Starting over is never easy in any type of context. Whether it is with a personal relationship, a business, or going through a messy situation at work, dealing with numerous different variables can be challenging if you are not prepared to address these situations in an adequate, efficient way. Imagine the difficulties of trying to take on all of these different situations at once, which can impact your physical and mental well being. Today's guest, Senthil Kumar, Founder & Owner of SEO with Senthil, challenges the stereotypical approaches of overcoming obstacles when it comes to the business realm after experiencing much hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, but finding his renewed purpose to help business owners be discovered online. Through lessons that he shares, his remarkable story serves as a reminder that it is never too late to start over at any stage to find purpose in what you do to help others become their very best.

Guest Bio

Senthilkumar is "kind of" an obsessed entrepreneur who has been running his own businesses for the past 10 years. While running his t-shirt printing company and art studio business (which he scaled to over a million dollars in revenue using SEO), it almost ruined his health in the name of “hustle” and “temporary sacrifices”. He emptied his entire bank account when the art studio crashed during the COVID-19 pandemic and had to pay off over $100,000 in business debt as a solo founder when his team left. Today, he sold the art studio business, came out of the mess that he created, and discovered his passion of serving other purpose driven business owners who are looking to grow their business with SEO.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/senthil.kumar.96387/

@seowithsenthil on Instagram

Website: https://www.seowithsenthil.com/

Visit Our Website: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/

Visit Our Business Website: https://www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

Support The Mission Of The Business! Donate Here: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/support

Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs

Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

2

determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

3

This is Speaking From The Heart.

4

Joshua: Welcome back to episode

number 174 of Speaking from the Heart.

5

Today, we have Senthil Kumar,

another international guest,

6

joining us on the show.

7

Senthil, is quote unquote, kind of an

obsessed entrepreneur who has been running

8

his own business for the past 10 years.

9

While running his t-shirt printing company

and art studio business, which he scaled

10

to over a million dollars in revenue using

search engine optimization, better known

11

as SEO, it almost ruined his health in the

name of hustle and temporary sacrifices.

12

He emptied his entire bank account

when the art studio crashed during

13

the COVID 19 pandemic, and had to pay

off over $100,000 in business debt

14

as a solo founder when his team left.

15

Today, he sold the art studio business,

came out of the mess that he created, and

16

discovered his passion of serving other

purpose driven business owners who are

17

looking to grow their business with SEO.

18

Nothing like a great redemption story

to be able to lift yourself from the

19

shadows, the ashes if you will, like

a phoenix, into what is success, and

20

Senthil really demonstrates today in

our interview a number of different

21

things that even as business owners,

even people that are looking to become

22

better versions of themselves, they

have to learn that it's okay to fail,

23

that it can take a devastating toll,

and things that we least likely expect

24

to happen, even when we think that we

have everything in our corner, including

25

our SEO score, can still create crisis.

26

It can still be a big driving force of

being a successful entrepreneur, but

27

having that passion, having that hunger,

is something that I really noticed in

28

Senthil's conversation today, and that

being resilient at the end of the day

29

is only one piece of the overall puzzle.

30

If you find your passion, if you

find patience, especially when it

31

comes to developing that passion, not

only will you find satisfaction, but

32

you'll find happiness along the way.

33

I think that this journey that

Senthil's been on, even from an overseas

34

perspective, definitely creates a context

in today's conversation of why it's so

35

important for us to learn from others,

even if we think that we have learned it

36

all, because we can always learn something

from the failures of others, even when we

37

think that we're a failure, we're actually

winning in the long run, and that's

38

what's more important than anything else.

39

But with that, let's go to the episode.

40

All right, we're here with Senthil Kumar.

41

Senthil, thanks for sharing

your heart with us today.

42

Senthil: Thanks for having me, Josh.

43

I'm excited to be speaking

from my heart today.

44

Joshua: You know, I have loved so many

people be on the show wanting to share

45

their heart with me, and I am just so

thrilled to have you on, because you

46

bring a unique perspective from a business

sense that I really love featuring some

47

of the success stories on the podcast,

so I already let a little bit of your

48

background known to my listeners.

49

I already let them know a little bit

about yourself, and I really want to

50

start off with this, because what stood

out to me, which we even talked about

51

before we started, is the fact that you

have owned a company or two in the past.

52

COVID took it out, and then you

restarted a business, so I was wondering

53

if you could share a broad story for

us about what got you started into

54

the t-shirt printing company that

you had, along with the art studio

55

business, which, essentially, led

into some unfortunate circumstances,

56

which I won't steal your thunder.

57

I'll let you tell the story but- Yeah.

58

You know what?

59

You're right.

60

It is indeed fortunate, because

now of what you're doing, so

61

thank you for correcting me.

