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I’ve spent the last 27 years watching the internet grow up.

In the late 90s, when people were still trying to figure out if the web was a fad or a tool, I was in the trenches. I witnessed the birth of baby Google and saw it grow from a simple research project into the force it is today.

Back then, I did a bit of trend-setting that people thought was a waste of time. I was the first prominent internet marketer to adopt blogging when everyone else was sticking to static HTML. I discovered early on that blogs didn’t just look different, they ranked better.

By 2001, I’d cracked the code on Google’s original algorithm. I wrote Power Linking to show how inbound links were the core of the whole system. It sold 50,000 copies and became a foundational text for a generation of SEOs. Since then, I’ve helped my clients and my own projects attract over 2 billion targeted visitors.

Why I’m focused on PodLeverage

If you’ve been around as long as I have, you learn to spot the difference between a passing trend and a fundamental shift in how people connect.

We are currently in the middle of one of those shifts. The internet is moving away from the old social graph, where you only reached people who already followed you, and toward a content graph. As Gary Vaynerchuk points out, we’ve entered the TikTokification of everything. One great piece of content can find an audience of millions because the algorithms are finally smart enough to find the right people for the right message.

Podcasting is at the heart of this new engine.

I’ve been podcasting since 2005. I’ve hosted and produced the Rewilding Earth podcast for years. What I’ve learned is that audio isn’t just about having a show. It’s about creating a single source of high-octane authority that can be leveraged across your entire digital presence.

Approach to Tech

I run Brick Road Media, a local marketing agency in Indiana. I’m a writer, an adventure motorcyclist, and someone who believes that tech should work for people, not the other way around.

My goal with PodLeverage is to take everything I’ve learned from 4 successful podcasts and hand you the keys. You don’t need a radio voice or a Hollywood studio. You need a perspective, a bit of curiosity, and a system to turn your conversations into engaging human content. Anti AI-slop. 

Being successful at selling human interaction and connection is one of the only things that will get you through the erasure of most human jobs and services.

There’s a lot more room at the table than you think. You just have to pick up the mic.

The Timeline

  • 1998: Started exploring the web as an original member and later moderator of the Warrior Forum.

  • 2001: Exposed the link-based ranking factor of Google’s early algorithm.

  • 2002: Published Power Linking, the definitive guide to link building.

  • 2005: Launched The Friday Traffic Report, one of the first marketing podcasts.

  • 2006: Founded BlogSuccess.com, the first major training center for content marketing.

  • 2012: Founded Brick Road Media to provide high-level SEO and web development.

  • 2018–Present: Host and producer of the Rewilding Earth Podcast.

  • 2026: Launching PodLeverage to help people build the most prized resource in the AI age: human connection.

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