Aasim By keep learning and keep trying. Using different channels such as freelancing platforms, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook groups, cold email, applying for internships or junior SEO jobs. Be consistent at it. It's not possible that you'll not get positive response. Somebody, somewhere is waiting to hire you. Just keep at it. At the same time, increase your skill level, create your own websites. And read The Surrender Experiment (My Love). And don't get hurt by the mean comments of moderators, very few SEO users are getting clients from ranking their own businesses in Google search. 💟8
Mekkaoui ✍️ » Aasim Thank you so much!💕 Yes, There is no value to rank in the third part Countries bcz there are no searches on keywords related to SEO Jonathan » Mekkaoui Offer free website audits. So many businesses don't even have their Google My Biz (GMB) set up properly and that's the cornerstone of local ranking right now. And many SEO agencies doing work for multi million dollar businesses apparently can't even do basic effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So two angles there. You can do posts in local business forums and research business websites with blatant shitty SEO. Basics but got my first client that way, still have after two years. Need a couple of more clients myself though. I've got a potential dental site identified but I still have to come up with an opening, offer and potential proposal. Discussing the advantage of positive Return of Investment (RoI) with proper SEO (even basic) versus some digital marketing company who only sets up one GMB for their multi-location presence and does it so bad the GMB does not even show up under brand search. So you can still be great at SEO but… (my cat stepped on my keyboard and posted this before I finished)…not be so great connecting and communicating with people.
Boyd By getting clients, I will assume you mean getting them to sign up with you, not lead generation. The reality is., if prospects are signing up, the reasons are often: 1 they don't trust you, 2 your offer is poorly presented, 3 the perceived value is lower than the price. It often is a combination of these. The most critical and valuable skills a business needs is sales and marketing. I would recommend adding a sales and marketing person to your team. If you are good at doing the technical work, you are an employee. Nothing wrong with that. If you want to be start a business, you must hire a team that has the skills you lack, like sales and marketing. 💟8 Keith Word of mouth mainly. Do some trial projects if you are just starting out. Once you show results, they will pay you. I would ignore the advice of driving traffic to your site. It seems counter-intuitive, but especially if you are just starting out, it will take quite a while (possibly years, depending on your market) to outrank, or even rank among your competitors. Some SEO users don't even use their own websites for lead gen. Some don't even have websites. Find what works for you. 💟8 Leon I highly recommend Upwork. It's what originally allowed me to go full time as an SEO consultant. It's easiest, in my opinion, to learn sales through warm leads via a platform like Upwork. Whatever route you choose, stick with it long enough and eventually you'll land a client- it only gets easier over time. Just don't quit 💟9
Rota » Leon Upwork is great! 💟 Leon » Rota Sure is man! Perfect segway into entrepreneurship IMO
Anjali I hate how some people's first reaction to any vulnerable question is catiness. Only seen in male-centric groups. Do we forget that there are some people who have to start somewhere? There are beginners in every field, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) But the laugh reacts and the personal shaming are just disgraceful. Why even be in a community if you don't welcome people of different skillsets, opinions, backgrounds? We have two huge Women-only groups and the difference in responses you receive here (or any other open-for-all SEO group) versus there is HUGE. We celebrate each other. Support each other. Offer different perspectives. Not mock them and knock them down because you have done 20x better before. We gotta do more of that! Just because you're doing great – uplift ones who are new. Be kind. 💟33
Gilman » Anjali Ooooo what are the groups? I think I'm in them, but am curious Anjali » Gilman Women in Marketing and Sisters in SEO. Both run by remarkable SEO users too. 