Who here used to do SEO for companies, then moved away from it?

13 years ago

Hey Rob,

I'm afraid I've done the exact opposite. I used to only do SEO for my own websites, then was offered a few contracts by companies to do work for them.

I'm sure that's not the answer you were looking for, but I suppose I could suggest a few reasons why people would move away from offering SEO services:

- Clients demand results now
- There is too much competition
- Less reputable SEO companies tarnish the image of SEO professionals
- You can often earn more money SEO'ing your own websites, instead of doing it for clients.

I hope that gets the ball rolling

Thanks

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

I've done it off and on for over 10 years.

I only work with client that can accept my terms now and don't take small clients (anything under $500 per month) unless they're friends.

If they have unrealistic expectations and keep saying stuff like "there's this other company that promises number one in Google" then I fire them.

Thanks
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realfun 13 years ago

Thanks Guys

Appreciate your feedback and the points made

Not for me i dont think, not at the moment anyway

Thanks again, great stuff

Rob
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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Not sure why you're looking for reasons not to do it - I have some clients that have been paying me every month for 2 years and are still sending me testimonials and happy to pay (actually even more now than ever before).

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realfun

13 years ago

Pretty much because my fulltime job is IT in a corporate bank, with PA's, VP's and sorts being pretty demanding

So if I was to go fulltime, would be good to not be as customer focusing

I realise IM is alot to do with customer focusing, hense why I was asking to see if people had been put off working as a SEO Consultant due to people being demanding and hardwork

Cheers

Rob

Thanks
1 reply

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Originally Posted by realfun

Pretty much because my fulltime job is IT in a corporate bank, with PA's, VP's and sorts being pretty demanding

So if I was to go fulltime, would be good to not be as customer focusing

I realise IM is alot to do with customer focusing, hense why I was asking to see if people had been put off working as a SEO Consultant due to people being demanding and hardwork

Cheers

Rob

I think you're massively generalising it.

I work 1 hour a week for each client and they pay at least £500 - no matter what results I get. They pay bonuses (up to an extra £1150 per month) for increased traffic and rankings.

It's part time work for full time money.

ZERO stress......

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realfun 13 years ago

Thanks Andy

So many people jump in and launch themselves into something, then think...oh...this isn't for me

Hense why I wrote this post, to check im not missing anything, that many people went into it, then left again

There seems to be alot of WSO's about finding clients, but that's the bit that doesn't phase me. The bit that phases me, is the hassle people could give.

For example, Im the old days when I first started on Ebay back in 2006..the greif I got from people over items so cheap, so £500 a month im wondering how demanding people can get

Appreciate your reply, £500 a month x say 20 clients could sway me (after costs of course)

Rob
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guzie

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Not sure why you're looking for reasons not to do it - I have some clients that have been paying me every month for 2 years and are still sending me testimonials and happy to pay (actually even more now than ever before).

Hey, Andyhenry how do you do this...can u elaborate more? Been doing SEO for my own sites for about 5 years now but I've recently been thinking about doing this for others.

Getting paid for SEO services sounds like a good idea. Is it basically what I've done to my own sites? Or is there more to it?

Paul

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Originally Posted by guzie

Hey, Andyhenry how do you do this...can u elaborate more? Been doing SEO for my own sites for about 5 years now but I've recently been thinking about doing this for others.

Getting paid for SEO services sounds like a good idea. Is it basically what I've done to my own sites? Or is there more to it?

Paul

Hi Paul,

Well, as I said earlier - you can pretty much create your model to suit you preferences and desired business model so there is no set answer to this.

I tend to have the following approach:

When I first start working with a client I sit down with them and look at their business and what their goals are. Together we do some brainstorming about what is important to them, who their target audience is, what are their customer profiles and what is an ideal customer. I offer some context for what types of web marketing and advertising systems might suit them and their goals, then cover activities which will support those goals.

Depending on their budget I then create a plan for which activities should be the focus based on the budget and initial goals.

I often create a site for them or revise their existing site and then start a program of marketing.

