We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bill Ross. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bill below.

Bill, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

So that’s a great question. I think the biggest factors impacting my decision to start a business later rather than sooner are my fear of failure and being comfortable with where I was—even though I was not happy.

Looking back on it, I think I could have started sooner. However, I don’t think I would have had the story behind my brand like I do now if I hadn’t gone through the challenges and understood what to do and what not to do when working with clients.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

After leading the digital strategy for some of the largest global brands, I harnessed the top website designers and digital strategists I worked with at top agencies, consulting firms, and brands; and in 2013 built a new SEO agency experience located in Wake Forest, NC.

In 2023, I decided to expand on the business and build a sister brand called Emulent Creative to help support the marketing efforts that Linchpin SEO had started.

We provide an agile and data-driven suite of Internet marketing services to companies who want to amplify their reach, create great online experiences, and increase leads or sales.

We aren’t defined by how many design awards we’ve won or clients we have, but by our relentless pursuit of great brand experiences, building trusted friendships, and caring about client success more than our bottom line.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Back in 2004. I worked for a digital agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, that suddenly went out of business. Working for them, gave me the final piece that showed me how to take my love of computers, marketing, and psychology and merge them into an offering that businesses could benefit from. The challenge was that I didn’t have any clients.

So, the first thing I did was teach myself as much as possible about search engine optimization, coding, website design, and digital marketing.

I then built mock-ups and websites that I could use in my portfolio and on my new website to help represent what I was capable of.

I knew it would take me a while to build up the client base to support myself, so I worked full-time until 2013, doing small side projects to learn and build my client base in my portfolio. This was not always easy and included many months and years of nights and weekends of hard work, sacrifice, and learning.

In 2013, after working for a large consulting firm, I decided I could no longer put my dreams aside and continue working for someone else in a corporate setting. So, I jumped feet first into starting a company called Linchpin SEO.

What I learned from working at other agencies and larger brands helped me shape not only my offering but also how I engaged with clients and treated them, which helped me grow my client base and retain clients that I’m still working with to this day.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

So, one of the principles that I instilled not only in myself but also in my team was a completely open-door policy and the practice of treating clients more like friends than business acquaintances. Friendship is built on trust, openness, transparency, having a sense of humor with one another, holding each other accountable, and being committed to helping even if you don’t get anything in return – which, from a business standpoint, would be money.

We don’t charge hourly rates because I don’t feel that accomplishes what I set out to do—ultimately, helping companies succeed. This also allows me to tell my clients they can call or text me to talk as much as they want without worrying about being billed for every minute.

Some clients engage with us monthly during our meetings and brainstorming sessions, and others call me weekly to talk about new strategies, new services, or products they’re offering.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linchpinseo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelinchpinseo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linchpinseo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2276159/admin/feed/posts/
• Other: https://emulent.com https://www.youtube.com/@EmulentCreative https://www.facebook.com/emulent https://www.linkedin.com/company/93079540/admin/feed/posts/ https://www.instagram.com/emulent_agency/

Image Credits
Photo of me is Jessica Woodall Photography.