Young and Successful - An Interview With Neil Patel

Neil Patel MarketingHackz Interview - Social Media, SEO, SEM

Neil Patel is only 23 years old and is one of the most sought after Internet Marketing Consultants around. Co-founder of ACS and Crazy Egg, Neil also serves on the Board of Advisors for very well known companies. Some of his clients include HP, Samsung and American Greetings among many others.

Neil’s personal, friendly and down to earth approach makes him one of the best marketing consultants around. Neil was gracious to accept our request for an interview about social media and online marketing.

MH: Most of us already know you but for those who don’t, could you please give a brief introduction about yourself?

Neil: I am a 23 year old kid who currently attends college and runs a marketing company called ACS. When I am not working I love to watch TV and eat a lot of Taco Bell.

MH: How did you get started in Internet Marketing?

Neil: I got started in Internet marketing when I created my first website. I was trying to figure out how to get traffic to my site so I researched the topic and learned SEO. After doing it successfully for myself I figured that I could do it for others as well.

MH: You are 23 years old. How did you gain such massive success at a very young age?

Neil: To be honest, I think most of it is luck. Hard work probably is part of it, but it is mainly luck.

MH: What do you think of social media and it’s power in promoting one’s business?

Neil: I think it is a great way to promote one’s business. You can drive tons of traffic and potentially tons of sales at a very low cost. And if you are familiar with the social space, you can probably obtain all of this for free.

MH: How can a business gain exposure via the internet? Any specific approach or strategy?

Neil: The two approaches I like are SEO and SEM. SEO involves optimizing one’s site so it ranks well on Google. SEM involves paying for traffic from a search engine. Both of these methods are cost effective for a startup or a large business.

MH: What social media sites are you active on and why?

Neil: The main social site I am active on is Facebook. I think it is a great place to network with others and communicate with your friends. At the same time I am also on sites like Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and Yahoo Buzz.

MH: What do you think of Twitter as a marketing tool and why?

Neil: I think it is a good marketing tool for driving traffic. For a blog you can convert those visitors into RSS subscribers. And for a e-commerce site it is good for branding and it can potentially drive sales.

MH: We know you love Taco Bell. If you were to do internet marketing for Taco Bell, how would you promote a food business through social media?

Neil: I would probably do something funny with the Taco Bell dog and try to bring it back. A few years ago they used to promote a Taco Bell dog on TV and it was well received. As for what exactly I would do, I am not 100% sure.

MH: I read on your blog that you are going to college as well. What are your future plans? Any exciting things coming up in future?

Neil: After I am done with college I am going to continue what I am doing now. As for future things coming up, look forward to KISS Metrics launching.

MH: Finally, if you had to say one thing to our readers in terms of marketing their business on the web, what would it be?

Neil: Make sure you have something valuable to provide. If your product or service sucks, then marketing will not help much. If you product is great, then you have a better chance at succeeding.

Get In Touch With Neil Patel

Chat on Skype: neil162

Phone: (562) 292-3834 ( Home )
(888) 227-3913 ( Office )
(714) 516-8286 ( fax )

We would like to thank Neil for this interview and his willingness to provide his contact information for our readers.

About the author: Jason Drohn is a social media strategist and consultant who loves helping people build ridiculously successful businesses online. Follow him on Twitter to find out more!