Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog

Kris Jones – Chairman of Internet Marketing Ninjas

Last night we put out a press release that Kris Jones has joined Internet Marketing Ninjas as Chairman.

There are some things in official press releases that aren’t said…and I’d like to say a few of those things here.

I’ve known Kris for years, and I always had a lot of respect for his company (PepperJam) which he built up into something “Great”, and later sold for some ungodly sum of $ (I honestly don’t know exactly how much he sold it for, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were for more  than any other internet marketing company has ever sold for).

FYI, selling my business in not in my plans…but growing the company, and having something that will thrive in this market, is in my plans. In fact, we have a few more big things going on that we’ll be announcing over the coming weeks….but anyways…

Kris and I both started our internet marketing companies back in 1999, and we would always see each other over the years at all the internet marketing conferences. I watched Kris grow Pepperjam from something “small”, to something “really big”.  In 2008 I visited the Pepperjam office for the day, and was amazed at the growth they were experiencing…I was watching them blow through walls, taking over their entire floor with people….it was awe inspiring to me. I watched Kris’s company grow from 60 employees to 140 employees over a very short amount of time, as he watched his sales go from around 15m to 30m during this time. Pepperjam was even listed by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the USA for the years 2006, 2007, and 2008. There are even more awards and achievements and such that Kris has won..but anyways…

In 2009 Kris Jones sold Pepperjam to GSI, and later GSI sold to Ebay.

Kris also wrote the book on Internet Marketing, called “Search Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint to Effective Internet Marketing” which has been for many years the biggest selling search engine marketing book. FYI, the third edition will be coming out probably in early 2013, and I’ll be writing the intro as well to Kris’s book.

After Kris sold PepperJam, he would occasionally consult with our company…but, we have some really big plans in our future…and I felt I really could use a lot more of Kris’s knowledge, experience, and feedback…so we worked out an arrangement, and here we are now… Kris wearing a Ninja Shirt and helping to take us into a brave new world of the future of Internet Marketing Ninjas.

I’ve been in this industry for almost 14 years, and during this time I’ve met a lot of really smart people in this industry….but I’ve always held Kris in a special class…he has skills, practices, experiences, and disciplines …and in many of those areas, his practice of those skills exceed mine, and every other person I’ve met in this industry. And he’s one hell of a wise person…he’s an “A” person, if ever there were a definition….he understands my industry…he understands my business…and he understands what I’m working on building for the future of our internet marketing company…and with Kris’s help…and with the help of all my other wonderful ninjas, we’re going to grow into something really special, and something much bigger than what we are today. I’m so excited…big things going on here 😉

It’s great when you can surround yourself with people smarter than you…and I feel Kris Jones is one of those “smarter guys” who is surrounding me now.

Welcome aboard Kris,
It’s a pleasure, it’s an honor…and I’m Feeling Lucky,
Jim Boykin

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13 Responses

  1. Jim,

    I’m deeply honored and touched by your words and I’m stoked to be part of your Ninja team!!!

    I’ve always considered Jim Boykin one of the Godfathers of SEO and it’s been an honor to consider Jim a friend over all these years. The primary reason I’ve joined IMN as Chairman is because I respect Jim and the impact his vision has made on our industry. Jim is a leading thought shaper, industry mover, and icon.

    I’ve also had the honor to get to know Jim’s team and they include some of the most talented and good looking (reminds me of Pepperjam) 🙂 subject matter Ninjas I’ve ever met.

    When I think of Jim I think of other fellow friends that I deeply respect like Bruce Clay, Rand Fiskin, Greg Boser, Dave Naylor, Wil Reynolds, Marcus Tandler, Bob Rains (and several others) that have defined the industry we call Search Engine Optimization. It’s actually pretty extraordinary that while we’ve all been in the “same” business all these years we’ve assisted each other in various ways to help each other’s businesses grow and prosper. Again, I’m deeply honored to work with Jim to help him build a world class internet marketing and technology company.

    There is definitely a lot of experience I intend to bring to the table to add considerable value to what Jim in attempting to accomplish with IMN. For instance, I’ve had considerable experience in the “M&A” space (both sides) and I intend to bring that experience to IMN to significantly increase the value of the company. Moreover, I’ve had the opportunity to build relationships with large global (well funded) businesses and intend to help IMN expand globally. For instance, we are currently about to engage with a large, well funded Chinese company that is the #1 market leader in their respective industry. SEO on Baidu anyone!!! I’m also really excited to work with Jim on executive recruitment and retainment, among other things. Note that Jim and his team are the SEO SME’s……..I’m merely a strategic adviser.

    If you know me personally you know that I’ll also be on deck to provide one on one personal and professional development coaching to whoever on the IMN wants it. As a 5-time “fire walker” and person who deeply cares about supporting individual talents and abilities…I’m hoping that my involvement at IMN inspires at least one person to dig deeper, leap further, work smarter, and have a shit load of fun in the process!

    Here’s to celebrating many victories with my dear friend Jim Boykin and his fellow Internet Marketing Ninjas!

    Kris

  3. Very interesting article. This article really is a worth sharing… I am jackson, working for needle marketing. My hobby is to read the internet marketing blogs and learning new things…

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