179.45% SEO bump in 12 days, podcast launch + building trust

The biggest surprise this year was Google’s core SEO update announced on Aug 15 (still rolling) that brought back to life 3 of our portfolio sites, and most importantly: DevriX.

SEO was the golden goose

Our martech agency was ranking in top 5 for all sorts of “WordPress agency” terms from 2015 to early 2023. Seriously - we nailed inbound, this is how I got hooked on inbound marketing in 2014, certified with HubSpot, then the agency partnership with them.

The HCU update in September ruined all that to a point of no return for 11 months. Until this one came in.

You can see the virtually dead heartbeat until the update and the bump after. Like I told a few SEO folks in my circles - there’s nothing we virtually changed in our strategy before or after the update, and it’s been in the mercy of a single company and their algo.

I’ll refrain from venting this time as organic leadflow has been flying in all week. We haven’t even recovered more than 20% of our previous rankings - and yet the difference is staggering.

The new podcast

Growth Blueprint is now morphing not just into a weekly newsletter series, but featuring a weekly podcast on YouTube.

Why?

It’s been in the stars for about 8 years now, but never prioritized.

In fact, I made some attempts early on:

• Several episodes of WordPress developer hangout podcasts back when Google+ was a thing and introduced communities (can’t remember when - 2012? 2013?)
• My WordPress for SMEs podcast on Spotify (37 glorious episodes when Anchor.fm was alive before acquired by Spotify)

I’ve also attempted YouTube for years, but we almost tripled 10 years of subscribers in just 2 months, so I’m bullish on this one and riding the wave.

Welcome Ryan R. Sullivan as my first guest to the Growth Blueprint, revealing some groundbreaking secrets in launching B2B podcasts at scale:

Really pleased to have him on the show - make sure you hit like and subscribe for the upcoming episodes.

Ryan is super sharp and has interviewed some B2B titans like Chris Walker on his podcast. Kudos, sir. Next Tuesday’s episode is already queued and I’m lining up B2B professionals - CXOs and veterans working in B2Bs - for the upcoming episodes.

If you see yourself or have a recommendation, hit “Reply” and let me know.

What led to prioritizing the podcast as a channel?

Trust is the world’s reserve currency

As SEO faded away for 11 months (glad it’s back) and LinkedIn’s reach has been non-existent, and ever since the pandemic, my 1:1 contacts have been fading away gradually.

This took a toll on my business circles, referral networks, and even investing opportunities.

Being “early” is one of the competitive advantages of every journey. Imagine investing in Bitcoin at $10 or $100 apiece. Or joining Meta’s IPO at $38 a share (it’s $519 now).

This is why audience building is so integral here - and I’m back prioritizing and carving out time to consistently produce content across:

• This newsletter
• YouTube (already tripled content volume)
• Social media (this is ongoing, but repurposing is inefficient)
• My blog (it’s a lower priority as SEO is static there)

I’ll be consolidating and bundling existing content into frameworks, blueprints, checklists, and other assets that funnel readers into this newsletter or my Slack. And YouTube will be the third channel as an audience network and a source of content for shorts and micro-content online.

Bottom line, attention is power, and it’s paying off big time. While executives have to prioritize their time on the highest ROI initiatives, I’m yet to find a better investment than building processes and case studies, solving problems with clients and partners, and leveling up through proprietary research and data.

The one key difference here is approaching all of this as a media company: can we announce that to the public? Can we feature this while we’re having this conversation? Is there an added brand boost if we just go live about your new launch?

2024 has been a disruptive year that pushed the boundaries and required several pivots past the comfort zone of passive income and organic pipeline. And the outcome of this after Q1 and Q2 are new services, new offers, new growth channels, and new strategic contacts.

?? Looking back into 2024, what is your #1 win this year?

• If you like the newsletter, forward this to a professional contact or a partner. Sharing is caring.
• Q4 right around the corner? We’re closing 2 new Experimentation as a Service contracts now.
• Working with universities or higher ed? I’ll gift Kindle copies of my “MBA Disrupted” to students passionate about building businesses the right way.

Yours, Mario

My Take

?? The Kit to Start a Podcast In Less Than One Hour - Launching a brand new podcast within my YouTube channel in 17 hours - and I needed a pre-roll/podcast intro. Here’s how this clip came to life in 45min.

?? Outreach Mistakes to Land You in Spam - Every sales playbook suggests that avoiding Monday and Friday is only rational. Yet I'm continuously bombarded multiple times before noon on Mondays like clockwork. As Shark Tank's Mr. Wonderful would say: "STOP THE MADNESS!" Here are the most common outreach mistakes I end up hanging up on each Monday.

Newsletter Recommendations

?? A Media Operator - @amediaoperator for long-form analysis of top media firms, trends, SPACs, etc. Sign up here for topics on how to build digital media companies.

