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1. Consult Freelancers

People have been everywhere. They have wisdom and experience.

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This can save you months of trial and error. I’m grateful to Aleyda Solis, Luke Carthy, Andrew Optmisey, Kirsty Hulse, and Troy Fawkes for their advice.

How to ask for guidance from others…

Be patient.

Don’t DM a list of questions or “help me” Instead of begging, establish relationships.

Specify.

Questions determine replies. Ask precise questions to move the needle.

Decisions are your responsibility SEO agency india.

You ask for support, not business responsibility. Use common sense and see what’s working.

2. Build Online Presence

You’re the best SEO ever. Without publicity, it’ll be hard to succeed.

Your voice should be heard on social media.

LinkedIn can boost your visibility. Twitter, newsletters, or both are options. Choose.

It’s easier to talk to prospects if you have a strong online presence.

Two months before quitting my work, I started LinkedIn and Twitter. It helped me gain first SEO clients and pupils.

3. Business Yourself

You’re an accountant, salesperson, account manager, and legal department when you start your own business.

You pay taxes (yeah, it’s scary).

You must price your services accordingly. You can’t just use your day job’s hourly rate. All other expenses will require much more.

4. Pricing Services

Even if you’re the sole employee, you’re now a business.

Any firm seeks profit. Next, quit underselling yourself and embrace it (it might be easier when you see your first tax bill).

Hints:

Don’t volunteer.

Replace hourly billing with project-based pricing.

Improve constantly and raise prices.

5. Salesmanship

“You’re not in business if you can’t sell,” I was told when I started. I’d always cringe.

I was scared to sell.

A widespread assumption is that if you’re skilled at your job (SEO in our case), clients would flock to you.

Nope. Selling and SEO are separate talents. Both must succeed.

This revelation altered my life. Starting selling.

Not door-to-door sales or irritating LinkedIn contacts. Subtler.

You’re selling whenever you call a potential customer.

Even when conversing or sharing wins, you’re selling.

You’re selling ideas, outcomes, yourself, your agency. All prospect conversations are sales.

Better sooner than later.

How SEO Professionals & Agencies Win Business [Survey]

6. Develop Systems and Processes

Many people feel they don’t have a clear method for SEO audits or related responsibilities.

You can skip processes and systems for now. Time to create them.

Creating systems improves efficiency and margins in a freelance firm. Processes are also useful if you decide to hire support later.

Nothing extravagant is needed. A procedure can begin with a simple checklist that can be expanded.

building-processes-seo-freelancing

Author’s November 2021 screenshot

7. Invest

I started a course when I started freelancing.

While I wouldn’t recommend that for everyone (it’s exhausting), it’s still important to build assets (for example, an ebook or a paid membership).

Selling items and services makes you a better SEO because you develop marketing abilities.

You learn audience research, copywriting, and SEO clientele.

Passive income from assets keeps you engaged when there’s little client job. Who knows, they may become bigger.

8. Prepare for a Journey

Beginning freelance is difficult. You’ll need to act immediately. It’s lonely.

Overwork and mental health difficulties can result.

Work/life balance is one of the 3 hardest aspects about freelancing, according to my Twitter survey.

SEO freelancer consScreenshot by author, November 2021

So take care of yourself and your work/life balance before it’s impossible to recall who you are outside of work.

Tips:

Have a cheering squad (your spouse, friends, fellow freelancers).

Have a passion that isn’t work-related (and doesn’t involve a computer).

Plan downtime.

Don’t work 12 hours in your pyjamas.

These tiny things will help you run a marathon, not a sprint (an SEO reference).

9. Know and Follow your “Laws”

You can’t do every SEO job. You can’t take all clients.

Helping everyone will drain you.

What you do (your skills), how you help (your services), and who you help must be clear (types of clients you work with).

SEO freelancers: remember.

Author’s November 2021 screenshot

At initially, it will be hard to turn down projects. Long-term, it’ll pay off.

10. Assist Others

You’re important. You can support a fellow freelancer no matter where you are.

You can help by blogging, tweeting, answering questions on Slack, etc.

Know that your experience matters and that you’ll soon be assisting others.