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In this digital age, whether you thrive in the product or service space, recognition is half the battle. To that end, you want and need search engine optimization to be on your side.

Jean and James are joined by Danny Donchev for professional advice, myths, tips, tricks, and proven strategies that are bound to help you fight and befriend the necessary evil that is SEO.

So be sure and join Mastermind.fm for this great episode, and absolutely have your notepads at the ready!

Topics Include:

• A briefing on Danny’s experience and over 10 years working with SEO.
• An aside on why to avoid Udemy.
• The importance of choosing your keywords carefully.
• How to raise in the rankings.
• How readable does your URL need to be?
• Competing for unique titles.
• Why descriptions are, and can be your saving grace.
• All about slugs.
• Observing the power of star ratings and click-through rate.
• Will your post to be a featured snippet?
• Creating better content.
• Convincing Google that your site is the best search result.
• On theme content & duplicate content.
• Categories & tags.
• Are banners hurting you?
• Updating old posts, the how and why of the resurrection technique.
• Room to grow; SEO guided tips for any website.

Featured on the Show:

• Fortunelords.com
• WordPress SEO – The Definitive Guide 2017
• Keyword Finder – Keyword Research and Analysis Tool

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You’re in for a treat this week!

Bring a notepad and get ready to jot down some great advice, as James and Jean are joined by Jason Cohen of WP Engine.

Get ready for a guest host who will leave you greedy for more and more of his awesome “knowledge bombs”.

Topics Include:

• Jason’s 20 years of startups.
• The Story of WP Engine
• Why Entrepreneurship
  • “Start with what you want and optimize for that.”
  • “The best form of advice is to help someone think for themselves…” – Jason
• The commonality between having children and running a business.
• Picking your battles.
  • Choosing which problems to solve in what order.
• What statistics say about startups.
  • “You have to ask yourself, do you want a cofounder?” – Jason
  • Answer what feels right to you.
• Jason’s experience as a stay-at-home dad.
• Growing your community.
• Importance of point-of-view, purpose, & where the market is going.
  • Prepare for your ideas to be wrong.
    • “Strong opinions weakly held.”
• On changing your own role within your company.
  • “Why build a company if you don’t like what you do everyday?” -Jason
  • Be excited, don’t get burnt out.
  • “The state of mind you are in doesn’t have to be terminal, you can change it.” -James
  • On “The tour of duty.”
• Defining superpowers!
  • The difference between a superpower and excellence.
    • You CAN be burnt out by things you are excellent at.
    • However, a superpower will never wear you down.
  • Hiring for a superpower is one of the best things you can do.
• Be mindful of the ‘ego’ component of being a CEO, or equivalent.
  • Have a big ego, but don’t let that drive major decisions.
• How do you go about evaluating all of the above, systematically?
• Being smart about 1-on-1 meetings.
• Keeping a journal and tracking when you are most productive and happy.
• What is ‘Coach mode’?
  • How to approach it.
  • How to hone it.
• Is it more valuable to obtain new customers, or add a feature?
• What is the one thing that will impact your business the most, that you need?
  • Focus on THAT.
• Do you have employees who can be better utilized in other areas?
• Try asking, “If you had a magic wand, what would you do?”

Featured on the Show:

• SmartBear
• WP Engine
• 37 Signals (Which is now Basecamp)
• Jason’s Blog
• Jason’s Twitter

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Putting a bow on this past year, Jean and James come together to discuss the good, bad, great, and ugly of 2016, from both a business and podcast perspective.

Topics Include:

• What Mastermind.FM has done for James and Jean on a personal level.
• James’s “obsessive” revamp of his recording office, now turned full studio.
• Jean “Hurricane Fighter” Galea on his U.S. trip.
• The joy of podcasting.
  • The dynamic of personalization.
  • Staying on schedule consistently.
  • The struggle for engagement.
  • Surprising analytics.
  • Upcoming plans for the podcast.
  • Plug for James’s “Adventures in Businessing” podcast.
• Lessons learned from 2016, as business owners.
  • Personal growth.
  • Jean’s newfound interest in bitcoin.
  • James’s experience in launching a product.
• Goals Met
• Thanks to the sponsors.
• Aims for 2017, keyword: Focus

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Karim Marucchi (of Crowd Favorite) joins Jean to guest host, as they touch on a myriad of topics, from exits, to mergers, acquisitions, and much more.

Karim exudes charisma; being a service focused individual, he provides a unique perspective away from the usual product focused interviews Mastermind.FM has had in the past.

Topics Include:

• How Karim’s upbringing, heritage, and travels played a role in shaping his business philosophies.
• His history with architecture and studies in Rome.
• How a curious phone call, while working for an ISP,  lead Karim into helping build a website for Nissan.
• Selling METNET to USWeb.
  • How USWeb turned Karim’s life upside-down.
• Website Production vs Strategy
• Bridging the gap between American, European, and Asian culture.
• How Karim’s architecture roots fortified his need to build things that last.
• His small business experience.
  • “If you are going to fail, fail fast.” – Karim
• Testing the waters of agency work.
  • Services: Cultural vs Institutional
  • Cultivating a small agency.
• How running a lifestyle business allowed Karim to step away from his company for the year leading up to his father’s death.
  • Mourning and moving on.
• The dynamics of exiting & acquisition.
  • Adapting/transitioning client culture.
• On closing Veloware.
  • Which lead to Karim finding his business partner.
• “Finding the right companies that aren’t exiting for the wrong reasons.”
• The value of partnering with a company you have no intention of acquiring.
• Structure & having the right team.
• Be an icebreaker; striking up a conversation with those you don’t know, be it in your business or personal life.
  • A philosophy that lead to Karim having a pleasant random conversation with the lead guitarist of Los Lobos.
• Attending conferences outside of the WordPress community.
• “Have fun!” & “Partner and hire for your weaknesses.” – Karim
• Looking forward, and the intent to return for a round 2 interview with Mastermind.FM!

 

Featured on the Show:

• Karim’s website
• Crowd Favorite
• The Bureau of Digital