Thu 30 Aug 2007
Managing a small seo company in Scotland
Posted by ShaunzoGod if my MD knew I was spending time on this blog he’d have my gonads. But that’s the point of the post. It’s been hectic at my seo company recently and frankly if I’m spending time on this shit I’m not getting clients leads. Hence the cessation in blogging. Frankly it’s fucking pissing me off and everybody in the office knows it.
Not got time to blog. Not got time to experiment. Not got time to get better at Linkbait. Not got time to get really involved at Sphinn although 50% of my posts have went hot (3 out of 6). Not got time to beat of the competition in the local Top Ten SEO Scotland competition which we’ve been leading the last 3 or 4 months. Not got time to read Andy (thanks for the 6,000 hits from Stumbleupon at the weekend on the Hobo Web site!). Not got time to read Jim. Not got time for thinking about Google. Not got time to spam the dofollow community (oh, I forgot, gave that up!).
Fuck, I’ve not got time for sleep at the moment (averaging about 4 hours a night). Why the fuck did I start a company a year and a half ago where I can’t even get a lie in? I’m sitting on about 10 website projects of my own an only the main one (the company site) is getting any development love at all and that’s minimal - a few posts about Page Rank & Title tags and the like was all I managed recently).
On the other hand, things are getting better.
- Clients are getting more leads and so happy
- My team are happy they’ve got a lot of work on (fuck it wasn’t like that when I was an employee)
- My MD is happy because we are now in the position where we are choosing who for and when to work on new campaigns.
- I’ve got a new Nokia 95
- I’ve got a new MacBook Pro Dual Core (happy day)
- I will be buying a LG 50 inch plasma tv very, very soon.
- We’ve still not lost a client (only a matter of time I suppose but the amount of time I spend with some clients taking it up the arse I can see why they don’t leave)
- I’m starting to make a few pals in the Scottish SEO scene
- I’ve got a ton of ideas waiting to give a go just for the hell of it
- My office is 4 and a half minutes from my house (timed it on my ipod) soI don’t need to get the begging bowl out
- I take my dog to my work where I’ve employed all my mates
- We’ve still not spent a penny on advertising since we started. Even now, it’s 50% lead generation in Google and 50% referrals from satisfied clients (and returning clients).
- I’m going to Tenerife with 3 of my best mates next week
- I’m going to Connect Festival this weekend to see Primal Scream, of course.
- Everybody’s healthy (Sarah, Connor + family).
Shit. What am I saying… I’m a lucky bastard.
Anyways hopefully I’ll be back blogging as soon as I can get dialled out of the day to day office chore and let you all in on whether Aaron Wall’s SEO Book is a waste of money or not.
Anybody with any tips on what not to do or what to do to create the most respected new seo company in Scotland add your tips below and make me happy.
If you don’t hear from me until after my Boy’s holiday, believe me, I’ve had a magic time doing all kinds of shit you wouldn’t approve of! 
and PS - don’t think I’ve stopped reading all your blogs. I just haven’t had time to get my new Macbook Pro configured yet and log in to MBL etc.
August 30th, 2007 at 8:42 am
yeah join forces and become the most respected seo company in the UK never mind Scotland.
Begging bowl indeed.
Enjoy your holidays.
Paul
August 30th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
So you got it
and you never know
PS - Sorry to hear about the blog comments going missing on your site, Paul. I’ll pop around in a few weeks and start taking part again.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
seobook is a total waste of money if you ain’t got time to use it’s advice
…but at least now I can see why you’re too busy to take me on as a client
cheers and good luck
August 31st, 2007 at 6:45 am
Damn I need to send you more traffic, I just noticed a rather prominent link (that I didn’t pay for) and Matt Cutts would never be able to tell one way or the other.
September 24th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Hi Shaun, I entered your website, seems we are pretty similar, my boss came out with this wierd Idea of making a SEO company, and assigned me to make it (since he has assigned me other projects in which I have succeed.) maybe we could help out each other in order to succeed, I have absolutely not Idea, how to make a site grow, as he puts the money and all in and I still get payed i’m not that nervous, but I see the good revenue this biz has. we have callcenters, and I could assign a complete team of telemarketers to work in this,come on, don’t be greedy and give me a hand, and I shall be mercyfull, and leave you the land of william wallace to you
haha. take care dude.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:36 am
When do you get get time to do all these things. Next thing you know you’ll not have time to make money - a perenial Scottish SEO problem :p
October 13th, 2007 at 3:08 am
I don’t think about the money. My biz partner is a greedy bastard so I know it’s in good hands.
January 19th, 2008 at 4:16 am
I would not be able to survive on 4 hours a night. But yeh, there seem to be plenty of SEO work everywhere.
March 15th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I am missing a trick here.
Even with quality seo work, i just can’t get clients that respect what i do, even with good respectable testimonials and results.
I need to learn proper marketing I think.