It’s the time of the year! I can write about myself again without feeling guilty ;-).
Over the last few years, I’ve made it a habit to share how the year went for me and what next year looks like. This really seems to resonate with you, so I’ll keep doing it until you tell me to stop.
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
Previous annual reviews:
I had five big goals for 2024:
Hit 1,000 paid growth memo subscribers
Keep income above a certain level
Become a better speaker
Create more time and space
Keep my weight between a certain number, work out a minimum of four times a week, and pick up MMA.
I’m happy to say that I met all goals except for No. 1.
The Advisory is going really well.
In early 2024, I made an effort to focus on larger, more in-depth engagements and worked with phenomenal brands: Reddit, Alltrails, About You, Toast, and Hims, just to mention a few.
For 2025, I’m opening my calendar again for low-touch engagements. I’ll keep ~ three large clients, but I found really good success and high demand for sparring/office hour-like engagements.
Speaking: Shifting Gears
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
This year, I managed to speak at 10 conferences:
Recommerce, London (UK).
Friends of Search, Amsterdam (NL).
NYC SEO Meetup, NYC.
SaaStock, Austin.
Digital Olympus, Eindhoven (NL).
SMX Advanced, Berlin (DE).
SEO Campixx, Berlin (DE).
SEOktoberfest, Kitzbuhel (AU).
Tech SEO Connect, Raleigh.
SEOkomm, Salzburg (AU).
Phew, that was a lot! I don’t know how others do it, but that burned me out a little.
My mistake was probably to bring a new deck and topic to every event. Anyway.
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
My hypothesis for taking on many speaking engagements in 2024 was to grow my subscriber base. Unfortunately, the impact wasn’t as strong as I had hoped.
I had a ton of fun and met awesome people, but any speaking gig was outmatched by a good post. The SEOzempic Memo led to almost 150 new subscribers, which is about as much as a good presentation would drive.
That’s why I’m changing gears next year.
In 2025, I will set a strict limit of five conferences, focus on non-SEO conferences, and ask for a speaking fee of $5,000 + travel cost + accommodation (with one to two exceptions).
The reason is simple: It takes a lot of effort! Speaking takes a ton of time that I could spend with my family and invest in client work.
The ROI of speaking for free (or travel cost covered) isn’t there when you consider about 30 to 50 hours of preparation plus travel time.
I’m not even talking about paying experts for help with research and working with a speaking coach (who has been amazing).
I don’t get nor want any business from SEO conferences. It’s been fun-positive but ROI-negative for me.
Growth Memo: Going Video-First And Other Changes
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
How it’s going:
Growth Memo has done well this year. The free newsletter topped 16,000 subscribers, which is more than I projected (13,700 to 15,300).
Top 10 most-read articles:
How to craft a winning SEO strategy by Kevin Indig
A simple 5-step framework to build your own SEO strategy
Read on Substack
SEOzempic by Kevin Indig
Quality Over Quantity for Google Indexing
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The traffic impact of AI Overviews by Kevin Indig
An analysis of 1,675 keywords shows AIOs could reduce organic clicks
Read on Substack
Universe by Kevin Indig
#242 A better alternative to keyword research
Read on Substack
Information Gainz by Kevin Indig
#250 Prioritizing information gain = rethinking how we create content
Read on Substack
The cookie crumbles by Kevin Indig
#236 – The final death blow for 3rd-party cookies might bring more value to SEO
Read on Substack
Internal Link Optimization with TIPR by Kevin Indig
Internal link optimization is incomplete without factoring in backlinks. In this article, I introduce a model called TIPR that helps you to optimize the internal link graph of your site.
Read on Substack