In todays interview we are going to be talking with Derek Flanzraich The CEO and Founder of Greatist.Com. He also recently launched Half-Marathon Training Guide so make sure to stop by and show some support. 

Derek’s Biography: Derek Flanzraich is an entrepreneur on a mission to make everyone a “greatist,” someone who simply makes better choices for their fitness, health, and happiness. He is the founder & ceo of Greatist, a social health & fitness startup working to make healthy living cool. Greatist is currently the fastest-growing site in the space, with over 4 million unique visitors per month. 

1. Hi Derek, can you tell my readers and me more about yourself? What do you do in the world of online marketing for anyone who isn’t already familiar? 

Sure, Nancy. I’m the CEO & founder of Greatist, a health and wellness media startup. We’re on a mission to help the world think of health in a healthier way — and at the moment we do that through shareable content that’s not only super high-quality (every fact cited by a scientific study) but also fun and friendly. Launched in early 2011, we now reach well over 4M unique visitors a month.

 2. When and where did you make your first dollar in Internet Marketing?

The consumer health market is lucrative, but has been typified by company’s making money the easy way because it’s easy. We think that’s sad and believe there’s a big opportunity for a consumer-facing brand people can trust and resonate with — and that with that love they’ll trust that brand to point them in the direction of the best stuff out there. That’s how we’ve been able to make money so far, by directing our audience to other trustworthy brands, products, and services.

 3. What strategies are Evergreen and help generating revenue month after month despite what some big search does? 

We’re all about extraordinarily high-quality inbound marketing. That means focusing on quality over quantity and on social sharing versus keyword relevance. We’ve been really successful with that approach.

4. What is your biggest online marketing challenge?

It’s always difficult to rise above the noise, no matter the space. We do our best to stand out by using social media to spread our awesomeness by word-of-mouth, but that can only travel so far! We’re always looking for new ways to reach more people — the more people know about Greatist, the healthier and happier we genuinely believe people will be!

5. What are your top “must follow” Internet marketing blogs?

I’m really curious about basically everything, but find Moz’s blog, Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Land, Marketing Pilgrim, and HubSpot’s blog are must-reads. Also Neil Patel’s Quick Sprout is really great.

 6. How do you communicate your trustworthiness? 

There’s no easy way, but we do it through smart constraints and beautiful design. For us constraints include “every fact cited by a scientific study from PubMed” and “every article approved by multiple experts” if it needs it. Check out the bottom of our articles — we’re not kidding about those things! And, in my opinion, design has never been more important on the web. We’re obsessed with every pixel — and I think it shows!

 7. What is the biggest mistake I can avoid starting out in Internet Marketing? 

The honest answer is I’d avoid “doing what everyone else is doing.” That doesn’t mean there isn’t truth sometimes to what everyone is saying, but I believe profoundly that if you do the same thing everyone else does, you’ll end up in the same place everyone else has.

8. How can we find out what you audience is really looking for?

We ask them! We’re constantly surveying, testing, and more.

9. What is next for Derek, What can we expecting this coming year? 

2014 is definitely a big year for Greatist. We have a great team, great momentum, and a real window of opportunity to make the most of the huge void we see in a consumer health brand people trust.

10. What area of online marketing do you consider yourself an expert in? 

Branding? Content marketing? My honest thought is that no one can really be an “expert” when things are changing at such lightning speed. To me, the only way to learn is by doing. And the only way to avoid mistakes is to make them first. But maybe that’s just me and I need an expert to help me figure it all out!

Thanks for having me!

Thank you Derek for the interview! It’s greatly appreciated. Please feel free to leave a comment below. Make sure to stop at Greatist today and check out the Half-Marathon Training Guide! 

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