Kris Reid Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast
To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below:
Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes
Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed)
If you like the show, we would be so grateful if would consider leaving the show a review in iTunes as well as Stitcher Radio. A couple minutes of your time can help the show immensely! Thank YOU!
Introducing Kris Reid
Kris Reid is our guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast interview.
He is a man who calls himself the coolest guy in SEO.
And when you see him perched on his motorbike, in leathers and wearing a contented smile of “Yeah baby….I have created something amazing come and check it out”..then you think then he is probably spot on with that name.
He has created Ardor Media Factory an online company specialising in content marketing, content writing, search engine optimization, search engine ranking, keyword research, web analysis, web design, link building and image linking
After obtaining his degree in 2006 degree in Software Engineering from Queensland University of Technology. he decided to scratch his itchy feet by heading off to London.
During his time in London, Dublin and Brussels, he worked under contract with Euroclear, Visa Europe and Sony Research & Development.
But it was when he really stretched his itchy feet again, and started backpacking around the world a few years ago then one of his big dots really jumped out in-front of him.
How The Dots Joined Up For Kris
As he says ” because of my love for software development, I built an online game. As the completion day came near for the game I made, I thought that I should learn how to market if anyone else is ever going to play with it.
So, I started studying how Google works and learned about Search Engine Optimisation.
I quickly discovered how important backlinks are – not just any backlinks, but only quality backlinks with relevant and compelling content on powerful industry-specific websites.”
And the rest is history.
Not easy history, in any shape or form, but one that has seen steady growth, a move from his home country of Australia to set up in Davao city in Philippines in January 2013, and now clients flocking to his company from across the globe.
Life seems good and should be good, as he has taken control of his own destiny, and worked his socks off to make things happen.
So does this kind of success simply come from putting one itchy foot in-front of the other until you start too see things happening?
Or is there a blueprint for all of us to follow, as we look to leave the corporate grind, and sit on our own motorbikes to ride into our special futures?
Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only, Mr Cool SEO Guy Mr Kris Reid.
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Kris Reid such as:
Why it is so important to spend time immersing yourself in different cultures, to find new ways of operating a business more efficiently and productively.
Why you have to stop working an hour for a dollar to achieve great success in your life. Leverage is the key to everything.
How he remembers working in London, and simply chased the money. This was a blueprint for disappointment and frustration.
And lastly….
Why helping KIVA.org by providing microloans is an amazing way to support the people who really need our help. We can all make a difference to the world.
Make Sure You Enter The Amazing Website Audit Competition You Heard On The Show HERE
How To Connect With Kris Reid
Return To The Top Of Kris Reid
If you enjoyed this episode with Kris Reid why not check out other inspirational chat with Christine Hansen, Jessica Cox, Joshua Rivedal and the amazing Croix Sather
You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy
Audio Transcription Of Kris Reid Interview
Intro [0:10]
When we’re young we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling join up dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK David Ralph
David Ralph [0:35]
yes hello there Good morning everybody. Good morning to you. Oh you sexy individuals wherever you are listening to the show. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you so much to our guest today because I struggled to track him down when I did connect with him I said Oh, we’ve all to competence in the world. You’re in the Philippines he said no, Cambodia Cambodia my that’s my Ozzy voice. He’s gonna hate that he really is. But I’m sure that he’s going to be open because he is a man who calls himself the coolest guy in SEO Yep. And when you see him post on his motorbike in levers and wearing a contented smile of your baby I’ve created something amazing come and check it out when you think that he’s probably spot on with that name. He’s created ardor media factory and online company specializing in content marketing content writing, search engine optimization, search engine ranking keyword research, web analysis, web design, link building, and image linking. Don’t forget the image linking. Now after obtaining his degree in 2006 in software engineering from Queensland University of Technology, he decided to scratch his itchy feet by heading off to London now during his time in London, Dublin and Brussels. He worked under contract with Euroclear visa unit and Sony research and development. But it was when he really scratched these itchy feet again, I think he’s got some kind of disease going on there and started backpacking around the world A few years ago, then one of these big dots really jumped out in front of him as he says, because I’m I love that software development, I built an online game. As a completion day came near for the game I made, I thought that I should learn how to market if anyone else is ever going to play with it. So I started studying how Google works and learned about SEO, I quickly discovered how important backlinks are not just any backlinks, but only quality backlinks with relevant and compelling content on powerful industry specific websites. And the rest is history. Now not easy history in any shape or form, but one that has seen steady growth and moved from his home country of Australia to set up in the Philippines. And now clients flocking to his company from across the globe. life seems good. And it should be good as he’s taken control of his own destiny, and worked his socks off to make things happen. So does these kind of success simply come from putting one foot in front of the other until you start to see things happening? Or is there a blueprint for all of us to follow as we look to leave the corporate grind and sit on our own motorbikes to ride into our special futures? Well, enemies? Well, let’s find out as we bring on to the show, to start join up dots with the one and only Mr. Cole, SEO guy himself, Mr. Chris Reed. Good morning. Good evening. Good afternoon to you, Chris. How are you sir?
Kris Reid [3:10]
I’m fantastic. David, thank you very much for that introduction.
