Meet Dan Anton, Atlanta SEO Online Marketer

Dan Anton is an Army veteran who has found success as an online marketer and SEO expert. After experiencing a a combat injury in 2008, he found a new career online--in fact, within six months, his online business had made him over a million dollars. See a full list of Dan Anton's military achievements and awards at http://dananton.com/awards-testimonials.

1. Before you were known as one of the best online marketers in the world, you were in the Army. Can you tell us a little about your military life?

When the towers fell on September 11, 2001, I was 21 at the time and ready to graduate with honors from Mount Clair State University. This event altered my life forever; I decided right then and there that I was not only going to become a soldier, but I was ready to defend America and aggressively pursue anything that threatened her existence.

I didn't want to just "join"--I wanted to test myself, which is why I became an Infantry Army Ranger, and retired as a Major, completing two tours of combat duty in Iraq. I received two bronze stars for combat related actions, but on my last deployment my convoy was hit by an IED, badly injuring my spine, which directly led to my next career, online marketing.

2. You primarily focus on SEO, and software. How does it work?

SEO is short for search engine optimization. One of the lessons I learned from the Army was systemizing and streamlining processes. Creating large websites, optimizing them, and promoting them is more akin to a science than random happenstance. Of course, the human element is critical, which is why experience and the right team in place is critical to success. Simply put, I develop SEO software and services that deliver results.

3. How useful is your computer science background for your career?

I've always been fond of working with computers and technology. Even before going to Officer Training School, I studied Computer Science. Fast forward to today: it's invaluable as it allows me to not only see problems from a "coder" perspective but also intelligently lead and critique our development team. Considering the bulk of our business is software based, college helped prepare me well.

4. What was your first venture online?

I've been making money online since 1999, when I use to sell informational guides for video games such as World of Warcraft and sell used video games online. My military career always came first, so I had to back burner a lot of ideas until I had more time and more money. In 2006, around the time of Myspace and social networks popping up, my brother and I created a social network for gamers. We had thousands of loyal members but just didn't have the big venture capital required to launch a massive website to rival Myspace, Facebook, Reddit, etc. It taught me a great lesson on scaling properly, cash flow, and focusing on services to help others, versus trying to be an island and achieve success alone.

5. Do you have advice for anyone looking to switch careers?

Never switch careers because you are picking the lesser of two evils. There are so many different ways to make money and/or help others, so you should really sit down and think about what type of person you want to become, and not force a decision. In my case, I knew my military career was over, but a new, growing passion pulled me towards helping business owners achieve even more success. The more you attempt to help others, the more you will see a new career unfolding before you as a service is a need, and if it's a need it can become a fine-tuned skillset to earn a living as a career and not just a job.

If you are a business owner and wish to reach out about our Atlanta SEO brand, follow the website and contact form.

Thanks, Dan!

Meet Jordan Hernandez, Entrepreneur and Afghanistan Veteran

Jordan Hernandez is a veteran of the US military who served in Afghanistan. Now living in Texas with his wife, Dulce, he is working on starting his own business called Article Express. He is raising start-up funds for his business through this GoFundMe campaign. Jordan also hopes to help his parents and brother through his new business.

1. When it came to developing a business idea, what inspired you to focus on an online-based business?

The thing I love about doing anything online is that it's liberating--it's totally creative. I feel as though this was how the "American Dream" was back when we had such a massive and booming society. It allows anyone with a vision to create it and get the benefits from that creation.

2. Why did you decide to create a site focused on articles and content marketing?

Well, I started meditating a few years ago, and it has helped open up my consciousness so much. It helped me understand what thoughts ran through my head, and how to better interpret the meaning of those thoughts. The way I understood what popped into my head has led me to a gut decision that this is something that I am meant to do too liberate my family's life! So I'm doing it, one way or another!

3. For you as a reader, what makes for interesting web content--and what keeps you coming back to a website?

Anything that would keep me coming back would have to be giving me insight on something. It's that feeling whenever you hear something so true that you just can't help but smile and shout "YES!!! I know exactly what you mean!!".

4. Why did you decide to kick off your project by seeking backers through a crowdfunding platform?

Honestly, I decided to go this route because I would like to avoid the debt of a loan. My wife and I are trying to get a new house which we got pre-approved for, and took on a new car bill recently as well. Reaching my goals this way will avoid all the excess debt we just can't handle. I believe when people see a legitimate cause, they are compassionate, and they are loving. I have high hopes for humanity.

5. As you and your wife look ahead to the next year or so, what are your goals?

I try to place myself in this present moment. If I do try to think of a future, I'm creating separation from this moment, and now have a chance to be dragged down by thoughts of anxiety and worry. In the present moment that will be in the "future" so to speak, we are hoping to accomplish an income that will take care of us and my family around us. I hope to help my father and brother who are addicted to antidepressants, and to free my mother from a household of gang retaliation due to my brother's lifestyle. I just wish to ease the pain and hurt from their minds. Thinking about that every day must be torture.

