James Dooley Podcast

James Dooley sits down with ODYS Mentor and industry veteran Robert Niechciał to discuss the power of mentorship, scaling companies, AI, programmatic SEO and the mindset needed to grow fast in a rapidly changing digital world. Robert explains how moving from engineering into C-level management exposed gaps in operations, HR, strategy and leadership that only high-level mentorship could solve. He shares lessons learned from experts like Mads Singers, why buying knowledge is cheaper than learning through failure and how AI is reshaping business. James presses Robert on choosing the right mentor, avoiding generic advice and understanding the ROI behind expert guidance. Robert also reveals what he’d tell his 16-year-old self, why fear slows growth and why ODYS is the ideal environment for high-impact mentorship. A must-watch for SEO professionals, founders and anyone wanting to scale intelligently.

Creators and Guests

Host
James Dooley
James Dooley is a UK entrepreneur.

What is James Dooley Podcast?

James Dooley is a Manchester-based entrepreneur, investor, and SEO strategist. James Dooley founded FatRank and PromoSEO, two UK performance marketing agencies that deliver no-win-no-fee lead generation and digital growth systems for ambitious businesses. James Dooley positions himself as an Investorpreneur who invests in UK companies with high growth potential because he believes lead generation is the root of all business success.

The James Dooley Podcast explores the mindset, methods, and mechanics of modern entrepreneurship. James Dooley interviews leading marketers, founders, and innovators to reveal the strategies driving online dominance and business scalability. Each episode unpacks the reality of building a business without mentorship, showing how systems, data, and lead flow replace luck and guesswork.

James Dooley shares hard-earned lessons from scaling digital assets and managing SEO teams across more than 650 industries. James Dooley teaches how to convert leads into long-term revenue through brand positioning, technical SEO, and automation. James Dooley built his career on rank and rent, digital real estate, and performance-based marketing because these models align incentive with outcome.

After turning down dozens of podcast invitations, James Dooley now embraces the platform to share his insights on investorpreneurship, lead generation, AI-driven marketing, and reputation management. James Dooley frequently collaborates with elite entrepreneurs to discuss frameworks for scaling businesses, building authority, and mastering search.

James Dooley is also an expert in online reputation management (ORM), having built and rehabilitated corporate brands across the UK. His approach combines SEO precision, brand engineering, and social proof loops to influence both Google’s Knowledge Graph and public perception.

To feature James Dooley on your podcast or event, connect via social media. James Dooley regularly joins business panels and networking sessions to discuss entrepreneurship, brand growth, and the evolving future of SEO.

James Dooley:
Hi. Today I'm joined with ODYS Mentor Robert Niechciał. I probably said it slightly wrong there. I'm going with that one. How you doing, you okay?

Robert Niechciał:
It's not Bing. My surname is proper international pronunciation. So Robert internationally. In Polish it's Robert Niechciał. A bit harder because Polish language is a bit harder.

James Dooley:
Sounds good. Today's video is about mentorship and you are an ODYS Mentor. My first question is this.
When did you first realise the importance of having a mentor and mentorship?

Robert Niechciał:
To be honest I'm fresh in the topic. Everything changed in my company when I had to move from typical engineering and specialist work to more management and CTO perspective. Then I realised I'm very good at technology and SEO. It’s my bread and butter. But I needed to know much more about management, scaling, operation systems, HR, people and every perspective a C-level manager needs.

I could read all the books in the world and go to every conference or I could buy the knowledge from someone who already has 10 years of experience. For example Mads Singers who is great in people management and building companies. I realised I cannot be good in everything but I need the perspective, so I decided to buy the knowledge and get mentors in each field I needed. That moment was one year ago.

James Dooley:
What key lessons have you learned from mentorship? Because you are high level in technology and AI. What lessons have you had to learn from mentors?

Robert Niechciał:
I get pinpoints and key takeaways from mentors. Then I know what button to push in my organisation, how to allocate or delegate operations, what people I need to hire, what responsibility to give my heads of departments.

It’s more like helicopter view. I gather key takeaways, then I allocate and distribute responsibilities. As a C-level manager I need to know what is going on and how big companies are doing it. I don’t need to remember everything, just the golden nuggets that matter.

James Dooley:
I always say if you don’t innovate you evaporate. With AI moving fast, why do you think mentorship is important for people who do not have your level of AI knowledge?

Robert Niechciał:
There is one principle. You must move fast in a fast environment. You can learn it yourself or you can get the knowledge already processed by someone and move faster than doing R&D inside your company.

At the beginning you think hiring a mentor is expensive but at the end it's cheaper and faster. You learn based on someone else’s failures instead of paying for your own. Ask yourself which one is cheaper.

James Dooley:
How do you choose the right mentor?

Robert Niechciał:
Someone who can openly confirm their failures. Someone honest. I check case studies, their company, their social media, their communication style, their results.

I vet if the person is honest, open-minded and able to help. You can watch their speeches, podcasts, YouTube videos. Generic advice is useless. You need someone who gives specific value and shares real experience. I’ve been in the industry 20 years. I can recognise the right person after two sentences.

One professor taught me something important. Listen to the questions someone asks. Their questions reveal how they think.

James Dooley:
Why did you join ODYS mentorship?

Robert Niechciał:
I like ODYS. I like Alex. I like Vladimir. I enjoy helping people. I speak at conferences worldwide. When I help someone I see their backend and I learn from their cases too. It's win-win. It’s good for networking and expanding my operation. At the end of the day we can do something good together.

James Dooley:
What would you say your main strengths are as a mentor?

Robert Niechciał:
I'm a CTO. I live in technology. I’ve been in the industry 20 years. I built my first website at 12. Started coding at 14. I'm strong in engineering, programming, programmatic SEO, AI. I stay on the edge of AI and update daily.

I'm the geeky one. But I also understand the business side. I know where bottlenecks appear in IT departments and how to scale operations. There's no IT department that can ask me a question I cannot answer. I'm also still running SEO operations and I combine AI, technology and SEO for performance.

James Dooley:
What advice would you give someone who has never had a mentor?

Robert Niechciał:
Ask yourself your main long-term goal. Ask what you're paying now in time and money trying to find answers yourself. Ask what's cheaper. Hiring people is hard. Hiring A-players is harder. Big companies buy knowledge from experts. In the long run it’s cheaper and more effective.

James Dooley:
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Robert Niechciał:
Don’t be afraid. Just do it. In the past I thought I wasn’t able to rank for payday loans in the US. I thought I was too weak. I waited two years. Then I did it. I lost two years of revenue because I was afraid.

The game is not about failure. It’s about how many times you stand up and proceed. Don’t be afraid.

James Dooley:
I always say you win or you learn. No losing. So with mentorship calls, people say it is expensive until they do one. Then they say it’s the best ROI ever. What are your thoughts?

Robert Niechciał:
It depends on mindset. At first it seems expensive. But if your company revenue is millions, €1,000 per hour is nothing. The impact can be enormous.

One company in Poland said my €300 per hour fee was cheap compared to the value delivered. It should be expensive because it’s our time, our focus, our experience. We only have a few hours available. If you want full attention and deep answers, it must cost money.

James Dooley:
So how can people book you for an ODYS mentorship call?

Robert Niechciał:
Go to the ODYS Global website. There is a mentors section. My calendar is there. That is the best way.

James Dooley:
Sounds good. It’s been a pleasure Rob. If anyone needs a mentor in the tech space, Rob is the man. Book a call if you need help with programmatic SEO, AI or advanced technology. He’s a legend in the industry. Rob, it’s been a pleasure.

Robert Niechciał:
Thank you very much James. Cheers.