David Ralph [3:14]
Now, can I ask you two questions? Was that the greatest Australian accent you’ve ever heard in your life? Did I become an 80s?
Kris Reid [3:21]
spitting? Just like Crocodile Dundee.
David Ralph [3:25]
He was the most I’m Australian when they really? I don’t know what I remember watching that.
Kris Reid [3:31]
Rather cringe worthy.
David Ralph [3:33]
It was I loved it. I love Crocodile Dundee. And I bet if I go back and watch it now, it would be dreadful in so many ways. But it’s it he’s been. And that’s what you’ve done, you’ve hit your thing. You are the kind of Crocodile Dundee you’ve traveled the world and you’ve ended up in some back territory like he did. And I never thought I was going to link this together and created something you know, amazing. And it is amazing. And I’ve been going through your site, looking at you, your team, and your big smiley face on the motorbike. And I think to myself is cracked this do you feel the same way?
Kris Reid [4:08]
Some days. I mean, I I’m generally very happy in life, I feel contented anyway, I really enjoy. I mean, I have trouble sleeping some nights because I’m so excited to wake up in the morning and get to get to work. So I think that’s a good thing.
David Ralph [4:26]
Well, absolutely is I was just talking to a sleep expert in the last show. And we were saying how you start off wanting to create the dream life and you look for that work life balance. And that’s what everything is because you’re kind of escaping from the corporate life because you don’t want to go to offices. And then once you create something that you really love, it goes out of whack somehow and you don’t work, you don’t rest, you just kind of live, so you feel the same way to you. It’s all blurred into one.
Kris Reid [4:55]
Now, I think it’s really hard to ever create a balance and you know what it’s like, Yeah, when you meet a woman and you fall in love, it’s like you, she becomes you everything and you like devote your laughter and, you know, dream about her and want to be with her all the time. And why not that with whatever you’re passionate about, you know, you you don’t want to just do it as a nine to five and go home and, you know, drink beer and forget about it.
David Ralph [5:20]
So So how do you sort of rest when when you are not being the coolest guy in SEO? And did you come up with that title? Or did somebody say or do you know, Mr. Chris Reed, you want to call this guy in SEO?
Kris Reid [5:33]
Well, it came from actually one of our clients who’s a musician in Nashville. You know, he’s a cool guy. And I’m a software engineer, which kind of geeky. And so it started off as a bit of joke and then got passed around the office. And here it is.
David Ralph [5:47]
That’s a surprise to you. But I’m known as the sexiest podcaster from the United Kingdom does it? Does it surprise you Chris?
Kris Reid [5:53]
Yeah, I can just tell you a new voice David
David Ralph [5:56]
it’s the size of a microphone. But that’s what is it? That that? So what is this itchy feet business? So do you still have itchy feet? Do you still like to sort of get off the well worn path and create your own life?
Kris Reid [6:12]
After Sure. I mean, I just spent last month in California this month in Cambodia next month in the Philippines? The month after is in Australia? And then I’ll be back here I think maybe. So yeah, I like to travel around and see different people and learn from people and work with people. It’s It’s good.
David Ralph [6:30]
And how have you done that? Because that sounds utopia, doesn’t it? That’s what so many people want? Are you taking your business with you? Are you kind of beaming into your business? Is there a central hub that you now link to? How have you done that?
Kris Reid [6:44]
Yeah, for sure. I mean, that even helps you grow, like being around different people. So I just spent a month in California and working with some content, guys, you know, learning some new skills and having the time difference. So most Yeah, we have an office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and devour in the Philippines. And so all of our staff are on Asian time. And California is pretty much the exact opposite. And so when I was working, they were asleep. And so it really struck changed my day. And it’s it’s been great. It’s taught me to like, not respond to people instantly. Because if you don’t, they’ll just work it out by themselves. And you can get on doing the you know, the more important tasks so yeah, you learn benefits from you know, getting outside your comfort zone and trying new things.
David Ralph [7:32]
I think Tim Ferriss in these four hour workweek, he said something similar, didn’t know about that, if you’ve read the book listeners, but after a while, you have to almost do a frequently asked questions because you get the same questions over and over again. And if you do that on a business, or website or whatever, a lot of the kind of things that bog you down just disappear. I rarely check my emails, I check my emails once a week, in fact, more often than not, is about once every two weeks now. And it has of course me any issues at all. But there is a big addiction isn’t it to be in contact all the time. As soon as a Facebook message come in, you’re going to jump on it. And we’re not Barack Obama, we as I always say we were called SEO guy and a cold podcaster. So we don’t need to be there. 24 seven, Chris,
Kris Reid [8:19]
let’s even just relinquishing control, like I had lunch with one of my friends who owns a restaurant here. And her staff, like we’re coming to her and asking questions the whole time we’re having lunch, because she’s a bit of a control freak. And I was like, they know how to do these jobs, it’s just that you’re here to ask. So they check with you know, so that if you give them some autonomy, they’ll get amongst themselves and they’ll enjoy their work more and you’ll be able to relax a lot more.
