Interview With Zeke Camusio
Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur, Internet marketing expert, published author, speaker and founder of The Internet Marketing Blog.
As part of New Energy’s commitment to provide as much value as humanly possible to business owners and DIY internet marketers, we are conducting a series of interviews with the web’s best and brightest. Our interview starts with a man that is an amazing source of energy and wisdom: Zeke Camusio.
The Interview
New Energy
What inspired you to start your first company and become an entrepreneur?
Zeke Camusio
I was always a little different from the rest of the kids in my school. They were playing around and I was trying to sell them stuff! I tried being an employee but I never lasted more than three months. I always wanted to change the way things were being done and if something didn’t make sense to me, I just didn’t do it; I didn’t care what my bosses told me to do. I wasn’t going to get very far up in the corporate ladder.
I love the freedom I get from being an entrepreneur. I work really hard, but I decide when I work and what I do. It’s great!
New Energy
Your blog for The Outsourcing Company called “Lets Do It!” is an incredibly useful resource for business marketing on the web. What motivates you to share your discoveries and how have they been received by the web community?
Zeke Camusio
At first it was a marketing tool. I wanted to show people how much I knew about Internet marketing so they would hire our agency. Now we’re doing great and although we don’t desperately need more clients, I love it so much that I keep doing it. It feels great to know that every day I’m helping over 10,000 business owners become more successful. Also, I receive a lot of praise for my articles and that makes me feel very good.
New Energy
Your experience as a serial entrepreneur is very exciting. Can you share some of the factors you look for when you are thinking about starting a new business?
Zeke Camusio
The way I do business is very different from the way most people do it. I like businesses that you can start with no money and in less than a month. I like going after very defined markets where products with poor marketing are being sold like crazy. If a company that does poor marketing is very successful, that’s a great indicator for me, because I know that if I use my marketing skills right, I can take over the market overnight.
I have a very good article written on the topic here: http://www.theoutsourcingcompany.com/blog/entrepreneurship/how-to-choose-the-ideal-business-to-start/
New Energy
Is this a good economic climate to start a new business, and what advice would you give people who plan to launch in 2010?
Zeke Camusio
It’s always a good time to start a business. When people tell you they’re waiting for “things to get better” so they can start a business, that’s just an excuse. My advice to those people is, “get started! If you have a great solution to a real problem, people will buy it no matter what the economy is like.”
New Energy
The Outsourcing Company has a down-to-earth approach for getting results on the web which promotes trust. You even provide DIY tips so people can do their own web marketing. What made you realize that companies want a complete solution rather than a group of isolated services like PPC and SEO?
Zeke Camusio
There are over 50 different Internet marketing tactics. No business in the world should use them all. But, I do teach them all and tell business owners how they can tell which ones they need for their business.
New Energy
Your Blog seems to lean toward social media and Web 2.0. How do you integrate these services with more traditional advertising techniques that companies are already using?
Zeke Camusio
Business owners need to separate all their marketing campaigns and measure each one of them. This is the only way you can learn what works and what doesn’t. You can link offline advertising to your website and Twitter to a magazine ad, but at the end of the day you need an effective system to track each of your marketing campaigns.
New Energy
New Energy likes to employ web PR as part of the SEO mix. How would you rate PR as a tool for building traffic and search engine rank?
Zeke Camusio
Press releases can be very effective but 99% of people use them wrong. The most important tip I can give you is this, “make sure your press release is newsworthy.” In other words, think about why would a journalist want to write about you. Do something cool and unique and then write a press release about it.
New Energy
Last question: As a serial entrepreneur, has your concept of what makes a good business changed from the time you started your first company up to the present with The Outsourcing Company?
Zeke Camusio
Absolutely. I started The Outsourcing Company eight years ago, when I was 19. I’m 27 now. I used to think that as long as your stuff sells, you’ll be fine. Now I learned that you need to be good at managing your finances, your cashflow and your people. This is a blog post I wrote on how I learned seven very valuable lessons from mistakes I made: http://www.theoutsourcingcompany.com/blog/entrepreneurship/7-business-lessons-i-learned-the-hard-way/
New Energy Communications would like to thank Zeke for taking the time out of his super busy schedule to talk with us for this interview. Make sure to check out Zeke and all his links. You will be happy and more profitable when your do. Also make sure to share this interview with friends. Thanks Zeke!
Zeke Camusio
CEO – The Outsourcing Company
www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com
Blog: www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog
zeke@TheOutsourcingCompany.com
19 Responses to “Interview With Zeke Camusio”
Dann De Witt says:
March 3, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Good interview–really dug Zeke’s common-sense business philosophy on his blog posts, too.
