So I have tweaked SnydeySense, and I am making a commitment to return to blogging. This time out I will be using SnydeySense for true blogging, bringing a voice to things in the tech, business, and internet space that interest me. More of my internet marketing related posts will be found on SearchEngineJournal.com , which is where they belong anyway.
So what has been happening since my last stint of regular blogging:
1) I made my second cross country move in 10 months – I moved my family out to Salt Lake City, Utah in December from South Florida, and now have rerouted us to Tampa,Fl. The move is to pay my beautiful wife back for dealing with me, and allowing me to pursue success. I now work out of the Tampa Search & Social office with Loren Baker, @yellabird , @joannabatten , and @ThaoTT . The Salt Lake office misses me terribly (despite what they might say) especially Jordan Kasteler.
2) Search & Social has GROWN. It’s funny, as a company we have fought any type of growth, and yet here we are with 15 full time employees and a score of contractors in our first 18 months. I will not complain, because growth, especially forced growth, means being busy.
3) We are building an internet marketing workflow management company called Second Step Search. We have launched our first product into beta, which is a managed content creation portal that can allow users to create thousands of pages of handwritten content quickly at a cost below that of average copy writing. It is a great solution for ecommerce sites, directory sites, or agencies that do not want to hire content writers in the downturn. We not only create the content, but also edit it, and package it into several formats to make it easy for you to leverage.
4) Innovation – I have been more creative in the last 3 months than I feel I have been in years. I think a lot of this has been forced on me to find solutions as Search & Social grows and we get set to launch Second Step Search. The stuff we are coming up with as a company right now has me pumped for 2010.
5) Thicker skin – When I first stepped into the role of a business owner I was not equipped for the job. I was WAY to sensitive, and probably still am. The reality is that in business you are going to deal with people that are not a fit for you on a professional or personal level, and that can boil over into varying issues. You can’t let it effect you, because in the end you can’t control people. This has been a hard lesson, but a lesson learned. Once you understand you can’t control everything you begin to let go, and that is one of the healthiest things you can do.
6) Less hair – Can’t control it, have given up
7) More weight – Can control it, have started working out and eating healthy
8) Network of bad asses – One of most interesting things to happen in the last year has been the growth of my list of industry friends. It is first interesting because I don’t know why anyone would want to befriend me, I am a pain in the ass. Secondly, it is interesting because I now have a network in place to pretty much do whatever I feel like on the internet. With great power comes great responsibility ;-) Good thing I am only partially evil. On a serious note, I attribute all of my growth as a professional to people like Loren Baker, Jordan Kasteler, Greg Boser, Dave Naylor, Chris Winfield, Brent Csutoras, Todd Malicoat, Todd Friesen, and a host of others. These people really push me to become better at what I do, and I thank them for that.
So that is where I am, and the jumping off point for this blog.
It is now time for me to vent on stuff that no one cares to read about.
Welcome back big guy!
p.s when are you coming back to London?
What’s with everyone moving from SLC to Flordia? First Cameron Moll and now you Dave? Is there something us Utahns don’t know about Florida that we probably should? :)
Welcome back! Look forward to you blogging again. Good luck with the new product launch!
Great to see you back!
Welcome back! Looking forward your next posts :)
Dave,
Congratulations on your accomplishments! I have become a fan of your blogs this past year. When Jaime told me you were in this business, I had no idea how much we had in common. I am pursuing a career similar to your profession; and, currently in the process of writing a book. However, with school, work, and kids; you can imagine what a task writing a book is. Keep up the great work, and looking forward to your next entry!
>I don’t know why anyone would want to befriend me, I am a pain in the ass.
That’s cause WE’RE all PITA’s being s(c)eo’s . It’s hard to be the boss, and you can’t know unless you know. Our job is to tell people their baby is ugly and then tell them how to make ‘em pretty. Not a job suited for those with thin skin.
I’m really psyched to see the growth of Search and Social – you guys have attacked the beast with the right approach, and will continue to crush it.
It’s been awesome getting to know you over the last few years – The crew of industry folks that I consider “friends” are the ones that are standup honest people that live up to their word. I definitely consider you in that group. Looking forward to being in the same state, and catching some fish with you commissioner baker.
best,
t
Welcome back Dave, hope everything works out.
@Todd that is the quote of the day, “Our job is to tell people their baby is ugly” sorry if it has been said elsewhere but it just makes me laugh am i sadistic?
Hey there, I really don’t know you. But got from the twittersphere to this blog. I am pretty curious what you’ll be writing.
Dave… you’re an inspiration for me to refresh my blog. :) It’s been great to see S&S’s growth over the past two years! You guys are poised for even greater things to come!
So was Utah too much for you, or were you too much for Utah? ;)