David Ralph [8:47]
You can see vo Can’t you why people are control freaks, especially people that have taken the entrepreneurial leap, they’ve left the corporate gig, they’ve created something and any early days it is hard work until people start looking over and thinking Oh, hang on what’s happening over there. So you can see why they don’t want it to be messed up somehow but ultimately, if you’ve got that mindset you’re holding yourself back up and you
Kris Reid [9:11]
go 100% I mean it like being an entrepreneur is really hard and I don’t think it ever gets easier it’s just the challenges get just get keep getting bigger but holding onto it really tightly is going to be your downfall you know you need to let let loose and let other people do things they’re never going to do it as well as you but you know there’s a saying that I really liked called done is better than perfect and you know get the job done. That’s the main thing. I thought you were going to burst into song vain I could feel it but I thought you’re gonna let it go. Let it go. I just feel he needs not only the coolest SEO guy he’s gonna burst into song. You held back you held back from it. I did David Amen. It’s been a long day.
David Ralph [9:54]
How are you are kind of karaoke guy, are you? If you’re in a bar in Cambodia, and somebody puts on Dancing Queen, do you grab the microphone? Are you? Are you that kind of guy?
Kris Reid [10:05]
I’m forced to and I’m in the Philippines, like Filipinos are renowned for K TV karaoke. And so whenever I take the staff out there, you know, everyone jumps up on stage and it’s mandatory that you’re saying
David Ralph [10:18]
what’s your song? What’s your son of choice?
Kris Reid [10:21]
on nothing if I can get away with it?
I mean, I traditionally like both types of music Country and Western. So yeah, take you pick.
David Ralph [10:30]
So can you burst into Dolly Parton anytime?
Kris Reid [10:36]
And not just now but it give me a few whiskeys and maybe
David Ralph [10:40]
bursting into Dolly Parton. That’s that’s an image. I had an image going through my head waiting for your answer. Right. Okay. So if we go back door kind of leap of faith because you started by traveling away from Australia, you a climatologist yourself in London, Dublin. So I imagine there was a bit of drinking going on London and Dublin, you can’t get away from it went? Did you start thinking to yourself, actually, this little game that I’ve made, I could take this knowledge and build it into a business. Was it something that hit you like a Whammy? Or was it something that just nibbled away for a while?
Kris Reid [11:12]
Yeah, so uh, I lost my job from the global financial crisis, went back to Australia licking my wounds, and as building this online game, staying my dad’s place and trying to work out what to do with my life. And I had a Russian girlfriend at the time. And she asked me to move to Russia. And I thought, yeah, I wanna but, uh, I didn’t really speak Russian at the time, so I couldn’t get a job. And so I had to work out how to make some money. And, you know, I’ve been experiment with SEO, and well, let’s see if this makes any money. And it did. I went well, that’s pretty cool. And, uh, she’s, she’s pretty much like me and likes to travel and, and so we traveled the world together. And, you know, I kept trying to make some money at the time to finance failed ventures, and, and it worked out quite well. And that kind of led me on the course where I am today.
David Ralph [12:03]
So if you couldn’t speak Russian, how do you know that she was asking you to move to Russia? Maybe she was just saying, I want to split up with you, Mr. Reid. I don’t want you anymore. And you followed her across? How did you know?
Kris Reid [12:15]
We is that we used to live in the UK together. So she had some pretty good English, but I learnt Russian eventually. So that’s another benefit.
David Ralph [12:25]
Is it a benefit to have a global mindset nowadays? Is that where true success comes because I’ve got a wife love her to bits, but she basically has what I call a high street mentality. Everything has to cross in front of her. So I say to her, Oh, I didn’t get as many downloads today. And yes, they are. It’s a bank holiday is a national holiday. Okay. It’s not a national holiday in Cambodia is just national holiday where we are. Do you have that global mindset? And does it make a big difference?
Kris Reid [12:54]
I mean, I think I certainly do it, you know, when we have a public holiday in Cambodia, or the Philippines or whatever, you know, it drives me nuts, because people are at work. Yeah. Yeah. And I don’t care what day it is. I work on Saturday and Sunday, and then I’ll go on holiday, you know, it’s like, I work and get the job done, and then go and enjoy myself. So yeah.
Public holidays.
David Ralph [13:20]
Is it a perfect life you’ve got because it seems to me, you you, you’re quite a humble guy. But you’ve created this business where you can go to here for a month, and here to a month, you get the job done. And then you sort of disappear. Does it feel like you’re having mini retirement? Are you always refreshed? Because it seems like you’re almost building vacations into your life, which is the perfect way of doing it.
Kris Reid [13:43]
Yeah, I mean, I spend this time to learn things to like, so I’m going to the Philippines next week. And we’re going to spend a week or so I’m hoping that I’m down with one of my good friends who’s in the SEO business as well. And yeah, we’ll we’ll be discussing lots of business strategy and marketing ploys. So yeah, that’s, that’s when you get to do the big boy work, gather the thousand dollar an hour sort of work where you use your brain and strategize?
David Ralph [14:14]
And does does that sit well with you now, because I know that most entrepreneurs are on a journey, but when they start, they they do everything for free? And then they will say, Yes, I will work for you. And I will charge you $15 an hour. And then you get to that point. When did you get to that point when you actually think Yeah, thousand dollars an hour, which is great money. Yeah, I’m worth that. Because it is a journey. You have to go on, isn’t it?
