“If you’re in it for the long run, start with SEO, and do it strategically. SEO is the gift that keeps on giving ”
Hello hello! During this episode of the Flying Cat Marketing podcast, we sat down with Foti Panagiotakopoulos, the founder of GrowthMentor, to discuss the ins and outs of bootstrapping a start-up and managing the workload with a small team.
GrowthMentor is a platform that lets solo marketers and solo founders receive one-on-one mentoring from vetted growth-marketing, start-up, and marketing mentors. The platform allows you to “get on-demand mentorship from people who have more experience in the fields that you’re struggling with,” says Foti.
In this interview, we talk about why diving straight into raising funds isn’t the best way to make your start-up successful. We also discuss the importance of knowing your strengths and those of your team, upskilling yourself, and how SEO can be your strongest tool if you use it right.
Foti has boot-strapped GrowthMentor and, although he was aware of the risk he was taking, he and his team were able to make the platform a success. During our conversation today, Foti shares his experience with growing his platform and how he was able to make it happen.
As a solo founder, it’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed by fear and doubt. Should you hire more talent or should you do the task yourself? How can you upskill yourself if you’re focused on managing a team of freelancers? How can you keep yourself and your team from burning out? Is it possible to focus too much on raising funds? What happens if you do?
If you’ve ever asked yourself any of these questions, you’re not alone. Tune in to this episode and give yourself the chance to walk away less overwhelmed and with some actionable tips on how to grow your SEO.
In this episode:
- Why start-ups shouldn’t try to raise funds too soon
- When a founder should upskill and when to hire
- How to prioritize and avoid burn-out at the beginning of your start-up journey
- The effectiveness of SEO and how to do it well
- Why Ahrefs shouldn’t be your first stop and what to do instead
- Leveraging user-generated content to grow SEO
- The role of building genuine relationships in your growth strategy
- The importance of publishing velocity when building up your SEO
About the guest
Foti is a full-stack growth marketer with over a decade of experience in growth with a unique overlap into the world of InfraOps.
Some of the things that he does:
➡️ Product/brand positioning
➡️ PPC; campaign architecture
➡️ SEO; Offsite and onsite
➡️ Content marketing; topic ideation, copywriting
➡️ Brand voice, messaging, relationship building
➡️ Marketing automation
➡️ System administration / InfraOps
Currently working on Growthmentor.com, his vision is to offer founders and marketers an easy, fast, and affordable way to get connected with the right people to help them grow.
Timestamps
00:00-02:00 What is GrowthMentor
02:02-03:30 Don’t obsess about raising funds prematurely
03:30 -05:15 How difficult is it to raise funds?
05:16 – 07:58 How to not burn out your team in a start-up
07:59-08:59 Upskilling yourself vs delegating or hiring somebody
09:00-11:31 Does the desire to hire ever end?
11:31- 12:52 How did SEO become your biggest channel?
12:53- 17:25 Talk to people before you go to Ahrefs (JTBD)
17:25-18:48 Other ways to grow SEO as a one-man SEO team
18:49-23:30 Backlinking Strategy
23:31:25:50 Takeaways on bootstrapping and SEO strategies when you’re a very small team?
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