62

Senthil: Yeah.

63

Joshua: But go ahead.

64

Senthil: My whole journey in

entrepreneurship started back when I was

65

in university, so I did a program, my

degree was in business, specialization

66

in marketing, but as you very well know

in university, in school, you don't learn

67

much about real world business, and I

was in this minor in entrepreneurship

68

program with a group of friends, and

we had to start a business, and we

69

basically shortlisted a bunch of ideas

and decided to sell customized paper

70

notebooks, so what happened was we did

some surveys, and thought that while

71

we were going to get a lot of sales,

but what ended up happening was when

72

we launched these notebooks, there were

very marginal number of sales, and the

73

margins were really low, and we were

struggling to even sustain the business

74

after the minor in entrepreneurship

program ended, so towards the end of this

75

minor in entrepreneurship program that

I was in, me and my friends, we thought,

76

why not we print notebooks in bulk?

77

You know, corporate organizations,

schools, they need these kinds of

78

services, and that was when we eventually

saw the money, I guess, and saw the

79

market demand, and we went into notebook

printing, t-shirt printing, merchandise

80

printing, and a lot of these services

people were searching for online, and we

81

used SEO, which I had previously learned

in a course myself, to apply it to our

82

business, and find the shortest, most

efficient ways to rank our website, get

83

seen by the people finding these services

at a particular point of time, and growing

84

the business, so while running this

t-shirt printing business, we basically

85

scaled the entire business using SEO, and

word of mouth alone, and by the time I

86

graduated from university, we were getting

so many leads coming in from Google

87

that we had to hire a team to handle

the incoming inquiries, so things were

88

moving very quickly, and we were excited.

89

We brought in like t-shirt printing

equipment, and stuff to in-source

90

the printing, and then, we

realized that during some seasons,

91

the demand was very seasonal.

92

During some seasons, we were getting very

low demand, and we were struggling to

93

get sales, and another problem we faced

was even though we got a lot of leads in

94

terms of conversion rates, it wasn't as

high, because there were so many t-shirt

95

printing companies offering the same

service, so what we eventually did was

96

we decided to pivot and offer a service

where people could paint on t-shirts, tote

97

bags, and items, so this idea came from

my other partner, where he said that there

98

are a lot of teams looking for corporate

team bonding activities, so why not offer

99

art jamming on things like t-shirts, tote

bags, and sneakers, so again, we used SEO.

100

We ranked for the keywords, corporate

team bonding services in Singapore, and

101

we started attracting a lot of clients,

so during this point of time, the art

102

studio, which was offering a unique

service, was really picking up, and

103

we were not able to serve our clients

as well for the printing company.

104

We shut it down, and we were in

fact looking to scale, because it

105

was the year before COVID happened

where we had renovated our studio.

106

We were getting in lots of clients.

107

We even had taken business loans to

fund our expansion plans, and then, all

108

of a sudden, COVID hit and it hit our

revenue by over 80 to 90%, because we

109

were heavily reliant on large groups

coming into our studio to paint, and

110

we didn't have any online model at

that time where we could ship the

111

kits to them, and things like that.

112

During this point of time, it was a

challenging transition period.

113

Many of my team members had

to leave, even my co-founders.

114

One was my friend from university,

and then my wife as well.

115

She left the company, and basically, it

was just left with me who had to pivot the

116

business, and figure out how I wanted to

move the business, so basically, during

117

COVID, I stopped renting the art studio.

118

I pivoted the business online, and I was

also reflecting about whether this was

119

aligned with my long term goals, whether

this business was something that I wanted

120

to do 5, 10, 15 years down the road,

and that was a period of realization

121

for me that art was not really my thing.

122

I never did art myself.

123

All along, I was just chasing after

the next market that could bring in

124

the money, and I never found something

that aligned with my own interests, my

125

passion, and when I was reflecting on

this, I realized that I had a strength

126

in search engine optimization, basically

attracting needs for my businesses using

127

Google, so I thought, why not help other

businesses who might be struggling who

128

haven't got their first clients, why

not help them utilize SEO to do that,

129

and this gives me a lot more excitement,

a lot more energy, thinking about the

130

businesses I could help, the impact I

could make, and eventually, last year,

131

I had the push to start that company, and

of course, before starting that company,

132

I had wanted to sell off my art studio,

but I wasn't able to, but I found a

133

partner who could run the art studio in

Singapore, because I had to move around

134

that point as well to Australia, and-

135

Joshua: Sorry to interrupt,

but just for the record, where

136

are you actually located at?

137

Senthil: Now I'm in Sydney, Australia,

because my wife found a job here

138

last year, and we moved here.

139

Yeah.

140

Joshua: That's awesome, and

congratulations on being able to

141

navigate all that to be able to

even have more stability, even for

142

your wife and your family, so sorry.