Kris Reid [14:38]
Yeah, well, I mean, you you want to stop as quickly as possible, leveraging time for money, because well, it’s there’s only so much leverage you can get. And once you break out of that sort of cycle. Well, that’s when you get freedom. Yeah.
David Ralph [14:53]
And how did you do that? Man? How did you get away from the yet? I’ll be here for an hour, you got to give me back to a completely scalable business.
Kris Reid [15:05]
Yeah, well, I mean, it certainly is hard, but releasing me doing stuff and trying to share my knowledge. So like, I spend a lot of time reading and, you know, if I’m tired in the afternoon, I don’t feel like answering emails, I’ll go and sit in a cafe and read a book. And you know, the knowledge that I gained there is worth so much more than, you know, answering some customer emails in a grumpy mood and yelling at staff, you know, it’s like, try and always optimize your time and get the most out of your day. And yeah, be happy.
David Ralph [15:39]
It’s easy to say about when you’ve got that you’ve got yourself to that position. But you can do that. But in the early days, you must have been literally doing 20 hours a day, working your socks off to get it to that point, or perhaps you wasn’t what were the early days.
Kris Reid [15:53]
Yeah, I went through some really tough times, like, a couple years ago, things were not good. And it was really affecting my health. Even a guy was working really, really long hours, I started getting carpal tunnel in my my mass hand. So I wasn’t able to use my mouse very much. So that was making me more stressed. I got acute alopecia, which is like an autoimmune disease that detects your hair follicles. And so I got this big bald spot on my head. Yeah, it was really not nice. And so that was a bit of a turning point of like, you got to not work like this, or you’ll kill yourself. And I guess it was a good lesson to learn. And yeah, I kind of changed my strategy. And business really grew from that.
David Ralph [16:42]
And did you realize at that time that you had to change? Or did you think to yourself, if I just work harder, if I just work harder, I’m going to push through the dark times, because that’s the story that I hear from so many people until you literally get to the point that you’re on your knees, you can’t do anything more. And you start asking for Well, you look around and you see how other people are doing it.
Kris Reid [17:04]
That’s exactly exactly it. Like I was pretty much on my knees, I was rewriting my CV ready to grab my bug out bag and go get a job because I was finished. And I needed help. And I really did. And, you know, I restructured things restricted my life. And yeah, I guess it was my hit the bottom and bounced off.
David Ralph [17:26]
So just before we play some motivational words to take us to the next stage, how did you find the help? How did you find the right person or the right information when you are literally at breaking point.
Kris Reid [17:39]
And me and I’m thankful that I got a really great dad who is super supportive. You know, he had actually moved to the Philippines to hang out with me. And he gave me a lot of guidance and wisdom and you know, looked after me and now he’s an entrepreneur himself. So his advice is invaluable. But yeah, also entrepreneurship friends that I have China, listen to them and learn from people read more relaxed. I mean, I just I couldn’t work. My arm was not letting me type at a keyboard. So I physically was unable to work like I was. So you know, something forced me to change.
David Ralph [18:18]
The greatest bit of advice I was ever given was in a book. And I’m not really sure what the book was, I think it might be Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. But I was reading this probably about four years ago when I was in that same situation as you I was literally dying and people going oh David Oh David just come back to work. Just come back to where I was going. Now, I’ve made this decision I’m going to push through. And in this book that I read, this guy said, if you’re not getting the results you want, you simply don’t know enough about it. And I thought, wow, that’s true. So if I’m creating a podcaster, I want to be global, and other people are doing what I want. And I’m not getting those results. I just got to find out the right ways of doing it. And it was such simple advice. But it was a game changer. And it did exactly what you’ve been saying. It made me stop, look at what I was doing, and go back and assess every single aspect. And I realize probably that 80% of the effort that I was bringing myself to my knees on wasn’t required. And I just started focusing in on that. 20% and it sounds like it’s the same thing that you’ve done, Chris.
Kris Reid [19:28]
Yeah, for sure. I mean, knowledge is everything I read so much. I buy books all the time and just you know, listen to podcasts, read read books, try and suck in as much knowledge as you can like, you buy a book for 1520 bucks I mean it can change your life and it takes you what a couple of hours to read it and one on
David Ralph [19:48]
it listen to podcast you listen to podcast you now say at the beginning I said to you have you ever listened to join up dots you said no, I’ve been busy. I’ve been busy and I now find out that your podcast the listener, you shocked me to the coarser,
Kris Reid [20:04]
normally really boring ones that are like history, history ones. Like, you know, Dan Collins hardcore history is
David Ralph [20:11]
boring. That’s boring. No, I have no idea. I don’t listen to podcasts either. Funnily enough, I create them, but I don’t listen to them, is it? It’s a weird thing. You get so ingrained in doing something that last thing you want to do is surround yourself with that same thing? Is that something that is the same issue with you? Are you kind of you want to separate yourself from SEO and stuff so that you can come back fresh with new ideas? You’re not just taking other people’s ideas?
Kris Reid [20:37]
Some someone I mean, I had days I get to where I don’t want to look at another website like it’s well, it Yeah. It’s they all start to look the same. And you’re like, Oh, my God is the same old drivel. It can be it can be hard to keep it fresh.
