Paul Thordsen
Publisher

SEO Careers - Start Your Own SEO business

Will this be the year you start up your own SEO business? Let's talk about a few of the things to think about depending on your directions and goals for starting a new SEO business. 

A career in SEO and search marketing can have many different rewards depending on: 

a) The foundation of your SEO skills. 
b) Your focus and planning you do to build a reputable business. 
c) and of course your ability to keep up with all the industry changes. 

You might be choosing between a couple of different types of SEO career paths initially.

1. A career in affiliate marketing by using your skills to build your own high quality, authoritative web sites that consistently earn you commissions.
2. An SEO career that entails building a client base and helping others gain top visibility and become very successful.

Regardless of which type of career you are building in search marketing, the best way to commence is with building your own comfort level with your abilities to know you can positively achieve the results you need.

So many people seem to be anxious to take on clients and hang their shingle out before they have that solid foundation that's going to help them build the solid reputation they need.

There are plenty of ways to begin getting yourself up to speed through a variety of training organizations, study courses, workshops etc.

The choice is really entirely up to you based on the options. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you prepare yourself with the new skills you need:

• Be sure to choose a training organization that is focused on teaching you the genuine skills and can demonstrate that they actually practice what they preach. For example Pay Per Click training has its own benefits to offer but PPC is really more like paid advertising. There are so many more topics to gain a comfort level with these days than there was even 5 years ago.
  
  
• Be aware that there are some training companies out there that say they teach "search marketing skills" but then in the end you'll find out they are trying to sell you some special software, some special tool set or some gimmicky software application. What you should be after are the skills that prepare you for getting the job done accurately and without a lot of stress. No hidden agendas should surprise you at the end. 
  
  
• Some professional tools are fine (and there are some good ones to know about,) but in the end if all you have and all you can rely on is the same tools that everyone else is using, then where is your true advantage?

These days, there is far more to good solid SEO and SEM skills training than just keywords and Meta tags. Search marketing skills today entail strategies that will teach you how to build genuine, authoritative, Web sites that reflect top visibility amongst competitive landscapes.

There are strategies that involve solutions for dealing with technical and design challenges, techniques for preparing for the future trends including Web 2.0 and Social Media as well as new ways to accurately gather your data and understanding the full scope of influences that are at your disposal. There are new ways to examine the data too for both threats and opportunity analysis and even right down to the specific industry.

SEO Career Variations: Where will you get started?

Okay, so let's get on to talk about the two most common SEO career variations and their differences as well as their benefits. Of course once you are on your way you'll find there are many more than two directions but these are the most common ways that people get started. 

Let's have a brief look at affiliate marketing first.

• A career in affiliate marketing by building your own high quality, authoritative Web sites that consistently earn you commissions.
  • Complete freedom and flexibility to build your content the way you know it should be built. No clients to report to, your time is used for tackling the job productively with complete freedom and liberty
  • Develop the kind of high quality informational sites that will be useful to your readers and no need to bill clients, try and convince the client why one recommendation is better than another.
  • You are 100% in charge of all the choices from choice of topic matter to choices of which methods and techniques you wish to employ.
  
  You have heard of Web sites that run on auto-pilot. A good affiliate marketer applies a whole range of influences to their site so that it continues to: 
  
  a) Serve readers with engaging and useful information that satisfy the reason why they searched. (Genuine value)
  b) The consumer can place an order for a quality product and have the order filled. (Profitability)
  c) Have a system in place to measure and benchmark their customers interests and needs as well as satisfaction level.
  d) Have a means for customer interaction, through a related blog or through polls or other means engaging Web 2.0.
  e) Most great authority sites have very original content to serve up while often the order fulfillment may be done by a third but reputable party.
  
  Unlimited income potential even if you remain a sole proprietor: 
  
  You can literally build one project after another and have each successful project run for years without stress and without major ongoing time commitments. True affiliate marketing can generate as many streams of "passive cash flow" as you wish.
  
