Saying Goodbye to SEOAly

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven

After more than a decade as SEOAly, it’s time to say goodbye. It’s been quite a roller coaster ride. I’ve met some truly wonderful people on this journey and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the help and support I’ve received from this crazy-awesome SEO community over the years. There are simply far too many people to thank individually, but I trust you know who you are and that I truly cherish the friendships we’ve forged over the past 10 years.

I may be moving on, but I want to help as many people as I can before I go!

Check out this crazy, “going out in a blaze of glory” offer…

SEOAly’s Origin Story

SEOAly began in 2008 as a not-for-profit blog. Back then I worked for the largest web services company in America and there was quite a lot about the way they did business that frustrated and angered me. Out of that frustration and anger, SEOAly was born. I set out to educate people about online marketing and help small business owners make more informed decisions about their online marketing strategies. When the powers that be found out about my blog, they tried to force me to take it down. I refused. And I continued to publish content that I believed would help people, even though doing so might get me fired. (P.S. It didn’t get me fired.)

When I finally left that company in 2009, I decided to set out on my own and convert SEOAly from a nonprofit endeavor to my own small business. I can’t say it was smooth sailing. I can’t say it has always been lollipops and chocolate fountains. But I can say it was worth it. Over the years I’ve helped many clients navigate the digital landscape and grow their small businesses. Helping small mom & pop operations was always my goal. I never wanted to work with the likes of Microsoft or Walmart. They already have all the resources they need. I wanted to be a champion for the little guy. And I think I was.

What’s Next For Alysson?

The truth is, I don’t exactly know. For several years I’ve been kicking around the idea of trying my hand at stand-up comedy. Maybe I’ll become a truck driver. Perhaps I’ll do something totally unexpected, like become a correctional officer. The only thing I know for sure is that it is time for a change.

Throughout my adult life I’ve had several career-level jobs, but I knew I’d never follow a single path. My grandfather was a factory worker. He worked in the same GM factory for 43 years. 43 YEARS! That sort of stability and security is a dream come true for a lot of people. I could never do that. That’s just not who I am.

For several years, I was an award-winning portrait photographer running my own studio, much of which I built with my own two hands. After that I took a sales job, which evolved into a customer service job. Then, before I knew it, I’d been shoved up a few rungs on the corporate ladder where I found myself in charge of devising strategies to retain 20,000+ customers and training 100+ people in the art of customer service.

When I moved to Jacksonville, FL to help my sister start her own business and raise her two kids following her divorce, I took a job as a customer retention agent in a call center for a company that offered a variety of website services, from website design to internet marketing. That’s where I discovered SEO. Shortly thereafter, SEOAly was born.

As I look back on my employment history, I see a pattern. I stick with something for about 5 years before I move on… and when I move on, it is always to something completely foreign to me and totally different from anything I’ve done before. It seems I like the challenge of wiping the slate clean and starting anew. I’ve heard it said that it takes about 10,000 hours to truly master something… to become an “expert”, so to speak. If you do the math, 5 years at 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year puts me right in that ballpark and that’s typically been about the time I decide it’s time to try something new.

Spending more than a decade in the search marketing industry, building and optimizing small business websites, helping my clients achieve their goals… that’s something I’m truly proud of. It has been rewarding in ways I never could have imagined and I don’t regret a moment of the 11+ years I’ve been known in search marketing circles by the moniker SEOAly.

Alas, nothing lasts forever. Change is a big part of life. And I embrace it.

But before I go…

I’m not quite done helping people claim their own little piece of digital real estate in the virtual world just yet. I know there are still a lot of people out there who could use my help, so before I shutter my digital doors, I want to help as many of them as I can.

Whether you’re a small business owner with a little shop that sells knick-knacks and tchotchkes (yep… that’s really how you spell that word, I swear) or a passionate hobbyist who just wants to share his secrets to crafting the perfect home-brewed beer, building a website can seem like a daunting and overwhelming task. That’s where I come in…

If you’ve got $250, you can have yourself a spiffy new website.
That’s right… just $250.

Maybe you’re a start-up who just needs a solid foundation on which you can build your reputation, but you want a website that can grow with you, rather than one you have to scrap altogether when you’re ready to do more with it. No problem!

Perhaps you’re an established small business with a website that is… well… a bit dated — okay, it looks like it was built in 1998 by your 15-year-old nephew — I’m not judging! I can help!

Let’s say you’re just a gal who bakes and you want a place to share recipes & blog about the difference between cobblers and buckles. Gotcha covered!

I have no idea how long I’m gonna do this insane $250 website thing. I might do it for 3 days; maybe I’ll do it for 3 months. I mean, it’s pretty crazy. Your own Genesis-powered WordPress website (did you know almost 1/3 of the websites on the Internet run on WordPress??), including your choice of any premium theme in the StudioPress library and a WordPress veteran with over a decade of experience doing all the heavy lifting for you… for just $250?!? Come on!

Hurry… before I come to my senses!

HANG ON! Have you registered your domain yet? You’ll need one. Don’t worry… it’s super easy and cheap. Why can’t I do it for you? Well, I could. But you don’t want me to. What if I get hit by a bus?!? You *never* want anyone else to have control over your domain. I could give you a long, drawn out explanation complete with horror stories, but you don’t have time for that. Just trust me. If you don’t have a domain name yet, you can get one really quick over at Namecheap (seriously… it takes 5-10 minutes, tops).