There have been few real seismic shifts in technology over the past few years, some have looked likely contenders but have petered out, others have changed the way we do things. In my opinion, we are on the verge of a shift similar in size and impact to the iPhone or the Internet. Chatbots, such […]
The core values driving Pure SEO are education and uplifting the digital marketing industry. We have created courses, lectured at New Zealand’s top universities, and trained marketing managers for the New Zealand Marketing Association. A couple of years ago, I went one step further; Penguin Random House commissioned me to write a book on SEO […]
When I started Pure SEO in October 2009, I had just moved to New Zealand from the UK. Whilst I had extensive experience in business and marketing, I had no idea of any of the nuances of the New Zealand market. I had no network here whatsoever. n early 2010, I was still a sole […]
My Role: Get out of the way, but don’t disappear. In my company, a focus of my role is to make sure I am not in the way or causing a bottleneck in the business. I have a team of extremely capable individuals who need and deserve the opportunity to shine. The other major thing […]
During a strategy day a few years ago, the board at Pure SEO conducted a session to determine what drives us as people and explore why we had surrounded ourselves with this team, culture and environment. The strongest theme to emerge from that session was trust. Trust is what motivates me as a business owner […]
I’m always amazed how many marketing agencies don’t invest in marketing themselves, or if they do, limit themselves solely to the activities they offer clients. Pure SEO invests a considerable amount of money and time on branding and marketing to the point that we have a dedicated marketing manager. We benefit from internal data analysts […]
My first business, Pure SEO, has grown rapidly almost every year since its inception in 2009. However, rapid growth does not necessarily reflect a well-oiled, efficient organisation. On the contrary, growth will strain your systems and test your limits, challenging you as never before, and that growth can stall if you don’t adapt. Larry Bossidy, […]
My British wife and I had no friends or family to support us when we first landed on New Zealand shores in 2009. Those first months were full of challenges. I had taken a punt on renting a property unseen through TradeMe, optimistic that things would work out. Without “Kiwi experience,” I struggled to find […]
I started Pure SEO in October 2009 with a couple of hundred dollars, a big dose of positivity, and a whole heap of naivety. Twelve years later, we have built the largest independent search marketing agency in New Zealand, with an eight-figure turnover and more than 70 staff across four countries. Although we have grown […]
Pure SEO was started in 2009 with a $200 budget and a little bit of know how. This year we have 75 staff across 4 countries and are recognised as the largest Kiwi owned and operated SEO agency in New Zealand who (using our tag line) “Do Digital the Right Way”. It has not […]
Sometimes in life, it is important to recognise when it is time to let go and step back from the helm. I have seen it time and time again when a business is outgrowing the capabilities of the founder and they hold on for dear life, thereby stagnating the business and curtailing its potential. A […]
Last year, I wrote a book called How to Get to the Top of Google Search for Penguin Random House New Zealand. It remains the bible that small businesses across New Zealand and Australia use to dominate search rankings. This month, I’ve had several requests from businesses to provide some tips they can use to […]
Q. Where is the best place to hide a dead body? A. Page 2 of Google Now more than ever, digital has become the primary marketing tactic for New Zealand businesses. There has been a huge jump in digital adoption and engagement. At Pure SEO our customers have benefitted hugely from the shift to online […]
Talk about a lolly scramble! Ever since the first lockdown ended, we have been inundated with small and medium businesses desperate to take advantage of the digital world. Some have realised that an online marketing is a must, while others have been forced to close their real-life shopfronts in favour of purely virtual ones. Given […]
The last 10 years have gone by in a flash, so I thought it was a good time to stop and reflect on some of my key learnings over that period. I remember starting Pure SEO in my living room using $200 to build a webpage (I cobbled together the rest – it looked like […]
The most successful businesses to emerge from a recession are usually the ones that continue or accelerate their marketing when times are tough. In this month’s column I reached out to 4 experienced digital marketers (and myself) to find out what they are currently recommending to their clients. Sara Aljurani One of the most important […]
Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, said: “In crisis times, it’s actually not more difficult to motivate your staff, because everyone gets much more focused on how they control their own economic destiny.” This quote could not be more apt at the current time. Just a month or two ago, we planned to double the […]
There is a fine line between success and failure. Often our internal dialogue, outlook and beliefs can tip the scales either way. It is natural to suffer from doubts and imposter syndrome and to talk yourself out of potential opportunities. In the words of Winston Churchill: “Optimists see the opportunity in every problem, pessimists see […]