These pictures show my brother today, and back when we were kids.

Thank you for taking the time to interview me!

Thanks, Jordan!

Meet Ken Williams, Author

Ken Williams is a Santa Barbara author who has written books about poverty, homelessness, veterans, and other topics. He writes in many genres, and his latest work is a novel called Fractured Angel, available from Sakura Publishing; the book's release date is July 7, 2014, and it is currently available for pre-order. Ken is a humanitarian who has spent many years working with homeless people in Santa Barbara.

1. As someone who writes fiction, poetry, screenplays, and nonfiction, how do you decide which genre is the best for expressing what you want to write about a particular idea or topic?

I usually write my newest idea as a screenplay first. I find it helps me discipline myself, forcing me to focus on dialogue and then the setting and then the interaction of the two. Screenplay formatting helps me to relate to each character more uniquely. Why would a person like this character be in such a place? Why do they use a particular dialect? What does the dialogue show about one's education, as well as the parts of the country they were raised in and/or parts of the world? All my writings include characters with mental health issues, so I use dialogue to reflect this. Screenplays take the place of an outline for me. However, I have consciously not used the screenplay format in two of my ten novels. For these two books I also stayed away from using an outline. I wanted the stories to develop organically--letting them come alive and follow their own leads and internal logic. I have found both ways useful at different times.

In all endeavors I strive to break down barriers to reach people who may not agree with me on some highly emotional issues such as homelessness and mental illness. I strongly believe that fiction can tell the emotional truth, which too often eludes non-fiction. Also, people are more willing to read fiction with a more open mind than non-fiction. I try not to become locked into only one approach for writing.

Poetry comes to me on its own. It's an emotional response to something that I read, something I have experienced. Poetry flows naturally. It can't be forced. I have gotten up in the middle of the night to scribe a rough version of a poem. My non-fiction articles usually come to me the same way.

2. In crafting your books, what do you see as the relationship between creative license and social responsibility?

Creative license is not a quick gimmick to evade reality. If one wishes to reach people and influence the times we live in, one must adhere to the truth. Creative license, if used properly, allows a writer to make real a situation in such a way that the reader can relate to it even if they have never experienced it. All writing is an attempt to connect with a reader who has given up the most precious item they possess--free time. In exchange, the writer who respects our social responsibility to something or someone beyond himself or herself needs to use creative imagination to bring a fictional world into the real world. To reflect an emotional truth by using our fictional world that we have created.

3. Would you tell us a little bit about Fractured Angel and what inspired you to write it?

Fractured Angel is the story of a professional woman who comes to Santa Barbara in a desperate search for her fifteen year old daughter, who having suffered her first psychotic break is chased to the streets of Santa Barbara by her wounded mind. In the process, the mother is forced to confront the alien world of the homeless in one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Her journey into this new world exposes the reader to the reality of homelessness in modern day America.

During my years as a social worker for the homeless, some of the most heart-rending experiences were parents who were directed to me to help and find a mentally ill runaway teen or young adult. Faded pictures, some cut in half to protect the identity of family members were all they had to give me to help me search for their loved ones. It didn't matter if they were poor or rich. They all had one thing in common: the parental heartbreak of losing a loved child first to mental illness and then to the streets.

At one time I was told of a homeless woman living in a storm drain. I found that hard to believe since this particular drain was only two and a half feet tall. Parking down the street from the storm drain, I waited and watched. Within minutes the woman in question crawled out. All I could think of was her sleeping in a foul and wretched crawl space amongst rats and flotsam in one of the wealthiest cities in the world. I have lost count of how many of my clients died from starvation and suicides. The incident with the two drug dealers happened. And a hooker did in fact come to my rescue!

Bad life experiences happen to some really good people and profoundly wounded people struggling for existence on the streets, which motivates me to try and help the country see and embrace the new lepers of our times. This tragedy has gone on for too long.

4. What do you find most challenging and what do you find most rewarding about your work with homeless people in Santa Barbara?

The homeless have their own community that is not very welcoming to outsiders. For them to have trusted me, invited me into hidden campsites, and helped me time after time was both humbling and honoring. The mental ill homeless have a grace all their own. Egos are refreshingly lacking with them and a profound spirituality embraces many.

5. When people say to you that they want to help the homeless, what do you reply in the way of concrete suggestions?

Ironically, the most concrete help is a non-material thing. A homeless woman who was a client of mine and would cycle in and out of schizophrenic breaks told me once that how I helped her the most was when she was in her delusional episodes and I would simply smile at her. She told me even though she would be highly delusional and unable to talk, it always brought her comfort and an inner smile. She told me how people would be frightened of her and pretend not to see her. This estrangement from other people was very difficult for her to endure.

A smile costs nothing. A friendly shake of the head, a kind greeting means more than most of us will ever imagine to someone battling mental illness and aloneness. It is tragic, but the absence of humanity towards the mentally ill homeless is the cruelest wound and seemingly the hardest thing for us to give.

Thanks, Ken!