143

I just wanted to make sure of that

for my listeners too that this is

144

all from a international perspective,

so thanks for sharing that.

145

Go ahead.

146

I didn't mean to interrupt.

147

Senthil: Yeah.

148

Thank you.

149

Thanks for asking ,as well, because

even though I had planned to sell my art

150

studio last year, and I did manage to

after I found a partner, I was bringing

151

him the clients, most of the corporate

clients, he realized that he could just

152

buy over my business, so that happened

this year, and right now, I'm able to

153

fully put my energy into one business,

which is helping other small business

154

owners to grow their business revenue

using search engine optimization,

155

so that's where I am at right now.

156

Joshua: That is incredible of just being

able to navigate, especially during some

157

challenging times and even the world for

that matter, and be able to do that, and

158

I've had a lot of people in the show,

especially, Senthil, that have talked

159

about from the perspective of revisiting,

or rebirthing, a new idea, or moving a

160

new direction as a result of the global

pandemic that we all went through.

161

I want to visit something, though,

that you said earlier about the

162

moment that revenue went down 80

to 90 percent in your business.

163

What did that make you feel knowing

that that dip was happening,

164

and that everything that you had

worked for at that time was kind

165

of coming to a crashing halt?

166

Senthil: I think for me, the

first feeling was like panic.

167

How do I keep this going?

168

How do I sustain my living expenses?

169

I think I'm very lucky to have my wife.

170

She decided to take the step as well to

support our family expenses, and things

171

like that at that time, to leave the

business, and go back into her career

172

in software engineering, and because

of that, I was able to continue the

173

business, but during that point of time

when COVID hit, I think it was definitely

174

quite a bit of like, "Oh my God.

175

What am I going to do?

176

How am I going to come out of this?

177

How am I going to earn money?

178

I need money to live."

179

Yeah.

180

That was the feeling.

181

Joshua: Navigating through all that, and

knowing that you had that support system,

182

especially from your wife, what led even

more so to go into the direction of SEO?

183

You said that's because of some of

the things that you've done for the

184

other businesses, but what made you

specifically attracted to doing that?

185

Did you feel like you had a gift in it?

186

Do you feel that you had success

with other people doing it

187

from an amateur standpoint?

188

I'm just kind of curious what ultimately

led you in that direction, because you

189

started to touch on that, but even for my

listeners, we always have these inklings

190

of these ideas that we have for our

businesses and really what we want to

191

do with them, but we also know that we

got to be unique and be able to push in

192

that direction, so could you tell us, or

maybe even elaborate more on why SEO, you

193

felt, was a good direction to leap into?

194

Senthil: I think, for me,

there were two key reasons.

195

The first reason was that in my twenties

like I shared with you, I ventured

196

into many businesses, many business

ideas, and even though there were a

197

lot of ups, a lot of successes, there

were a lot of downs, a lot of failures,

198

and I finally could put myself in

the shoes of a business owner, right?

199

I mean, when I was in university, I still

remember telling my friends that, "Oh!

200

I want to run a startup as soon as I

come out of university, like within the

201

first few months, I want to be earning

a very sustainable, high income.",

202

and getting to all those metrics

that society pressures us into, and

203

during my journey, I understood how

rough the entrepreneurship journey is.

204

Almost every single person who was in

that minor in entrepreneurship, a program

205

in my university, I think close to 95

percent dropped out of their businesses.

206

They went into-

207

Joshua: Oh, wow.

208

That's a huge percentage.

209

Senthil: So I was like, "You know

what?", and it really inspires me to

210

see people who are doing something

that resonates with them, and sticking

211

through all those tough phases in their

business, and I thought helping these

212

people will give me meaning, so that

was the first reason, and the second

213

reason was, of course, I noticed that I

had a strength in SEO, because even if

214

you could call like the first time as

luck, right, like the t-shirt printing

215

company, it happened the second time

with my art studio, so both times, and

216

just across these two businesses, using

SEO and word of mouth alone, I was able

217

to generate over a million dollars in

revenue, which a lot of businesses, even

218

in a service line, they're struggling to

scale to that stage, so I thought that

219

I could fill that gap, because there

are so many SEO agencies out there,

220

but how many of them really understand

the pain points of a business owner?

221

Joshua: I was going to say, for me, I

work with an SEO company for my ability

222

to work on coaching specifically, but even

then, I have to always measure it, and

223

I feel, especially with an SEO company,

you need to have a good relationship so

224

that you understand how to put yourself

out in the front of the pack, so I think

225

that you're saying the things that I would

it even expect to, and even for somebody

226

that is amateur to this, like being able

to have that front page is almost, like

227

in the United States, being on the Yellow

Pages, or the White Pages, back in the

228

day when we had to print phone books.