Depending on their situation either:

a) they let me know when they need something I can help them with (press releases, business cards, website edits, videos etc..) and I give them a quote which they can approve or not.

b) we have a standing arrangement where they pay me a retainer each month plus some performance related bonuses (increased traffic, specific search rankings for selected keywords, stickiness of previously focused keywords etc.)

I prefer if once we've started that they have their own webmaster or person responsible for updating their site and content so I can just focus on the marketing.

I've been able to get anything up to around $30k a year extra for additional things (like site redesign, creating videos, writing and distributing press releases etc.) on top of the ongoing marketing fees, so it can add up nicely.

I have done speculative work and built sites for free initially on the basis that they pay once they get new business from it. That tends to work well as people are more happy to agree to a payment that only happens if they've increased their business.

I'm pretty lazy and don't like to spend too much time doing these things unless I'm getting paid extra for my time, so my model wouldn't suit everyone, but that's the beauty of creating your own model - you can make it fit you.

Andy

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Hey Rob,

The beauty of your own business is - you can do it in whatever way suits you best.

I actually stopped doing offline consulting full time because I get really bored being at home all the time, so now I have several things going on and the SEM clients only take a few hours a week and could pay my bills on their own even if I did nothing else.

You just need to find a balance that suits YOU.

Thanks
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realfun

13 years ago

Thanks Andy

Yup, the balance is how I would phrase it to

At 36, I want to do something and not sitting at a desk , in a corporate company when I know how to rank and earn money from websites

So I boiled it down to 3 areas to look at

Running SEO for other people
Building a membership site(s) and drive traffic
Media Buying affiliate

So do appreciate yours and the other replies in my decision, very much

Then again, i could do all 3 lol

Rob

Thanks
1 reply

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Originally Posted by realfun

So I boiled it down to 3 areas to look at

Running SEO for other people
Building a membership site(s) and drive traffic
Media Buying affiliate

Then again, i could do all 3 lol

Rob

Absolutely!

Always be open to new things you haven't considered too.

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realfun 13 years ago

Thanks Andy

Girlfriend wants to move to Scotland so need to do something where i can be mobile

cheers again

Rob
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- Kierkegaard 13 years ago
  
  Spend time finding clients
  
  Spend time chasing down clients
  
  Spend time in meetings with clients who want you to explain SEO over and over again
  
  Spend time explaining why your SEO website isn't #1 in Google for "SEO"
  
  Spend time actually doing SEO
  
  Spend time explaining to clients yet again why their site is not #1 in Google even though they paid you "Almost a week ago now!"
  
  Spend time finding new clients
  
  or
  
  Spend time doing SEO on your own sites.
  
  Thanks
  
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theverysmartguy

13 years ago

I have found that the more you actually charge people the less likely they are to complain and hassle you.

Why? Because the higher paying clients are not looking for a quick fix, they want quality work and they know it takes time.

The ones that are cheap, are the ones that think they deserve your full attention ALL THE TIME. They hassle you day in and day out about why this is like that, and that is like this. They are also the ones who will constantly threaten you to go to the SEO Company down the street. OR, they will tell you that their friend will do it for them and let you go.

I don't like to nickel and dime; Go after the larger clients; you charge them quite a bit more, and THEY WILL respect you for it.

-- Jeff

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LiftMyRank

13 years ago

I've done SEO on my own sites for years and naturally began getting into offering SEO services since I can utilize my already owned assets (high pr blogs) and outsource the content generation, it's a good business if you know what you're doing and can attract the right type of client. Someone who thinks you can rank high for $20 and a 1000 backlinks isn't the client you want. You want people who are already making money online and know the value and work it takes to rank high.

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rachs

13 years ago

A lot of problem here mate. After a lot of people that use ****ing blast tool. Then sell the services and seo with very low prices. What 's the problem?

The ranked clients get will not stable and stayed for long time. After un knownledge of big blasting from the 2000$ or 50$ tools.

I think we have to make our clients understand about seo. Sometimes we have to choose the clients now. I mean we should accept only reason clients that understand what are we doing and what he get.

Thanks

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Who here used to do SEO for companies, then moved away from it?

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