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As someone who has been doing SEO for about 6 years, but who just recently left his job to do it full-time on his own, I would like to share with you some of the keys to my success that has gotten me to where I am today. I realize that each individual may experience different situations than myself, but the concepts are similar and still helpful.
1. Get the Results
In order for you to promote yourself and get people to trust you, they need to know that you can deliver! Hopefully, at this point you have your own websites on the side that you have generated rankings for…use those as your examples when sending out your credibility email to potential clients. I found, in the very beginning, even showing clients that I ranked websites for long-tail words, they still seemed impressed. There’s a couple things you can do here to quickly build some credibility:
- Do some pro bono work - Don’t have any clients yet? Offer to optimize and market someone’s site for free. Local companies are perfect for this! You can easily get a local shop ranked for their specific keywords and spend very little capital and/or time in doing so.
- Trade - One of my personal favorites! Find local companies that offer services and/or products that you are interested in and pitch the idea of doing SEO for trade. My wife loves massages, so we found a local day spa in the area and helped them get ranked for their locally-related keywords. It worked out great for the both of us (especially my wife). I’ve also been offered trade for family portraits, karate lessons, gym memberships and more…easy to do and a double-benefit for you.
- Promote a Friend or Co-Workers Blog - In this time of social marketing, it’s simple to help out a friend with their individual website or blog. BOTW’s blog directory is still cheap and highly effective, as well as other high-quality directories that you can post to for free or for a minimal price. You help out a friend as well as yourself with experience and further credibility.
