Why I Don’t Write Much SEO Anymore
It’s almost four years since I started this blog. It’s been fun. Heck, it’s been the ride of a lifetime! And here’s the bittersweet statement that I thought I would never blurt out to you.
“I’m not writing SEO anymore.”
Well at least not as much as I used to.
The Balance
SEO is my passion. Not exactly. It’s something somewhere inside the colossal field of SEO that keeps my clock ticking. Perhaps it’s the competition. Perhaps it’s studying the algorithm. Perhaps it’s the nature of having it as a business.
Whatever it is, I know that I can’t keep on relying on it to keep my juices flowing.
Writing about SEO isn’t that difficult for me. I love SEO. However growing SEO Hacker as a business has taken so much time, effort, brainpower and yes, even love – from my passion for SEO.
My love for SEO has diminished. And now I find myself loving another.
Call me polygamous but it is what it is.
A More Daunting Responsibility
Writing about SEO is like riding a bicycle. It’s fun. It’s an adventure. It’s good exercise.
It’s not like I won’t bike anymore. I still would.
But now I find myself driving a car – and enjoying every minute of it.
Building and running a business is tough. In fact, it’s really tough. It involves studying taxation, legality, paying business permits, setting up an office, hiring an awesome team, documenting your history, dealing with clients, managing client expectations, etc.
It’s a whole new vehicle.
And right now, it’s what I’m driving.
Facelift?
So here’s what I’m going to do – I’m going to run an experiment and see how we’ll both like it. I’ll write more about starting up a knowledge based business and you tell me if it’s something you’re interested in.
I’m already cooking up some of my first entries on this (you can take a sneak peak of some of it in my personal blog).
It will include some things about sales, accounts management, marketing, handling a team, etc.
After all, SEO Hacker started out (and is still) a personal SEO blog.
The Common Dilemma
Most SEO start-ups know that it is extremely difficult to balance your time writing and developing your online content marketing strategy with business management. It is very different to read, write, learn, test, publish and market compared to manage a team, pay taxes, acquire and manage clients, renew contracts, etc.
So what usually happens is that if someone starts an SEO business, the content marketing dies a slow, painful death.
You could see it in other start-up SEO companies even here in the Philippines.
There are very few people who have made it though – and that’s because the 2 main responsibilities of managing a business and being the online strategist is separated into two.
I have an in-house director who helps me out with the business and operations side of things. So I get to keep doing what I love doing as the strategist and consultant.
Unfortunately when you start-up, you don’t always have that luxury.
Unless you’re partnering up with someone else.
Why I Started Solo
I didn’t hire a director nor partner with someone else up-front. I did everything on my own at first. I wanted to learn the ropes – and that meant bootstrapping and starting stupid.
I did foolish things that has helped me learn and grow and commit never to do them again. I’ve spent money needlessly in taxes because of my ignorance. I’ve given benefits to some of my teammates that are outlandish.
And these things helped make me a better person. A better decision maker. A better CEO.
I realize that not all of us has that luxury to make mistakes. Some of the people who want to go ahead and build an SEO start-up cannot afford to lose money or time.
And that’s why I’m writing this compilation of how I started SEO Hacker and the things I’ve learned along the way.
Think you’ll like it? Lemme know your thoughts in the comments section.