The SDM Show

The provided text is an excerpt from The SDM Show, Episode 523, featuring host Rob Cairns interviewing Ahsan Parwez, co-founder of WP Founders. Their conversation begins with Ahsan's journey into the WordPress ecosystem, starting with Joomla before transitioning and eventually becoming a WordPress community manager at Cloudways. The discussion then shifts to the origins and mission of WP Founders, a platform highlighting success stories of WordPress business owners to inspire new entrepreneurs. Finally, they explore WP Dots, the umbrella company encompassing ventures like website building, marketing advice, wpdiscounts.io, and their hosting company, hostwp.io, touching upon the challenges and nuances of the web hosting industry, security, and WordPress page builders.

The SDM Show podcast episode 522, hosted by Rob Cairns from Stunning Digital Marketing, advises businesses to establish a Bing Business Places profile for improved search engine optimization. Ker highlights that Microsoft's Edge browser, with its integrated AI Copilot, is gaining market share, making Bing a significant search engine. He argues that Bing Business Profiles, similar to Google Business Profiles, can outrank websites in search results, especially locally. The episode explains that setting up a Bing profile is worthwhile as it can sync with Google Business Profile, minimizing extra effort for business owners. Therefore, leveraging Bing Business Places is presented as a crucial step for expanding online visibility and attracting more customers.

This podcast episode features a discussion between Rob Cairns and Bridget Willard about the importance of utilizing Google Maps for small businesses, now integrated as Google Business Profile. They emphasize that businesses with physical locations, like restaurants, significantly benefit from having an accurate and regularly updated presence, including details like contact information and menus. The conversation highlights how this increases visibility in local searches, often outranking standard website SEO, and encourages businesses to share their content and even customer reviews on their profiles. Additionally, they briefly touch on the value of setting up a Bing Business Place profile for broader reach and the ongoing relevance of word-based content for search engines, including AI.

Rob Cairns and Ryan Waterbury discuss the complexities of agency pricing in this podcast episode. They share personal experiences about raising rates, managing client expectations, and preventing burnout. The conversation covers strategies for identifying when a price increase is necessary, such as when client workload becomes overwhelming or proposal acceptance rates reach 100%. Waterbury emphasizes the importance of valuing your expertise, time, and overall well-being when setting prices. They also highlight the significance of self-care and mental health for agency owners, noting how overwork can lead to burnout and health issues. Ultimately, the podcast champions charging what you're worth to attract better clients and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

This podcast episode from "The SDM Show" features Warren Laine-Naida discussing the SEO journey, comparing it to a long car ride where clients frequently ask about results. The conversation breaks down the SEO process into phases, highlighting the initial research and strategy, the implementation and content creation, and the longer period of seeing significant impact over 6 to 12 months. The speakers emphasize that SEO is a continuous process that requires patience and consistent effort, while also stressing the importance of off-page SEO and social media engagement alongside technical and content optimization. They also note that local SEO can yield faster results compared to broader organic strategies.

The SDM show, featuring Rob Cairns and Todd Jones, underscores the critical importance of readily available contact information for small businesses. This "NAP" data, encompassing name, address, phone number, email, and social media links, should be prominently displayed on websites, especially on mobile versions, above the fold and in the footer for ease of access. The speakers emphasize the importance of ensuring consistent NAP data across all platforms, including Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Yelp, and other relevant directories. They suggest that businesses ask new clients how they found them to focus marketing efforts. They urge business owners to treat a complete and consistent contact block not as an extra, but as an essential element of successful local SEO and brand-building. Finally, they advise businesses to include schema markup on their websites for enhanced search engine visibility of their contact information.

Rob Cairns from Stunning Digital Marketing shares advice on ethically offboarding clients. The podcast episode focuses on providing ample notice, exceeding contractual obligations, and maintaining open communication. Cairns emphasizes offering support during the transition, like providing website backups and restoration instructions. He also discusses when it is not appropriate to recommend other professionals. The goal is to ensure a smooth and professional departure, even when ending a business relationship is necessary.

The podcast features a discussion between Rob Cairns and Spencer Foreman about business development, particularly within the WordPress ecosystem. They explore the challenges of WordPress, including security vulnerabilities and the overwhelming number of plugins, advocating for a curated approach. Foreman emphasizes the value of specialized services and trusted experts, drawing analogies to concierge services and curated experiences. The conversation also touches on the impact of AI, its potential benefits, and the emerging security risks. They stress the importance of genuine human connections, ethical business practices, and staying present in a technology-driven world. The speakers then consider future business approaches and methods. Ultimately, they share tips for building successful WordPress businesses, focusing on solving specific pain points and establishing direct relationships with customers.

The SDM podcast features Rob Cairns and Tim Nash discussing smartphone security. They examine risks, like lost devices and vulnerabilities in apps like WhatsApp, and debate Android versus iOS security. The conversation covers location tracking, the dangers of third-party apps, and the importance of keeping devices updated. They also touch on physical security measures like hardware keys and passcodes, and the ethics surrounding device access and data privacy. The podcast concludes with actionable tips for users to better secure their phones, emphasizing fewer apps and stronger passcodes.

Rob Cairns from Stunning Digital Marketing discusses the security risks associated with using link shorteners like bit.ly. He argues that these shortened links can conceal malicious websites, making it difficult for users to assess the safety of a link before clicking. Cairns shares his agency's policy of avoiding link shorteners due to these potential security concerns and the importance of trust in online interactions. He suggests exploring alternative methods for obtaining statistics without compromising user security. The podcast is a production of Stunning Digital Marketing and expresses appreciation for family members.