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Testimonial about the Motivational Skills of Rob Borg from Lifetime Dynamics
Rob Borg - Business Coach
Testimonial from Stewart Dawes:
At the beginning of 2009, having learnt everything imaginable about SEO from 10 years of having my own hobby website, I decided to offer my search engine optimisation skills to a wider market.
I found instant demand from people I already knew, however I got lulled into a false sense of security.
As one SEO expert I recently met said to me only today, “People outside of SEO have no idea how time consuming it can be.”
When focussed intensely on doing SEO for people, the hours of those sessions meant that I wasn’t marketing myself at all.
2009 being the recovery year from the last financial crash, business dropped off severely in the winter months, which set me back quite a lot – and I had never done any marketing. So I had very minimal income from about June to September.
Then, being a bit naive about what happens over Christmas, I was shocked when during December, so many of my clients decided to postpone their sessions, miss payments, or disappear altogether.
Thus when it came to February, I reached the point where I was lying on my couch in a real rut, staring at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to pay the rent and deal with my credit card debt, which had blown out to $20K.
I was starting to think that leaving my relatively comfortable job had been the stupidest mistake – but one that I had to learn from – sometimes in life you’ve got to follow your instincts – or so I’d been thinking. Now I was just a financial, psychological and emotional wreck.
As I stared at the ceiling on this miserable Tuesday afternoon, the phone rang.
It was Rob Borg, telling me he wanted me to do SEO for him.
Rather than being professional and business-like, this is what I found myself saying to him:
“Mate, great to hear from you but it’s all too late. I’m out of the SEO game. It’s too unreliable and I am fucking over it.
“I’m off to get a job, I’ve given up.
“People book for a little while, then when they get to the top of Google, they drop me as quickly as they can.
“It’s a mug’s game, so sorry, I’ll have to tell you no.”
Rob said to me, “Stewart, you can’t give up now, I’ve been in this place myself just a few years ago.
By the end of the conversation, he had convinced me – but not entirely. We agreed that I would call him back two days later if I wanted the work.
I got that little bit enthused over the next two days, but not much.
One thing’s for sure. I don’t under-regard what I do. I knew I could help him get much higher on Google for phrases that he really needed such as:
Sales Skills Seminars in Sydney
Personal Development Courses in Sydney …. etc
So in fact reluctantly, as I was still feeling like I most probably wouldn’t continue with SEO, I said to Rob that I would do 1 session of SEO a week with him, but he would have to do that for at least 3 months. And that after a few weeks I may have to stop as I might have to take a full-time job.
The thing is, this guy relates so well to people in business that he made me feel more confident about asking for what I needed, even when I was, to be quite blunt about it, feeling depressed to the point of being vaguely suicidal. I’d never do it because I care about my son too much, but the struggles were such that late at night when the money worries were getting so intense, I’d been picturing myself getting more familiar with the large tree over the other side of my fence.
I book myself out in 5-hour sessions and sometimes my clients are interstate or even recently, overseas, but since Rob and I were both in Sydney, sometimes it’s good to work face-to-face – and as I worked on Rob’s Lifetime Dynamics website, and in the little moments between doing the SEO work, his passion and motivation over the ensuing weeks started motivating me.
Even so I was still struggling financially – very badly. As a single parent things can get right on the edge and no wonder so many single dads end up living in caravans.
But during those weeks I found some extra energy to market myself day and night – and to ensure that all enquiries, few and far between as they were, were followed up with a proposal.
Even when my credit card went past the horror figure of $20K, I suddenly found myself doing two very weird things – since I had days where I had no work, I decided to spend a few hundred dollars on teaching myself video editing, so I could do a better job for future clients placing their videos on Youtube.
I also spent $500 on a tripod for my video camera (which had been a gift the year before from a very kind friend) – so that when I shot footage of Rob or any other future SEO client – it wouldn’t be wobbly hand-held stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I like that hand-held style, but in context.
Suddenly, only very recently, I had a breakthrough. In a 24-hour period, three potential clients who I’d given up on even bothering with, suddenly contacted me to say yes to my proposals.
Was it a direct result of Rob that I am now back on my feet? Absolutely. I know how much of a goner I was on the day he called.
I continue to work with Rob and the energy and drive that he has always snaps me out of any moderate mediocrity that I might be feeling. When the time comes where his SEO work is complete, I’m now getting into a position where the tables will be turned and instead of him being my client, I’ll be keen to stay with his energy and join his workshops and seminars, do some life coaching, or continue to tap into his business coaching not through accidental osmosis but through direct sessions with a very vibrant soul.
You can contact Rob on 0414 756 593 or go to his website www.lifetimedynamics.com
Testimonial by Stewart Dawes media@seotherapy.com.au