  The most successful affiliate marketers are ones that build their content based on topic matter that they personally enjoy and are very knowledgeable about. This serves three important purposes. 
  
  a) If you have expertise in a given topic, you will never run dry of new topic matter.
  
  b) If you enjoy your selected topics to the point that you might even say you are passionate about them, then you will enjoy your work. The advantage here is that if you enjoy your work enough, it does not even feel so much like work.
  
  c) Most good affiliate marketers understand the value of building a dedicated readership (over making a fast buck.) 
  
  
  In other words, they respect their readers and any marketing they do, comes with the highest respect toward their readers and individuals that make up their list. This is the ultimate use of a Web site in my books. To forge genuine and lasting relationships with other human beings.
  
  Any of the top names in affiliate marketing that I have personally met, are genuinely caring people. They care about their readers and in doing so they only distribute what they believe to be their very best information.
  
  But, let's switch gears now and look at another second possible SEO career option which is common:
  
  
  Search Engine optimization:
  How To get started
  Advantages:
  
  This type of an SEO career will appeal especially to those who enjoy the reward of helping others. Not only can you earn exceptional income with the right skills but you also enjoy the privilege and special rewards of knowing that your new business is helping others to prosper. Do not underestimate this "reward value" as it is pretty amazing, addictive and exceptionally satisfying.
  
  If this is the type of search marketing business enterprise you want to start up, then it will also serve you well to fully scope out the full range of services that you or your company will be offering. 
  
  As you may know not all services are the same and it's up to you to shape and define the niches at which you wish to excel and become known for. The last thing you want to be is just another SEO out there amongst the masses. You want to consider ways of setting yourself apart from the average services that are out there. It's funny when we ask new students about their Unique Selling Proposition. They all seem to know they need one, but most folks never go on to work out exactly how they will be different. 
  
  For a client serving type business, you should also be aware that there is a limited ceiling of earning potential (if you intend on remaining a one person operation.) However, you can grow well beyond your expectations if you recruit other SEO skilled talent to work for you or work with you in tandem, so that you can continue to expand your client base. 
  
  Again it is essential that you build yourself an exceptional reputation for getting genuine results that contribute to your clients bottom line profits. This is one industry where building your range of skills properly really can contribute to building yourself a positive reputation.
  
  Of course their are other types of career niches that focus more on programming skills and yet others that head off in the direction of PR and publicity services and content writing. 
  
  SEO Copywriting.
  
  For anyone one who knows how to write good articles and content, but has not made the transition to the Web yet - this is a perfect time to be getting into the business. Never before has there been such a massive demand for original, well written Web content. So  what ever your interests, the single most important thing is to make up your mind and decide to "get started" somewhere. 
  
  
  Getting started is the first step.
  TIP: Even if you are planning to set up a client based business, one great place to begin is with affiliate marketing to build your own comfort level and gain the confidence you need first time out and before taking on any clients. The extra cash flow and income streams will be helpful. But it is an extremely fast way to gain your comfort level without any stress BEFORE taking on any clients who will often bring with them a certain new set of demands. The old rule applies that practice indeed, does make perfect.
  
  Once you are ready to open your doors, be sure that you have built your keyword forensics skills to quickly explore the real marketplace of people's needs (based on their search behavior.) 
  
  You'll want a "quality assurance check" in place to help you quickly determine the public's true needs for a service or product based on demands through the most recent search behavior. This is one of the quickest way to build a genuine sure fire reputation and some tremendous referral business.
  
  
  Getting Started: Where can you get started?
  Be sure to take advantage of getting your skills up to speed first before taking on any new clients. 
  
  Invest a little time and energy into your own future success with some solid structural training to demystify and separate the facts from the fiction. When searching for someone to help build your skills, and mentor you on the finer points, look to a training organization that has been around for a few years and has some reputation of its own. 
  
  By John Alexander
  
  
  Great Reasons to Choose SEO as Your Career
  
  
  High Demand For SEO Services
  Once SEO was not a separate profession - Web masters performed some basic SEO for the sites they managed and that was all. But as sites began to grow and make money. new categories of web development tools began to develop. It became more reasonable to hire a dedicated SEO specialist than to have the Web master do it. The demand for good SEO experts is high and is constantly on the rise. Web application development for a start up company is hard to find because most have no web development experience.
  
