In this episode, Patrick Rice, SEO consultant and owner of Linkable Commerce, sat down with me and explained how he started in SEO and started his own link building agency in his early 20s.
Now his business is growing rapidly to serve 20 clients a month. 🤯
Patrick started in the digital marketing space back in 2012. His channel has over 5,000 subs, and his video got over 3 million views.
But… how did he go from these results to building and owning a business?
Start a Personal Project ASAP
Starting a personal project in your teens when you are not “expected” to earn and your parents still 100% support you. Listen to how Patrick started a YouTube channel at 13, instantly benefiting his successful career!
Personal projects like a YouTube channel, TikTok account, furniture flipping, website optimization, etc., show initiative, creativity, and a willingness to learn and grow outside formal education, which are valuable skills employers seek.
In Patrick’s case, his YouTube channel demonstrated his passion for marketing and his ability to create engaging content. This caught the attention of his mentor and helped him land a job faster than the average marketer.
By starting a personal project at a young age, Patrick was able to develop skills like video editing, content creation, and marketing strategy that he could then apply to his professional work.
So, if you are sitting reading this, I want you to go ahead and start your passion project today! You never know where that passion will lead you to!
Discussion Over “Target Audience”
Your target audience in marketing is the group of people your message is intended for. To effectively reach your target audience, you must understand their needs, preferences, and behaviors.
But does this method really work? What Patrick Rice and I talked about was the question of “target audience” never ends.
Often we see marketers and business owners go so deep into defining their target audience that they would exclude groups of people that they could have sold to.
As a result, you should always be testing and constantly asking yourself if your offer makes sense at all. If you want to create better offers, listen to episode 1 with Nicole Cherie Hesse, millionaire business coach.
What is Link Building, anyways?
Patrick Rice is a full-time link builder, too. He knows how to get your website’s authority up and make search engines like Google or Bing trust you.
But, if you are totally new to the term:
Link building means acquiring links from other websites to your own website. This is important because search engines use the number and quality of links pointing to your site as a factor in determining its authority and relevance.
Link building can include tactics such as guest blogging, broken link building, and outreach to relevant websites in your industry.
It is an important aspect of SEO and digital marketing strategy and if you want to know how Patrick does it, make sure you listen to the episode!
Don’t be Shy to Build in Public
It’s super important to build your personal brand in public! Building public means sharing what you’ve learned on social media platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, or Twitter. By doing this, you can show off your skills and knowledge to potential employers and clients and become an expert in your field.
For example, if you’re a link builder like Patrick, you could create a totally awesome YouTube channel where you share interlinking tutorials or stream yourself doing keyword research. This way, you can show everyone that you’re a total pro and get noticed by people who might want to work with you.
Or, if you’re a marketer, you could share your hot tips and strategies on LinkedIn or Twitter to build your reputation and attract new business.
Episode Chapters
1:30 How a 13-year-old went viral on YouTube
4:00 Landing his first job in an SEO agency
5:55 Daily job of an SEO in an agency
6:40 Start freelancing after 1 year of experience
7:52 What is link building, anyways?
10:00 Website Authority 101
12:15 Simple link building agency organization
13:15 Do you need AI for Link Building?
14:00 How to personalize emails for link building?
15:30 Patrick’s $$$$ CLIENT
18:35 How to find clients?
20:00 How to convert leads to clients?
23:00 Dropping College for Business
24:15 Fundamentals of Marketing from a successful marketer
28:40 What should you start TODAY as an Aspiring CMO / Digital business owner
29:40 Tips to “build in public”