I've been in this work since 2007. SEO, social media marketing, Google Ads, Meta. Getting businesses found by the people already looking for them, and turning that attention into customers.
My way in was a company called Africa Point. It was an online travel agency, and at the time it was doing something remarkable: more than six million dollars a year, online. In that era, that was a very big deal. On a strong run it brought in around two hundred safari and hotel enquiries a day.
And then it was gone.
Not because the market disappeared. Because the company got comfortable. It stopped adapting as the web changed around it. On top of that, a website redesign was executed poorly, and a business that once pulled two hundred enquiries a day quietly went quiet. I watched it happen up close.
Here is what I took from it. The businesses that moved early, the ones who adopted the new thing while everyone else waited, made a lot of money. Many of them are still profiting from that head start today. The cost of waiting is never obvious in the moment. It shows up later, as the customers who quietly went somewhere else.
Now we are in the AI revolution, and I will tell you exactly what I tell every business owner I meet: move fast. ChatGPT was only the beginning. There are already far more AI tools and systems that can put you ahead, answering your customers, chasing your leads, creating your content, running the work that eats your week. The window where this is an advantage, rather than just keeping up, is open right now.
The start
I begin in SEO, Google Ads and social, learning what gets a business found and chosen.
Africa Point
Over $6M a year online, around 200 safari and hotel enquiries a day. A serious operation for its time.
Comfort, then quiet
It stopped adapting as the web moved on, a redesign was handled badly, and the enquiries dried up.
Early adoption wins
The movers who acted early profited then, and many still profit now. Waiting has a hidden price.
The AI revolution
A bigger shift than search ever was. My advice to every business is the same: move fast.