?? Neil Patel - Special mention of @neilpatel here (though he doubled down on video in 2022). His blog is a goldmine. I religiously follow all of his content. You can sign up for his newsletter from here.

Business Strategy

?? Ad Spend to Top One Trillion? - Global advertising spend is expected to increase 10.5% this year to a total of $1.07 trillion, according to WARC’s latest forecast. The updated projection represents a 2.3 percentage point increase over the firm’s last forecast and reflects the uptake of media tools enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI)

?? US Market Grows 14% - At a time when some industry insiders have begun ruminating about the possibility of another downturn, the U.S. ad market got its third quarter off on a very high note, posting a nearly 14% year-over-year expansion in July. Significantly, that compares with a nearly 7% expansion for the same month a year ago, indicating the double-digit gains aren't about easy comps, but signal material growth.

?? Telegram CEO Arrested - Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested in Paris over the weekend over allegations that his platform is being used for illicit activity such as drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images.

?? US Median Round Size Grows - For?a decade, U.S. seed and early-stage round sizes consistently saw an increase until early 2023 when typical round sizes began to come down and the venture market was three-quarters into a funding slowdown.

Global News

?? It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say Nvidia is the most important company in the stock market right now. The world will learn more about the microchip giant after the close of trading on Wednesday, so it seems unlikely there will be any major gyrations until then.

While Nvidia is the lynchpin of the stock market, the 10-year Treasury is the lynchpin of global finance. It’s the discount rate used in any stock price model, and it’s the benchmark for mortgages, corporate bonds and a whole host of other assets.

• S&P 500: $5,616(-0.32%)

?? Mortgage interest rates fell across all terms from a week ago, according to Bankrate data. Rates for 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed, 5/1 ARMs and jumbo loans all dropped.

• 30-year mortgage rate: 6.53%
• 15-year mortgage rate: 5.96%

?? Chinese companies may be enticed to sell a $1 trillion pile of dollar-denominated assets as the US cuts interest rates, a move which could strengthen the yuan by up to 10%, according to Stephen Jen.

?? Here are some of the most prominent headlines this week:

• British rock band Oasis has announced a comeback in a reunion tour in 2025, according to the band's website
• The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission has been pushed back at least 24 hours to Wednesday morning at the earliest, SpaceX says.
• Democrats have sued to block controversial new election rules in Georgia that they warned could lead to "chaos" in the battleground state in November

Investment News

• InstaSun - raising €200,000 to scale its innovative 360° Sun Protection Dispenser, offering advanced UV protection and premium skincare.
• CO2Later -?raising €600,000 to empower businesses to make impactful sustainability decisions. It has an experienced founding team coming from the?UiPath mafia and successfully exited Kubeark, the largest pre-seed round in Romania.
• Maskots - raising €200,000 to expand its pet care app, helping pet owners keep their animals happy and healthy.?

Note: Got a round going that you want to feature - your own business or a portfolio company? Get in touch.

Now let’s have a look at the latest top Flippa offers

Well-Aged Antivirus Blog - This antivirus comparison content site drives $885K annually through affiliate sales and has achieved double digit profit growth, year-on-year, since 2021.

• Monthly profit: $73,790
• Monthly page views: 88,106
• Business age: 10 years

Skin-safe Jewelry Ecommerce - This ecommerce store in the jewellery niche features a brand with a strong reputation and a retail store in Melbourne.

• Monthly profit: $14,534
• Monthly page views: 1,091,737
• Business age: 6 years

Amazon Freebie and Discount SaaS - This SaaS business features an innovative platform that leverages stackable coupons and is monetized through a monthly subscription.

• Annual profit: $282,000
• Active subscribers: 400
• Business age: 2 years

Need My Help?

I'm involved with a number of initiatives - here's what I can do to help you:

?? Scalable and secure?WordPress??DevriX?provides WordPress retainers to SMEs, publishers, eCommerce, SaaS, and more. Our plans start from $1,200/mo to $40K/mo for anything from support through engineering, CRO, performance, security, to fractional CXO services and managing the data stacks of large corps.

?? Want to scale and optimize your business? Growth Shuttle?offers personalized advisory plans starting at $600/hr. Tap into my personal pool of business know-how and my data warehouse of industry data.

?? Want access to my blueprints/books and a weekly Slack planning session? Join my Community?and grab my Entrepreneurship book.?

?? Looking to start a US company? Check out doola and their “Business in a Box” model. Suitable for both foreigners and US citizens and both for residents and non-residents.

?? Have you tried buying and selling digital property? Have a look at Flippa’s marketplace. They offer a vast variety of online businesses for any buyer’s interest. Or if you’re ready for an exit, Flippa provides you with the necessary tools to list your business and close the deal.

?? Looking for investment opportunities? Check out SeedBlink and use Nimity to manage it.

?? Eager to incorporate my recommended solutions? Track my angel investments. Sharing, applying for open roles, or writing reviews helps a ton.??And anything else I try to publish on my blog and my courses here!?