229

It's the same sort of principle,

but on a search engine for sure.

230

Senthil: So, yeah, I realized my strength,

and I realized how I could make it easier,

231

and more efficient for business owners

to get to that Google page one rankings,

232

and not just to rank for keywords that

were not going to bring them inquiries

233

and sales, but really, to identify those

profitable keywords that they could rank

234

for that could eventually bring them those

dream clients that they are looking for.

235

Joshua: Speaking of dream clients,

I know that for you, you've had now

236

multiple businesses, and I think that

even for myself, like I even say that

237

I have this mind picture of an ideal

client that I want to work with.

238

For you, what would you say is an ideal

person that you would want to work with

239

that you would want to help get to that

next level for visibility, getting to also

240

generating revenue for their business?

241

What would that look

like for your business?

242

Senthil: I think the most important

values that will help them get

243

there are just two to three things.

244

First thing is a passion to reach more

people for their product or service.

245

The second thing is the hunger to really

do more, and do it wholeheartedly,

246

and finally the third thing is people

who have the resilience to keep going

247

even when things might be difficult in

their personal lives, or they're having

248

other challenges in their business.

249

Business is rough, right, so regardless

of the obstacles along the way, they

250

still know that this will get me to my

end goal if I keep going, and if I have

251

that mentor, it will help me even get

there way faster, so these are the kinds

252

of people that I want to work with.

253

Joshua: I think those are

really important qualities,

254

especially with a business owner.

255

I know that sometimes, even for me, I

have those down days, but I know I got

256

to have those up days as well, so having

that balance I think that it's not exactly

257

achievable, but I try to get as close to

it as I possibly can, because there's no

258

such thing as perfection with a work life

balance, even if we're talking about that.

259

Yeah.

260

Senthil: Yeah, and I forgot to mention

this is one more very, very important

261

thing I ,realized in both SEO and

business which is patience, and not

262

a, lot of people talk about it and

you might be surprised, but in my

263

entrepreneurship journey, every time we

got impatient, we made huge mistakes, and

264

we suffered huge losses because of that.

265

We wanted to scale fast.

266

We were hungry for the money,

and it just backfires if you are

267

impatient, if you want to kind

of forcefully move things faster.

268

For example, we decided to take on

huge business loans without a backup

269

plan if things fail, so these were some

mistakes we made, because we were not

270

patient, and we didn't plan things out

properly before trying to move ahead on

271

our journey, and I think COVID taught

us all a big lesson there as well.

272

Joshua: I have to say I have continued

to fund my business personally.

273

When I started mine, Senthil, I took

a $20,000 withdrawal from my IRA.

274

I paid for all the expenses.

275

I have not yet to this day taken a line

of credit, or even a loan for that matter,

276

because I know that my business has to

be scaled in order to do this correctly.

277

Senthil: That's, that's amazing.

278

Yeah.

279

Joshua: Yeah, and you know, it is a risk.

280

It's still a risk even to this day, but

I think for even some of my listeners,

281

and even for you, Senthil, I think we

all are learning that you're right.

282

Patience is a virtue.

283

That's number one, because that's what

I've learned in doing this, but you also

284

have to balance what the expectations

are, supply and demand, and I know, like,

285

even for my industry, being a coach.

286

There's an oversaturation

all across the world of, "Oh!

287

I'm a coach.

288

I could do this.

289

I could do that.", and part of this

is knowing who you are, and what

290

you offer, and I love that you know

who you are, and what you offer,

291

even through all the mistakes that

you even admit that you've had.

292

That's fantastic to hear.

293

Really.

294

Senthil: Thanks.

295

Thanks Josh.

296

Joshua: Yeah, absolutely.

297

I want to explore for a few minutes

here about your business, so SEO With

298

Senthil is the name of your business

that I see, and part of what I get as

299

a pitcher when looking at even at your

website is people love your work, and

300

they love what you're doing to help even

those that are just starting out, so,

301

especially for some of my entrepreneur

friends, I have some people that I work

302

with on a day to day basis as business

clients, but I also work with some people

303

that are aspiring to be entrepreneurs.

304

What would you say is a piece of advice,

just one piece of advice, that you would

305

give to somebody, regardless of what

industry they might be entering into for

306

their business venture, that maybe you

learned the hard way, but you want to

307

pass that along as advice so that they

don't make the same mistake, or maybe

308

it's just a general piece of advice.

309

What would you say to them?

310

Senthil: Okay.

311

I think I'll make that

two pieces of advice.

312

Joshua: Alright.

313

You know what?

314

I say one.

315

You want to do two.

316

That's cool with me.

317

Go for it.

318

Senthil: OK.

319

Great.