David Ralph [20:58]
Right, I’m going to play some words now. And then we’re going Delve back into this section. And we’re talking about because SEO is so important for so many people. And these are the words said but Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey [21:08]
my father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
David Ralph [21:35]
I like the kind of words that you would find yourself saying to people in bars now.
Kris Reid [21:42]
That story is quite funny, because it’s it’s very similar to my grandfather and my father. You know, he always pushed my father until you know, a government job you want to, you know, play it safe and do this and do that. And yeah, like, like a real old school mindset. And my, my father, and his father had a lot of lot of fights when, you know, he was young man and my dad always go for it to be an entrepreneur, against his parents wishes and whatnot. And, you know, he really ingrained in me since I was a child, but that’s the way forward and the way Well, to be free and to be secure. I mean, like, you have a job for 20 years, and they’ve let you go, What the hell are you going to do? You’ve got no other skills, it’s really risky. It’s crazy that people do that
David Ralph [22:30]
is beyond crazy. It really is. I went up to the City of London for years and years and years, we were probably in the same pubs at some stage, Chris. And I thought I recognized you. And and what I remember about it was but I didn’t have any ambition, other than accepting what came near me. So if a promotion was on the cards, I’d go for it. If something was on the cards, I’d go for it. But other than that, it wasn’t any desire to create something and I look back on it now and I it was all it was all House of Cards really was a house of cards, and somebody could just apologia. And it was just a crumble. Now, at least with what I’ve got here, not only is it an extremely lucrative business, which is great, but unless I turn the plug off, it’s not going to be taken away. And certain things that I’ve done through join up dots even if I turn the puck off myself, personally, it’s still going to keep on bringing in income which you just don’t get any employee man. But people don’t see that they still think it’s a job for life. Why? Why is the world still so ingrained in that? Or maybe it’s not? Do you think it’s changing?
Kris Reid [23:35]
I mean, I think what’s even more, well, heartbreaking. And my own story is like when when I used to work in the City of London, you know, I just chased the money. I was like a complete how I whoever’s paying the most money is where I’d go, you know, and that’s all I cared about. And it’s like, how is that any satisfaction? Your life? I mean, money doesn’t make happiness? Yeah, like, I wouldn’t care if I had less money, I don’t have a business for money, I have a business too. Well, I really enjoy, you know, training my staff and giving them better lives and opportunities and growth. And you know, doing the same for my customers show, if we make money, that’s great. But it’s I like that, it’s more than that, you know,
David Ralph [24:17]
I was very much like that, Show me the money, Show me the money, I’d walk into an office and they say, yes, we’re looking for a young Filipino lady, I can do that. I can do that how much you’re paying? Yeah, I can do that. I would just go for anything. And I can look back on it now. And I can say that the biggest salaries I got were my most unhappy times, because I didn’t really understand what I was doing. I was once a high yield investment trader. And I had these three monitors in front of me. And all I did was make my mouse move from one screen to the other because I didn’t know what I was doing. And I was earning me good money. And all the time. I was thinking, God, this is stressful. This is stressful. We’re going to find out I’m going to find out because I chasing the money is not good for your health, is it? Yeah, it’s not not good for your health, not good for your soul. And yeah, it’s it’s no way like, when you become an old man and on your deathbed, you’re not gonna think Oh, I wish I had made more money. I mean, that’s what Steve Jobs said, isn’t it, it’s, he doesn’t want to be all he didn’t want to be the richest man in a cemetery is about leaving it leaving a legacy. And I see that all the time. Now in entrepreneurial land. People start building a business because they want to support their family, they want to have the life. But I would say probably 90% of the people I speak to ultimately say, I want to bend start giving back, I want to leave my legacy, I want to build schools, or I want to help people get going there, there seems to be a desire to create something that is more than money. Do you feel about yourself?
Kris Reid [25:53]
Oh, for sure. And I mean, like, so I live in a third world country most of the time, one of two, you see abject poverty. And, you know, you see people that, you know, anyone that’s grown up in any western country, you know, no matter how poor, you were, is so much better off than people here. You know, it’s it’s heartbreaking that they don’t have, you know, a chance for education or health care. And it’s, yeah, I like to be able to contribute to that a little bit, and hopefully one day contribute to that a lot more, and make make a difference in people’s lives that will really, really need some help. You know,
David Ralph [26:34]
if we all did this something little, it’d be an amazing world, wasn’t it? You know, because we’re all here, I used to think that rich people were greedy people, I really did, I used to think that bad people are they’ve got all that money, they’re going to screw screw you over, I now have found but the richest people I know, are just the nicest people. And they’re just doing nice things for people, but you don’t hear about it, they just kind of want to do it secretly. And in many ways, I think necessary, because I think that more of us would look at it and, and want to do our own little thing, because of the big guys doing this stuff under underground somehow.
