Q 1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans: Local SEO Shop specializes in small business marketing strategy. We work with fellow entrepreneurs who either have an established business and need a comprehensive resource for their marketing needs, or new companies looking for an affordable way to launch their brand.
Our primary location is Park City, UT, but we have consultants in almost a dozen major American cities, giving us the ability to tap local knowledge about local scenes.
Q 2. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans: My entrepreneurial ambitions date back to 2007 when I formed my first marketing campaign around selling local wine. That was the catalyst to teach myself everything Digital and begin to network with the local scene by offering an agency alternative to small businesses. Local SEO Shop was the culmination of putting all of what I’ve learned about Search Marketing into a singular business model. After competing in a few businesses plan competitions, I realized that entrepreneurship was really where I wanted to be.
Educational background includes a double major in English and Psychology from the University of Louisville and a Masters of Science in Biomedical Informatics from Rutgers.
Q 3. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans: I did not like the way that larger agencies treated the little guys. Some agencies had a somewhat wholesome approach to small business, but didn’t offer the transparency that I feel I would want if I was a small business owner paying $100+/hr. for agency services. I grew up in small business- successful ones at that, and it was clear to me that there was no defined services that offered agency level experience without the agency price.
As such, I defined my business model around working side by side with entrepreneurs, not keeping them in dark about “SEO/SEM magic”. I’ve found retention rate using this philosophy is higher than any agency I’ve ever worked for simply because the owner is an integral part of the team. I love to teach what I know and it’s understandable that not every small business owner is as enthused about digital as I am- which is why I make it a point to harness the entrepreneurial spirit of each campaign I work on by always brining to the table innovative ideas with transparent, measurable performance indicators.
Q 4. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans: Read. Every. Day. In the information age, there is no excuse for not being an expert in your field of entrepreneurial ambition.
Q 5. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: Strong work ethic- never cut corners
Ability to pitch any time, any where
Be organized.
Q 6. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans: Depends on what you call work. I don’t like to define this metric because it means that there is a cap on work to be done. As long as you can draw a happy medium and not let life pass you buy, working a daily average is purely subjective.
Q 7. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans: Resolve. Never stopped trying to refine my business model.
Q 8. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans: Referrals. It’s been great to have people talk good stuff and refer their friends/partners.
Q 9. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans: Funding was personal, but really the overhead was minimal. I have no real need for physical office space, can work anywhere in the world, and perform any business operation I need in the cloud.
Q 10. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans: Save. Always find a way to save or else your always be chasing your tail.
Q 11. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans: Having a thriving business across the entire country. Right now, my acquisition is localized. I want it to be available to anyone, anywhere. If I get lucky, maybe even expand internationally.
Q 12. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans: Virgin Group. Innovation excites me, and there is no bigger push in innovation than the portfolio of Richard Branson.
Recommended Questions –
Q 13. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans: Critical. Find ones you can trust and believe in what you are doing.
Q 14. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Ans: Not sure, never really given up on any one idea. I’m always looking for opportunity, sometimes ideas materialize over time when better opportunities present themselves specific to that idea.
Q 15. What motivates you?
Ans: Freedom of choice to get paid to learn what I want to learn about.
Q 16. How do you define success?
Ans: Happiness in what you do and making enough money to choose not to work if you don’t want to.
Q 17. How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans: Get your name out there as an industry expert.
Q 18. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Ans: There are a lot of people just like me. Meeting fellow entrepreneurs is exciting.
Q 19. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans: Risk aversion. It takes a tough stomach to be an entrepreneur. You have to be willing to fail. Everyone fails once.
Company Details:
Business name : Local SEO Shop
First : Thomas
Last Name : Rasinen
Address : 1852 Frankfort Ave Ste. 2
City/Town : Louisville
State : KY
Zip code : 40206
Email ID : info@localseoshop.com
Tel No : (502)653-9695
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Local-SEO-Shop/323748051151622
Twitter : https://twitter.com/localseoshop
