Brian Watkins: Founder & Strategist of The SEOptimist

Brian’s Professional Background

Brian was always interested in consumer habits. During even his grocery store jobs throughout college it was interesting to observe what made customers choose one produce or another, how the appearance of shelves and the store itself played into that, and whether sales or colors really mattered.

A few years later, English degree in hand, he moved from upstate New York to North Carolina and took a job at a tax firm. Brian began working in accounts, and after he was promoted into the marketing department he gained several invaluable skills. The first of which was how his writing skills would play into SEO (such as it was in 2007), and the second was the way the sales team’s perspective of client matters contrasted with what he knew of the accounts side.

Common disconnects in the latter that often lead to conflicts between departments were something he worked to resolve in his hybrid role. Much of it came from lack of understanding of the other’s job, and being able to play in both worlds was enlightening for his role in the company, but also in a larger sense that he’d take with him to future business endeavors.

Years later as the job market slumped, Brian Watkins decided to try his hand at business ownership like those he’d respected years earlier. It was tough, and he quickly learned that thinking of oneself purely as an artist makes the more tactile aspects of sales and marketing oneself quite a foreign domain.

Brian and his wife Terri built a small marketing consulting business from scratch into a fairly successful entity over a few years — with a lot of support from family. They eventually closed the business and joined a local agency with the goal of expanding their reach and breadth of tools. Over the course of that endeavor Brian was able to demonstrate leadership abilities, growing from a content writing role into the Director of Marketing. He accomplished this by owning his role and working to coordinate the team to best complete projects and further the company’s goals; a true example of the adage “if you want the job, start doing the job and prove you can get it done.”