Member Spotlight: William Nozak, Nozak Consulting

36ºN member William Nozak, founder of Nozak Consulting, is paving the way in search engine optimization. His company helps businesses rank better in Google, Yahoo! and Bing through website design, content consulting and reputation management.

How, where and when do you get your best ideas?
From the SEO community. Long case studies that show big data, proven strategies and tested/untested methods. I bounce those large-scale findings against what I am seeing in my microcosm of the interwebs.

What's a work tool or ritual that you couldn't live without?
I use AHREFS daily. I love books. Books about marketing, leadership, SEO, entrepreneurship, all of it. A few other tools making my life easier would include: Slack, notion.so, G Suite and Google Drive.

What skill would you like to master?
Firewalling my business financials and accounting. The better I get at these skills, the smoother my business runs. I sit in a very important seat in my business, so continuing to master all things digital marketing, SEO, SEM, PPC is- of course- a given. But as a business owner, I hope to be to the point where I can teach others how to firewall their business accounts and follow accurate pro formas and industry-specific, industry-leading ratios.

What advice would you give to someone seeking to launch or grow a business?
Start out in a space that won't cost you everything if you stink at it. Just because you are a great baker does not mean you will run a great bakery. So make sure you understand how your responsibilities will change and always be learning; get ready for a steep learning curve. So pick something that you don't have to be an Allstar at the starting line or something you have previous success with or something that has a proven cash flow. Definitely get to know your buyers, buyer profile, where they are in the conversion funnel, etc.

What's a big "win" you experienced in the past year?
We started ranking #1 in Google for Tulsa SEO Expert. We also gained almost 1,000 podcast followers. We started in 2016, growing by word of mouth; each person was referred to us. But in 2017, our combined marketing efforts (consistency and multi-channel approach) improved our authority, relevance and trust which, in the end, has gotten us to where we are today- figuring out how to run a well-oiled, low churn digital marketing agency.

What are you most looking forward to in the year to come?
Paying off my college loans, having full-time employees with benefits and having a space to, one day, call my own for NC.

Why 36 Degrees North?
When my daughters (3 & 1) got home at 4:30, my work day was postponed. I would then be both working and spending time with my family the rest of the day; it wasn't ideal for my family or my business. Now I don't need to do that. I can work later and, when I get home, the work day is over. Additionally, there is something about having a place around others, doing similar things to what you are doing, that creates an environment of progress. I needed a place with resources, meeting rooms, and I needed a better Tulsa network. 36 Degrees North has changed everything in regard to my network.

Do you want to give any shoutouts?
Ryan Redding- DP Marketing Services, Kinda- marketing educator, Robin Jones- Robin Jones Marketing, Trea Kilby - Kilby Designs, My Pod the podcast, Cyber Mike- no clue but it's definitely hacking (white-hat), Meg- ORU professor, Troy Robinson- Lionsrock, Johnny Sleiman- our ORU Intern - all solid peeps. My daughter Jocelyn June- a junior member. And big G for the skill set.