Kris Reid [27:08]
A really great way if people want to be involved with helping, you know, people that need help, is through our micro lines. So a lot of people in third world countries don’t have access to capital. So if you want to open a chicken farm, or put solar panels will get some fertilizer for your farm, it’s you can’t go and lend $1,000 from a bank. And so there’s this organization called Kiva, it’s k i va.org. And they do micro financing. And so you can deposit as little as $25 and that will be a partial part of a loan. And you can see where this lines going to it will have the whole backstory of you know who goes to you can select what country on what you know, who you want to lend your money to. And then you get a payback. So that’s like, it’s not even you’re not even really giving money away, you get it back, but it just helps so greatly to for entrepreneurs that are in third world countries and creating jobs and building their communities.
David Ralph [28:10]
I love that I’m going to do that. So it’s k iv a.org. And you’re not looking for interest or anything, you’re just putting a loan out somebody can use it and then you get your money back.
Kris Reid [28:21]
Yeah, that’s exactly they’ll show you the happening and the length of time that they’re going to pay back. You know, sometimes there’s little defaults but there’s very minimal and they’ll explain why sometimes you know, there was a bad yield on a crop and you know, they’ll be light or something like that. But yeah, it’s they give you amazing amounts of detail I never bother reading too much of it but it’s it shows a happy people and videos of where your money is being being used and what they’re building and yeah, great, great organization.
David Ralph [28:52]
I think that’s great. It’s so much better than those posters I keep on seeing my kids keeping seeing about Oh, adopted tiger and you think you’re not adopting a tiger you don’t even get to see the tiger you know, I if I want to see it. I want to have that Tiger walking around my garden if I’ve actually paid some money, but these guys are actually making a difference to their life. would you would you advise to Tiger or would you go for a panda which one would you go for?
Kris Reid [29:18]
Well, I targets more practical I think you can use it for helping you scare away rats.
David Ralph [29:24]
How this day this is my to Tiger trivia, right? This is it. You never expected to have this on a podcast but you will be going and into bars and pubs and you’re going to be even more attractive because you know Tiger facts. Now I heard this. How much is it to buy a baby tiger?
Kris Reid [29:43]
Yeah, I’m not sure the market rate currently. Ever guessed
David Ralph [29:47]
spin. That’s what it’s about a half a guess?
Unknown Speaker [29:51]
A $500
David Ralph [29:52]
Oh God, you bang on out. Did you know that?
Kris Reid [29:56]
Got my ear to the ground?
David Ralph [29:59]
You got a black market thing going on? tigers. Right. Okay. The second one? Let’s see if I can get you on here. Where is the biggest concentrated amount of tigers on earth?
Kris Reid [30:14]
Vietnam,
David Ralph [30:16]
Texas, America. Apparently more people own their own Tiger in Texas America. There’s something like 4000 of them. And anywhere else on Earth. All these business people what you would do, you’d get out of that town if it’s for the Tigers. I imagine a football camp
Kris Reid [30:32]
where you’re actually just bought a whole bunch of Tigers from Vietnam to release back into the wild here.
David Ralph [30:39]
to Texas, I could have gotten a second. But it would be good. Like,
Kris Reid [30:42]
I cost a lot more than $500. I think I paid like $4 million for that $10. Yeah, really CDs into the wild, which I think is a bit silly, because they’re just come back into the world. If there was enough food for them. They’ll they’ll they’ll not find anything to hunt. And so the I’ll go back to Vietnam anyway.
David Ralph [31:02]
I’m going to create my own Tiger podcast, I’ve decided this is this is the greatest bit of content I’ve ever done. But unfortunately, I’ve got to get back to the show. So search engine optimization, being serious now. Is it kind of dead? Because you hear some people saying? No, it’s not like it used to be you basically just right for the reader. And there’s so many algorithms in the background? Is it as easy as little black hat white hat that you used to be? Or is it the natural approach that has to be looked for?
Kris Reid [31:34]
internet marketing is growing in double digits every every month, every year? It’s like now, like 60 or $80 billion, or something gets huge. It’s getting more competitive and more valuable every every single year. So search engine optimizations? Yeah, where the money is, it’s a great place to be.
David Ralph [31:54]
So somebody who’s got a website, and they basically do a blog post and they put it up, they choose some key words to be hopefully found. Are they going to get much traction anymore? On a big guys kind
Kris Reid [32:08]
of kidding it up? You’d be lucky to get any unless you’re an authority mean? Like, why is Google going to care about your, your blog if no one else does? Like how how Google works. The premise behind them is Larry Page, the co founder made the PageRank algorithm. And he figured that, like if when you do a thesis and you’re doing your PhD, you write your thesis, and everyone references your thesis, well, you must be the authority on that niche, right. Thinking that must be the same with with websites, if you have a website and everyone links to your website? Well, that must be the authority. And so it gets more more credit and will rank higher. And so that’s if you don’t have people liking your content and interacting with your content and linking to your content, then Google’s not going to care about it. Why that? You know, the old 8020 rule? Yeah, 20% of your time should be used to make content and 80% of your time should be used getting people to interact with it and like it and read it.
David Ralph [33:13]
So how do you do that? So you say in my situation, podcast is quite easy, really for me in one way, because every single show that I release, more often than not that guest will link to it, and they will refer back to it. But how do people go about building those connections with people so that they will want to link to their content?