320

Okay, so the first tip I would say

is to find a business that is aligned

321

with your interest and your passion,

because business is tough, and there

322

will be challenges along the way.

323

You will have obstacles.

324

It might not be as big as the ones that

I went through, but you will have your

325

bad days, and for you to get through all

these obstacles, and challenges, and to

326

really scale your business in the long

run, and more importantly, not just the

327

money, but to give you the fulfillment,

and happiness, and satisfaction as you

328

are on the journey, you have to have that

alignment, and happiness in the business

329

idea that you picked, and the second

tip would be to really have clarity on

330

what you want to do, why you want to

do it, and how you're going to do it.

331

During the entrepreneurship journey,

sometimes you will have a lot of pressure

332

from your peers, from people around you

to try out another idea, maybe try out

333

another marketing channel; do this, do

that, and then you end up just like taking

334

on all these ideas, like 10, 20 ideas, and

you end up going nowhere, because you're

335

just like swinging along left and right.

336

You don't have one obsession

that you're working towards,

337

and that belief that, "Okay.

338

I'm going to pick like,

for example, one channel.

339

If I pick SEO, I'm going to do

that really well, and I'm going

340

to attract clients to Google."

341

If you make that your focus,

then make that your focus not

342

just for marketing channel.

343

It could also be for your products,

right, so when I was running the art

344

studio, we were doing art jamming, and

at first, we were doing art jamming on

345

wearables like t-shirts, tote bags, and

then, we wanted to scale, right, and

346

to scale fast, so we thought, "Okay.

347

Why not offer art classes for kids?

348

Why not offer sand art?

349

Why not offer this art?

350

That art?", and then we just end up doing

so much work, and it doesn't resonate

351

with the market as well, and it will not

move the needle for you in the long run.

352

You might think that what you

need to do is more things, but in

353

fact, what you may need to do is

less things, but go deep in it.

354

Joshua: Yes.

355

I think that you trying to do so much

all at once might not be the most ideal,

356

especially since you're trying to build

out what you initially set out this vision

357

to do, but also, the other point of it

being too that if you dive so deep into

358

so many multiple things, you're stretching

yourself thin, you're not going to be

359

able to do one good thing effectively.

360

Senthil: The fundamentals is so

important here, Josh, because what

361

I mean by fundamentals is you need

to know who is the market you're

362

trying to serve, what is their pain

point, and how are you addressing it

363

better than your competition, and how

can you add more value, and how can

364

you market to this group of people?

365

Think of it from the client perspective,

like put yourself in your client's

366

shoes, and your potential client shoes,

and think of your business from their

367

perspective, rather than thinking of the

business from the top down approach, where

368

you think, "How can I make more money?

369

How can I make more money?", right, so

reversing that whole approach actually

370

will end up helping you make more money.

371

Joshua: It is really essentially

reverse engineering the process so

372

that it does work to your favor.

373

I love that because we often think

about what's the trajectory that we

374

want to head into, but really, you

have to also think about what your

375

client, or who you're selling to,

is also just as important as well.

376

Senthil: What they do, what they want.

377

Yeah.

378

Joshua: Senthil, we're almost at the end

of our time, and I want to ask you this

379

final question, because it's something

that is fascinating to me with the story

380

you shared earlier about how you got

here to also getting to where you are

381

today, and it's the concept of the fact

that you love working with entrepreneurs.

382

End of story.

383

It's something that, really, is the

driving force with even why you do your

384

business, because you want to see them

stand out from the other competition.

385

What makes you passionate about helping

that particular group then say, maybe

386

helping somebody else with another

type of skill that you offer, or

387

maybe helping someone in general with

maybe starting their own business.

388

You could be working for them.

389

What makes you drive to

helping entrepreneurs?

390

Senthil: As I shared earlier, one of the

hardest phases in a business is after you

391

start that business, you have the interest

to start a business, you start a business,

392

and then, you are stuck on how you can

scale or, even worse, like many people

393

who start businesses, they are lost,

like is this what I want to do, and what

394

is my long-term goal for the business?

395

How am I going to do it, and oftentimes,

because when I was in the twenties before

396

I was exposed to coaching, and many

famous figures like Tony Robbins, and

397

many of these figures, or even while I

was following them on social media, I

398

personally didn't have a mentor, a coach

who could guide me through the whole

399

process, who could kind of shorten the

process for me, make my path smoother,

400

and I thought that, "You know what?

401

If I had someone like this on my journey,

then it would have made the process a

402

lot more enjoyable.", because I remember

points in my entrepreneurship journey

403

where I was so stressed, so overwhelmed,

working overnight, long hours, hurting

404

my own health, and then going to the

clinic, and then spending money there,

405

and then not being productive inside

my business, and these were really

406

miserable, miserable days, which

is why I felt that, you know what?

