About

The Web Marketing Outlaw Story

The Web Marketing Outlaw business was officially started four years ago on the 9th of August 2007. This was the day Craig had his first paying conversion client and quit his current job (teaching English in Spain) forever.

But the story really starts back before the year 2000. Craig was studying a Computer Systems Engineering degree (which he hated) and had designed a few websites on the side. He had to do a year-long project for his degree and found his way working for a business improvement website... helping them market their website.

He spent the next 4 years working for them part time doing various internet marketing things including search engine optimisation, writing content and creating the monthly newsletter.

Craig Starts His Own Online Business

In 2003 he started his first online business with a friend while still working part time. This business was called efrisson (frisson means a moment of intense excitement) and sold geek products over the internet. These included things like glowing keyboards, lights for inside the computer case and remotes that operated your computer.

While the website ranked well in the search engines they quickly found no one was actually searching for “glowing keyboard” and had to find new ways to drive traffic. After a lot of experimentation they finally tried paid advertising and invested a whopping $1500 (a fortune for them) in banner ads. When it produced no results his business partner quit and Craig had little choice but to shut down the business.

Time To See The World

So midway through 2005 he jumped on a plane to live in London and travel Europe. By September 2006 he found himself living in Madrid, Spain and teaching English just because he loved the country so much. In January 2007 he turned his interest back to business and started another website in his spare time.

However the director of his Spanish school (who mainly taught English speakers how to teach English with a TEFL course) heard him talking about marketing websites and returned out of her office with a big yellow book entitled “Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for Dummies” practically begging him if he could do this stuff. Two weeks later he’d taken their website from about 20th place on Google to position 4 and they then asked the fateful question...

“So What Can You Do Next?”

On a gut feeling he suggested rewriting and restructuring the website to make it easier and more enjoyable for visitors to use. They agreed to try this and on the 9th of August 2007 he was walking out of their apartment with his first paying client. He even agreed to go out and celebrate that night as they were meeting some of their students in a bar down the road.

It seems this was a night to be remembered as while leaving the apartment he also ran into a woman who was staying with one of the business owners. Their eyes locked for a moment and it seemed both of them were smitten. Within a month they had moved in together and this started a relationship that would span three continents and last several years (plus they’re still good friends although separated by more distance at the moment as she is currently living in the Cayman Islands).

After changing over the first website and getting an amazing response from potential clients Craig knew he was on to something. The business owners were also great networkers and so soon Craig had started working with most of the English speaking websites around Madrid.

Back To New Zealand

In September 2008 he returned to New Zealand while continuing to work with clients in Madrid and finding new ones back home. He earned his living working from his couch and cruised along for the next two years with the regular ups and downs of being self-employed.

He then realised he’d made a mistake somewhere and in his quest to become a business owner had ended up simply creating a job for himself. So he took some time off to re-evaluate his life and see what the next step was. During this time he met Padraig who was looking for a business to invest in and grow.

Time To Build A Real Business

After a few months of discussions they finally decided to try working together and build the company into a business that could provide systematised results for clients. Craig had the internet marketing knowledge and Padraig had the skills to create systems and build a team around that knowledge.

A few months later they contracted Caoilinn to help with the search engine optimisation and Google Adwords side of the business. They also found Monica who was a gifted copywriter and could release Craig from a large amount of the copywriting work plus Pearl who had been Craig’s webmaster since 2009.

With the team in place it was finally time to start marketing... and increasing their clients' website sales.

Will your business be next? Find out more about why we're different here or watch our free webinar "Seven Ways To Turn More Website Visitors Into Paying Clients"