"Surround yourself with talented and supportive individuals, and always be open to learning and growing as a leader."
Introducing Simon Dalley, the “Director of Traffic” and Founder of GrowTraffic, a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO and content marketing.
With a passion for search marketing and a journey that began back in 2009, Simon has grown his business organically alongside two fellow directors, Rachel and Hannah.
In this interview, Simon shares insights into his transition from technical expert to leader, the importance of a strong company culture, and how he defines success.
He offers valuable advice for aspiring CEOs and future leaders, emphasizing the significance of staying focused on one’s vision, surrounding oneself with the right people, and being decisive in times of uncertainty.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
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Table of Contents
Let’s start with a brief introduction first. Introduce yourself to our readers.
Simon Dalley: I am Simon Dalley, I am the founder of GrowTraffic, a digital marketing agency based in Lancashire and South Yorkshire. Our agency focuses on SEO and using a content marketing approach to sustainably grow traffic and sales for our customers.
Our audience is interested to know about how you got started in the first place. Did you always want to become a CEO, or was it something you were led to? Our readers would love to know your story!
Simon Dalley: My passion for digital marketing, and especially search marketing and SEO, started when I first entered the field. Over time, I founded GrowTraffic and, with the help of two other directors, have grown the business organically without any outside investors.
While I’ve used many different titles as my role has evolved over the years – from Owner to Director, and from CEO to Chair -My favourite is to refer to myself as the “Director of Traffic.” It’s quirky and brings a bit of my personality into the way the team and others see me.
I started the business in 2009 and it’s had many different iterations over the years. I now call the present version GTV5. This effectively started in 2017 when we changed our model from employing a few people and outsourcing most of the work we did to employing a whole host of talented people to focus on building an agency.
“Selfmade” is a myth. We all received help; no doubt you love to show appreciation to those who supported you when the going got tough; who has been your most important professional inspiration?
Simon Dalley: I have been fortunate enough to have a great team around me throughout my career and I believe having the right people is crucial to success. I have been inspired by digital marketing leaders who are constantly innovating and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the industry.
Mostly, I would give huge kudos to my fellow directors, my management team and the employees of GT, plus all the consultants and freelancers who have worked with us on GrowTraffic for almost 14 years.
It’s the three directors – myself, Rachel, and Hannah – working together, which has really made this ship stable enough to sail the stormy seas. I doubt any of us could have achieved what we have without the others.
How did your journey lead you to become a CEO? What difficulties did you face along the way and what did you learn from them?
Simon Dalley: The journey to becoming a leader has been a gradual process for me. I set the business up as a backstop to protect myself from another redundancy. I became an employer of sorts because of necessity.
I’ve never thought of myself as being a good manager. As the founder of GrowTraffic, I have had the opportunity to wear many hats and play many different roles in the business. Over time, as the business has grown and evolved, my role and responsibilities have changed too and I’ve become more of the leader the business needed me to be.
One of the biggest challenges I faced was balancing my technical skills with my leadership skills, but I learned it was important to trust in my team and delegate tasks. I use the term delegate fairly loosely here because I often question whether I have delegated responsibilities or abdicated responsibilities. It’s something I wrangle with.
Tell us about your company. What does your business do, and what are your responsibilities as a CEO?
Simon Dalley: GrowTraffic is a digital marketing agency that focuses on SEO and using a content marketing approach to sustainably grow traffic and sales for our customers. My responsibilities are more about the big picture.
These include being instrumental in setting the overall direction and strategy for the business, helping the senior team to be at their most efficient and ensuring that the business is running smoothly.
A big part of my role is in building a group of loosely interconnected businesses that all work with each other and feed from each other. This is an exciting development and something I expect will take up more of my time as time goes on.
What does CEO stand for? Beyond the dictionary definition, how would you define it?
Simon Dalley: CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer. Beyond the dictionary definition, I would define it as the person responsible who is the lead voice on the board. I don’t really like the term CEO because it conjures notions of someone who acts in a manner that can impose their will on others, and in reality, in most situations, it’s all about compromise and persuading.
I used to work for a guy that referred to himself as the Chief Excitement Officer. It’s corny, but in some ways, I think it’s better. Another guy that I worked for – he was a billionaire and a bit old-school – insisted on being called Managing Director.
