I’ve been blogging since 2014…

…and, back then, I had no clue how to make my blog posts show up in Google.

In fact, I spent over two years blogging hard into the void, with my only traffic coming from constant sharing of my blog posts on social media (which got tiring fast!)

Fast forward to 2020, at the start of the pandemic.

I was determined to build an online business to support my planned relocation to Portugal (on a mission to regain my lost EU citizenship after Brexit).

So I started a blog documenting my relocation journey, to help others seek second citizenship in Europe.

This time, I knew all about SEO and was determined to make it work for me. Within around nine months, I’d grown that blog to an all-time high of over 100K monthly visitors.

But even better, some of those blog posts drove lucrative conversions from affiliate partnerships, some worth five figures each.

I credit much of that success to the way my blog showcased my first-hand experience in the topic, which resonated with my audience and helped them trust me.

I then decided it was time to give back, by sharing my SEO learnings with other experts, to help them start making money from organic traffic.

So I started growing the blog you’re reading now – focused on SEO, blogging, and using AI tools intelligently to make the whole online growth process faster, easier, and less of a slog.

Who is this blog for?

Are you an expert in your field with skills to share with the world, but unsure how to turn them into an online business?

Perhaps you’re already offering online coaching or consulting, but finding clients is hard work. You’re blogging for your business, but somehow those posts never seem to move the needle…

If you want to turn your expertise into an online business via blogging, then you’re in the right place.

Whether you’re a coach, consultant, or just have a really interesting life journey that others can learn from, blogging is an excellent way to share your skills with people who can benefit from them.

I’ll help you turn your blog into an online brand universe for your business, so you can build authority fast without spending hours coming up with endless content ideas.

But this blog is not for everyone…

If your goal is to throw together a faceless niche site full of auto-generated AI content and cheap backlinks, purely to monetize with ads/affiliates, with no evidence of expertise or a genuine offering, then this isn’t the right place for you.

Here, we use tools like AI and SEO intelligently – to build authoritative online brands that last the distance.

What I bring to the table

I’ve been writing online for the best part of my professional life.

My experience ranges from working as a roving freelance journalist for international media outlets like the Telegraph, BBC and New Statesman, to writing research papers on natural language processing as part of my PhD in computational social science at the UK’s University of Bath.

Back in the days when I worked full-time for other people, I also did a stint as content marketing manager at one of London’s top fintech companies, GoCardless (in fact, my first ever blog played a key role in getting me hired).

That work spun off into a range of freelance content strategy contracts for other SaaS companies, such as Paddle, Brandwatch and Defined AI.

Between 2019 and 2021, I also did a lot of work as a counter-disinformation strategist (based on my PhD research), helping social media companies fight against organized inauthentic behavior compromising their platforms.

I supported Facebook and YouTube on several projects during the US 2020 election, the early days of the pandemic, and Taiwan’s presidential election of early 2020 (a time that was absolutely rife with online disinformation and tribalism).

My commentary about disinformation has been featured in the Financial Times and Business Insider. I’ve also delivered training for the UK military, guested on many podcasts (including the US military’s Convergence podcast), plus given a talk at TEDx MidAtlantic.

Oh yeah, and I taught English as a foreign language, way back in the dark ages!

All in all, I’ve got a pretty diverse range of experiences – with online writing at the heart of most of it.