Surround yourself with the right people

Sarah says: “Community and your inner circle are not only essential for your well-being, but they are also so important for your career progression as well.”

Why is community relevant to SEO?

“When it comes to SEO and career progression, as in any industry, looking after your own well-being and looking after yourself is so important. It prevents things like burnout, imposter syndrome, not feeling confident enough to push yourself forward, and not having confidence in your own skills.

One of the reasons why Tazmin and I started the SEO Mindset Podcast is that there are lots of great podcasts out there that tell you how to do SEO, but there was a gap for a podcast talking about career progression, personal growth, and mental health for those who work in SEO.

Those softer skills are really important. They're at the core of all of that lovely growth.”

What are some areas where SEOs are struggling the most at the moment?

“With SEO, it is a forever-changing industry. That is one of the lovely big challenges, and it’s why lots of people love working in SEO.

However, because of that, with search engines like Google forever changing the goalposts and what the SEO landscape looks like, it can be hard to keep up with it all.

At times, you feel like you've got it sorted, you've got it covered, you've worked on your knowledge, and you feel confident, but then things will change, and it can throw you off kilter. Because SEO is forever-changing, it's not just your mental health and looking after yourself that are important, but also who you are surrounding yourself with.

Who is in your community? Who is in your inner circle, helping and supporting you, but also that you can lean on for advice, for support, or just to talk about things that you're struggling with?”

What kind of relationships are part of your inner circle?

“By inner circle, we are definitely talking about your personal relationships: partners, friends, family, etc. However, you also have an inner circle when it comes to work and your professional relationships.

You can be really intentional with who you want in that inner circle. You want to find people in the SEO industry who are similar to you, whom you either look up to or are working towards the same things as, and you can support one another. If you've got the same goals and values, and you want to achieve similar things, you can support and encourage each other.

There are also things like mentorship and coaches. They can be in your inner circle. It's being really intentional about who you can have in that circle who are not only going to help you and support you, and who you can lean on, but who can also build you up, push you, and help you progress. When you have an idea, how are they going to push you to achieve that?

With the SEO Mindset podcast that I do with Tazmin Suleman, we saw an opportunity to do a live podcast during brightonSEO. We have become friends with Jack Chambers-Ward (from Search with Candour), and we approached him to say that we had this great idea to create something really special by recording a live podcast the night before brightonSEO, talking about topics that really matter.

We knew we could go to Jack and pitch this idea because we knew that he would be on board and he would love it. We have someone whose values are similar to our own, and we are aligned with them, and it really worked. We've been working on this live podcast, and it's growing and getting bigger and better each time.

This started off as an idea, and the only reason it has come into reality is because the three of us were aligned. We wanted to do something, and we could support one another in achieving that goal.”

How do you find your inner circle, and how often should you meet and talk with them?

“There are lots of different ways to find them.

If you are employed and you’re part of a big team in marketing or SEO, you can be really intentional about who you vibe with, who you click with, and who you feel you can have open conversations with – where you feel safe and secure, so that you can go to them whenever you need to. You can find those people in your work setting.

If you are freelance or if you work solo, this is where it's so important to find communities, like Women in Tech SEO or The SEO Community. There are so many communities that exist now, which are a great way of finding people that you can bring into your inner circle.

Sign up to these communities and get involved, see where the conversations are, ask questions, or if other people are asking questions, respond to them. You'll slowly start to build connections, build relationships, and build friendships with people.

That's how Tazmin and I first met. We were both part of the Women in Tech SEO community. I posted in that community saying, ‘I really want to help people start a podcast,’ and Tazmin actually reached out to me. Our first conversation was about Tazmin starting a poetry podcast. We just got to know each other.

We started chatting, and that's when the idea of starting the SEO Mindset podcast came from, because we noticed that lots of people are struggling with things like burnout and imposter syndrome. People were talking about it in the community, but there wasn't a specific podcast for that. Mine and Tazmin’s relationship started in a community and blossomed from there.

There are lots of communities that you can get involved with, and lots of people that you can bring into your fold. It's also about being aware of who builds you up and who drains your energy. We’ve all had times when you've been socialising or interacting with someone, either in person or online, and you come away feeling drained or feeling a certain emotion.

That is something that you have to pay attention to because your body is telling you that person isn't quite for you. They aren’t building you up, and they’re not going to help you in the right way. I’m not saying that you should never interact with those people, but you can reduce the amount of time that you spend with them.

On the other side, there are times when you interact with someone and you come away buzzing and feeling energised and encouraged. Maybe you've learned something, or you were able to ask a question, and they were really respectful of you. You feel in your gut that you've been really supported, and that's how you know that they’re one of the people you need in your inner circle because they're going to help you.”

How much time should you invest in communicating with your inner circle?

“It's a valid question, and it is hard because, as an SEO (or anyone in digital marketing), that to-do list is ever-growing.

With what I'm talking about today, I know that a lot of people will think, ‘I just don't have time to do that. If I do that, how am I going to get my work done?’ I'd reframe that. This isn't a nice-to-have; this is essential. You've got to see it as an investment in yourself.

If you see it as an investment and as something that is going to really help you, then you will find time to put into it. I'm not saying that you should focus more on this to the point where your work doesn't get done because of it. You need to have the balance.

How much time to invest depends on you as a person and your routine. When you're setting up your working week and your projects, you put time aside for what you need to do: the deadlines and the stuff that needs to be done, because that's what pays the bills. However, make sure that you're also slotting in time to build your inner circle, work on community, and work on your relationships.

Can you find half an hour in the morning when you're having your morning coffee? Can you find 15 minutes on your lunch break? At half past five, before you shut down and finish for the day, can you spend half an hour engaging with a community or going on LinkedIn? It's about finding those pockets of time to work on yourself, because this is an investment. It matters.

It's just as important as the client work because, once you've done this, it helps you be more productive. It will help you be faster at your work and be more efficient. It could also help you troubleshoot.

You might be stuck on a problem where you're scratching your head, you don't know what's going on, and you don't know how to fix it. If you've got a community and you have people that you can lean on, you will find a solution much quicker.

You can go to those people and say, ‘I’ve got this problem. I’ve been staring at the screen for two hours, and I can’t figure it out. Can you help me?’ and they'll give you an alternative viewpoint. They'll look at it from different angles.

Yes, you do need to spend time doing this, and you've got to find times in your work day or your work week, but you've got to see it as an investment.”

What is the impact of having the wrong people in your inner circle?

“If you have people constantly chipping away at you, being negative or telling you that you can't do things, it's not going to have a good positive impact on your life. Be very intentional. You don't want people to drain you, but you also don't want to end up falling into that comparison trap either.

How many times have you ended up on LinkedIn, Instagram, or your social media of choice, and you're scrolling, and you end up comparing yourself to other people in the industry because they seem to be doing better than you?

Whilst it's important to find people to inspire you and lift you up, you've got to be really careful not to be unrealistic and still celebrate your own wins. Look back and think, ‘I am just as valid. I'm just as good as this person.’ They might be doing X, Y, and Z, but look at what you’ve done. Look what you’re achieving.”

Sarah, what's the key takeaway from the tip you shared today?

“Be really intentional with who you are surrounding yourself with.

The more intentional you are with who you're interacting with on a daily basis, the more those relationships will help you in your career and your progression.”

Sarah McDowell is Founder at Lyrebird Studios and Co-Host of The SEO Mindset Podcast. Find out more over at LyrebirdStudios.com and SarahMcDowell.co.uk.