Kris Reid [33:36]
making awesome content is one way and becoming an authority. So you know, speaking about what you do on podcasts and providing articles for other people mean guest postings, a real big thing. So we do that for customers will do outreach. So say you’re a plumber or something will will connect with other partners, generally not your competition, your plumber will be talking to a plumber in London only services London, right? They don’t service Newcastle. So you can go to a plumber in Newcastle and go, Hey, we got this great content for your site, which you know, might be some article about a special way to fix toilet or something like that, or an infographic. And so they’ll then add that to their site with a link back to where it came from, which is your site, the plumber in London. And so it helps both people, you know that he got good content, and you got a link. And so that that’s one way to generate links. It’s very time consuming and very content based.
David Ralph [34:31]
I can imagine it is. So how do you structure that into your life, but you can provide this quality service for people on quite a range of subjects, as we said in the introduction, and not kind of climb up your own trouser leg and want to disappear from everything. How do you manage to do that and not get engulfed by all
Kris Reid [34:50]
software. I mean, I am a software engine. So I love building systems. And so we built systems to manage everything that we do for customers to manage outreach, manage, who is speaking to managing what content we’re building at what time and where it needs to be posted, and who it needs to link to. And you know, it can validate that everything’s done correctly. And so it just alerts people, you know, learns, it learns managers when anything’s not right. And it really controls everything so that we can have rather unskilled staff to manage most of it quite easily.
David Ralph [35:26]
So when you’ve got people in the Philippines, you’ve got people in Cambodia, who are not sort of call center operatives, like we would expect, but they’re simply monitoring for anything to flag up, is that how it would operate.
Kris Reid [35:41]
So they’ll produce content, you know, like the Philippines has excellent English, outside of native English speaking country, it’d have to be the best in the world now. That’s why call centers are there. And so they can write good quality content, you know, if we need, if we need native English stuff, then we’ll have native English stuff. But that’s obviously a lot more expensive, you know, half the reason we got an office in the Philippines is cost of living is a fraction of what it is in Australia or the UK. So, you know, salaries are also a lot less so we can compete. And yeah, there’s no UK company could ever compete with us on prices. So then that’s our advantage.
David Ralph [36:20]
But what was it on your radar to create a company did you start as a solo printer or an entrepreneur, because I think most people look to escape from something. And ultimately, when you create a company, you’ve been got the responsibility of supporting your staff, you want the best for your staff, and I was looking on your your website, and you do a lot of kind of friendly stuff, cakes coming out of birthdays and different things. Do you feel a responsibility which sits easily with you? Or if push comes to shove? Would you like to just be on your own laptop? Just doing your own thing?
Kris Reid [36:57]
And not not at all? Having attained his voice? Awesome. Yeah, that you’re on the same journey in the same wavelength. Like, you know, I’m working on some cool content stuff at the moment. And, you know, I just said to my staff here, I said, I need you guys to like, look after whole bunch of stuff, because I’m going to be working in cafes the next couple days and focusing on this now again, show now he’s got it covered. You know, it’s like they, they know what we’re doing. And they know where we’re headed. So they support me, it’s, I couldn’t do it when everyone focuses on what they’re good at. And that’s we work as a team.
David Ralph [37:34]
Because I, I’ve dabbled with having team members, and I’ve always come back to it, it’s easier to just do it myself. So I put systems in place, which means literally, the whole show only operates on one day a week. And all the rest is me sort of just playing around doing different things. Is that holding me back? Do you think that I should have a team around me is it the quickest way to expand by getting people to do the stuff that you potentially don’t really want to do so you can focus in on doing the stuff you love?
Kris Reid [38:01]
Or even the stuff that not that you don’t want to do just that you’re not as good at I mean, like we had massive growth last year, because we hired this New Belgium guy who is just so much better manager than I am like, he just made our operations run so smoothly. And he’s better at it than me so great. He can focus on that and I can focus on what I’m good at, which is, you know, sales marketing. But uh, you got to find what’s right for you like my father, he he actually shares the office in in Phnom Penh. He doesn’t have any stuff here. He he outsources everything that he needs. He works with a French guy here. They go and work in a cafe together. They don’t. He really doesn’t like having staff. He doesn’t like having an office. So yeah, whatever works for you.
David Ralph [38:52]
And it certainly sounds like it’s working for you. You love it. And yeah, I yeah, can’t get enough of it. But let’s play some words now from the late Steve Jobs, who also had ups and downs in his life. But at his core, he knew that he loved what he was doing and kept him being dragged back to to the valley. It’s a Steve Jobs, of
Steve Jobs [39:13]
course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards. 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leaves you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
David Ralph [39:48]
So when you look back on your life following those words, is there a big story in your life when you look back on and go? Yeah, actually, I think that’s when things started to really go way but I wanted
Kris Reid [39:59]
Yes, I mean, it’s certainly hard to see all the dots, certainly not looking forward and looking back, but you meet different people in your lives that affect you and and change who you are, like a. So when I was living in the UK, I’ve fell hopelessly in love with this beautiful Russian woman. And, you know, she really taught me not to be scared of the world. Like, she hitchhiked from Russia to London when she was 17 didn’t speak English. She’d been living there for years by the time I met her. So she was you know, well well equipped with the with the city and show Marianne, which was great. That, you know, we like to travel the world together. And she really showed me that it’s okay, you don’t have to worry about stuff like, money was never important to her. Like, you know, one year when we were traveling around, we were like sleeping on beaches, and you know, just having barbecues on the beach every night because we had nowhere to stay and no money for anything. And yeah, that was one of the best things, my life. And so she might know been a congested conventional person that I was looking for. If you asked me when I was 21 of what my life goals are. And you know, we aren’t perfect for each other. That’s why we’re not together. But she certainly changed my life dramatically. And yeah, put me on the path that I’m on now.
