how do you go about hiring an SEO specialist

I started my career at Yuppiechef, a modern e-commerce giant in South Africa that taught me the digital ropes. It was there that I gained a great feel for a ‘whole business’ as I played more than just one role.

Marketing, writing, editing, photography, packing boxes, testing samples products, dealing with both suppliers and customers and all while running two of their other businesses – yes, Yuppiechef used to own quite a few other fledgling e-commerce startups, all of which were dwarfed when it became so successful. My three main highlights were: having the idea for the annual Easter Egg competition, ransoming the Woolworths Lovebirds Campaign url, but mostly: subconsciously becoming very entrepreneurial through the company’s culture. It all paved the way for future digital success.

Fast forward a few years and after teaching and travelling and volunteering at a few NGO’s (I finally had a chance to have a gap year or three) I found myself at a crossroads and needed to decide between working for someone or starting my own thing. Naturally, that entrepreneurial spirit in me had endured and I created my first company: Baithe Photography. Thinking I could have a randomly made up word ‘Baithe’ and make it so successful it would become a verb-like word (like Google or Hoover) I struck out into a low-risk but ripe-for-the-picking industry: real estate photography.

So, obviously, I built my own website, did four shoots for free, and launched a website with a basic portfolio. Visiting real estate agents was next, and phoning or mailing some too – the experience put me off them for life, no offence. So, I did the next logical thing: started Google Ads and an SEO-optimised website. It wasn’t long before I got some leads, and the long and short of it is that after 12-18 months I’d ranked #1 for about 5-10 of the most important industry keywords in the Western Cape. A few months later and I was doing the same across the country, which was why I branched out into outsourcing work to a Jo’burg resident. Naturally, as things turn out – and totally unintentionally – I ended up being more of a digital expert than a photographic one. And theDA was born.

The above is all a platform though for what came next, or simultaneous to my photography success – in ranking for my industry, word got out through my network and friends, and random acquaintances of friends started getting in touch for help with their websites and businesses. The rest, as they say, is history and I’ve probably helped close to 100 companies, big and small to “be seen online”. Some of them it was just a few hours help, some I helped for free (South Africa has so many NGO’s), but in the main it has been SME’s. Typically companies with 5-50 staff, that have perhaps one marketing person, but generally outsource their marketing and IT work to freelancers.

Today, I find most joy focusing on as few clients as possible and so giving as much time as possible to them so they can succeed. For new clients with less of an online presence, I typically need a year to deliver good results, and for established online companies, sometimes 4-6 months is all you need. I like to think I am part of any team I “join” and find most success when a project operates that way – with my feedback and input taken to heart and implemented as soon as possible to deliver results. I’ve designed my whole ‘SEO specialist consultant’ offering to work just like that – like an impact player on a rugby team, or a medical second opinion – I aim to deliver big impact in a small time frame.

Ideally, I’d give you and your brand 5-10 hours of my time a month, and through a strong strategy, diligently implemented, help you achieve lasting results. Your benefit? You get all my knowledge, skills, expertise, and advice at a fraction of the cost of hiring someone.