Forget Guest Posting and Think About Guest HOSTING in 2025

0:00Crystal WaddellHey friend, welcome back to the simple and smart SEO show podcast. I'm your host, Crystal Waddell. Today's episode is again, going to be just a little bit different.

0:08Primarily because I thought it might be good to just talk about what we're not proud of that. We don't talk about a lot.

0:14I wanted to take a moment to share something personal with all of you.

0:17So lately life has been throwing me some challenges. My dad has been dealing with some health issues.

0:24And my husband has as well, because I don't, I'm not sure if I mentioned it in a previous episode, but.

0:30A few months ago, he hurt himself trying to close the garage door.

0:35Which was broken during one of the previous tropical storms that hit North Carolina, not Helene or the hurricane that just hit Western North Carolina.

0:45But one about a couple of months ago. And he, something happened with the garage door and it fell and it tore his bicep.

0:52So he had surgery. He was recovering. We're about halfway through the recovery.

0:57And then at school, where he is a special needs PE teacher and probably the best pE teacher in the nation, I would say.

1:04Not just my city, not just my state, but the entire nation. Jon is an amazing PE teacher.

1:09He's one of those guys who's just made to be a PE teacher.

1:12But unfortunately he was helping a student in one of his classes and the student sagged against his arm. And then retore his bicep. Or at least we think he retores bicep.

1:22Last time he was hurt, he had the MRI and the surgery within a week and a day of his injury.

1:29And this time it's been almost a month and he still hasn't had the MRI. So it's been a little bit messy.

1:36I went home to Kansas where my father is to, just be with him as he was recovering from his surgery.

1:42And it's just been a crazy time. And as I was. I was traveling back to Kansas. I made like the cardinal sin of scheduling meetings. Okay.

1:51So when, first of all, when you're dealing with a personal crisis, don't schedule meetings.

1:55Okay. Especially with new people. Because, things are just a little bit jumbled in your mind.

2:00And unfortunately, For whatever reason, I thought, Oh, you know what? I will just work from home in Kansas.

2:06And my priority was to be there with my dad, but I was like, you know what? In the couple hours in the morning, I can get some work done.

2:11No big deal. So I then rethought that position and rescheduled my podcast interviews. Cause I was like, you know what? Actually, it's probably not a good idea, especially since I was traveling on podcast day. So I rescheduled my podcast interviews.

2:23And I rescheduled them for like Wednesday and Thursday of that week or whatever.

2:27And then I realized that I had a meeting that my calendar allowed someone to schedule a meeting with me, a new client. And it was on Tuesday, the day it was flying out.

2:38So I look like the total mess I was.

2:40Telling this person, Hey, I've got to reschedule with you. I'm flying out dah. And she's very gracious.

2:44She's I totally get it, whatever. We're going to meet in a couple of days. So I get to Kansas and I, I'm with my family and, having a good time.

2:53I meet with my SEO squad, everything's going fine. Then when it comes time to meet with the new client, I forget that I'm in a different time zone.

3:01Oh, wait, let's see what happens first. Okay. So it's time to meet with the new client and my The MacBook Pro that I typically use would not turn on. So thankfully I have a backup MacBook Pro.

3:11So I turned that one on, but it hadn't been turned on since June. And somewhere in the middle of using a laptop that hadn't been updated forever, I missed that meeting yet again.

3:23So obviously this new person was not happy with me. And she had a very, valid point.

3:29She was very direct and very, professional. And, she just said, at this time, she just wanted to decline working with me as a new member of my SEO squad.

3:37As I was emailing her back, I thought, I even wrote, I'm like, I absolutely understand why you're saying this.

3:42And I just feel terrible that I couldn't give you the customer service that I would want to give someone.

3:47I tell you this to let you know that, sometimes you have to take a step back.

3:52And I don't know how many times I have to learn this lesson, it's I think, oh, I've got it. I can do everything.

3:57And because I do a lot of things pretty well, most of the time.

4:02I forget that there's certain times where my capacity, my emotional and mental capacity is to the point where nothing else can or should be added.

4:13And one thing I've realized over the years, it's not about what your intentions are.

4:18You could have the most, genuine Intentions in the world of being the best version of yourself.

4:25But when you're not the best version of yourself.

4:28The intentions don't matter what matters are your actions? and so you know again like i'm a big fan of self reflection.

4:36And reflecting on this, it just reminded me like hello, Crystal.

4:39You've got to learn this lesson for the last time, right?

4:42That sometimes you have to recognize when you're at that capacity.

4:46And so because of that, it made me start thinking about the future because, with Jon, getting ready to go through the surgery again, go through the recovery again.

4:54With my dad continuing to go through his treatment, I want to make myself available to them and not feel like it and not feel that torn feeling that you get sometimes.

5:06Like I remember having it at my day job where it was like, I need to take some time off to deal with this very important personal thing. And it was the worst feeling in the world when you knew that personal thing should absolutely 100 percent be a priority. But yet you are going to have to let someone else down.

5:23Or cause someone else more work because you couldn't be there fully.

5:27So anyway, that whole situation had me thinking, okay, what do I need to do in the future to ensure that I have a buffer between myself and my responsibilities?

5:37And one of the things I thought about was this podcast, because, you know, I love this podcast.

5:42I'm here for it!

5:43As much as I hope you get something out of this podcast, we have had such incredible people on the show, that I get so much out of it every week myself.

5:52But I have to admit, there may be times in the future where it may be difficult to juggle everything. So here's the thing.

5:58I love the community that we've built here, and I don't want the podcast to stop just because life gets complicated.

6:03Not now and not in the future.

6:05So I've been thinking about a way to keep this simple and smart SDO show going strong, if I need to focus on my family in the future.

6:12Which obviously it sounds like I will, and that's where you come in. Over the next few weeks, I'm inviting guest hosts to step in and share their insights.

6:21And whether you're an SEO pro, or a marketing expert, or you have a business growth story to share.

6:28This could be a great opportunity to be a part of the show.

6:31So if you're interested or know someone who might be, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.

6:36Or you could email me at hello at simple and smart seo. com.

6:40Pitch me your idea or over on social media. I'm simple and smart SEO on pretty much every platform.

6:47You can always find me at knowledge vomit as well.

6:49The more I think about it, the more I'm like, this could be a really cool idea. The more conversations the better. So I'm really excited to see the new perspectives and conversations we could bring to this community together.

7:02And thank you so much for your support and understanding.

7:05As of now, I don't anticipate anything changing with the podcast weekly episodes.

7:11I just wanted to take this week to give you an update on what's going on.

7:14And what I'm thinking about for the future.

7:16But I do have several really amazing guest interviews already recorded. So those will be released, as usual. And then of course I will be returning to follow through Fridays, just as. I have the time availability.

7:29So, anyway. Thank you for listening.

7:31Thanks for, just giving me a chance to stop for a second and reflect because it's just so important.

7:37We're entering Q4 and this year has gone by so fast. It feels like every year goes by faster and I just wanted to just stop, take a breath and hopefully, empower you to take a breath as well.

7:49Because as much as we want to come across, like we have everything together, the fact is, there's going to be times where we just can't show up as our best self and that's okay.

7:59What's important, as Venus Williams would say is that we fail differently next time.

8:04And we learn from the failures that we've experienced.

8:07So that's all for today and I can't wait to hear from you and what you think of this idea.

8:12Even if you don't want to be a guest host on the show.

8:15And yeah until next time keep moving forward