He let other people call themselves CEO of various different parts of his business empire, but it always stuck with me that he was happy with what many other people thought was a lesser title and he was happy with it because he knew that the title doesn’t really matter, it’s what you do that counts.
When you first became a CEO, how was it different from what you expected? What surprised you?
Simon Dalley: As my progression to a leadership role was very organic. I learned a lot along the way. I also had the advantage of having worked in Head of Marketing roles in corporate businesses, so I already had a lot of strategy experience and worked closely with boards to develop branding and acquisition strategies.
This had also given me a good amount of man-management experience. Although I’ve always said I’m not good at managing people and generally, I let other people manage our team members, recently I have used many of the skills I’ve developed over the years and realised I’m actually better at managing people than I thought.
There are many schools of thought as to what a CEO’s core roles and responsibilities are. Based on your experience, what are the main things a CEO should focus on? Explain and please share examples or stories to illustrate your vision.
Simon Dalley: I believe that a CEO’s core responsibility is to provide direction, vision, and leadership to the company. I also believe this shouldn’t solely be the responsibility of just one person.
A CEO must ensure that the company is running smoothly, efficiently and that the team is motivated and focused. Crucially, a CEO doesn’t need to actually do all these things themselves, but they need to understand how things are being implemented and have levers to affect change if they need to.
For me, the main things I focus on are developing the company strategy, building strong relationships with clients, ensuring financial stability and growth, and making sure we are cultivating a positive and supportive culture within the company, whilst not being too lenient. It’s a balancing act. I have found that by focusing on these areas, I have been able to achieve success for both the company and the employees.
We have a great team and we have developed a really amazing culture. The day-to-day curation of the culture isn’t my main forte; however, I love to brand the culture of the business. One example of this is at GrowTraffic; we call our employees “GrowFos.” This not only emphasises the family-like atmosphere we aim to cultivate but also allows each team member to feel like they are a valued part of the business.
How would you define success? Does it mean generating a certain amount of wealth, gaining a certain level of popularity, or helping a certain number of people?
Simon Dalley: Success means different things to different people, but for me, success is a combination of financial stability, professional growth, and personal fulfilment.
Of course, generating wealth is important, but it is not the only measure of success.
For me, success also means having a positive impact on the people I work with and the community around me and being able to make a difference in the lives of others. It also means being able to live a life on my own terms.
Some leadership skills are innate, while others can be learned. What leadership skills do you possess innately, and what skills have you cultivated over the years as a CEO?
Simon Dalley: I believe that everyone has their own unique set of leadership skills, both innate and cultivated. Innately, I possess the ability to build strong relationships with others; I like to challenge people and get them to be more creative.
I’m a maverick at heart, but I have to temper that for the good of everyone. Most of the time, what people consider to be my These skills have been instrumental in building a positive and supportive culture within GrowTraffic, and in developing strong relationships with clients and employees.
Over the years, I have cultivated skills such as strategic thinking and decision-making. I always have to work on my communication skills but that’s something I’ve focused on a lot over the years. I have worked to develop a strong sense of vision and the ability to articulate that vision to others, which has been critical in helping to guide the growth and development of GrowTraffic.
Do you have any advice for aspiring CEOs and future leaders? What advice would you give a CEO that is just starting out on their journey?
Simon Dalley: My advice to aspiring CEOs and future leaders is to stay focused on your vision and remain true to your values. Surround yourself with talented and supportive individuals, and always be open to learning and growing as a leader. It is also important to cultivate a strong sense of empathy to build strong relationships.
Surrounding yourself with the right people is key, though. If you recognise your weaknesses – especially if you perceive them to be innate weaknesses – you should put people around you who make up for your pitfalls.
Also, I set GrowTraffic up in my spare time and there were several times where the business was covering my salary multiple times over, but I still felt the need to work in corporate marketing roles to support the business. I now realise that this was just an excuse and I wish I had taken the leap and committed to GrowTraffic earlier.
There have also been occasions when the business model needed tweaking and we’ve floundered waiting for things to improve. Both of these have taught me that one of the most important things the leadership of a business can do is be decisive and make changes as soon as you think you might have to.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Simon Dalley for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Simon Dalley or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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