Think about all the big name SEOs, the ones who are big on the speaker circuit at a variety of conferences, the ones whose blog posts get retweeted and commented on, the ones with about a zillion followers (and who only follow a few themselves). Basically, the so-called SEO experts. They talk the talk and seem to make it known they pretty much know everything about anything SEO, Google and how to rank. But if they are so freakin awesome at SEO, what the hell are they doing trying to round up clients? If they are the hotshot SEO they make themselves out to be, why aren’t they simply hiring people to work on their own properties, rather than working for other people’s web properties?
Now really think to all those SEOs you look up to in the industry. Are they selling a consulting service or some type of service package? I bet nearly all of them – if not every single one of them – are selling some kind of service, whether it be link building, social media campaign management, paid search, or straight up SEO. What big name SEO can you come up with that doesn’t either work for a company they don’t own or work to gain clients in some compacity? I struggled to come up with two.
Unless you work for a company pre-IPO like Google or Facebook, working as an employer won’t make you rich. And those you work for as a client or contractor seldom if ever give perks afforded regular employees. So why invest your time to make someone else rich, merely for an hourly fee or a set project rate?
Could these hotshot SEOs be hiding something more sinister – like the inability to get their own stuff indexed and ranking, so they hide behind “fixing” client’s websites where they could blame poor performance on “prior issues” or “management issues in getting things changed”. Yes, how many times have we heard some big name SEO complain that having to get approval from management for every little change is the reason they weren’t able to fix a site? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at a site and be able to tell the potential client that “those backlinks are bad” and “we need to remove the spammy footers”.
Granted, some SEOs just aren’t that creative and coming up with a site idea is akin to torture. But you would think somewhere along the line, they visited a site and thought “Damn, I could do this site so much better AND rank for number one.” Or they could ask friends for input (and pray they don’t steal the idea). But they don’t, even when they have the resources to hire writers or link builders, or whatever it is they need to get the job done. Heck, they could outsource the whole thing and just oversee its creation, then manage the SEO end of things, they don’t. So why? Probably because they are trying to hide the fact they actually suck at SEO and would never be able to get a brand new site anywhere near the top ten in Google.
So if you are an SEO, stop trolling for clients and start trolling your own properties to grow them, monetize them, create them and rank them. Because nothing shows an SEO’s skills more than building a site from scratch, especially when that scratch will line your own pockets instead of a clients.
About the author...
seobitch – who has written 38 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Seobitch is a pen name for a well known female expert in the SEO industry that most of you likely already follow. She has more than a dozen years experience and is a very respected expert in the field. Seobitch can be controversial but writes about issues that most people are afraid to talk about due to their employers, clients or friends. She also loves to tackle industry issues from a different point of view than what you normally see the "complainers" of the industry complaining about. She is also open to suggestions for future topics you would like to see the SEObitch tackle.
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve done exactly that – but as a counterpoint, SEO doesn’t necessarily mean you can monetize a site effectively, so all the ranking in the world might not line someone’s pockets as well as working with clients…
Ha! I have often wondered this myself.
This blog is great i love reading your posts. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of people are hunting around for this info, you could help them greatly.
SEO spam comment for the win…
So true. I’ve never understood why the SEO experts were always so busy working for someone else. Probably in some cases it’s a little too much focus on the immediate money versus long term success. Although, most are like you describe.
Because services = insanely high margins (comes with a lot of work though). Also, where demand is supply will follow.
Consulting in any space is a very lucrative endeavour.
Bulls eye nice shot and true…
thanks
You are such a bitch. SEO bitch
SEOs are real trolls, they hit you up so many times, its crazy.
I can see why some people are still trying to sell services. A good business model is to have others pay for your experiments.
So, the SEO can work on their own properties while getting paid by someone else to get ranked. From that money, you can learn the latest trends and also apply them to your own sites.
Just my $.02
Well said and in my opinion you have to be a good website designer to be a good SEO expert and vice versa.
Do luv your savage approach in your blogs.
Couldn’t agree more with seobitch. Mr Fishkin and the SeoMuz crew are a prime example of SEO guru’s who talk the talk. For a very long time, Moz was a failing business, and it’s only recently that it’s started generating any decent income.
Q) If Fishkin was such an expert why didn’t he build his own web properties, instead of clients?