David Ralph [41:24]
Beautiful Women always do that don’t know, beautiful women of the mentors that you we’ve got to look for.
Kris Reid [41:32]
I certainly try and get mentored by them as often as possible.
David Ralph [41:36]
Yes, I love I love I love back. I think that is the title of the show. I don’t know how I’m going to phrase it. But that is the title of the show you dirty man. I know exactly what you mean. Well, this is the end of the show. And this is the part that we call the Sermon on the mic when we send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you can go back in time to speak to the young Chris, what advice would you give them? What age would you choose to? Well, I’m going to find out because I’m gonna play the theme tune. And when it fades you up? This is the Sermon on the mic.
Kris Reid [42:29]
Yeah, so I mean, one one thing I’d say is held me back is not wanting to compete in things that I’m not great at, like, you know, I really struck gold in high school. And a lot of that is because if you know I’m not the best, I don’t want to be a part of it. And so I probably didn’t want to be nerdy or been sporty or just be anything. And I think that really struggled my schooling. But then, you know, I excelled at university because I was really doing some love. But still I think I played it too safe. And you know, take some more risks and be brave and get out there. The world’s not going to bite you, Julia. Well, I might. But oh, you enjoy it more trying, like, I still get scared. I still worry about public speaking and giving presentations. And it’s like really who what are people gonna laugh hand like will not laugh at you. It’s Don’t be ashamed of such things. I mean, it’s easier said than done. But I still battle with those sort of stuff. So it’s, it’s, it’s not over yet. Yeah, so I mean, any advice or give to myself as as a young adult, is the same advice that I’d give to myself now as my mid 30s is just keep trying and enjoy the ride, but push yourself and don’t be lazy. And don’t be scared and just try.
David Ralph [43:56]
Chris, what’s the number one best way that our audience can connect? Would you sir?
Kris Reid [44:03]
I you can contact me by email. My name is Chris kr is and auto SEO AR d seo.com. If you got any questions, yeah, and email me there and be great to have a chat.
David Ralph [44:14]
I have all the links on the show notes. Chris, thank you so much for spending time with us today. joining up those dots. Please come back again, when you have more dots to join up. Because I do believe that by joining up the dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. Mr. Chris Reed, thank you so much. Just before you go, I remember you said that you had a competition for our listeners.
Kris Reid [44:35]
Yeah, for sure. So as a real special thanks for having me on the show and listening to what I have to say, which I hope you got some benefit from that, we’re going to have a competition where one of your listeners can win a website on it. So what we do is we look at every one of the 200 plus points that Google use to determine where your website should rank. So we look at like site speed, navigate ability, mobile friendliness, responsiveness, internal link strategies, outbound links, backlinks, click through rates, bounce rates, you name it, yeah, this is a huge chunk of work usually comes out to like 60 to 80 pages depending on you know, the quality of your site. So you know, it’s everything you need to really get your site on top and kick the battery a competition. So, uh, I mean, the URL will be out or seo.com slash join the dots. But we’ll include that in the show notes.
David Ralph [45:28]
That is absolutely perfect and very generous of you. And Chris, it’s been an absolute pleasure, as I say, and we will connect more dots soon. Cheers, mate. Thanks again David Bye, bye. Well, we had a few problems with the audio quality of that show. Hopefully, it didn’t detract from the content, because that is a guy who quite honestly, he he’s made it up as he’s gone. But he’s kept on going. He’s been building it, building it. And that’s how success is achieved. He was very open with saying that he was literally on his knees at his darkest point. But he didn’t stop. And if you don’t stop and you keep on working towards something and you ask for help and you look for information that you don’t currently know and invest in yourself, then you are literally one step away from the dream. Thank you so much for being part of join up dots thank you so much for listening and connecting with us. And we’ll see you again soon. Cheers. Bye bye.
Outro [46:26]
Are you tired of the same routine that nine to five the mundane? Or perhaps have lost touch with the dreams and passions that led to a life that’s a wow, and simply don’t know where to start? The join up dots has the answer. Dream starter Academy is the number one group mastermind online today showing our members how to create their own business lifestyle or dream job teaching you how to find your thing teaching you how to build income around your passions and giving you a life where you leave out of bed with a we surround you 24 seven with the greatest entrepreneurs, business owners and dreamers online today who are ready to help you get going. They followed the simple steps laid out for them and saw their lives changed forever and you can do the same. So are you ready to change your life explode your income and create the dream life that you’ve always dreamt up? Then join with us today by heading over to join up dots.com and look for dream starter Academy. We look forward to working with you see you on the inside David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become so he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to join up dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on join up dots.