🙂 💟3 Joshua » Anjali There's so much value in this group that your assessment of "male centric" groups is way off base. Why are you here if it's so catty? (For the record I'm not saying you shouldn't be here). I am part of a few female dominated niche business groups and there are just as many negative comments as in male dominated groups. Anjali » Joshua And I, a woman, am telling you that Women-only groups are nothing like this. I never said there was no value here. I said we could be better in how we speak to people We have a saying here in Malaysia, "The one who eats the chili, feels the spice". Nothing for you to be offended about in my suggestion of "be kinder" if it doesn't apply to you. (it is also an advice that I'd give in a Women-only group too if I saw something rude — but then again, I don't!). In fact, I value Steven Kang's advice so much that it bothers me that his work of sweat and tears that is this group has some folks that don't practice kindness in the same way. His legacy deserves more 💟 Joshua » Anjali In this context your sex is irrelevant, women "centric groups" are not free of "cattiness" I've seen and experienced it myself. You disparaged an entire sex by saying a range of negativity only occurs in male centric groups. As for laugh reacts if someone can't handle a laugh react on their post they are going to have a tough time in the business world. Maybe you can screenshot 1 comment here that shows where there is personal shaming going on? We also have a great saying in the west "facts don't care about your feelings" Anjali » Joshua Did you miss the part where I specifically said "Women-only" groups? Twice? You can't know what the experience is like in those unless you are a woman. Was there something I missed? Check your facts if you want to use idioms like this. And seems like the "entire sex" refers only to you? Only you felt the need to find a comment where I thanked somebody for their compassion and put laugh react on that too lol. Imagine a world where people have issues with "be kind" advice lol. So unless you have something productive to say, I'm not going to entertain debates with someone who takes things out of context in the first place to start pointless debates. Good day! Joshua » Anjali Yes because females in women only groups and the females in women centric groups are totally different species with completely different psychologies. News to me and most likely psychologists. I laugh reacted to your comment as it mistakenly insinuated a good question from someone I respect was negative. Maybe you can answer the questions I posed in that thread and the one here: 1. Can you please screen shot 1 comment here directed to the OP where someone is personally shaming them? All the comments I see from men or women are helpful. Should be quite easy as it prompted you to make a post about it. 2. Ammon asked a hard question. One that the OP should be asking themselves, and discovering the answer would help. Just because it wasn't delivered with sugar coating isn't knocking anyone down. It's about perspective, you can chose to see it as an attack or you can chose to think about the question and come up with an answer. Which is the more productive path? 🤭 Chris Edwards 🎓 It's unfortunate that sex/gender is brought into a discussion, why in this day and age are we still discussing it, and not people? People are people, I have experienced some evil females and equally evil males. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a male dominated industry, that's a fact and with that comes a slightly different approach. had the OP written a more full question then he would likely have gotten a range of different replies as just asking 'how do I get SEO clients' in an SEO forum without listing any actions already taken, is asking for the obvious reply of 'using SEO to rank your site'. In many cases, no I'd go as far as to say in most cases, the quality of reply is set by the quality of question, which is why I often reject a post and advise to make it more comprehensive. 🙂
Silvio When I started out, here's what I did: 1. Rank websites in various niches. 2. Contact business owners in those niches. Let them know I could rank them the same way, and while doing so, let them know that I'll send them the leads from the sites I ranked. 3. Out of those niches, decide on one that you like the most to work with. 4. Repeat the process over and over in that niche. Nowadays my company mostly gets referrals. But that's what got me started and it worked pretty well in the beginning. 💟8 Steve Here's what I would do if I were starting over: 1. Differentiate yourself. A lot of people talk about niching, which is one way to differentiate, but you could offer a special customer experience, build out your brand, consider a new way to offer SEO, etc. 2. Build brand – Get clear on who your target audience is, build your brand story, define your vision, mission, and values. Give people a reason to work with you. 3. Develop your products – SEO is more of an umbrella term now. Are you going to do everything within that umbrella? Yourself? Identify each part of the product and the outcomes that the client will receive. 4. Develop an offer – Now that you know your products and how you are different from every other person that sells SEO, you can create an offer that is actually attractive. This isn't a 'I'll do Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for only $99' kind of thing. It's about giving value first, getting them into your orbit, and nurturing them. 5. Build a community – As Steve Toth said, share your knowledge. Or do what countless others are doing and just cold email a bunch of people and hope for the best. 💟3
