GE 181: How Bryce Welker Brings In $2M Annual Revenues & Over 200k Visits/Mo Through SEO (podcast)

Hey everyone, in today’s episode I share the mic with Bryce Welker, a CPA and the founder of Crush Empire, a diverse network of lead generation and product review websites in numerous verticals.

In this interview Bryce talks about his journey from quitting his job as an accountant to starting his own CPA exam website, how he went from bringing in $1K per month to $2M per year, the importance of hiring the right team that allowed Crush Empire to grow their revenue over 100% in the last 6 months, and how they acquire 95% of their customers.

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: How Bryce Welker Brings In $2M Annual Revenues & Over 200k Visits/Mo Through SEO TRANSCRIPT

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:03 – Eric introduces Bryce to the podcast
• 01:20 – Bryce’s background is in accounting
  • 01:31 – He got his CPA license and he realized it wasn’t the path for him
  • 01:47 – Bryce quit his job and went to Thailand
  • 01:51 – He focused on building websites and made CrushtheCPAexam.com
  • 02:37 – Bryce used his knowledge of digital marketing to scale 20 other websites
• 03:08 – Crush Empire is the parent company
• 03:27 – This year, Crush Empire is hitting the $2M revenue mark
• 04:45 – Last year was Bryce’s first million dollars in revenue
• 05:12 – Bryce wanted to build a business he wanted to actually work for
• 05:31 – Crush Empire uses Trello and Slack where they have an “experiment board”
• 07:19 – The knowledge of the entire team as a whole has been the multiplier of the business
• 07:45 – 50% of the revenue this year came from CrushTheCPAExam.com
• 08:35 – 95% of Crush Empire comes from SEO
• 09:22 – Bryce’s core competency is to do tests and case studies
• 10:10 – Bryce’s traffic is highly targeted
• 10:54 – The team is currently focusing on the buyer cycle
• 12:00 – How the funnel works:
  • 12:02 – Commission based revenue
• 12:35 – The best for one person is not the best for the other
• 12:59 – Commissions range from 3% to 50% depending on the niche
• 13:48 – Bryce started Crush Offers, an affiliate network
• 15:24 – How Bryce stays focused
• 17:02 – Hire people with broad skill sets
• 17:28 – They are starting to hire interns
• 18:19 – Bryce wants his employees to be happy
• 19:09 – The biggest struggle this year was streamlining the hiring process
• 19:29 – Workable and Spark Hire are tools that have helped him with hiring
  • 20:39 – After 150 resumes, they start sending video interviews thru Spark Hire
  • 21:24 – Not wasting time with in-person interviews
  • 21:41 – Bryce looks for lifelong learners
  • 22:17 – They ask, “What’s your favorite animal?”, to see the interviewee’s personality
  • 23:01 – Top 3 candidates are invited for personal interviews
• 23:42 – What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your 22-year old self? Start learning how to code and build websites
• 24:16 – What’s one must-read book you recommend? Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
• 25:34 – Connect with Bryce by email

3 Key Points:

1. Your degree in college does NOT determine what you should be in the future.
2. Different people have different learning styles.
3. Tap into the diverse knowledge and skillset of your team to build your business.

Resources From This Interview:

• Crush Empire
• Crush the CPA Exam
• Crush Offers
• Workable
• Spark Hire
• Must-read book: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
• Bryce’s LinkedIn
• Bryce’s email

Leave some feedback:

• What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, leave a short review here.
• Subscribe to Growth Everywhere on iTunes.
• Get the non-iTunes RSS feed

 Connect with Eric Siu:

• Growth Everywhere
• Single Grain
• Twitter @ericosiu