When I started my career, I came up as a part of various companies, in an SEO world we know all too well. With it came reliance on methodologies of scale and mathematical precision – tactically outgain the PageRank flow of your competitor, and you will win the day. We now all know all too well that the math is not so simple anymore, and with it, the same things we once did do not carry the same canvas of fun and enjoyment – simply because they do not work as well.
I am and have been as guilty as the last person for using these methodologies – it simply made sense to, because they worked, and worked well. In today’s world, these are not something that make sense – not only have they sunk in effectiveness, but continuing to use them carries a sinking feeling – a “this shit is going to blow up in my face” kind of feeling.
I’m launching Siege Media today on the back of years of experience doing the bad, doing the good, and in general finding ways to get traffic online. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it. However, in those years generating organic traffic on the web, I have never been proud of what I did, or how I did it. I was helping move companies up and to the right, but what were these companies? What kind of content was I creating to build them? In general, the work I was doing fed the sole aim of circulating money online. No real value was being created – the only thing that changed from my efforts was the winner and loser.
While there was fulfillment in winning, this satisfaction waned. I’ve written about the “itch for entrepreneurship” and the volume of client inquiries causing me to want to do my own thing on my personal blog, but I have not written about want for a certain type of work that also made me leave. I want to build and create value online, and do so by assisting companies market great products that make the world better, and/or create content online that serves the aim of adding value to the world. It is this thought process that brings me to create Siege Media today.
Jiro Dreams of Excellence
Recently, I watched a movie at the recommendation of Tom Critchlow – Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The movie analyzes the life of one Jiro Ono, a master sushi chef widely considered the world’s best at his craft. I highly recommend the movie for anyone who cares about building and becoming great at something. To give you some context, I suggest you pause for a moment and watch the trailer for the movie below. When watching even the trailer, it’s hard to not be in awe of the almost-perfection Jiro achieves. If interested in more Jiro, I also suggest watching the clip from No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain enjoys Jiro’s sushi.
While I don’t realistically expect to ever achieve the level of excellence Jiro does, the skill and care Jiro puts towards his craft is something I whole heartedly admire. He cares about the little details – the timing of the sushi, the rigor of preparation – every granular detail that sets his restaurant apart from every other in the world. When working and contributing value to the online marketing world, I want to do the same. I want Siege Media to be that company that actually cares about the products they’re promoting, the e-mails they’re sending, the content they’re generating – and not solely for monetary gain (although I do hope to grow large), but rather, for the aim of generating the most value for the world by doing outstanding work for our clients.
Siege Media will be a full service internet marketing agency, with natural leans towards search and the competencies I originally bring to the table, such as marketing acceleration, business development and conversion rate optimization in difficult verticals. We will service medium to large sized businesses who have the capabilities to invest in explosive growth. SEO is a long term goal, but by combining efficient conversion rate optimization of all types, intelligent paid traffic campaigns, and the trappings of an efficient marketing acceleration plan, I believe growth can and will be fast for the companies that have the right products and mindset to invest in it.
Siege Media – Now And Into The Future
For now, Siege Media is encompassed by one man – me. Earlier this year, I heard Wil Reynolds speak at a conference about how to build an SEO company. On the panel, he offered a few ways to quickly vet a shady SEO company from a real one. The first was by asking the company how many employees they have, then checking LinkedIn to see if that number backs it up. He also said to ask for actual references from the clients they list on their website, as many will have some Fortune-500 client listed, but in all likelihood most (or all) probably just did pro-bono (or bad) work for them.
Our LinkedIn page will always be mentioned in the header. Every client I list on this site (once we get enough of an applicable roster to show) will have open access from me. I’ve always aimed to be a no-bullshit writer about SEO on my blog, and I hope to do the same with running my business. Not ever bullshitting (and also saying bullshit) might prevent me from working with certain types of clients, but that’s okay – it will also open Siege to working exclusively with the kind of clients I want – the good ones.
If you’re interested in working with Siege, please get in touch. If you’re interested in working for Siege, I’m hiring an SEO Analyst. If neither of those sound like you, you might also be interested in following us on Twitter or subscribing to the newsletter in the sidebar to get blog updates.
Thanks for reading – should be one hell of a ride.
