1. What’s the quick origin story of your brand, and what makes your product or positioning genuinely different from other options in your niche?

Chris M Walker: Chris M Walker built his first version of Legiit after seeing a gap that most entrepreneurs and freelancers quietly struggled with. Freelancers needed a place where their work could stand on its own merit rather than being buried under overcrowded marketplaces. Businesses needed reliable talent they could trust without sorting through inflated ratings or unclear service scopes.

Legiit started as a simple solution to that frustration. Chris created a marketplace where transparency, accountability and results mattered more than volume. His background in SEO, digital entrepreneurship and community building shaped the platform into something that operates with practical standards instead of vague marketplace promises.

What makes Legiit different is its focus on real performance data and expert driven guidance. The platform was built by someone who uses these services daily inside his own agency work. Instead of generic categories and commoditized listings, Legiit is structured around measurable outcomes, strong internal quality control and tools that help both sides make better decisions. It is a place designed by a practitioner who understands exactly what businesses need to grow and what freelancers need to succeed.

2. Since launch, what have been the 1–2 real turning points for your brand-specific decisions, pivots, or experiments that noticeably changed your growth or profitability-and what did you learn from them?

Chris M Walker: One of the earliest turning points came when Chris shifted Legiit from a broad marketplace idea into a platform built around verified expertise. In the early days many marketplaces focused on volume. Chris realized real growth would come from trust. He invested heavily in internal review standards, manual service checks, and better communication systems for both buyers and freelancers. That single decision improved customer satisfaction and retention almost immediately. It also taught the team that responsible curation scales better than unchecked growth.

The second major shift happened when Legiit expanded beyond being a simple marketplace and began integrating data driven tools that help users make smarter decisions. Chris introduced practical tools for SEO and business planning inside Legiit because he knew freelancers and businesses needed more than listings. They needed clarity. Engagement increased, repeat usage jumped, and profitability improved because the platform became a place people could depend on for long term strategy, not just transactions. The lesson was straightforward. When you give people the information and structure they need to make confident choices, they stay with you.

3. Which 2-3 channels drive most of your revenue right now (for example SEO, paid social, email, marketplaces, influencers), and what have you learned about making those channels work in your category?

Chris M Walker: The strongest revenue channel continues to be organic search. Chris built Legiit with an SEO first mindset, and that approach still drives the most consistent growth. What works in this category is simple. Provide clear intent based content, make every page genuinely helpful, and keep the technical structure clean. The biggest lesson is that organic search rewards platforms that solve real problems, not ones that chase trends.

The second major channel is email. Chris treats email as a relationship channel rather than a broadcast tool. Targeted segmentation, honest updates, and practical guidance outperform flashy campaigns every time. The lesson here is that people respond when they feel understood. When the message respects their goals, email becomes one of the most reliable revenue drivers.

A third important contributor is the internal Legiit marketplace activity itself. Chris learned early on that community driven ecosystems grow fastest when users trust the environment. By investing in transparent communication and service quality, marketplace engagement became a sustainable revenue engine rather than a volatile one.

4. How are you thinking about search in 2025 – Google, AI assistants like ChatGPT, and other discovery platforms? What, if anything, have you changed in your content or site to stay visible as AI search grows?

Chris M Walker: Chris sees search in the period from 2025 to 2026 as a blended discovery environment where Google, AI assistants, and platform specific engines each influence a different stage of user intent. Traditional search still matters for people who want depth and verification. AI assistants now guide the first stage of exploration by giving quick context and summarizing choices. Discovery platforms like YouTube and social search shape awareness long before someone reaches a website.

To stay visible as AI driven search expands, Chris adjusted content in two specific ways. First, he shifted from long individual topic pages to structured clusters that clearly explain expertise and relationships between concepts. This gives AI systems clean information to pull from and reduces ambiguity. Second, the site now focuses heavily on first party data signals such as clear service outcomes, transparent performance metrics, and tool usage patterns. These elements help both AI systems and human users understand Legiit as a trusted authority rather than just a marketplace.

The core belief is straightforward. AI search rewards clarity, authority, and real experience. When you publish information that can be verified and understood by both humans and models, you remain visible even as the discovery landscape evolves.

5. What do you do to turn first‑time buyers into repeat customers and advocates? Are there specific experiences, content, or community touches that work especially well for you?

Chris M Walker: Chris focuses on two principles to turn new buyers into long term customers. The first is clarity. Every new user should know exactly what to do next and what result they can expect. This removes friction and creates early wins, which is the strongest path to repeat behavior.

The second principle is genuine community connection. Legiit has an active environment where users feel seen and supported. Clear communication, fast issue resolution, and practical guidance build trust faster than discounts or promotions. People return when the experience feels reliable and respectful.

Content plays a major role as well. Short educational pieces, transparent service walk throughs, and practical tips help users improve their own results. When customers learn something useful, they associate the platform with progress. That creates advocates naturally.

The strongest driver is community presence. Chris stays deeply involved in the SuperstarSEO Facebook Group, which has more than one million members, and he listens to users daily. When people see the founder showing up consistently, they stay engaged and often bring others with them.

6. If you had to write a short playbook for an ecommerce founder one stage behind you, what would you double down on over the next 12 months – and what would you stop doing entirely?

Chris M Walker: Chris would tell an ecommerce founder to double down on three fundamentals. First, build a reliable source of owned traffic. Email remains the most stable channel because you control the audience and the message. Second, invest in product level clarity. Customers convert when they understand the exact outcome your offer delivers. Third, track real performance metrics instead of vanity numbers. Focus on repeat purchase behavior, customer lifetime value, and actual profit. These are the indicators that keep a business predictable.

What he would stop completely is chasing every new trend that appears in the ecommerce space. The constant shift toward new platforms, hacks, and shortcuts drains focus and hides problems that need real solutions. He would also stop relying on untested third party data. When you depend on signals you cannot verify, you make decisions that weaken long term stability.

The simple playbook is this. Build the audience you own. Measure the metrics that matter. Remove the distractions that add noise but not revenue.