Attorney at Law Magazine sat down with Asher Elran, the founder of Dynamic Search, to discuss his career path and the legal marketing business he has developed since 2006 along with the challenges he’s faced and the lessons he’s learned.
AALM: What first drew you to the marketing field? Tell us about your journey to this industry.
AE: Long before I even started calling myself a marketer, circumstances handed me the opportunity to utilize my technical skills as a practical software engineer helping businesses with anything web. It was more volunteer work than anything and included software / hardware support, development, web marketing, and really whatever came my way. Bit by bit, and for long enough, at some point I realized that my work had a significant impact providing a competitive edge to the businesses I helped. Fast forward a few years, at the age of 28, I sold a small company and rolled the profit into the next one, which is today Dynamic Search (AKA WebDS.com).
AALM: Tell us about some of your experience in the industry and your decision to start your own business and the goals you had when launching.
AE: I entered the Martech industry amidst recovery and a steep incline after the DotCom bubble burst. At that time everything was super dynamic, which I know was difficult for many. During this time, I decided to embrace the challenge, open a company, and recruit help to stay current while continuing to grow at the pace dictated by the industry I’m in. My goal was simply surviving, and what kept me going is the passion for what I do. It helped ease the hardships and brought even more opportunities my way resulting in continuous growth.
AALM: Tell us about some of your business mentors and the best lessons they taught you.
AE: There are many amazing people I’ve learned from over the years, but three really stand out because I continue to follow their teachings to this day. The first is Tony Robbins. I particularly like his mastery class about the power of knowledge. When one deeply understands and embraces it, they can become a subject matter expert for someone or many, which can then evolve into a successful business. My second mentor is Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the book Outliers. He’s one of my favorite authors, and if you haven’t read his work, I highly recommend it. From him, I learned to recognize and seize opportunities, as they are always present. Last but not least is Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz, who taught me that mastering user psychology always results in better returns. Rand spent years dissecting the Google algorithm and explaining the user / machine connection.
AALM: Tell us about some of your most impactful client relationships. How did they shape your business and your services or your approach to marketing?
AE: Working with larger companies like Cisco, Stateman Group, Saltworks, and others has helped shape our own culture and how we handle business. Catering to corporate America raises the bar and has inspired us to aim even higher in terms of the quality of customer service and, of course, results for our clients. Over the years, due to the relationships we have cultivated along the way, our focus has shifted to high CPC competitive niches and as a result of that we almost exclusively worked with legal firms.
AALM: How has your business (or businesses) evolved since you launched them?
AE: Since Dynamic Search opened its doors for business in 2006, we worked on various projects, including Ignitur – a task management platform for marketers (sunsetted in 2014), PPC.me – offering white glove PPC management services for lawyers, adAlert.io – a paid ads alert system, and several other smaller projects. While not every project was a success, each provided valuable experience, insights, and contributed to our growth as industry contributors through research and innovation.
AALM: How has technology forced or guided your businesses changes? What changes do you see ahead?
AE: In our realm, if you don’t adapt, you disappear. Technology has shaped the entire worldwide web, making it a much friendlier and stronger place to interact and collaborate. We are no exception, and we happily followed this trend. Although we are at an early stage, we are making giant strides toward a future filled with AI that will impact almost every aspect of our lives. Some say that AI is bigger than the invention of the Internet, and my suggestion to every business owner is to research and understand how AI is going to affect the services they provide and how to harness AI to their benefit.
AALM: How do you strive to stay current in marketing and what tips do you have for attorneys to stay up-to-date on the latest trends?
AE: Networking events, niche websites, and internal research all serve different purposes, but together they keep us up to date with everything in Martech. A great resource for consuming important industry updates is our WebMAX1 elite club – a monthly newsletter featuring micro-read content on the best marketing finds to maximize online visibility.
AALM: You wrote your book Unlocking PPC. Any plans for another book?
AE: “Unlocking PPC” is the third version of the original title “Secret AdWords Hacks” – the name change resulted from Google changing its own platform name from AdWords to Google Ads. Currently, there are no plans to write another book, but we may continue enhancing the current one as we find new ways and discoveries that will provide more value to our readers.
AALM: What plans do you have for the future? What’s your next goal or milestone?
AE: We are continuously working to incorporate AI into our PPC analysis process and are also working on adAlert.io, which will hopefully become a tool that can be utilized by PPC agencies worldwide.
AALM: Tell us a little bit about yourself outside the office.
AE: Every moment I have available outside the office, I spend with my boys and my wife. We love camping and being connected to the outdoors, including our Sunday sports day when we practice baseball – we are Diamondbacks fans! I enjoy working with my hands, mostly carpentry, which I find therapeutic. I love my job and the challenges it brings, keeping me entertained and sharp. 😊