A) He couldn’t or it’s much easier for him to charge his overpriced fees to paying clients.
The reason SEO guys are looking for clients is because they do not have a product let a alone manufacturing. I can’t image an SEO guy manufacturing tires, cars, or even potato peelers. The people with the products have spent years and years building the product.
By that logic every marketer throughout history — from print to tv — should have been marketing for their own business rather than boosting someone else’s. All salesmen should be selling their own product and web developers should be developing their own websites if they can make a site that makes money.
The skills required to start and run a business are not the same skill required to be good at SEO. Accounting, purchasing, customer service, sales, managing cashflow and credit… these are not what makes a SEO good at their job.
Even if an SEO had the skillset and desire to run a business, they would still need the capital to start a business, and even for an online business that is considerable. The online space is competitive enough that you can no longer hope for success running a bare bones site from your basement with no budget.
I think the same could be said for CEO’s, great salesmen, or good Accountants. If they are so good at running a company why don’t they start their own? etc. There are plenty of mediocre people in every industry and few people with the guts to start their own business because they are so afraid to fail. I guess it’s commonplace everywhere so this is kind of just pointing out the obvious for anyone who has the peripheral vision to see it.
Wow – amazingly on-target post.
I was at a SEO event last night – my first one; I’m a new online marketer with some fairly serious marketing chops developed in the offline direct marketing world.
Presentation was great, etc… then, afterwards, I was chatting with one of the more ambitious attendees.
First question…so, since there’s like zero cost to entry and you already know the moves (from your SEO agency job), ever try to go promote something on your own?
Stutter, stutter… (seriously?)
Ok..listen to him a bit more when he starts talking about analytics “do you know how to code?”
In our space that is the keys to the kingdom – analysts who code can, from a technical perspective, go anywhere they want to and use what they learn to build anything they dream up…
“Oh no…that’s too difficult..I’m a STRATEGIST”..
Seriously? Seriously?
I get the same thing with Web Content STRATEGISTS as opposed to writers. The strategists act like they have all the answers, but they don’t actually WRITE themed category/landing/blog pages. I think doing the actual work is more honest. And dang I love this SEOBitch. Stay anonymous, bitch! Getting yr RSS!
I didn’t know what to make of you based on your other posts seobith…but im a fan now! You know what time it is with these so called guru’s…
I’d like to see them build and rank NEW sites in 2012, using those “special white hat” skills they claim to have. If they were really developing new sites in this hostile Google environment, they wouldn’t be talking about BRAND, BRAND, BRAND…as if it’s the only solution to high rankings.
The harsh reality is that most SEO’s don’t have a large enough bankroll to create a REAL brand on their own. (how many SEO’s have a couple million dollars in bank…really?) . Rand is like the one of blessed few, but he’s out of touch with today’s reality and his advice is really for people that want to sell SEO services to big companies, instead of building their own properties.
Knowing SEO is not knowing business. Those SEO’s with ‘skin in the game’ don’t offer education (other than networking with the same) or get off on boasting. They are busy building their passive incomes (some of which are some kind of chunky cuts of client books – some of which are their own properties – properties that mean they own entire niches and can hand pick the best clients (the clients with the best margin businesses who give them no shit). Many of them are also busy hanging out the beach a lot …
Why have an SEO company when 5 times $5k a month largely passive is the income on a $5mil asset? Why bother with a company? Why bother getting the $5mill? Cause your an idiot who doesn’t get business!
Yeah some people show them as gurus. But that is not in reality. Good point l.
I don’t get it.
Isn’t seobitch the owner of a SEO company herself?
Amen! I don’t think this applies to just SEO but most marketing-related areas online. Those that really can are doing themselves and not out working hourly at consulting gigs.
I disagree, SEOBIT!
Okay, I will give you credit for having the right idea in general – but it is not always that simple.
Competing against other SEO companies is competing among the best in the industry. We cannot all take the first spot on Google – often not even the top 10 in our location.
But does that mean I don’t have the talent or skill to get the local dry cleaner listed high up on the local search rankings? Absolutely not!
I think this is not only for SEO its for all marketing related business’
organic seo development is all about hard work, you have to at it all the time if you are a sme. The big corporates have so much written about them every minuet of the day they dont need to do anything.