Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:10 — 28.5MB)
Most employees talk about leaving the corporate world someday. Amber Goetz didn’t just talk about it, she actually did it. Her path there was anything but typical. Before building her SEO agency, she spent years as a programmer, TV host, and stunt driver, racing cars and motorcycles for commercials and television. Later, she walked away from a secure marketing job to rebuild her own agency on her own terms.
In this episode of Rising Tide Startups, Amber shares why the slow pace and red tape of corporate life finally pushed her back into entrepreneurship. She runs The Active Media, an SEO and web development agency that helps businesses jump from being buried in search results to showing up where customers actually click and call. She explains how AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have changed how people search, why keyword-based pricing no longer works, and how she now builds campaigns around effort, aggressiveness, and real outcomes.
Amber talks about how local service businesses can win against bigger brands by treating their Google Business Profile like a true storefront, and why clear communication and strong boundaries with clients keep her business from feeling like a job again. She also shares what living in southern Utah has taught her about people who actually act on big ideas, and her dream of launching a podcast featuring her clients and writing a book to help women grow their authority online.
Key Takeaways:
- Get clear on what you do best. Naming your core skill and obsessing over it is the first step out of the golden handcuffs.
- Update how you price SEO. Flat keyword packages no longer match how people search, so build offers around time, intensity, and results.
- Let data lead your decisions. Test, measure, and adjust campaigns based on performance instead of guessing what should work.
- Treat Google Business Profile like your storefront. Local businesses that keep it active and complete can outrank much bigger companies.
- Protect your boundaries. Saying no to clients who ignore your time and process keeps entrepreneurship from feeling like another corporate job.
- Define your ideal client early. Knowing exactly who you want on the other end of the phone shapes your messaging, pricing, and red flags.
Listen to the full conversation here:
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@risingtidestartups
- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-tide-startups/id1330525474
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eq7unl70TRPsBhjLEsNZR
Connect with Amber:
- The Active Media: theactivemedia.com
- Goetz Go: goetzgo.com
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