Doug Lacombe is the founder and CEO of Communicatto, a firm that provides advocacy groups in western Canada with top of the line digital marketing services that include social media strategies, SEO consulting and content development. Doug admits that entrepreneurship wasn’t always his dream, and in fact it wasn’t until the 2008 financial crisis put him out of work that he chose this risky yet rewarding profession.
In this episode, Doug Lacombe lays out how much time and money goes into an effective digital strategy, explains how you increase your site’s ranking through smart SEO, and impresses the importance of participating in your own wealth plan as an investor.
Podcast highlights:
- Doug found working as an entrepreneur a very positive experience even in the early days, thanks in part to a strong network of professional contacts.
- What makes Communicatto stand out compared to its competitors is that it focuses on the “advocacy space”—associations, non-profits, etc.
- Working at a newspaper allowed Doug to realize the importance of deadlines and constantly turning out content.
- One of the big challenges Doug and Communicatto faced early on was having to scale up from a single-person business to managing multiple people and all of the logistics and resources that required.
- Doug sees himself taking on a less managerial role in the near future, formulating a succession plan that would allow him to work just as a consultant.
- Businesses should craft an online persona/presence around building trust so to improve their chances of word-of-mouth referrals.
- A small business can’t just build a website and sit back; they need to distribute and promote that content to draw people to the site.
- He advises young entrepreneurs to keep themselves open to a wide array of people so you can receive a variety of feedback and inspiration.
- His biggest money lesson is to not just give your financial advisor the reins and sit back, but keep yourself informed about your own investments and cash flow and overall be responsible.
Quotes:
“This has been a long-standing interest of mine and I was able to parlay that into a living.”
“I like to say I wouldn’t have jumped off the cliff myself, but since someone pushed me I might as well look for a parachute.”
“We’re usually selling messages and ideas, and not products.”
“Don’t write a cheque on social media that your website cannot cash.”
“Be good to people and they will support you in good times and bad.”
“Don’t ignore all the aspects of money management, even if it’s not your forte.”
“You don’t have to be great at everything, you just have to be good enough to know if it’s going well or not.”
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Listen to more podcasts by Richard Dri:
- Emergency and financial care with Dr. Paul Perlon
- Digital marketing and website design with Chris Crocker
- Honest Will preparation and estate planning with Nathan Bender
source https://richarddri.ca/getting-your-site-on-the-front-page-of-google-with-doug-lacombe/
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