10 things you need to know to be successful

Freelancers are usually romanticized and viewed as avoiding annoying bosses who don’t take you seriously.

But usually, when people start working for themselves, they quickly realize that they “work 9-5 hours a day, 24/7”.

This may have an adverse effect on your self-worth and mental health, but it does not mean that freelancing is not worthwhile.

If you do it with the right mindset, this may be a fulfilling experience.

In this column, you will learn SEO freelance skills that will help you find more (better) customers, build a sustainable business and truly love your work.

But first, let’s take a look at why so many people choose freelancing.

Advantages of freelancing

I mentioned above some of the disadvantages of starting an SEO freelancer. So now is the time to balance it with the advantages of this journey.

When you are a freelancer…

You can better control your time and life.

No consent is required to go to the dentist on working days. If your project allows, you can even take a full working day off. Your schedule is yours.

Your salary can grow rapidly.

Search engine magazine research shows 60% Of SEO professionals earn the same or higher income as the U.S. median when working full-time.

But growth is usually limited by a person’s years of experience, and it is difficult to increase your salary significantly within a company. You usually need to change jobs to get a bigger salary increase.

But when you are an SEO freelancer, you don’t need to wait for your salary to increase by 3% per year. You can do it faster.

I earned my previous full-time salary in the first year of freelance work, and my salary more than doubled in the second year.

This is not a unique result, there are many Other success stories from other SEOs Who decides to start their freelance career.

In addition, there is virtually no limit to how much you can earn, because you can develop your freelance business into an agency or other agency.

Work directly with customers.

This is one of the most important professionals for me, because I want to have a greater impact on the success of my clients.

You know your customers better.

As a business owner, you can better understand your customers because you now have a better understanding of prioritization and estimating workload and impact.

It can help you focus on the most meaningful suggestions instead of trying to solve all SEO problems.

I founded my company two years ago without any business or freelance experience, so I have to learn everything quickly.

Here are my 10 most valuable tips, and I hope they will help you speed up the development of your SEO freelance business (and keep you awake while doing so).

1. Talk to other freelancers

No matter where you are, someone is already there. They have the experience and insights you can benefit from.

Getting tips from these people can save you months of figuring things out. Personally, I am very grateful to Aleyda Solis, Luke Carthy, Andrew Optmisey, Kirsty Hulse and Troy Fawkes, who opened up to me and provided me with valuable advice.

Some tips on asking people for advice…

Respect their time.

Don’t just DM your list of questions or vague content such as “please help me”. On the contrary, if you build a relationship, people will be happy to help you.

Ask specific questions.

The answer you get depends on the question you ask. So please make sure that the specific questions you ask will really help you.

You are responsible for your decision.

You ask people for help instead of pushing your business responsibility on them. So use common sense and see what works for you and what is not.

2. Build your online presence

You can become the best SEO ever. But if no one knows, it is difficult to succeed.

We live in a world where there are so many voices on social media, and your voice should also be heard.

you can Use LinkedIn to build your presence. You can use Twitter, create a newsletter, or do it all at once. this is your choice.

But trust me, if you have a good digital footprint, talking to potential customers will be much easier.

Two months before my resignation, I started to build my image on LinkedIn and Twitter. It really helped me attract the first batch of clients and the first batch of students into my SEO course.

3. Think of yourself as a business

When you started your own business, you are now an accountant, a salesperson, an account manager, and a legal department.

And you have to pay taxes (yes, it was terrible at first).

You need to take this into consideration when pricing services. It is not enough to just calculate your hourly rate in your daily work. You need to pay a few more times to cover all other costs.

4. Learn to price your services

Now you know that you are a business, even if you are currently the only employee in it.

The main goal of any business is to make a profit. So the next important thing is to accept it and stop underestimating yourself (it might be easier when you see your first tax bill).

Here are some tips:

• Don’t work for free.
• use Project-based pricing Billed by the hour.
• Continuously improve and increase your prices accordingly.

5. Learn how to sell

When I started, I heard people say, “If you can’t sell, you are not in this industry.” Every time it scares me.

I don’t want to sell; in fact, I am afraid to do so.

In addition, there is a common misconception that if you are good at your craft (SEO in our case), you will automatically have many customers queuing to work with you.

This is not true. In fact, sales and search engine optimization are completely different skills. You need both of them to succeed.

When I accepted this truth, everything changed. I started to learn sales.

I’m not talking about home sales or sending annoying messages to contacts on LinkedIn. It is much more subtle.

Whenever you answer a call from a potential customer, you are selling.

Even if you are just talking or Share your past victories, You are selling.

You are selling ideas and results. You are a professional and your agency. Any conversation with potential customers is sales.

The sooner you understand, the better.

You can also take a look: How SEO professionals and agencies win new business [Survey Results]

6. Create process and system

I heard many people say they still don’t have a clear path to follow SEO audit Or similar repeatable tasks.

If you don’t have a process or system right now, that’s okay. But now is the time to start building them.

Creating a process will help increase the efficiency of your freelance business and increase profitability. If you decide to hire someone else to help you, then the process is also valuable for delegations in the later stages.

You don’t need to create anything fancy.A process can start in the following form Simple checklist You can expand over time.

7. Build assets

When I started my freelance career, I also started to build a course.

Although I don’t recommend everyone to do such a big thing (because it is tiring), it is still valuable to start building some kind of asset (e.g., e-book or paid membership).

I really believe that when you learn a lot of marketing techniques, selling products in addition to services will make you a better SEO.

You start to look at audience research in a different way, Learning copywriting, And better understand your SEO customers.

In addition, assets bring you passive income, and they will keep you busy when there are not many clients working. They can also grow into something bigger in the future-who knows?

8. Prepare for long-distance travel

Starting a freelancing journey is not easy. You need to figure out many things quickly. It can also be lonely.

All of this can lead to Continuous overwork And mental health issues.

In fact, according to this poll I did on Twitter, work/life balance is one of the three most difficult things for freelancers:

Author screenshot, November 2021

So it’s best to take care of yourself and yours Work-life balance Otherwise, it is difficult to remember your life outside of work.

Here are some tips:

• There is a support group (your spouse, friends, other freelancers) that will cheer you up.
• Have a hobby that has nothing to do with your job (ideally also not involving computers).
• Arrange your leisure time.
• Make a clear line with yourself; Don’t work in pajamas for 12 hours a day.

All these little things will ensure that you run a marathon, not a sprint (yes, this is a hint for SEO).

9. Know your “laws” and follow them

You cannot handle all types of SEO projects. You cannot work with all types of customers who come to you.

Trying to help everyone will only exhaust you.

Instead, you need to be clear about what you do (your strengths), how you can help (your services), and who you help (Customer type You work together).

Author screenshot, November 2021

You will find it difficult to say “no” to potential projects at first. But in the long run, it will pay off.

10. Help others throughout

You are valuable. No matter where you are in your freelance career, you can help people who are a few steps behind you on something.

You can help in any way that suits you: writing blog posts, posting your tips, answering someone’s questions in the Slack group, etc.

As long as you know that your experience is important, one day (soon) you will be someone who helps people who are just starting out.

The last building block

Life is too short, and I can’t do work that I don’t like, and I can’t engage in projects that I don’t like.

When you start a freelancing journey for yourself, you will have no limits.

I believe you.

More resources:

Featured image: Shutterstock/Harbucks