Executive Summary
Leslie is internationally recognized for his advancement of SEO, he has mentored and trained thousands of Internet entrepreneurs, his teachings and products are actively promoted by a who’s-who of search engine marketing, and he has been the “man behind the curtain” defining the SEO strategies for a number of successful web businesses.
An Internet marketer himself since 1998, Leslie continues to operate a number of profitable web sites while also teaching and mentoring both budding and highly successful business owners.
Widely published and quoted, Leslie popularized the use of a number of “trick” searches as a way to research and explain search engine algorithms, notably “home” and “click here”. Today, Leslie is widely regarded as the “SEO to the SEO’s” for his skill in providing understandable and actionable advice for the most challenging SEO problems.
What ultimately attracts people to Leslie’s brand is the unique combination of great technical depth, broad business experience, and a zero tolerance for B.S. from both himself or his students and clients.
Career SEO Highlights
May 2002 — Released OptiLink, the first program to perform analysis of inbound link text. Popularized the use of keyword rich link text as a means to high ranking at Google, arguably the greatest advance in SEO since the birth of Google, and coined the term “Link Reputation” to describe this new type of analysis.
April 2003 — Invented “Dynamic Linking”, a method of controlling the allocation of PageRank by means of selective use of Javascript (subsequently updated to employ the nofollow attribute). This technique is now called “PageRank Sculpting” and is widely used and taught by advanced SEOs throughout the world.
November 2004 — Released OptiSpider, a program to check websites for the most common causes of SEO problems, which are commonly self-induced by webmasters themselves.
November 2006 — Partnered with the founders of StomperNet and led the development of new teaching programs while helping grow and manage the staff and operations in Atlanta where I also served as Chief Technical Officer.
September 2009 — Joined forces with Dan Thies (an equally noted search marketing authority) to and founded The SEO BrainTrust to create the next level in training programs and methods.
December 2010 —Launched the first version of ResultFlow, a content marketing automation platform that is now, in it’s 4th major release, revolutionizing the way our students and clients market online.
The Career Before SEO
In his ten years prior to the web, Leslie was a business owner delivering technology consulting, business process improvement and custom shrink-wrapped desktop software, employed in a variety of companies both large and small. Highlights include:
- For Tektronix he created a ten person development group from scratch, completed purchase and acceptance testing of third party source code and managed on-going development. Also mentored and trained the rest of the organization in the application area.
- Under contract for the Department of Defense he served as program manager for development of a repair depot for the first man portable geodetic GPS receiver. His duties included budget responsibility, system hardware and software design and management of the development team.
But the most unusual career highlight of all is the 12 months Leslie spent manning a satellite tracking station in Antarctica.
Life Beyond Work
While not working to build “the next big thing,” I enjoy…
- motorcycles – I’m a “metric bagger” for those of you in the know
- firearms – side arm, rifle, and shotgun
- sailboats – catamarans being my favorite
- and Tae Kwon Do – I’m a 4th Dan Master Instructor, 3rd degree test examiner, and level 1 Poomsae referee.