Meet Nick Keeping, the person behind Espy Digital Ltd. Today, he is here to engage in a discussion about his journey, encompassing both the highs and lows, with the aspiration that his narrative may provide valuable insights to individuals contemplating the initiation of their own SEO business.
How Did Espy Digital Ltd Begin?
Well, my path to starting Espy Digital Ltd was not a straight line. Since being a kid, washing cars in my neighbourhood at 10 years old, I knew I wanted to work for myself. But life has its twists and turns. After university, I got into SEO and WordPress, but also faced a tough battle with online gambling between 2015 and 2019. I was in two minds: one part of me wanted a stable 9-5 job to clear my nearly £10,000 debt, while the other, the business side, knew I’d only be happy working for myself. After a few tough years, paying off all my debts, and saving a bit, I took the plunge, quit my job, and started my business. I haven’t looked back since.
What Were the First Obstacles with Your Business and How Did You Beat Them?
The first obstacles were finding clients and getting them to trust me enough to actually pay me. Fortunately, because I was now debt-free at this point (except for my mortgage payments) I had relatively low outgoings, so I only needed to make a few hundred pounds here and there to cover my expenses.
I started off by getting into local Facebook groups and offering discounted and sometimes free services, such as free marketing audits or free work that wouldn’t take up too much of my time but would build rapport and trust with any prospective clients.
Using these experiences, I got people to leave me reviews and testimonials on my website and my Google business profile which eventually landed me in getting my first paid job through someone I had worked with previously at an old job.
I’m still employing the same tactics today and it’s working well.
Can You Share a Happy Moment or Win for Espy Digital Ltd?
The happiest moment for me is when I signed my first big client which covered my entire expenses for the month. This was a big win for me and showed that I really knew what I was doing and all the years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears and trial and error was worth it. This particular clients has now been with me for nearly two years and they have increased their monthly budget with me several times.
What Have You Learned from Your Journey in SEO?
Every mistake, every little win, from my side hustles to running Espy Digital Ltd, has taught me something new. The key is to keep learning, keep trying, and to not be afraid of making mistakes.
If You Could Go Back, What Would You Change?
If I could turn back time, I would start earlier and focus on building my business network more from the get go. I would also build my business systems earlier in order to make things run smoother – I waited too long to do this as I thought it wasn’t necessary as I was just starting out.
What Advice Would You Give to Someone Wanting to Start Their Own SEO Business?
Don’t be afraid to take risks, but make sure they’re smart ones. Learn from every experience, and use that knowledge to build something you’re proud of. Also, and this goes for any industry, not just SEO…get in the door of what it is you want.
By this means, if you want to learn the plumbing trade, go work for someone else for a year, if you want to become a gardener, become an apprentice and if you want to learn marketing, go and find the best agency you know and offer to work for them for cheap just so you can learn your trade and hone your skills – it worked for me.
Learning from others helps you learn what to do, but more importantly, what not to do.
How Do You Keep Up with Changes in the SEO World?
It’s an ever-changing world in marketing, especially for an seo agency like mine. We keep up with trends all the time by regularly researching into Google’s latest algorithm changes and updates. This is vital to ensure we are implementing the right things into our clients work.
What’s Next for Espy Digital Ltd and What Do You Think Is Coming in the SEO World?
What’s next for us is more and more growth! As we approach our 2 year anniversary I want to expand the business by increasing our client list so I can look at hiring someone to take over my day-to-day work which will enable me to spend more time on growing the business.
Conclusion
We appreciate your time in reading Nick Keeping’s story and the journey of Espy Digital Ltd. We hope that this article has provided some assistance or inspiration for your personal journey.
If you want to learn more about what he does, check out his SEO company here.
