Last week, I spend three days on the road, visiting a client in Guelph, ON. My job was to train a staff of 20+ web publishers, designers, content creators and managers on the things that we at SEOmoz do best - viral marketing, site/content development, usability/design analysis and social media marketing. The training itself was excellent - better than many of the training sessions I've conducted in the past and I want to share the reasons why:

1. A Passionate Audience
   The group I talked to in Guelph was literally excited about learning. For more than 12 hours of intensive search marketing training, the 22 folks in the room hung on every word, asked probing questions and cared intensely about the success of their projects. That kind of commitment comes from inside, but it's also built by corporate structure and management - in recongizing great employees and smart decisions.
2. Specific Goals & Relevant Projects
   Unlike some of the folks I've worked with in the past, the Guelph group could directly apply their training to active sites. This was evident as I'd reveal a specific tactic and see half the group scribble on their notepads, then move on to the next point and see another bunch jot down a URL or idea.
3. Supportive Management
   At one point near the end of our training, the founder and President of the company came in to the room, listened (and participated) during some content brainstorming and announced to his staff that they had complete creative control and freedom to make content decisions on their sites. As we'd run across a site and criticize or make recommendations, the management never told the staff, "no," and continually let their people (and my input) steer decision-making on both general recommendations and specific ideas.

With these components in place, the group was able to take far more advantage of our time together than would have been possible otherwise. In the future, as I travel for training, I'll be attempting to put these pieces into place before my arrival. If you're considering getting training or on-site consulting for SEO (no matter who the consultant might be), let me urge you to do likewise.

That's actually not all I learned. I picked up something small, something that might seem trivial or insignificant - just a quick fact, but, unbelievably, it's had a massive impact on me. While I was in Guelph, I got to spend a few minutes with its most famous (or infamous) SEO resident - Jake Baillie, aka bakedjake (of Guelph-based TrueLocal). Just a quick background on Jake - he attended the first ever SES shows in San Francisco, he's been a contributing member of WebMasterWorld and a speaker at PubCon and the SES series for years. He ran a very successful consulting business (and sites of his own), before stepping into the lead role at TrueLocal, where he manages a large team of programmers, marketers and support staff. Jake's firm has offices in Australia, Canada & the UK and they're rolling out new products as I type.

What did I find out that changed me so significantly? I found out Jake's age. He's 25 (I turned 27 this summer). And, that tiny fact made me realize that I've been holding myself back based on utterly false impressions I've had about what a person could accomplish in a company leadership role at that age. Jake's concrete example is now in my head, lighting the way and showing me that you don't have to be 35 or 40 to manage a big team composed of largely older and more experienced members. Jake works his people hard, he's earned their respect and he doesn't get flak for his youth.

It's not that Jake's an idol or a hero to me, or even that I agree with all of his decisions, but it's a real life example, and in this case, that fit the bill. I've had fears in the past about hiring people older than I am, managing strong personalities or letting the feelings of others dictate my decisions. It's been a weakness for many years (and probably one that a lot of young executives have), but I've been feeling more confident and more capable ever since I put that example into my frame of reference. Almost seems a bit (how would the British say it?) "dodgy" to think of what a big difference a little number can make.