407

I don't want other business owners

who are pursuing their passion to

408

have to go through similar parts,

so one of my strengths is an SEO,

409

and helping them scale, even if

they are in their slightly earlier

410

stages in their business, and yeah.

411

That was how I got here, and that

makes me excited for you as well, Josh,

412

because that's what you do, right?

413

You coach people as well.

414

Yeah, so it is a very

meaningful profession, and

415

I'm sure you will resonate.

416

Joshua: Senthil, I can't say enough

like the people that I've been able to

417

influence both from a business, and a

personal capacity, because I do both

418

personal work and professional work.

419

It has been tremendous, and I've been

open for a little close to two years,

420

and to find that the passion of people

that have been changed by working

421

with me, I can't tell you enough, the

feeling that it makes me feel, and so I

422

resonate with that, and I can understand

completely where you're coming from

423

with the feeling that you have as well,

so Senthil, to wrap up here- Yeah.

424

It is awesome, indeed.

425

Senthil: And congratulations

to you as well.

426

I am really inspired by people who do

things from their heart, and I think

427

that's why, like even the title of

your podcast series, Speaking From

428

The Heart, appealed so much to me.

429

Joshua: Well, thank you for that,

and I have to say that this has

430

been something that, even for my

listeners, this is not about me.

431

It's about wanting to help others for

a greater good to be the best authentic

432

versions of themselves, so thank you

for those sentiments, and Senthil,

433

to wrap up and return of that awesome

compliment, I want to give you the last

434

few minutes to pitch your business,

SEO With Senthil, so feel free.

435

Let us know how we can get

in contact with you if we're

436

interested in SEO optimization.

437

Maybe you want to give a little bit of

your social media so that people can reach

438

out to you too, but I'm going to give you

the last few minutes to do all of that.

439

Senthil: Okay.

440

Awesome, so I have a lot of freebies

for entrepreneurs who are just starting

441

out, so the first one is my five step

SEO checklist to help you rank on

442

Google page one, so you can find that

on my website, seowithsentil.com, and

443

then you can just access the checklist.

444

It's the exact same checklist that I

use to rank for hundreds of keywords on

445

Google page one, and make over a million

dollars in revenue for my businesses, so

446

you can check out the steps and try to

implement it in your business journey,

447

and of course, if you have obstacles, then

I also have a one-on-one SEO evaluation

448

call, where you can book it, and we can

explore if we can work together to grow

449

your business to the scale that you want.

450

I'm on most of the social

media platforms as well.

451

You can find me on Facebook, Senthil

Kumar, and then on Instagram.

452

It's just @SEOWithSenthil.

453

I would love to connect

with your listeners.

454

Joshua: Awesome, and I'll put all

of that in the episode notes too,

455

in case you want to check it out,

but Senthil, to wrap up here.

456

I am fascinated and enthralled with

your journey where other people

457

would be just saying, "Forget it.

458

I'm not going to try this again."

459

They would have gave up because

of COVID, or something massive

460

that happens in their life, but I

love that you reinvented yourself.

461

You took that loss that

happened even though it wasn't

462

anything that you did wrong.

463

You learn from the things that had

happened, and now you're reapplying it

464

to SEO, and you're helping others, and I

think that some of the lessons that you've

465

learned, even though that for many of my

listeners, maybe don't resonate because

466

they don't have their own businesses.

467

We have to think about the fact that we

are our own businesses, so we have to

468

always constantly reinvent them ourselves

to be better, to be stronger, to be

469

willing to pursue excellence, and I

think for all those reasons, and because

470

you're such an inspiration for me, even

though I just found out that you're an

471

international guest, which is even more

awesome from a United States perspective.

472

Senthil, thank you so much for being

on Speaking From The Heart today.

473

It was a privilege and an honor to hear

your story, and to hear your wisdom today.

474

Thank you for your time.

475

Senthil: Thank you for having me, Josh.

476

It was very nice speaking

with you as well.

477

Joshua: I want to thank Senthil again

for being part of the show, not only to

478

share his incredible story of redemption,

especially with the number of things

479

that had happened, but how he was able

to scale himself, especially knowing

480

that he was originally setting out

to be a successful entrepreneur, got

481

derailed by forces that were unknown,

something that we have never really

482

experienced in the hundred some years,

especially in the worldwide context,

483

but being able to get back on, finding

his passion, something that he really

484

enjoys doing, and being successful at it.

485

Kudos to Senthil.

486

Kudos to all those that are across

the world that are willing to work on

487

their brand, building it out day in and

day out, because you can learn a lot.

488

Not only can you learn a lot about

yourself in university, or college

489

for that matter, if you had that

opportunity growing up, but even

490

then, a lot of the things that we can

learn is not just in that formalized

491

education, but in the school of life.

