pass on a couple of clients that he doesn't have time to take on.
I'm still kinda in shock, I was starting to think all that social media stuff was nothing buy hype and I was wasting my time. I spent the weekend writing proposals and hoping to get back in the game.
I'm writing this because I had to share my excitement. Nobody really understands how cool this stuff is, and to actually see it work is awesome.
Also, I wanted to put myself out there. If you guys have any leads that you don't have the time or interest to take, let me know. By now I have a pretty sweet inventory of sites that accept guest blogs and have gotten about 60 blogs published in sites with great inbound links and social engagement. I've also got a good handle on the social stuff and can integrate that with SEO type services. Also have a great team of writers that I work with to produce content for web 2.0 and guest blogging sites.
I have to confess my passion for the industry has been rekindled. It's been YEARS since I've been excited about SEO. It had gotten so dry and boring. To do SEO now requires imagination and creativity and I love that. It's nice to be excited to work and to wonder what discoveries that day is going to bring. I know you can still do SEO without social and there are still ways where you don't have to rely on content but I am enjoying doing it this way, and I think in the long run, it's the way to go.
Anyways, thanks for listening, and wish me luck!
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nice one :) Sometimes a kick up the bum is undoubtedly good for us, even though it doesn't feel like it at the time.
God luck - doesn't sound like you need it when you're hussling like you are though!
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Good luck to you 2much, I am sure you will rebound fine. I've been there myself a few times over the past 14 years. I think it is one of the costs of being self-employed -- every once in a while you have to reinvent yourself.
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Good luck. I think you will do just fine. Just remembering back to your posts back on WmW and here I think you will adapt to the new SEO and thrive.
And we will enjoy hearing about your adventures on the way!
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Onya 2much, onwards and upwards!
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Very cool to hear!
SNS certainly is a lot more fun than link building. ;)
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Thanks guys. And yes. As a kid I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Well guess what, I'm well on my way (to growing up lol). I've been writing content like crazy. And learning a lot. It's fun, and satisfying.
I'll definitely share as I find, I'm writing it all down as I discover stuff, and trying to document the process.
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I'll definitely share as I find, I'm writing it all down as I discover stuff, and trying to document the process.
I'll expect your offering on appsumo soon then :)