I’ve had phenomenal success as an SEO writer. It’s the easiest success I’ve ever had. Easy as in acquiring clients; not easy as in doing the work, mind you. But, I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging or even patting myself on the back. I share for two reasons: (i) the questions flow in that I just don’t have time to answer; and (ii) I want every freelance writer out there to know that you don’t have to struggle to make a decent living. I truly want sites like Elance and Guru to just go away with their $3 per article writing gigs. I want freelance writers not to feel like they have to sell themselves so short. I want financial fulfillment for freelance writers. We should have it, just like any other professional. I’ve been an official business owner since 1996 (I’ve always had something going on on the side). And, I’ve never been able to grow my client roster so quickly. So for this issue, I guess you could say I interviewed myself, for I literally asked, “Why have you been so successful as an SEO writer when you’ve been a freelance writer since 1993?” Answering myself, following are the 8 keys to my SEO writing success. 8 Keys to Making Between $75,000 to $100,000/year as a Freelance SEO Writer 1. Penetrate a New Industry: This has been, without a doubt, the single most important factor in my success. How new is SEO writing? A girlfriend of mine who works in the publishing industry asked me recently, “What is SEO writing?” And, every time I write an article on SEO, I get an email asking me, “What does SEO stand for?” Even some internet marketing execs I speak with don’t know all of the complexities of the field. I can just tell by how our conversations and emails flow that I’ve “lost them in translation,” so to speak, along the way. Even one of my sisters, who knows how to code websites by hand, asked me, “What does that mean again?” So, yeah, it’s pretty new. For those of us who’ve been around it for a while, it’s kind of something we take for granted. There’s a lesson here. I entered this industry because I’d run across three SEO writers who told stories of how they were almost immediately inundated with work after starting to market. And, if you’ve been a freelance writer for any length of time, you know that just doesn’t happen. So, I was intrigued. I had to look it up to see what this SEO thing was. Once I understood the concepts, I was like, “I can do that!” And off I went. Takeaway Lesson: All things SEO is new and growing by leaps and bounds. The sooner you learn the industry, the sooner you can start reeling in clients. 2. Work Like Mad for Six Months to Learn the Industry: Once I started to get clients, I took my time to learn the ins and outs of the projects as they came in. Different types of projects will come your way as an SEO writer. Each client works differently, although there will be some similar threads. Some will want just run of the mill SEO articles optimized to a certain keyword density; others will want SEO-optimized blog posts; others will want sales copy with industry keywords that you will have to research; others will want comparative analysis articles with traffic-driving keywords; etc. And others still will want forum posts, blog posts, auto responders; copy with SEO-optimized, call-to-action statements; etc. Because most internet marketing firms (the industry I target mostly) offer a range of services to clients, you will be expected to know how to provide all of it if you are to grow. Takeaway Lesson: Don’t worry if you don’t know everything going in, but do carve out time to do as much reading and research as you can. I did a lot of this, especially in the first few months. After that, I just learned by doing, by landing different projects. If you’re a quick study with good research skills (as most freelance writers are), then you should be able to pick up stuff pretty easily. A lot of it may sound like rocket science, but it’s not. Trust me, if I can read, understand and apply it, so can you. 3. Market Like a Crazy Person: In the beginning, I was sending out 50 to 100 marketing emails a week. So, I hit the ground running pretty fast. Then there’s the success story of the college kid who sent out 24 emails after buying my ebook one Saturday, and by Monday afternoon had four clients already. Now that I’m so busy I’m cross-eyed from staring at my computer, I’ve cut back to 10-20 marketing emails a week. BUT, as I’m ramping up to bring on even more freelance writers, I’m going to kick it up again to at least 50 or more. 4. Work Yourself to the Bone; Don’t Let Up Because You Get Too Busy: Many freelancers make the mistake of not marketing when they get too busy. That is a major mistake. Like training for a marathon, it must be a continual effort. You can’t very well expect to run a marathon if you get up to 15 miles, pull back on the training a few weeks and then expect to be right back where you left off. It won’t happen. Marketing - in any business - is like that. You must constantly keep feelers out to keep your pipeline full. 5. Apply for Any and Everything: What I mean by this is, apply for jobs you think you’re only marginally qualified for, and for jobs that are seeking only full-time applicants. If I think there’s a possibility that a firm hires freelancers, I’ll apply to FT job listings, sending in my credentials with a note like, “in case you ever need freelance help.” You just never know. Many firms like ad agencies, PR firms, trade publishers, web design firms, etc. all use freelancers. While they may truly need a FT person at that particular time, do you really think those projects they’re hiring the FT person to take on are just sitting there waiting to get done? No! Nine times out of 10, they’re using freelancers or some poor, overworked full-timer’s carrying the load until a new person can be found. 6. Start Bringing on Help as Soon as You Can Afford It: Now this is where it starts to get fun, because you can start to make some real money. If you feel like your SEO writing load is growing beyond what you can handle, you have three options: (i) Turn down work: When you hit a dry spell, how you’ll wish you never did that; (ii) Refer clients to someone else: If you do this, you can basically kiss them goodbye. Clients like someone they can trust to get the work done. Telling them you’re too busy to take on extra work right now means that even if they understand, you will have planted a seed of doubt in their minds as to your ability to meet deadlines. That is, if they ever decide to use you again. (iii) Hire other freelance writers to help you: If you want to build a business beyond yourself, this is the best option. This will free you up to market for more work and grow your freelance writing business. Hiring Other Freelance Writers Tip: Be sure to charge enough from the outset so that if you have to hire others to do the work, you can pay them a decent wage and still earn a profit. 7. Add Ancillary Services as Soon as You Can: When I first started, I just offered SEO article writing, in addition to the other types of more traditional writing I already did (eg, newsletters, sales copy, editing, etc.). But, clients kept asking me about blog postings, so I added that as a service. And let me tell you, this is some of the easiest and most lucrative writing I’ve done. The posts are usually short (100-250 words) and general in nature. I did 20 in a few hours one day. This was several hundred bucks for a few hours work. Takeaway Lesson: You have to stay on top of what’s going on in the industry to keep pace with what clients want. This is easy. All you have to do is check out the service listings on their websites, because this is what they’ll be outsourcing to you. 8. Stay Enthused: What I mean by this is, once the initial excitement of a business wears off and you get bogged down with the actual work, it can become staid and boring, just like a relationship. You have to work to keep the initial excitement up. If you want this to be a way of life, not something you just half-assed try (forgive my French), then you’re going to have to be mindful of complacency and sloppiness creeping in. Notice that nothing I listed here costs money. I haven’t spent a dime on any type of advertising or marketing. If you already have a computer and Internet service, then you can start an SEO writing career making $75,000 to $100,000 year today. About the Author:Yuwanda Black is a freelance SEO writer. She blogs at InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com and is the author of How to Make $250+/Day Writing Simple 500 Word Articles, which can be found here.

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