  Search Engine Optimizers Make Good Money
  SEO is a profession that can be practiced while working for a company or as a solo practitioner. There are many jobboards like Dice and Craigslist that publish SEO job advertisements. It is worth noting that the compensation for SEO employees is equal to or even higher than that of developers, designers and marketers.
  
  Salaries Of Over $80,000.00 Are Not An Exception
  Salaries over $80K per annum are not an exception for SEO jobs. As a solo SEO practitioner you can make even more money. Almost all freelance sites have sections for SEO services and offers for $50.00 to $200.00 an hour or more are quite common. If you are still not confident that you can work on your own, you can start a SEO job, learn a bit and then start your own company.
  
  Only Web-Designing MAY NOT Be Enough
  Only Web-Designing MAY NOT be enough. Many companies offer turn-key solutions that include Web design, Web development AND SEO optimization. In fact, many clients expect that when they hire somebody to make their site, the site will be SEO friendly.
  
  Become A Valuable Professional
  If you are good both as a designer and a SEO expert, you will be a truely valuable professional. On the other hand, many other companies are dealing with SEO only because they feel that this way they can concentrate their efforts on their major strength – SEO, so you can consider this possibility as well.
  
  Logical Step Ahead If You Come From Marketing Or Advertising
  Logical step ahead if you come from marketing or advertising The Web has changed the way companies do business, so to some extent today's marketers and advertisers need to have at least some SEO knowledge if they want to be successful. SEO is also a great career for linguists.
  
  Lots of Learning
  Lots of Learning For somebody who comes from design, development or web administration, SEO might look not technical enough and you might feel that you will downgrade if you move to SEO. Don't worry so much - you can learn a LOT from SEO, so if you are a talented techie, you are not downgrading but you are actually upgrading your skills packages.
  
  SEO Is Already Recognized As A Career
  SEO is already recognized as a career. Finally, if you need some more proof that SEO is a great career, have a look at the available courses and exams for SEO practitioners. Well, they might not be a CISCO certification but still they help to institutionalize the SEO profession.
  
  Some Ugly Aspects Of SEO
  Some Ugly Aspects of SEO Dependent on search engines. It is true that in any career there are many things that are outside of your control but for SEO this is a rule number one.
  
  Search engines frequently change their algorithms and what is worse – these changes are not made public, so even the greatest SEO gurus admit that they make a lot of educated guesses about how things work.
  
  It is very discouraging to make everything perfect and then to learn that due to a change in the algorithm, your sites dropped 100 positions down. But the worst part is that you need to communicate this to clients, who are not satisfied with their sinking ratings.
  
  No Fixed Rules
  No fixed rules. Probably this will change over time but for now the rule is that there are no rules – or at least not written ones. You can work very hard, follow everything that looks like a rule and still success is not coming.
  
  Currently you can't even rely on bringing a search engine to court because of the damages they have done to your business because search engines are not obliged to rank high sites that have made efforts to get optimized.
  
  Rapid Changes In Rankings
  Rapid changes in rankings But even if you somehow manage to get to the top for a particular keyword, keeping the position requires constant efforts. Well, many other businesses are like that, so this is hardly a reason to complain – except when an angry customer starts shouting at you that this week their ratings are sinking and of course this is all your fault.
  
  SEO Requires Patience
  SEO requires Patience. The SEO professional and customers both need to understand that SEO takes constant effort and time . It could take months to move ahead in the ratings, or to build tons of links. Additionally, if you stop optimizing for some time, most likely you will experience a considerable drop in ratings. You need lots of motivation and patience not to give up when things are not going your way.
  
  Black Hat SEO
  Black hat SEO. Black hat SEO is probably one of the biggest concerns for the would-be SEO practitioner. Fraud and unfair competition are present in any industry and those who are good and ethical suffer from this but black hat SEO is still pretty widespread. It is true that search engines penalize black hat practices but still black hat SEO is a major concern for the industry.
  
  Source WebConfs