We recently connected with Dan Ansaldo and have shared our conversation below.
Dan, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I know not everybody comes from a religious background, but for me, it is critical to my work ethic and how I operate. Multiple places in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, speak about the importance of working unto the Lord.
This means that for those who believe in the Bible and follow Jesus, no matter what we do, whether it’s brewing coffee at a coffee house, helping with a website migration, or working in an investment firm, we should be working as if we are working for the Lord, ergo, our work should always be top quality. That’s how I strive to approach my work: by giving it everything that I have and not cutting corners or taking actions that are not in my client’s best interest.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
CopyTrends offers search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) services. For people outside the digital marketing world, I tell them that it’s my job to help websites rank in search engines like Google. I enjoy SEO for many reasons, but I take joy in knowing that I am helping a business prosper by increasing organic traffic, which leads to increased leads and or sales.
Unfortunately, some people call themselves “SEO Experts,” but I do not know what they’re doing. I have helped businesses undo or stop the services of other SEO companies (and not always to hire me as a replacement) because a lot of people still don’t know what they’re doing or they are intentionally using practices that worked 10 years ago but don’t work today and will harm a business’s website.
As a result, some businesses are skeptical about SEO companies, and rightly so, as many have unfortunate past experiences with so-called SEO experts and SEO companies.
Aside from being a certified SEO Expert from Gotch SEO Academy, one of the things I do differently is provide incredible transparency.
I always provide my clients with an SEO action dashboard that lists every single minute detail I take during the SEO campaign, and they have access to this 24/7. I also believe in frequent communication so that everybody is aligned with the goals and the steps required to achieve the goals of the SEO campaign.
With Bing’s ChatGPT integrated search engine and Google’s various AI integrations like SGE and Bard, the world of SEO is becoming a bit more complicated. Still, I would say it’s never been more critical for companies to invest in proper SEO than right now, as AI has the potential to take over significant portions of search traffic if campaigns are not carried out the right way.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Persistence, patience, and passion.
These three qualities will carry anybody as far as they could possibly go. Anybody can learn technical skills, and anybody can further their education in their field, but only some have the persistence, patience, and passion to see their efforts come to fruition.
Somebody once told me that success is not about knowledge because if that were true, everybody would walk around with six-pack abs. There is enough information on the internet for anybody to get 6-pack abs if they really want to, but we know that knowledge is only half the battle. I would argue that knowledge is even less than half the battle because you need the grit and tenacity to see it through.
First, you need persistence. As Billy Ocean famously sang, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and I’ve found this to be true. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of times when I have wanted to give up, and sometimes it takes me a day to find the motivation and persistence again, but I keep persisting in my goal.
Then, you need patience. I guess I’m in an adage mood today, haha, but it’s been said that Rome was not built in a day, and neither will your dreams. You need to have patience and cast discouragement aside when things don’t happen as fast as you would hope they would.
Lastly, you need passion. I don’t have a catchy adage or saying for this one, but I think everyone can relate that if you are not passionate about something, you will not do it with joy. You may do it because it has to get done, but you won’t do it because you want to. If you’re pursuing something that you are passionate about, it makes your success and joy along the way that much more likely.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
There are two people that have been integral to my journey. The first is my wife because she has been, and continues to be, my greatest ally and support. She is the one who helps me maintain my persistence and patience, especially when the journey takes longer than anticipated.
The second is Nathan Gotch. His expertise and guidance have been instrumental in my growth as an SEO professional and business owner as he went from being a broke, recently graduated college student to a 7-figure business owner within a couple of years. He is my model and mentor, and hopefully, I’ll have the same story in a few years to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ctrendsmarketing.com/
