Dear Jill,

Thank you for your informative weekly newsletter. It's obvious that a lot of time, talent and creativity go into making each one. You have inspired me and guided me through optimizing my client's website with some pretty impressive results.

Consequently, I have decided to expand my business in this direction.

I have some ideas of how to go about marketing this option, but would love to hear how you market to get new clients. After scanning my local phone book to determine companies that a) spend money on expensive display ads and b) list a website, I've checked out the mentioned websites and have collected a group of potential customers. But now what? I suppose a repeat mailing campaign might be a good way to start and I have some ideas on what to highlight, but what else can I do? How do I get from the point of mailing them literature to sitting down with them to explore their optimization options? What have you found to work? Conversely, what has proven to be unprofitable?

Much like you, I gather, I am a work-at-home mom. With a growing family, money is always tight. I don't need to make tons of money, just enough to further supplement my family's income. I have dreams of working 5-6 hours each evening after everyone has gone to bed and think this would be a really enjoyable means to an end. Any help you might be able to provide me to help achieve this dream would be most gratefully welcomed.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you might be willing to give.

Sincerely,

Lauren

Jill's Response

Hi Lauren,

I'm glad my newsletter has been an inspiration to you in your business!

I'm not sure how much business development advice I can give you, as my situation is very different from yours. Having invented my own methods for doing SEO long before the phrase "search engine optimization" ever existed (over 11 years ago!), and keeping my name out there in people's faces when they are looking for info about SEO, I don't have to spend much time seeking out new business.

That said, back in the golden-oldie days, I did learn a few things along the way that might help you to gain SEO business today. The good news is that search marketing in general has become more commonplace, so most companies have actually heard of it. The bad news is that there's still a lot of misunderstanding about what SEO is and how it should be performed. Heck, even SEO companies themselves can't agree on a common definition of SEO, so I suppose we can't expect regular businesses to know either.

The reason I bring this up is because one of the most important things I've learned is that it's really difficult to sell SEO to companies that don't know what it is or understand its value. Unfortunately, the press has always painted SEO with the "black magic" brush, which makes it seem like some sort of voodoo to many companies. They often think that all they have to do is somehow let the search engines know which keywords they want to show up for by "registering" them somewhere, or they think that they have to try to trick the search engines somehow. When a truly professional SEO explains to them that it's actually about making their site better overall for their users, while also keeping the search engines in mind, it's often seen as way too much work -- and way too expensive.

So, although your plan to contact companies who have websites is in theory a good one, you may find that you spend/waste way too much time trying to educate these businesses about the true value of SEO. They may simply not be ready to do what it takes to fix up their website in a crawler-friendly manner, and even if they are, they may not be prepared to spend the money.

If you're going to offer great SEO services that will make a difference to your clients' bottom line, you really can't sell it too cheaply.

I've always found that the best clients in this space are those who have already done their research and have at least some idea of the work involved in a professional SEO campaign. It's fine to spend some time educating them, but you have to be careful not to spend too much time on this aspect or you'll never make any profit for yourself! The other thing I noticed many, many moons ago was that for some reason, local companies never seem to want to pay a decent fee for services. I don't know why it is that non-local clients are generally willing to spend more for services.

With all this said, I would highly recommend building your business online if you can, rather than at the local level. It will be much easier to find clients who are actively seeking out SEO services and who understand the true value it will bring to their bottom line. One way to do this is to align yourself with website designers who are not interested in learning SEO but who have clients who want it. You might also try to align yourself with copywriters, as they are often asked to perform SEO services these days. Another thing you could do is hang out in online communities such as forums and blogs where people might be asking SEO questions. If you go in without trying to self-promote, and simply answer people's questions in a helpful, smart manner, you may be surprised to find them offering you SEO work. I know a number of people who hang out at my forum who have built great SEO businesses this way.

I hope this gives you some ideas to start out with, and I wish you good luck and success with your business!

Best,

Jill

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