How To Get Your First SEO Job

A recent email exchange about getting an SEO job inspired me to write this post. If your internet marketing career hasn't taken off yet, or is disappointingly nonprofitable, perhaps it is time to look into some small time SEO consulting until your projects mature.

See, internet marketing is like growing a bonsai tree, it takes time, it can be boring as heck, and sometimes you don't see results for quite some time. If you want to make money online, it takes the patience of a monk, the fortitude of David Splane (that guy who hangs upside down for days on end), and the attention span of a an ice fisherman (feel free to insert something better here)... What I'm trying to say is: while you are plugging away at your websites and blogs to earn income online, you might as well be actually earning some online income. Enter SEO Consulting.

As internet marketers, we understand pretty well the basics, and not so basics of SEO, and we have access to some pretty poweful tools to get the job done. But in a market so inundated with self taught SEO's, frauds, and the uninformed who still believe commenting on blogs is the best way to do SEO... how can you get a SEO gig? Let me share with you some of my tips and tricks, time tested and proven, for setting yourself apart and getting your first consulting job.


•Getting your first client
Getting your first client is the hardest part. After you impress your first client, usually word of mouth spreads and you get plenty more. Honestly, the first client I found kind of fell into my lap through one of my blogs. I offered to do some web design and advertising for them on the blog, and they asked me if I knew how to get them higher in the Google rankings. To which I replied "Um... yea, I kinda do." Web design + SEO and Internet Marketing = a very powerful money making combo. After that it spread by word of mouth, and a few inquiring emails.

Most of my clients are local, I think most people really like face-to-face time, so I'd look locally first. Real estate companies and construction companies understand very well that you need to spend money to make money. They are suffering in this economy as well, so it's usually not too hard to sell them on some SEO work.

The techniques and skills we know how to do from experience with our own blogs, and the networks and tools we have access too are very valuable and rare to find. What we have is very real and very applicable SEO knowledge. So that translates well into SEO consulting quite nicely.

•Think local
As I said, most of my clients are local. In this day and age, many business owners prefer real face to face time, so if you are looking for an SEO consulting gig, look locally first. A polite email to a local business, or a quick phone call can go a long way.

I find that a lot of websites would love to be higher in the SERPs, they just don't have the know-how, or access to an SEO, or they think they are too expensive and exclusive. So just a short email to a few people offering to help get them up in Google works for me. (I'll put more on this another post if you guys are interested)

•Contact the business
I approach a new client personally if possible, if not, then through phone, and as a last resort: email. A polite email mentioning you liked their website and noticed their business had a lot to offer, and could do a lot better if it was higher in Google. Would you like to be higher in Google? I could help if you'd like. What have you done? Well here's what you can do right away to help, and here's what I can do if you are interested to make a real difference. Since I know you don't know me, maybe we could put a low hourly cap on how much work I do for you a week, and you can see if you want to keep me on... (that's the secret, don't charge $5000 up front, most SEO companies charge a lot, but promise very little. Do whatever you have to in order to get your first client, word will spread and you can raise your prices later)

•Check the attitude
Most of those guys offering SEO on craigslist and other online forums are arrogant, secretive, conniving, not able to communicate effectively, and so forth. Don't be those things, be personable and funny and open, it sets you apart.

Even if you don't have all the technical know-how a good personality will win every time! You are working for them, so you have to keep them happy. You have to sell yourself as much as or more than your services. People are loosing more and more basic social skills these days, be charming, honest, open, and friendly. Doing so will put you ahead of the next guy.

•What to offer
As experienced IMers and SEO students, we have a lot of talents in our arsenal. Article marketing, Keyword research, onsite optimization, social bookmarking, link building, the list goes on. It takes a broad skillset to get things rolling in this biz. Use that skillset to your advantage. I offer to do pretty much the whole package, as far as I can handle it for clients. I offer to manage their SEO campaigns, raise them in the rankings, I offer to do their KW research, I set up or optimize their PPC advertising campaigns, onsite SEO, I design their whole sales plan sometimes, Social media marketing, community building... and whatever else I can think of. I also am honest on what avenues to pursue, and which ones to avoid. It may loose me a little work, but they love the honesty.

Be their guru, do everything you would do for yourself and more, show initiative. Impress them by being consiencous for saving them money, maybe PPC isn't what they need at the moment, tell them why and what would work better. But most of all, listen to what the client wants, even if what they want isn't exactly what they need, do it anyway, and help them see what will really help.

•How much to charge for SEO
I usually charge by the hour, with a set cap of hours per week at first, until they can see that I am trustworthy and worth the money. If I do a good job, I find word of mouth spreads very quickly, and more clients give me a call. The hardest part is getting the first client. Work cheap at first, raise prices later

On the other hand, be careful! You want to charge enough so that the people will listen to you, but not too much so that they can't afford you. Offer a reasonable per hour rate with a 4-6 hour cap on work a week. (that translates into $400-$600 a month, how much are your current sites making? Probably not that much.) Let them ask you to work more when they see some results. What is reasonable? That depends on how much you value your time, and how much real experience you are bringing to the table.

I usually do a nice little workup for how their website could be improved, what I could do to make it rank better, what direction to take the site to enhance their sales, ideas for future expansion... and always always a long term plan so that you have work with them for as long as possible. Always be thinking ahead, that's basic consulting 101.

•Doing SEO for the uninitiated
You will probably run into the problem that you had at first with your own blogs. Results take time, and many clients don't understand that little factoid. Results do take a while, so try to be completely open and honest with your client about how you are going to go about doing the work and how long it will take.

Be the bearer of good news. I try to keep them updated weekly of the changes in the SERPs, traffic increases, basically any good news I can think of so they feel like they are getting their money's worth. Then I make sure to tell them what my plan is for next week, next month, the next couple months, so they keep on wanting my business and seeing the results.

There's a lot you can do initially with onsite optimization, which usually will give a quick and easy boost to their rankings, designing a keyword targeting strategy, optimizing the way traffic flows through the site to increase conversion rates, A/B testing... you know the drill.

I don't think your average person has any idea what PR is, and I doubt they would care to get high PR links since they have no idea of their value. So don't work on a "I'll get you ### PR4 links for $ amount of money." Part of what I do with my clients is educate them as well, that way they see the value in what I am doing and why I am doing it.

My favorite slogan, and I don't remember who I stole it from (I think it was Rand at SEOMoz) is: "SEO isn't an event, it's a process." Clients love that.

•A word on web design
I HATE WEB DESIGN. Let me make that clear. I can do it, and do it well, but I don't enjoy one bit of it. However, sometimes it is inevitable. The client needs a new website, or knows somebody who wants one. The best, easiest, and fastest way to go is sell them a personalized WP theme with static pages. I will go out and buy a professional theme for them if the situation calls for it, edit it up to their specifications, slap it online, and send them the bill. Looks great, solid backend, easy to update, simple to create, and everybody'ss happy. True WP is a resource hog, but these guys are only going to be hosting one site on their server, so it doesn't really matter.

If that just won't fly this time, then consider outsourcing. Web designers will work for peanuts right now... sometimes literally. Outsourcing can be a very effective use of your time. Especially if you are like me and hate web design.

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So, that's my process for getting an SEO consulting gig. It's worked out quite well for me so far, and I hope it keeps working. As Internet Marketers, we have access to a number of very useful resources that can also be used to get you a job as an SEO consultant. Hopefully these tips have helped inspire you to go out there and use your skills to earn some immediate income.