I always wanted to get into business growing up and naturally started designing websites just for fun as a teenager. Throughout high school, I kept designing websites, logos, and all kinds of graphics, which led me to pursue a diploma in Digital Media Design after high school to sharpen my skills across digital media and marketing. After that, I landed my first job at a local web design & marketing agency, and I’ve been in the industry ever since.
My first entrepreneurial moment was probably the most classic: selling lemonade on the street corner. I also did the usual gigs like mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, and babysitting. Nothing too flashy, but it taught me the value of hard work early on.
I used to believe SEO was about understanding human intent. Now I believe it’s about guessing what a large language model thinks a human might want, probably.
When I’m procrastinating on something important by being weirdly productive at something totally unrelated.
Wake up. Check emails and Slack to see if the agency’s on fire (it’s usually not). Feed the cats before they stage a mutiny. Coffee. Another coffee. Dive into strategy, sales, growth. More coffee. Put out a fire or two. Lunchtime workout to outrun stress and carbs. Back-to-back calls. Back-to-back tabs. Cats yell. Partner reminds me what sunlight is. End of day? Not really. Cue YouTube rabbit hole while telling myself I’ll go fishing this weekend. Sleep? Eventually.
If I had to credit one habit for my success, it’s persistence. Running an agency means there’s always another challenge, another curveball, another Google update to survive. I’ve learned that the ability to keep pushing when the business is hurting, when deals fall through, and when the easy option is to quit has been more valuable than any single skill. I don’t always have the perfect answer right away, but I’ll work the problem until I find one.
I once stuck with a client who was a bad fit because we needed the revenue. That taught me the hard lesson that firing the wrong clients actually frees you to invest in the right ones, quality over quantity.
Some people assume I have all the answers. In reality, I’m just a really great prompt engineer, and I can work Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT like a Vegas slot machine… eventually something valuable comes out.
I recharge by getting outside for a hike or some fishing, or staying in to watch a great movie and crush a video game or two.
Right now, success means doing work that feels fulfilling and makes me happy, while delivering real value that helps our clients grow. It’s also about feeling like I’m staying ahead of the curve with all the rapid changes in technology and AI, and using that knowledge to give our clients an edge.
Most agencies sell you tactics. We engineer growth systems. While others chase vanity metrics, we obsess over ROI. We've been doing this for 15+ years, so we've survived every algorithm change, platform shift, and industry shake-up. Plus, we actually stick around, with our average client tenure of 5 years, because we become part of your team, not just another vendor sending monthly reports.
Anyone who thinks marketing is magic, expects overnight miracles, or wants to micromanage every pixel. We also avoid clients who compete on price alone. If your main selling point is being cheapest, we can't help you. And honestly? If you're not willing to invest at least $5K/month in growth, you're probably not ready for what we do.
Radical ownership. If a campaign fails, we don't blame the market or your product. We figure out what went wrong and fix it. Your success is literally our only success metric that matters.
I look for people who are naturally curious and can think strategically, not just execute tasks. Can they explain why they're doing something, not just how? Do they ask good questions? Are they comfortable with ambiguity? Skills can be taught, but critical thinking and genuine care for client outcomes can't be.
We give people ownership over outcomes, not just outputs. Instead of "write 4 blog posts," it's "increase organic traffic by 25%. Figure out how." We also encourage productive procrastination. Some of our best ideas come from team members diving deep into random industry rabbit holes.
Anything that promises to "hack" or "disrupt" fundamental business principles. Growth hacking, viral marketing, whatever the latest silver bullet is. Good marketing is still about understanding your audience, providing value, and building trust. There are no shortcuts.
AI-powered answer engines. Google's AI overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity. People are asking questions and getting answers without clicking through to websites. If your brand isn't being cited in those AI responses, you're invisible. We're already helping clients optimize for AI citations and voice search.
Implementing EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) and Profit First. Sounds boring, I know, but having clear processes and actually paying ourselves first transformed everything. Before EOS, we were constantly putting out fires and making decisions on the fly. Now we have systems that work whether I'm in the office or fishing. And Profit First forced us to stop treating profit like whatever's left over at the end of the month. We went from barely scraping by to actually building wealth, which gave us the confidence to turn down bad clients and invest in better ones.
Specialize, then specialize more. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Pick an industry or service you can dominate, become the go-to expert, then expand from there. And learn to say no. To bad clients, bad projects, and shiny object syndrome.
I'd niche down faster and harder. We spent too many years being a "full-service" agency trying to serve everything to everyone. The money and satisfaction are in specialization. Being the absolute best at solving specific problems for specific people. Don’t get me wrong, you can expand down the road, we’ve done so ourselves, but that’s a lot easier after you’ve already made your mark as an expert in a focus area.
We use fixed pricing wherever possible because everyone hates surprises. For our core services like websites, HyperContent, or digital advertising, we have clear scopes and fixed rates. Clients know exactly what they're paying upfront. For complex projects where the scope is murky or could change dramatically, we'll do hourly, usually on a retainer.
Sustainability first, but we've been through rapid growth periods before and we're preparing for the next leg. We've seen too many agencies burn out chasing growth without the systems to support it. We've had our big growth years in the past, and the experience taught us that sustainable systems are what let you actually capitalize on those opportunities when they come. Right now we're building the infrastructure and processes that will let us scale quickly when the timing is right. The key is making sure growth doesn't break what's already working. Happy team, happy clients, predictable revenue. That's the foundation that lets you step on the gas when the moment comes.
Steve Toth from SEONotebook. He's built this incredible presence in the SEO space by just being genuinely helpful and transparent about what actually works. While most SEO "gurus" are selling courses or chasing clout, Steve's out there sharing real data from real tests, calling out BS tactics, and actually advancing the industry. He's turned his expertise into influence the right way. By focusing on value first, building trust, and consistently showing up with quality insights. That's how you become a go-to voice in any space.
Claude. It's become my strategic thinking partner. I use it to pressure-test ideas, work through complex problems, and even draft responses like this one. It's like having a really smart analyst who never sleeps and doesn't judge my weird questions.
I mentioned EOS and Profit First above, but those two books literally transformed how we run the business. "Traction" by Gino Wickman gave us the operating system we desperately needed to stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off. And "Profit First" by Mike Michalowicz flipped our entire financial approach. Instead of hoping there'd be profit left over at the end, we started paying ourselves first and building the business around what remained. Both books turned us from a chaotic freelance operation into an actual business with systems and predictable profitability.
Remote. We've been fully remote since Covid and it works. Sure, it can get lonely, but I get to work in sweatpants with my cats as coworkers, which beats business casual and small talk. As a business owner, not paying a lease is huge. That money goes to better team members instead of real estate. Plus, we can hire the best people anywhere, not just whoever lives within commuting distance of an office.
Not all businesses need social media marketing. They think they do because everyone says they should, but for a B2B SaaS company selling to enterprises, LinkedIn might matter, but Instagram is probably a waste of time and money.
Marketing takes time. You can't starve a plant for 6 months then water it once and expect flowers. Consistent effort over time beats sporadic big pushes. Also, we're not mind readers. The more context you give us about your business, the better we can help.
The constant evolution. Just when you think you've figured it out, everything changes. AI, new platforms, algorithm updates. It keeps things interesting. Plus, when you help a client achieve real growth, you're directly impacting their success. That's pretty rewarding.
AI is already writing more online content per day than all human copywriters combined. Whether that’s a good thing… depends on who you ask.
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