The Changing Face of Marketing

With people, some things never change. The same can be said about marketing.

Such as the fundamentals, according to Michael Fleischner, author of the new, 5th edition of SEO Made Simple - having the right message, testing your offers, getting the timing right and understanding your audience’s needs.

From the early editions of the book until now, not much has changed about Michael - except maybe everything.

More than a decade ago, he couldn't have articulated the concept of SEO without his first self-built website failing to rank. Then, to create his book’s 1st edition, not only did he have to teach himself how to write a book - he also had to learn how to design it, edit it and get it published.

No one would publish it. So, he taught himself how to self-publish a print version - with a full-time job and two little kids at home. Then, he taught himself how to publish an e-book version.

Fast forward years later to today, and for the latest 5th edition, Michael has created an audiobook version. How? Sure enough, by teaching himself how to do it.

When it comes to entrepreneurs, they grow and evolve, but do they ever really change?

Actually, yes!

One sentence changed Michael’s life, and made him question everything, including his vision of himself. Famed marketer Greg Cesar told him over the phone one night that “the only reason you haven’t made more money online is because you don’t think you can."

A few short months later, Michael made $24,000 online in a single night, a defining moment that encouraged him to do more - ironically, in the end, by doing less.

Feeling that he had “arrived,” he quit his day job and started his own successful marketing consulting business not long after the Greg Cesar story, only to willingly shut it all down and go back to corporate life.

There is Michael the corporate marketing executive, Michael the author, and Michael the entrepreneur. Each persona is open to persuasion. Do you have the right content?

Today, success to Michael means a sense of completion and purpose, gravitating toward meaningful things that have a defined beginning, middle and end. There’s a time for open ends, and a time for closed loops. Is your marketing one or the other?

So, not only is SEO not dead, according to Michael, it’s here to stay - because as long as people are using search engines to find what they need, you can’t ignore SEO. Whether it’s a meme or scholarly article, what makes content high-quality is subjective, which is why Michael wants us to better understand our audiences - like he has come to better understand himself.