Well, I think much of that depends on the standard of living you wish to achieve. There are thousands of people that work for less than $5/hour and "make a living" in their country. What are your goals?

It's the same with starting any business, you're going to have to take advantage of your personal strong suits

1) Get decent at SEO, come up with or mimic some strategies and incorporate your own twists into it. Stick with something simple that works. Consistent link building is usually a must.

2) Start a company, begin small, maybe a sole proprietorship.

3) Make a website for yourself advertising your services. You may need to showcase some previous examples.

4) Advertise locally on a classifieds site Craigslist to get clients.

5) Create paperwork for contracts, invoices, research reports (keyword and competitor analysis for example), list of services incl. pricepoints, etc.

This is more or less what I've just begun doing. I've got some dirty tricks up my sleeve though, because I'm a programmer, designer and a hell of a captivating writer (:

I made a fortune off SEO, how it's more of an asset for me paying my day to day bills - the scape has changed. I just put my content locking technology on my webpages and the earnings are WAY up in comparison to AdSense / Banner / Popup exchanges. Here is more info about my website empire: Niche Website Development | Eagle Web Assets

I know of several local seo/sem companies near me and they are BIG dollar enterprises. Marketing, sales, and engineer staffs are all involved. Yes, people are making a living off of it and more

Yeah, many many people make a living doing SEO. I know of at least 2 agencies in my town that are currently hiring SEO folks for a decent salary. If you would rather let someone else worry about management and you just want to get your check at the end of the week, that is a viable way to go.

Fair warning - ppl from CL don't pay squat. However, it's a great place to start.

Same way you make a living off of any skill Get really good. Prove you are good and sell your services to people willing to pay.

Try testing out your pitch, skills and metrics to your inner circle so you can get polished and become well-versed at fielding (appropriately answering) their questions and getting them real results. Then, when you feel you are really ready, take it on the road.

Then again, there are 2 different sources of living from SEO. SEO'ing your own site for your own products, affiliate sales or whatever, or having clients pay you to SEO their site.

you can start a seo consulting business

I would recommend getting some professional experience as an employee, before you start your own business... Maybe that is just me :-)

Yes my friend it is possible to make a living off seo. If you are an seo expert and can truly deliver, many firms out there will be more than happy to pay you big bucks. You can also create your own websites and use your seo skills to make money. seo is still rocking!

Find a product, build a site, SEO it and you will make a living