Received an interesting email response...

NB,

I think can actually give you a pretty thoughtful perspective on this type of thing. My early efforts as a solo entrepreneur were as as a freelance business and technical writer targeting corporations. That branched off into some internet marketing services for clients also. I eventually followed my passion for health and fitness, started my own blog, got a book published, etc., etc. in large part because I couldn't stand dealing with the types of emails you received.

I'm very much not a corporate type, which was part of my problem, but I found that serving corporate clients meant a lot of replies like the one you got and even worse stuff once I got the clients/contract and had to navigate their organization and deal with the internal politics. It's really what drove me to go 100% into blogging and take full creative control of my content.

There are a lot of people who work for companies at the higher levels who are stressed out of their minds as the economy changes and have no idea what to do about it or what all the "technology stuff" is even all about. They have very limited understanding and everything they do comes from that group think "for the record, 'professional' means that you have a certification designation e.g. PhD., Dr., MBA tied with a legal designation (certificate to operate e.g. a 'therapist/counselor') in your field of expertise" paradigm.

These people are dinosaurs and they just can't get their head around the idea that the world is changing so fast, by the time there was a "PhD in SEO" program even approved by a major university, the curriculum would be obsolete. They're stuck in an obsolete world view and will never change. If they're old enough and have achieved enough success in the old economy, they can still pretend they know what they're talking about and be OK financially though. What scares these people most is that a kid working off a laptop from Starbucks can rock the world without "climbing the corporate ladder" or slaving away for years and years in college and taking on a mountain of debt.

It's also my experience that people who write replies like that are a million times worse to work for. I worked as a freelancer for a university and it was an incredible nightmare. Some corporate cultures just thrive on that kind of negativity and probably everyone he works with communicates like that on a daily basis. Those are old economy environments and they thrive on fear and negativity.

One suggestion I'd make is to check out "Book Yourself Solid" by Michael Port. I worked with Michael one on one and in a group online intensive program back before he was as big as he is now. His system is designed around marketing yourself in such a was as to allow yourself to be found and approached by prospective clients. It's kind of an "Inbound Marketing" approach for service professionals. Very good stuff and it led to my current level of success - virtually all of which was achieved by a lot of back end work on my part, but with people ultimately coming to me as opposed to me chasing and cold calling or showing up with an "empty cup" in need of help or clients, etc.

And, to everyone's point about how your own site ranks, etc., etc. there is some validity, but I don't totally agree. I turned into an out of shape fat ass while writing my book - about diet, health and fitness. Too much pressure and too many aggressive deadlines and I had to focus on the book. Now I'm more balanced, but if you had a video camera on me during the final few months of editing I would not have been the model of health, wellness and low stress.

Back to Michael Port and BYS, you do need SOME credibility indicators. Testimonials from clients and at least CLIENT sites that rock for designated keywords. If you're too new to have a lot of client work to point to then you SHOULD have a site that ranks well for certain keywords.

The last bit I'll give you here is that you're always growing - or should be - even if your site isn't as good as it can be, your sales funnel receives replies like the above, your experience isn't where it could be, etc., etc. it's OK. I still suck at A LOT of things. As long as you keep improving you're doing fine. Think about what you can change or improve and keep growing.

Adam