492

I think that we learn skills.

493

We grow into this bigger, broader picture

of what we think success looks like, and

494

you can figure out that sometimes when we

think that we're too big to fail, but fail

495

anyway, we definitely eat some humble pie.

496

I know even for myself, starting out,

I would have never thought that the

497

tens of thousands of dollars that I

would have needed to get started would

498

come from an unlikely source: myself.

499

I've poured lots of money into this

knowing that it was taking a big risk,

500

but for many people, especially in

this climate, it has been very tough.

501

It's sometimes very tough even as

a coach, and I know I'm being very

502

vulnerable and sharing a little bit

about my own business finances, but

503

the truth of the matter is is that if

you work hard, you stay consistent, It

504

will all pay off, and it certainly has

been for me, and i'm appreciative of

505

all the people that have been behind

me in this adventure, clients and all.

506

For Senthil's case, that one moment

in time, that thing that can take

507

you off the rails, especially when

you're on that speeding train,

508

it can be a devastating toll.

509

One of the things that Senthil even

mentioned that he indirectly talked about

510

is how the impacts happen to the many

people that might be working for you.

511

It might be even your family.

512

It might be even the emotional,

mental toll that it can take on you.

513

Even when you least expect it,

there are always ramifications.

514

There are always things that throw us off.

515

They don't make us feel comfortable

when they're thrown off, because

516

we were least expecting it.

517

Being able to boost yourself,

even in an SEO world, especially

518

in the things that can take you

to new heights isn't just enough.

519

You need that raw motivation, that

encouragement, that feeling that you

520

know that you're doing the right thing.

521

Do we all panic when we

try to recover from crisis?

522

Of course!

523

We will always be trying to tread

water, especially when we're thinking

524

that we have all these things that

we're supposed to be doing in line,

525

but it's not always easy for everyone.

526

The journey that we're on, the things

that we go through, the motivations,

527

the encouragement, or maybe even the

demotivation, the encouragement that is

528

not so nice can create that big problem

that we are just pushing down the road,

529

not giving us that big divine force that

we like to call success really happening

530

for us, but we have to learn that it

isn't just about the battles that we

531

fight today, it's about the long run.

532

It's about the war that we're raging

on what we have, and I don't mean to

533

make it such a negative context, but

we are all on a campaign to always be

534

better; to always try to sell ourselves.

535

Whether we're selling ourselves for

a job interview, or even selling

536

products and services that we offer

for our businesses, let's face it.

537

We all have a little bit of taste of it.

538

It's just all in context and in

perspective, but trying to be easier,

539

trying to figure out how to make more

profitability, especially when we try to

540

cut corners, we try to make things that

are less quality, is maybe not really

541

the best way to go about trying to win

over a customer base, and I think that

542

even then, if you overwhelm yourself

with the small little details, and

543

you're not focusing on what your passion

is, that's when you get thrown off.

544

I had to learn that the hard way,

even starting out for my business.

545

What are the things that I'm really

good at, and what are the things

546

that I'm not so good at, that I

need to rely on others so that they

547

can help me get to that next level.

548

I have an accountant.

549

I have a bookkeeper.

550

I have a social media guru.

551

I do have legal advice that I'm given.

552

These are all things that, through

one source or another, I've been

553

able to cobble those together to make

this business come alive, but it's

554

about the passion for your service.

555

That hunger that you really want to give

back, the quality that you deliver, is

556

what people will remember the most, so

if you do skirt corners, if you do try to

557

make ends meet by doing imperfection, just

note that it's going to catch up with you.

558

If you're willing to do it over and

over again with consistent quality

559

and direction, resilience is the key.

560

The other key is patience, because as

even the Bible says, patience is a virtue.

561

You have to learn the balance of

demands of today and tomorrow,

562

being able to figure out how you're

able to just stay the course.

563

As I even wrap up my second full year

officially running my business, I've

564

learned so much about patience, and

it's okay if you don't get that sale,

565

if you don't get that person that wants

to work with you, there will always

566

be opportunities if you're willing to

keep on grinding, if you know that what

567

you're offering is true, but really.

568

You have to learn also that maybe

that was the right time for you

569

to take that step back so that

you can focus on other things.

570

The services that we provide, the

materials that we are granted,

571

isn't just about what we are able

to share from a quality perspective.

572

You also have to learn how to align

yourself with your business and what

573

you want to accomplish, and that means

that you have to be able to scale.

574

That's the key.

575

It doesn't mean that you always need to

have a lead generator, and I know that

576

many people would tell you that that's

crazy talk from this person named Josh

577

Smith, but the truth of the matter is,

is that are you ready to have numerous

578

leads that you continuously turn down?

579

If you're not ready to take on

those leads, you're not going

580

to be able to have success.

