I’ve heard a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to grow an SEO business. So many people believe these myths that I wanted to take the five most common ones and break them down, explaining why they’re just not true.
Most of the advice out there on starting your own SEO agency is a trap. The real goal is to get you dreaming about what your life could be like with a successful digital marketing agency, not necessarily to make you successful at escaping the rat race and gaining financial freedom.
Myth #1: You Need to Know Everything About SEO to Get Started
You do not need to be an expert to land your first client. All you need is to learn enough about SEO to have a conversation with an absolute novice who barely knows what SEO stands for.
Your future clients don’t know how Google works or what its algorithm is. Just learn the bare basics about SEO.
Learning while doing is so much faster, and you’ll remember it better than just reading about SEO. Even in a worst-case scenario, where you land a client but don’t know how to do SEO, having a paying client means you can invest in the right SEO knowledge.
Myth #2: There’s a Massive Initial Investment Required
The cost to get your first client is the only cost you really need to worry about, and it’s very low. You don’t need a website, business cards, or expensive SEO training courses. Instead, focus on prospecting using free or low-cost tools like ChatGPT, Gmass, and Loom.
Once you land your first client, you can use that money to expand your service offerings.
Myth #3: SEO Takes a Long Time
Anyone who says SEO takes 9-12 months or longer doesn’t know how to leverage AI to quickly improve rank positions.
At my agency, we use a low-hanging fruit method to find pages already ranking on the second or third page for a given keyword. Moving those pages up just a few positions can result in a huge traffic increase within a month or two.
Myth #4: More Clients Means More Success
It’s better to have 10 clients paying you $2,000 a month each than 100 clients paying you $200 a month. Low-paying clients who try to negotiate pricing are often bad clients.
Instead, set a fixed scope of work and offer it to every client, making minor customizations to seem tailored to their industry. Your best clients are busy running their own businesses and don’t have time to nitpick.
Myth #5: SEO Fulfillment Will Take Up All Your Time
Recent AI advances have made SEO much faster and easier to implement. Embrace these new tools or risk being left behind.
Building client relationships does take time, but it’s something you can do in an hour or two each month.
Executing the SEO strategy requires monthly planning, but once you’ve decided on targets and scope, your team can handle the rest.
Don’t Let These Myths Hold You Back
None of these myths should stop or slow you down. They’re all traps you’ve been taught to believe that simply aren’t true.
Go build your agency by getting started with prospecting.
Everything stopping you is just an excuse because you know it’s going to be uncomfortable. But if it were easy, fast, and painless, everyone would have an SEO agency.
It takes discipline and consistency, but I know that if you’re here, you’re not everyone.
Embrace the discomfort and start prospecting today. You can have a six-figure agency in three months, even if you don’t know anything about SEO right now.
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