Jamie says:
March 3, 2010 at 2:23 pm
New Energy/Jim – thank you for a great interview. The questions were really helpful and the answers both informative and inspiring. It is great to read about real “business” experiences and techniques that can be applied across the board. Zeke has an amazing entrepreneurial spirit and energy that jumps out at the reader.
jeanne says:
March 3, 2010 at 2:55 pm
This interview really made me want to learn more about internet marketing and add some of this to the Business Institute that we support through Community Economic Development Fund. We offer basic business classes for start-up businesses, and you guys could really help some of these businesses widen their marketshare.
Chris Passehl @ Passehl Design says:
March 3, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Great interview. Good reference for clients– it’s one thing to state a technique for PR to a client,
but to be able to back it up with quotes from an expert makes it much more powerful. Zeke has really good stuff on his blog as well. Thanks for some very usable information.
Valerie Gengras says:
March 3, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Very informative interview, I book marked the links for use in marketing my own small business. Thank you for posting such timely information.
Barbara says:
March 3, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Great interview. It has inspired me to think about the possibility of venturing into starting a business of my own as I approach possible early retirement. Some excellent food for thought.
Gavin says:
March 3, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Jim,
Thanks for bringing such useful information to light. Great interview. Lots of good ideas. Lots to think about. I look forward to the next one.
Gavin
Lee says:
March 3, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Good read ! I love hearing what the rest of the world is up to…and this was a fun quick story to read.
I think Zeke would be a great speaker for an event in CT sometime soon…how about that !
Rick Williams (Doctor Dialtone) says:
March 3, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Great interview. Bonus points for capitalizing “Internet”. Few “Internet Experts” do that.
There is a lot to be said for writing “Press Release Worthy” stories, and how best to promote a business via the Internet.
Writers want and need “content”, so if you give them a good, personal success story, they’ll publish it. People like to read about success, and how to be successful and how to make a business soar.
Make friends with a PR person and share your success story.
Thanks to Jim Coon for directing me here.
Jim is just one example of a quality-minded professional who does great work.
He’s a highly professional and creatively talented photographer with a keen eye.
Good luck, Zeke. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your success story.
Neil Cowan says:
March 4, 2010 at 10:27 am
I loved this interview! It captured Zeke’s high energy and optimistic phoilosophy. I was inspired by his attitude about starting a business, no matter what the economic circumstances offer. That’s the kind of entrepreneurial spirit this country thrives on. I’m at the edge of beginning a new venture with some bright folks, and this kind of inspiration and marketing saavy is just the thing I need to read. I’m going to pull up his links to read more. Thanks for bringing this excellent interview to us, Jim!
Judy @ Cowan Consulting & Coaching says:
March 4, 2010 at 5:56 pm
What an inspiring person Zeke is! Thanks for interviewing him. It’s great to hear that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive, well and thriving in someone like Zeke and the generation he represents. I look forward to checking out his links and future interviews you post.
Zeke Camusio says:
March 5, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I had a lot of fun being interviewed by Jim and I’m thrilled that you guys found this inspiring.
I’m here to help you with whatever you need.
Have an amazing weekend!
Zeke
zeke@TheOutsourcingCompany.com
Mariano Descalzi says:
March 5, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I have been a client of The Outsourcing Company for almost two years now. Zeke and his team have helped me grow my company from $200,000 the first year to $1.1 million the second year. This year we have diversified even more and are closing with international students and corporate accounts from around the word mostly due to the PPC and SEO strategies that Zeke implemented.
Thanks Zeke for all your support. I wish you continued success.
Mariano Descalzi
President
Language Consultants International, Denver, Colorado
Therese Pope says:
March 9, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Fantastic interview, Zeke! I liked what you wrote about starting a business and not waiting. So true – if you have an innovative product or service that makes a person’s life better or easier then they will buy!
Michelle Marin says:
March 11, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Great interview! I enjoyed Zeke’s upbeat and encouraging message. It’s inspired me to implement more social media into my marketing plan.
Amy says:
April 18, 2010 at 10:34 pm
What an inspiring person Zeke is! Thanks for interviewing him. It’s great to hear that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive, well and thriving in someone like Zeke and the generation he represents. I look forward to checking out his links and future interviews you post.
Michelle says:
April 19, 2010 at 8:30 pm
I loved this interview! It captured Zeke’s high energy and optimistic phoilosophy. I was inspired by his attitude about starting a business, no matter what the economic circumstances offer. That’s the kind of entrepreneurial spirit this country thrives on. I’m at the edge of beginning a new venture with some bright folks, and this kind of inspiration and marketing saavy is just the thing I need to read. I’m going to pull up his links to read more. Thanks for bringing this excellent interview to us, Jim!