581

You're going to drive yourself into a

failure model that doesn't allow you to

582

see what you're truly capable of becoming.

583

Instead of people thinking that you're

really good, they're going to think

584

that you don't deliver, so being able

to meet the demands based on what your

585

level of capacity is, is absolutely a big

deal, but you also got to be satisfied.

586

You got to be happy with

what those results are.

587

If you're not satisfied or

happy, of course it's going to

588

make you very much depressed.

589

It's going to make you feel like you

are not doing enough for your business.

590

For the longest time in my life, even

before I started Your Speaking Voice,

591

I had to figure out what is it that

gave me satisfaction, what gave me

592

happiness, and I struggled with that.

593

For many of the people that I tell

my story to for a wide variety of

594

audiences, including most recently

at a Toastmasters club, I had to

595

admit that I had to figure out what

it is that my passion was all about.

596

I had to find my own voice first so that

I can share my voice now in a way that

597

is of stronger quality, that is able

to create context for so many different

598

types of people, but having that clarity

of what you're able to do, what you're

599

able to offer, is something that you

have to translate to your clients.

600

Senthil is a great SEO expert.

601

I would certainly hire him if I needed

that kind of service, because I know

602

that he identifies with that clarity.

603

He knows what I'm trying to offer,

but if I don't even know what to offer

604

when I'm trying to close the deal

with somebody that is interested,

605

this is where it all falls apart.

606

We don't need to be miserable, despite the

fact that we have to work for a living.

607

We can find that passion job.

608

We can create our own passion job.

609

It doesn't mean that we have to

fall into someone else's vision.

610

Yes!

611

It is okay to do that from time to

time, especially when the going gets

612

tough, and I've had plenty of people

that have come through my doors,

613

and I've had conversations with,

that we discuss this type of topic.

614

It's not easy sometimes to live life,

and you need that extra lift, you need

615

that extra boost of accountability,

but being able to learn the skills to

616

grow, being able to lift yourself up

from that devastating moment, means

617

that you also have to self reflect.

618

If you're not ready to self reflect

on what has happened, of course.

619

It's going to be a little bit longer

for you to be able to step into that

620

zone again, to make yourself feel like

you're worth a million dollars to be

621

able to achieve some of the things

that oftentimes we dream that we could

622

achieve, but we have to take our talent

to new heights, and that means that

623

sometimes, failure is okay to go through.

624

It's okay to take that 9 to 5 job,

flipping hamburgers, being able to prepare

625

meals for others, wait on tables, be

part of a whole ecosystem of opportunity

626

to serve others, but passion is what

we need to focus on in today's episode,

627

because if we don't have that hunger,

if we don't have that willingness to

628

really see what's above and beyond us, of

course our businesses are going to fail.

629

Of course our families

are not going to be happy.

630

Of course, even you and I might not be

willing to, be excited about all the

631

things that could be and will be, on

the horizon if we're willing to change.

632

I think that when we learn about

success, and we learn from all the

633

various CEOs that have been able to

run successful businesses, you name

634

them, they're all over the place.

635

It means that we can learn from other

people's mistakes, but we sometimes have

636

to experience those same mistakes that

those CEOs have gone through in order for

637

us to achieve success, so for you, today,

even if you can't find that satisfaction

638

in this instantaneous moment that you're

listening to this episode, just know

639

that that clarity, that direction, what

you're going to offer, will not derail you

640

from the miserable aspects of your life.

641

Sure!

642

Maybe you feel like it's

miserable, but you're not.

643

It's just a matter of the context that

you live in and that the miserableness

644

will go away, because as part of our

development, we all have ebbs and flows.

645

We go through valleys and mountaintops

as I've talked about on other episodes,

646

but in Senthil's case today, you

can learn that no matter what you've

647

been through, what you're able to

accomplish, what you're able to

648

achieve, you have what it takes.

649

Don't let failure set you back.

650

Don't let yourself be miserable.

651

Just dust the dirt that's on your pants,

lift yourself back up, even if that's

652

with somebody else, or with a job that

you might not want to stay with for the

653

rest of your life, and just know that

progress is all I'm asking you to have.

654

Success will come to you if you're just

willing to see yourself, not just getting

655

to that other side, but just knowing

that's just part of life, and living

656

life is all that I really want you to do.

657

Thanks for listening to episode

number 174 of Speaking From the

658

Heart, and I look forward to

hearing from your heart very soon.

659

Outro: Thanks for listening.

660

For more information about our podcast

and future shows, search for Speaking From

661

The Heart to subscribe and be notified

wherever you listen to your podcasts.

662

Visit us at www.

663

yourspeakingvoice.

664

biz for more information about

potential services that can help you

665

create the best version of yourself.

666

See you next time.