1.
Going Solo: The Survival
Guide for Freelance SEOs
(Present & Future)
Steve Morgan | Morgan Online Marketing & Anti-Sell
SLIDESHARE.NET/STEVIEPHIL
@STEVIEPHIL

2.
Steve Morgan
Freelance SEO Consultant
Author of Anti-Sell
Going Solo
The Survival Guide for Freelance SEOs
(Present & Future)

3.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
SEO = 12+ years
Freelancing = 8+ years
About Me (read: who is this guy?!)

4.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
SEOno (SEO blog)
Cardiff SEO Meet
Anti-Sell.com
About Me (read: who is this guy?!)

5.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
J-rock
D&D
About Me (read: who is this guy?!)

6.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The Pros of Freelancing
Be your own boss!
Flexibility! Freedom!

7.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The Pros of Freelancing
Choose your
work/projects/clients

8.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The Pros of Freelancing
More money
(potentially)

9.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The… Not-So-Pros of Freelancing
Erratic, irregular
income

10.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The… Not-So-Pros of Freelancing
Lonely / lacking
camaraderie

11.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The… Not-So-Pros of Freelancing
You have to do more
than just SEO:
sales, finance,
admin, etc…

12.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The… Not-So-Pros of Freelancing
Hard to take time off
(e.g. holiday days)

13.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Try to have ‘safety net’
savings by (3-6 months)
Before Going Freelance…

14.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Try to get a head-start on
marketing yourself:
▪ Social media – Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
▪ Website / landing page
▪ Networking
Before Going Freelance…

15.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Before Going Freelance…
Try to have work secured
before the leap
▪ Dabble part-time first (evenings/weekends)
▪ Go full-time when you have enough work on

16.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Before Going Freelance…
If going freelance from an agency
(and working with an old agency client),
check your contract!
▪ Some agencies have ‘poaching’ clauses

17.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
All-round SEO
…or
Technical SEO specialist
…or
SEO for the financial services sector
…or
Technical SEO for financial services
Going Niche

18.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Sales & Networking
This first tip is bloody important:
Business networking
≠
Business networking events

19.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Sales & Networking
Other (actual) tips:
▪ Go to non-SEO events! (Sorry Kelvin)
▪ Facebook groups!
▪ Twitter chats!

20.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Sales & Networking
Other (actual) tips:
▪ Try out coworking spaces!
▪ Run your own [podcast
/ event / whatever]

21.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Sales & Networking
Self-promotion is not a dirty word

22.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The ‘Business’ Side of Freelancing
Finance:
▪ Get an accountant
(seriously)
▪ Get a separate business
bank account

23.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The ‘Business’ Side of Freelancing
Finance:
▪ Keep on top of income &
expenses as you go
▪ Keep expenses low as much as you can –
do you need [the new shiny thing]…?

24.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The ‘Business’ Side of Freelancing
Finance:
▪ 7 or 14 day payment
terms (not 30)
▪ 50% upfront,
50% upon completion

25.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The ‘Business’ Side of Freelancing
Finance:
▪ Only allow bank transfer
(BACS) payments
▪ HMRC’s ‘payments on account’

26.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The ‘Business’ Side of Freelancing
Legal:
▪ Get business insurance
▪ Get a contract
▪ Get everything in writing…
EVERYTHING

27.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
The ‘Business’ Side of Freelancing
Legal:
▪ See also: screenshots!
▪ Be careful working with
clients outside the UK

28.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Growing Into an Agency (if you want to)
Important note:
you don’t have to
(if you don’t want to)

29.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Growing Into an Agency (if you want to)
…But if you do:
▪ Use freelancing as a
stepping stone
▪ (Safer than jumping straight to the
agency route)

30.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Freelancer Facebook Groups
▪ Freelance Heroes
▪ Being Freelance
▪ Doing It For The Kids (DIFTK)

31.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Freelancer Podcasts
▪ Freelance Heroes
▪ Being Freelance
▪ Doing It For The Kids (DIFTK)
(…not a copy/paste error)

32.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Freelancer Books
▪ Survival Skills for Freelancers
- Sarah Townsend
▪ The Future is Freelance
- Kirsty Hulse
▪ Anti-Sell
- Steve Morgan

33.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
More! From Other Freelance SEOs!
Anti-Sell.com/brightonseo
Andrew
Cock-Starkey
(Optimisey)
Sarah
Tamsin
Ahmed
Khalifa
Stacey
MacNaught
Natalie Mott
Luke Carthy

34.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
“15 Ways to Get SEO Clients!”
Anti-Sell.com/seo

35.
@steviephil
#brightonSEO
Obligatory Outro Slide!
Anti-Sell: Marketing, Lead
Generation & Networking Tips
for Freelancers Who Hate Sales
▪ Paperback | Kindle | PDF
Audiobook (self-narrated)
▪ 4.7 / 5 (avg. across all sources)
▪ Winner of 5 book awards
Anti-Sell.com/book