Career Change Advice

K Guys and Gals,

I need some advice here. I am contemplating the idea of stepping into SEO consulting on a part-time basis then gradually full-time as things develope. I am currently "testing my metal" by "cutting my teeth" on SEO for our company web site which is a disaster from the last person who "played" with it. It is sadly lacking in the SEO department. I figure if I can do a good job of that and get an endorsement from my boss for my own business, I will be willing to wade into this with some confidence. The problem is, I am not a web designer. I am not interested in web design - I would rather outsource that aspect of things to a friend who does web design.

In your opinion, is this a practical, viable idea? Comments, feedback are most appreciated

SEO is the easy part. Growing as a business is the hard part.

With learning and practice and you can become proficient at SEO. Getting business owners to pay you is totally different. Getting enough business to do it full time also takes learning and practice. But it's a steeper learning curve.

As your skill and reputation grow, you can and will get paid more for each job. But it won't happen overnight.

Do an outstanding job on your employer's site. See if you can document actually business results. Not just X amount of more visitors. See if you can tell if it makes a huge difference in profits. Document those results.

Network as much as you can to get small jobs. Even if it is a freebie for a non-profit organization. Most non-profits have a board of directors that do own their own businesses.

Learn busines lingo. Spewing out words like meta-tags, algorithms, PageRank...and their eyes will glaze over and they will lose interest.

Instead talk about, Internet market presence, targeted qualified leads, return on investment, enhancing the sales process...

Build a reputation that you can make other people more money. Then they'll be calling you!

Thanks for the reply Yellowwing,

I was beggining to think no one was going to lend me a hand with this question. I do plan on doing a few jobs pro bono to get my feet wet. I can easily plot sales results with the company web site because part of the company site will involve a submit form where people can email us at work to book service. I work for a fairly large limousine company. Do you reccomend I learn to interpret the raw web logs or should we be subscribing to a tracking service to track deeper stats? Also, what do you think about SEO certification courses? There are online instructor-lead courses offerred from people like Robin Nobles that I was interested in taking. Heard anything about these? I won't put an URL here but could PM you with it so you could take a look for me and give me your opinion.

Thanks much,

The online certifications give you a condensed version of what is freely available, if you have the time to research.

If you have more money than time, go for it. I'm sure that there a some good courses out there.

When dealing with business folks, they usually ask for references of what you have accomplished in the past. I have not had one yet ask me what I was certified in.

I have been in the SEO, SEM World since 1999 and I will say that it has been a huge HUGE struggle to get the ball rolling as a "lone wolf" I agree with the above statements that getting the business going is the hardest part of all.

Why? Mainly because the market has been flooded by a whole bunch of web designers that cant find work doing web sites, so they assume that Meta Tags and CPC are their road to salvation.... hence the market is saturated by those who don’t have a clue on what they are doing and how to do it properly.

You will also have to ignore the SOHO clientele for the main reason that no mom-pop shop can really afford good SEM, SEO ... if they could, they wouldn’t be a mom & pop shop. You need to focus on small-medium sized businesses and bring a TON of examples of what you can do without telling them HOW you do what you do....

You will find that there are a Ton of small companies that will blow smoke up your rear just to get free info so they can get their own web guy to do it instead.

I have to admit ...Once you get through all of that and stabilize your customer base, and start bringing home the bacon… it is a great industry, and I love what I do and I do it well... For me SEM, CPC etc isn’t work at all....

I think that is the meaning of it all... if you love it, it won’t feel like work…but only those with talent and determination will rise, the others are just in your way.

Good luck to you

Thanks for the input huebdoo,

My own boss is a case in point. He thinks that because he paid someone $16,000 4 years ago to help him build a business web site that that is all he has to do. Trouble is it's not optimized at all and consequently recieves almost no traffic. I tried to explain to him that unless he optimizes it and submits it to the SE's it's money down the toilet, but he doesn't "get it." Smart man . . .too smart for the rest of us I guess:D My direct manager is the one who kinda "gets it" so we're working around the owners ignorance a little here.

Trying to convince people that they need someone to do the SEO will probably be my biggest challenge!

If you can create a "resume" with a link from your work website and give your direct contact details there it would be a bonus. If you do well on that website folks that are watching will contact you for a similar job for them.

All in all this industry is a level playing field - there is no difference in starting out today than what it was 5-6 years ago. If you have it in your blood and are prepared to work you can do it.

Trying to convince people that they need someone to do the SEO will probably be my biggest challenge!

Wrong - trying to convince people that you are too busy to do their SEO becomes the biggest challenge!

Gotchya Excell !

Well, I must say I am very grateful to the people in here for all the help. I'm in a learning curve right now but have resigned myself to the fact that I probably always will be where SEO is concerned. The folks who created this forum have done an excellent job of creating a decent place where like-minded people can get together and share ideas. Some things just feel right

Thumper2u,

Have you ever thought of starting your own business where you have your own decisions to make and do not need to "Ask the boss"?

There are a number of true businesses (and I don't mean just some little affiliate programs) that you can start on a shoestring, in your spare time, and grow it bigger than your job. You could use your skills there to drive volumes of traffic in various market niches.

That would give you A/ Additional Experience and B/ Additional Cash to be able to strike it out on your own with your SEO company.

Email me if you have questions or reply here or both!

Matt

Hey Matt,

Check your PM. I sent you a message!