There have been a couple of recent articles about people who want to become famous SEOs. The first article was over at Top Rank Blog, and the second at SEOmoz.
The more well-known you are in the SEO world, the more money you can make from SEO clients. But is having SEO clients the best goal?
When I first started blogging on PocketSEO.com my goal was to become more well-known so that I could make more money. I have other tech blogs that get much more traffic than PocketSEO.com, but I thought that I should have a blog where I post under my own name. But the main problem with the goal of becoming well-known is that SEO consulting is a bad business model.
If you have the skills to rank for competitive keywords then why aren’t you ranking your own Web sites?
How many SEOs out there prefer SEO clients to developing their own Web sites?
Andy Hagans said it well in his hierarchy of SEO activities:
- Spend your time posting on forums [lowest profitability]
- Spend your time blogging
- Work for an SEO firm on salary
- Spend your time consulting
- Launch a site you own in a niche you’re passionate about
- Launch a site you own in a highly profitable niche [highest profitability]
Here’s a hint: those options are listed in ascending order of long-term profitability
The guys who do 1, 2 and 3 are the ones with the “names” and who we all love to hear speak at PubCon. The guy who does #6 might get ignored at PubCon, but on the other hand if he sticks with it for 36 months he’s paying cash for a Ferrari and a beach house.
I’ve done all of those six activities and I agree with what Andy Hagans wrote:
So forget about being the best SEO–be a good CEO, instead. Bop on over to CJ, find a category with a lot of high-EPC offers, acquire a semi-premium or premium domain name, and get cracking…
If you really know how to do SEO/SMO/SEM, then why spend time trying to become famous in order to get more clients? Put those skills to use on your own sites.
Another take over at Scoreboard Media.
Alternatives to Being a Famous SEO
I think that if you are an SEO who wants to make more money, don’t bother with becoming famous. Get a part-time job with the best SEO company that you can find. Learn as much as you can, while developing your own sites in the rest of your time.
The reason that I haven’t been posting as much lately is because I’m in Asia working on our own Web sites. I am having a great time. I will never be chained to a desk again. I think this is a much better use of “SEO” than trying to be famous.
