I have had so many meetings this week I have hid in my house all day…I have more tomorrow. Anyway, I was asked by a new client this week how I created a profitable online business. I could say luck, but the truth is it took a lot of hard work. I do also have to say that having a masters degree opens a lot of doors for me, but once I am in the door I need to sell my services and I couldn’t do that unless I had done the following things:
Learn
I really believe that if you want to do well as a freelancer, a consultant, a WAHM/WAHD or if you want to create your own online business you have to educate yourself continually. Read and learn every day. Yes, it takes time, but it pays off.
You want to know how I got into SEO? It is pretty funny. I worked as a freelance writer for awhile and of course web content came along. I had read very little about SEO copywriting and just used the keyword density the clients wanted. That was all I knew. Anyway, some fellows in my local area decided to create a web business and a rather large one. One of the men sent his son to all of these SEO conferences and they assumed they knew all. They asked me if I would be interested in writing for their new site and they asked if I thought I could learn about SEO. I said the following and it is the truth, “Once I start to learn something new I don’t stop until I know it all.” I don’t know it all, but I haven’t stopped learning. I read constantly and it pays off.
Well, this “company” didn’t do so well. The business relationship ended because he felt women did not have the same mental capacity men had…yes. He said that.
Know Your Stuff
I had a meeting with a land developer this week. I never assumed I would be dealing with people investing $50 million into projects, but I am. We met at Panera Bread (Free WiFi- great for meetings). To do well in my market I not only have to know SEO, I have to know this market. I have to understand the industries and the limitations that will arise. I went into the meetings be able to say what we were facing, how we could be effective and offering creative solutions.
I noticed people looking at us, but I didn’t think anything about it. I had two men come up to me that day. One gave me a piece of paper with his contact info and another gave me his business card; both wanted to discuss my services with me. I knew my stuff well enough to prove that it was worth investing in. I now have 3 clients, two of which I didn’t really have to work for.
Be Fair
I have been repeatedly told that I do not charge enough. I don’t. The fact is I feel guilty giving people my proposals. I hate it. In fact, I cringe every time I do it. I am kind of glad I do because it makes me really evaluate if my price is fair. I could charge people double what I do and I could make more money, but I just can’t do it. I evaluate by project and estimate the number of hours and come up with my price.
It is true I could make more money from a client, but when I am fair and honest they refer me to their associates/family/friends. This brings me more clients which results in ever more. The whole “Word of Mouth” thing is crucial if you want to do well. Additionally, clients return for more services because they know they can afford it.
I will say this. As your business grows you will be giving up one job to do another. If one job will take up so much time that you will have no time to do 5 you need to consider this in your price. You do have to eat and pay for gas…
Work Your Butt Off
I don’t care who you are I am going to work my butt off for you. If you look at my about page your will see my motto “Do or do not, there is no try!” This is my motto, this is how I function and when people trust me enough to pay me I owe them quality work.
Again, “Word of Mouth” means everything. I worked with some local web designers here in town. They sent me to their clients for writing and SEO. You know what I heard from EVERY SINGLE CLIENT? How unhappy they were with the service they were getting. They hated the quality of the work, the hated the time it took to get things done and the lack of respect they received. Which brings me to my next point…
You Owe EVERYONE You Work With Respect (Until They Prove That They Don’t Deserve It)
If you treat people with respect they appreciate it. The same business I discussed above had a bad habit of being very condescending to people and they notice it. I believe that the reason I got two additional clients at Panera Bread the other day is because I took the time to really explain why I was doing each thing and the most effective way of doing it. I explained it, I understood that this was all new to him and he appreciated it (and so did the guys that listened to the conversation!). So be respectful and try to understand that even if you are an expert at something it doesn’t mean you have a right to be condescending or rude to anyone. You can actually learn a lot from each client…
Market Your Self!
Everyone knows I design sites through www.GoDaddy.com 
’s Website Tonight for businesses. I got the idea because I had made about 30 of the sites for myself- three for business and 27 for selling domains. It cost me about $100 for the year and guess what? I made 10 times that in the next 2 months. When I started doing this my biggest goal was to make an additional $12,000 a year for my family. I was thrilled! It paid off and it still pays off.
I started blogging about 6 months ago. My income has tripled since then. Why? Because I have proven that I am not an idiot, I have worked to create trust with the readers because I am honest and I am all about saving my readers and my clients money. I don’t care how rich your client is they want to save money.
More importantly, I am reaching potential clients I would have never had an opportunity to reach before. I blog and they call. The bottom line is that if you market yourself you will make money and it forces you to constantly educate your self.
I Don’t Trust Anyone
Well, that isn’t true. I do trust my partner in some projects, Geoff Levin, but other than that- no one. I hate to quit using this one business for examples, but they have created the best examples. I had an out-of-state client and it was strictly because I recommended this company that they got the web design job. They basically produced crap. The client would ask what I thought and I would tell him- it was crap that took 10 minutes to throw together.
The web design took 6 months and all I heard from them was “wah, wah, wah” and all my client heard was that I was the one holding up the project because I didn’t have the copy ready. I pretty much finished the copy before they were introduced to my client. They thought I would never find out, but the client told me throughout the whole process. The client thought a lot less of them. Did they ever know it? No, but the rest of us did. I had worked with these guys for over a year. I didn’t trust them and they proved they didn’t deserve it.
I am not saying you can’t trust anyone, but I don’t think it is wise to just instantly trust your business associates. They will stab you in the back, steal your ideas, steal your clients and trash you when they feel it benefits them. You have to be careful and you have to keep some of your ideas to yourself.
I Am An Advocate For My Clients
Yes, this requires extra work and concern for my clients. If they are being ripped off I tell them. If they are receiving sub-standard work from others I tell them. I don’t charge a fee for consulting on these issues. I just do it because I want what is best for them. Create clients for life by actually caring about what is best for them. This mentality is not around a lot today and clients appreciate it.
Believe in Your Creativity
My creativity has paid off. I am glad I paid attention! Go beyond what you know, learn and be creative.
For All the Newbies Out There
It about killed me to give www.GoDaddy.com $100 dollars of my money for a web site, even though I knew I needed it. I didn’t know if it would pay off, so I hated to spend the money. The truth is you do have to spend some money to make money. As I made money I used parts of it to invest in things that would educate me and items that would benefit my business. I don’t like paying $7 a month for an efax either, but I have to have it. I really HATE spending $1,300 on Adobe CS2, especially when CS3 came out 3 1/2 months later, but I use it daily. I needed it and I needed Office 2007 too.
These are all tax deductions so keep records of everything. I pay www.GoDaddy.com through Paypal because Paypal keeps a record that I can print out each year and bring to my accountant.
Find Ways to Save Money
I currently own over 80 domain names. I sell some and I have to buy a lot for competition purposes. I have NEVER bought anything from www.GoDaddy.com without using a coupon/promo code. NEVER. I save anywhere from 10-20% on everything I buy. I also search for coupon/promo codes for everything I buy online.
GoDaddy Coupons & Promo Codes | GoDaddyPromoCode.net | GoDaddyCouponCode.com
Lastly, Take Care of Yourself and Reward Yourself
You have to take care of your health, you have to sleep, you have to eat and you have to remember to drink some water throughout the day. There have been many days where I realize it is 8 PM and I am thirsty and I realize I haven’t had a drink all day! Remember yourself and your health. Your family needs you and your clients need you.
I have rewarded myself a lot lately. I have become a dress-aholica. There are so many cute dresses and I always get them for a good price. If you don’t give yourself something you will lose your motivation.
Good Luck- Melissa - SEOAware.com
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