When I first started 1SEO, I never knew it would grow to be this big. I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way and have become a better man because of them. I learned a lot while VP of AT&T and YellowPages.com, and that experience helped me grow a successful digital marketing agency.
It’s a daily grind. One that starts in the early hours of the morning and ends in the late hours of the night.
My work never stops. You could say, Lance, you own the company, why do you work the long hours? It’s because I care. The work we do matters. Our relationship matters. In marketing, you just need to care.
I have a passion for this industry, and I love to share my passion with my employees. I want each of them to care as much as I do about each one of you.
Growing a successful agency is no easy task. It has taken blood, sweat, and tears to get to the level we’re at now, and we’ve taken strategic partnerships to accelerate our growth.
I’ve taken great pride in building the right team with the right people, the right way. We focus on results. Testing, reviewing, and monitoring until we’ve got the pieces in place to grow your brand and maximize your return on investment.
Scaling the Business
Trying to figure out how to grow and how to scale a business takes a committed team. Marketing the 1SEO.com Digital Agency brand, establishing relationships within the extended community, and focusing on a winning product helped us grow to a manageable number of employees.
There’s no magic formula to seeing a successful business grow before your eyes. People ask me all the time how I’ve managed to expand to 70 employees in under nine years. I tell them it’s because I’ve never taken debt. In nine years, 1SEO doesn’t have a dime in debt.
I’ve seen a number of companies either close up shop or cut a significant percentage of jobs in the nine years I’ve been President of 1SEO. It’s all for the same reason. They grew too fast. They took the debt of loans, and soon realized they were bankrupt. I’ve made a commitment that will never happen with my agency.
The Advance in Work Spaces
It took dedication, commitment, and hard work to land our first clients. I still remember going door to door and asking business owners if they needed help with their online marketing. In 2009, the internet was starting to become a main business hub. Three years later, businesses couldn’t get by without an online presence.
It started with one client, then two, then five, then 10, then we had to hire more people. It was a struggle in the beginning, in a living room in Southampton. We quickly had to move into a bigger space, in Levittown. Then after three years of that, we had to move again.
Now, we’re in our fourth office, a 25,000 square foot, open spaced floor that allows our 70 employees to work collaboratively. We’ve expanded into different plateaus that we weren’t even thinking about in 2009—bringing my vision of a full-scale digital agency to life. While SEO is in our brand name, we’ve evolved with the space to deliver a unique strategy for all your digital needs.
We’ve created a culture that includes a relaxed, yet fast-paced work environment, with fun and games like billiards, ping pong, foosball, basketball, corn hole, connect four, and shuffleboard.
I’ve learned that my employees value a company culture that makes them feel welcome and appreciated. That’s always been my goal as a business owner. That’s what makes 1SEO.com Digital Agency such a special place.
The Work Involved
It’s a non-stop industry. The work never ends and the clients are never forgotten. We’re not perfect. We’ve made some mistakes in the past, but we learn from them. We know how to develop a campaign that grows a business.
In nine years, we’ve only seen two cases where we can’t improve a client’s online presence, and we’ve been transparent with them. We separated on good terms.
My team has been grinding to appease our 400+ clients, working long hours and testing various methods to get the most from all campaigns.
We’ve been able to grow and scale our agency due to our business model. We’ve helped numerous companies get out of a Google penalty and back onto the search results pages to be found for converting queries. We’ve built thousands of websites optimized for user experience and help our clients become the authority in their industry. We’ve created thousands of pieces of content that add value and help your customers find you. We’ve created email campaigns that engage with your audience. We’ve designed logos that help your customers recognize your brand. We create your digital presence and grow your business.
It’s not an overnight process. We put the right plan in place, modifying and adjusting based on performance. We follow a white-hat approach without spammy tactics.
It’s been an incredible nine years, and I’m looking forward to the future as we continue to grow our business and expand our services. We are constantly learning and grinding to stay connected to your business and your community.
I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished to date and am excited to see what the future holds.