A lot of business people talk about how they like and embrace failure. Personally I do everything in my power to avoid it. However, when I fail, I do my best to learn from the experience and not repeat it. This month I have dissected 3 costly mistakes that have taught me valuable business lessons: […]
Being an entrepreneur can be very lonely, unless you surround yourself with successful, like-minded people. My personal ‘tribe’ is my Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) forum. A small group of Kiwi entrepreneurs with whom I meet on a monthly basis and discuss the top and bottom 5% of what has happened over the past month. The format […]
In recent months, I was fortunate enough to be named as a finalist in the 2019 EY Entrepreneur of The Year awards. During the process, I was forced to spend time thinking about what has contributed to the success of my current business and isolating which of those things were actual ‘game changers’. 1. Finding […]
Although I do not have a visual mind at all (I don’t even notice when my wife rearranges the furniture in our house), I do have a very creative mind. I find it very difficult to turn off my thoughts and have had to create strategies that allow me to slow my mind down. invariably […]
My company Pure SEO is about to turn 10. What started out on the 29th October 2009 as a one-man band is now a company that employs more than 60 people and spans three countries. Services businesses; ones that trade time for money, are notoriously difficult to scale effectively and profitably. Pure SEO has managed […]
Hindsight is a fine thing, unfortunately most of us learn by making mistakes. There have been a multitude of ups and downs during my last decade as an entrepreneur… many of them avoidable. I have detailed 3 of the biggest; hopefully by reading this you can avoid at least one! 1. Don’t employ your friends […]
The idea of the “comfort zone” originated in 1908, when psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson explained that to maximise performance, we need a state of ‘optimal anxiety’; not too much (or it becomes too stressful), but just enough that it induces enough stress to ensure discomfort. Comfort zones are meant to be stretched; it’s […]
When people refer to securing the top spot in Google searches, they are usually referring to the coveted first position. however, 5 years ago Google started displaying featured snippets in position zero. Since that day, position zero has been the holy grail of SEO companies. Featured snippets are concise answers to searchers questions displayed at […]
I’ve been involved with SEO since 2002. Throughout that time, there have always been people trying to ‘game’ the system or take short cuts that can risk getting their clients’ website a Google penalty. This was the reason behind my decision to writing a book for Penguin Random House about DIY SEO. Released on the […]
Looking at my computer screen now, I am again reminded of the infinite scope of the internet. Up to 1.5 billion websites are scattered around this cyberspace. It’s funny, isn’t it? How it looks so small on my HP monitor…yet, it’s anything but small. Several dozen search engines, like yahoo, bing or google, are used […]
I have thought a lot about this; growing up I was always expected to go to university. My mum is an academic who saw education as a way to better yourself (my dad was a pop singer!). I therefore went to University in Leeds and had a ball, coming out with a BSC (Hons) in […]
Few businesses in New Zealand are utilising the full potential of digital; many still dabble or commit temporarily, only to pull their efforts when they do not get immediate results. In this article, we will look at which strategies will work for business-to-business marketing in 2019. Content Marketing & Social Media Be prepared to give […]
We all have things we put off and other things that we avoid at all costs. One thing I used to hate was making cold calls, arriving in New Zealand, working in commercial property I made about 3,000 cold calls during the first 6 months. These calls ended up in a fair bit of business […]
In the last couple of months, I have lost count of the number of business owners asking my opinion on what will happen with SEO in 2019 Having just finished writing a book about SEO for global publisher Penguin Random House, I have studied and researched the trends, data, and results. Whilst there are a […]
Running a rapidly growing business can be very stressful. When you include two young children, an office renovation, and building a new house in your life as well, it’s important to look after your mental health and stay clear. If I hadn’t used the strategies below to ensure my mental health stayed on track, the […]
I’ve spoken before about how failure can help accelerate success in both your personal and business life, but both admitting and learning from our mistakes is a constant requirement of business leaders, no matter what stage they or their company may be in. Making mistakes is something we all do, however extracting and using the […]
As a mentor and investor in several high-tech businesses, I regularly get asked for my opinions and advice about how to scale and succeed in business. As well as giving advice, I have been lucky enough to receive a lot of good advice which has helped shape and grow my own business strategy. Here are […]
Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with, mentoring and just chatting to a whole bunch of awesome young entrepreneurs. Connecting with someone over a shared passion and work ethic is a brilliant motivator and young entrepreneurs are filled with exciting ideas for the present and future. Recently, I caught up with […]
Failure is an integral part of every entrepreneur’s journey to true success. I can guarantee that every person reading this has failed in some respect on their path through life so far. But failure doesn’t equate to loss – instead it encourages, and often accelerates, your future success. Consider learning to walk as a child. […]
Chances are, at some stage in your professional career, you’ll have to interact with customers. Customer service can come in many shapes and sizes—from store-front, checkout operator service, through to high-level, executive account management. At each stage along the way, there are likely to be times when you’ll encounter customers who aren’t happy. That’s just […]
If you’re looking to take your career to the next level, I recommend carving out time to engage in deep work. What is deep work and why do we need it? Four years ago, I made the decision to step out of the daily operations of my business. Since then, I’ve had much more time […]
Behind any successful business, you’ll usually find great people. The business I founded nine years ago, Pure SEO, is no exception. I’m constantly in awe of my team—and often wonder how I’m the one (sort of) running the company! So many of our people are passionate, committed and incredibly driven, which is what I attribute […]
I’m blessed to work with some incredibly switched-on young people at Pure SEO. With today’s entrepreneur acutely aware of disruption and impending changes to the future of work, I decided to sit down with this month, and understand a little around his thoughts on this. Two years out of Otago University, Nathan has been with […]
There’s something wholly disconcerting about going to the mechanics to get your car fixed, and finding out that his own car is in disarray. You arrive nice and early to get that annoying rattling noise in your car attended to before work and, when the mechanic pulls in two minutes later, you hear that same […]
We all know we need to have an online presence for our business or brand but, in such an oversaturated and distracted environment, how do you help your website win in your unique space? There can seem to be so much conflicting information out there. All the experts will have differing advice when it comes […]
They say the only thing constant is change and nowhere does this feel truer than in the online landscape. So, this month I thought I would share my thoughts on trends and what’s in store when it comes to search marketing in 2018. User-centric wins If 2017 was ‘the year of the customer’, 2018 will […]
Running a fast-growing company can be difficult; the buck stops with you and, as well as the ‘big picture’ strategic and leadership work, you’re often dealing with issues and fighting fires. You have to delegate and put your trust in other people and, invariably, some of them let you down, which only adds to the […]
Having a great company culture is not an option; it is absolutely fundamental to growing a thriving, successful organisation. It is important to understand however, that as a company grows, the culture evolves with it. As an organisation evolves it develops in a direction that is good for both the business and its people. An […]
A couple of years ago Pure SEO, one of my companies, was declared the only New Zealand winner of the Google Engage All Stars Competition. The prize was an all-expenses-paid trip to the Googleplex in San Francisco, the epicentre of the Google empire. Among the amazing people I met at Google HQ was a guy […]
In late 2009, a few months after immigrating to New Zealand from England with my wife, we invested $200 in a website template and with my ageing laptop, sat in our rented flat and started Pure SEO. Seven years later, I have one of the fastest growing businesses in New Zealand. I’ve grown a business […]
Starting a business can be both exciting and daunting, but in a country that prides itself on its ‘No. 8 wire’ mentality, and whose economy is comprised of 97 percent small businesses, it’s also somewhat a part of our DNA. From humble beginnings and with just $200 in my pocket, Pure SEO has grown to span three […]
I’ve heard it said that just 8% of the population have a truly entrepreneurial mind; we see the world differently to the so-called “normal” people. My good friend and business partner, Tony Falkenstein, says that we see the future, the way things could be. Where other people plot and plan, we go straight to the […]
As an entrepreneur, I don’t have as much time for reading as I would like; I’m often too busy ‘doing’. But there’s value to be gleaned from other people’s stories of having been there, done that, and lots we can learn from their trials and tribulations. So here are five books that have affected me […]
Following Queen’s Birthday Weekend, there’s a distinct shortage of public holidays for a while; there’s a long, wintry period all the way to Labour Weekend, which can feel like forever. So how do you keep yourself focused, fresh and productive through this time? I’ve put together a few of my top tips for staying sharp....
M2 Coach Podcast – 5 Tech Trends That Will Disrupt Kiwi Marketing Let’s face it, there aren’t many aspects of our lives that technology hasn’t touched. This month, I caught up with some of my friends in the marketing world for their take on the top technology trends that are set to disrupt Kiwi marketing....
