For active members of the V7N Forums, the announcement that I’ve stepped away from V7N’s daily operations is not new news. For several months now I’ve been less and less active.

Adam Smith, a friend I knew in Seattle who lives with his wife and children here in Tokyo, has taken over day-to-day operations. He effectively runs our Contextual Links service, and our customers give him rave reviews.

Reiko still handles the office and taxes and all those mundane things.

As for me, I must admit that SEO no longer holds my attention. That does sound like a horrible thing to say after the kindness the SEO industry has shown me, and the lifestyle it has afforded me, and the relationships which resulted from my participation in this industry. But the fact remains that SEO simply doesn’t interest me. At this point in life I’d be more interested in reading a user guide to a microwave oven than a Google patent.

Making money is good, and SEO does that. The Internet remains the easiest place to advertise and the largest market there is. But in the end, what does it matter?

For the past several months, I’ve been in “back to school” mode. At my age, going back to school is certainly not the norm. But the political issues we still face today interest me, and I’ve always believed that people do the best at what interests them. No, I’m not going into politics. But I do want to understand the issues, and see if I can’t add my voice to the chorus of voices that is required in a democracy.

What does the future hold for V7N? I really don’t know. I’ve considered selling. I still do consider selling. But for now, there will be no major changes. Adam and Reiko are running things nicely and it leaves me plenty of time to read and study.

If I do sell V7N, it will be with stipulations that protect the interests of our customers. So, in other words, no worries.

And thanks to all the fine folks in the SEO industry who’ve made it such an intriguing and human industry.