How to Make $3,000 in Two Months with SEO Writing

Note: This post has been fully updated with what works for SEO writing in 2019.

Kevin Cole first wrote this post in June 2013. After joining Location Rebel Academy in October 2012, he shared his successes.

Using the steps outlined below, he was able to make $3,000 SEO writing in the first two months of starting his writing business.

We’ve gone through and updated this post for what works right now with SEO writing in 2019. If you’ve been considering giving SEO writing a try, this will help you get started today.

If you’re totally brand new to freelance writing, then read this freelance writing overview first.

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Table of Contents

Introduction to SEO Writing

We get a ton of questions from people looking to join Location Rebel Academy asking whether SEO writing still works – it does, and the goal of this post is to outline how.

We’ve taken the original outline of Kevin’s post and updated it with some of the changes we’ve seen over the years and the freelance writing climate has changed.

In this post, we cover the basics.

You’re going to learn what SEO writing is, who it’s for, why we don’t think it’s totally dead, and how to get started today.

Plus, you’ll get a few examples of LRA members who have used SEO writing to build a business and some email templates to get your pitches up and running.

If you’re ready to get started, keep reading!

What is SEO?

Before we get into SEO writing, you need to know a little bit about SEO (search engine optimization). If you’re totally new to the concept, watch this video and as it is one of the most detailed explanations of SEO and its components out there:

So what is SEO exactly?

Let’s try a little exercise.

You’ve gone to Google and typed in a keyword and hit enter. What you get are the results, pages and pages or blog posts, videos, and articles that are associated with that keyword.

The results at the top of the page are generally considered by Google (or whatever search engine you’re using) as the highest quality pages. Every brand and site out there wants to be at the top of the search results for their particular keyword.

Not only is it prime real estate, but the top results get more clicks, and by a pretty good margin.

A study from SEO Profiler found that the #1 result in Google gets about 43% of the clicks, whereas #16 will get approximately 8%.

So you can see why ranking well on Google really matters. Few people are even paying attention, never mind clicking, on content they see past page 3 or 4.

Here’s a real life example.

If you type the keyword ‘bucket list’ into Google this is what you get:

Notice this site (yay) is the #3 result. Because we rank so highly for that keyword, lots of people come to this site who are interested in bucket lists.

That leads to increased traffic, more subscribers, and eventual new members.

You can see why ranking highly for keywords is important for brands. It can lead to more buyers, and brands like that a lot.

So when a brand wants to rank higher in those search engine results, they need to get their keywords out there. One of the best ways to do that is through building links back to their site.

There are a number of factors that go into building those links:

First, they need a high-quality page on their site that can rank.
Second, they need to make sure this page is optimized for the keyword they want to rank for.
Finally, they want “social proof” in the form of other websites linking back to that page.

As an SEO writer, you come in to help with that last part.

If you want to learn more about SEO itself, check out:

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What does SEO Writing Mean?

SEO writing means “Search Engine Optimization writing”. This is the process of writing specific content and articles using keywords aimed at getting the attention of search engines to boost traffic to a website referred to in the post.

SEO writing is all about writing content that search engines can understand easily. It’s a form of content writing that helps brands and websites get ranked in search engines for the specific keywords they’re targeting.

Brands need writers to help get their keywords out there.

Why does this matter?

There’s an SEO strategy called article marketing that has been around for years.

The idea is to write a lot of articles all focusing on a specific keyword and/or related keywords of the page you want to rank. These articles get posted to various sites all over the internet and link back to your page.

This tells Google “oh hey, there’s a lot of links to this page, it must be good” and they rank it higher.

In the internet marketing, world quality content is king.

Internet marketing companies, brands, websites, and even bloggers need great content to run a successful business. That’s why they hire freelance SEO content writers.

As the writer, it’s your job to create an article that highlights a specific keyword, is good quality and can be easily read by Google bots.

It’s certainly not the most interesting of writing, but for now, it’s still a way for companies and brands to get their content and keywords ranked.

And, since it’s one of the most basic ways of building links, there are still opportunities for writers who are looking to break into making money online in an entry level way.

Is SEO Writing Dead?

There’s a lot of talk about content writing today. Think of SEO writing as a subset of that.

We won’t sugarcoat it, is SEO writing harder now than it used to be? Yup, it sure is.

In the past, getting ranked was pretty simple. Companies hired a bunch of writers to crank out keyword stuffed SEO articles. Then they posted them online in the right places and watching their rankings climb up Google.

These days it isn’t quite that simple.

This strategy became really popular about a decade ago, and because of this, there was a boom in the number of people doing it.

As search engine algorithms have gotten smarter, it’s become harder to be successful, simply because their quality guidelines have gone up as well. Now it’s actually a bad strategy to blast out a bunch of low quality keyword stuffed articles or blog posts.

The good news for you is that good high quality writing wins every time.

So, where some people see challenges, other writers can see opportunity. They’ve been able to position themselves as SEO content writers who know the basics of SEO, understand what the Google algorithm is looking for, and can write articles that meet those guidelines.

We’ve had a number of members like Kevin, who have used SEO writing to boost their income and make extra money.

Here’s an interview with Avery. She’s used SEO writing as a way to bring in side income that has helped her travel the world with her family.

Carlo from Next Stop Who Knows is another example.

Carlo and his girlfriend, Florence, started out as SEO content writers. As they got more clients, they started hiring other writers to help complete the work. Now, they have their own writing agency and provide SEO content to brands from all over the world.

Carlo and Florence’s story highlights how SEO writing can serve as a base to branch out to lots of business potential.

Blair is another LRA member who decided to go the agency route like Carlo and Florence. He joined and went all in on SEO writing. Making over $4,000 in his first month, and 10 months later, was grossing over $6,000 per month managing a stable of other writers.

Here’s what he had to say over a series of emails:

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I quietly set a goal for myself this month and it took me until 11:59 PM on January 31st to make it! My goal was to generate $4000 in SEO writing income in January. I’m proud to say that I actually did it! My final number was $4030. This is also with a full-time job.

It’s tough to put into words what has happened since I’ve joined Location Rebel. I started with the SEO writing blueprint in January and am happy to say that as of right now I’ve grossed $35,000 this year alone from writing. On top of that, I’ve subbed out over 90% of my writing. I’m still working a full-time job as well but hope to be able to leave the 9-5 at some point relatively soon. Thanks for all that you have done. I truly believe that if you are willing to put in the time and effort you can totally succeed with the Location Rebel program.

BIG NEWS! So, I put in my notice on September 18th. I actually gave my company a one-month notice because a lot of what I did was difficult to hand off. It’s been a surreal month, but last Friday was my LAST DAY!

I’m consistently grossing over 6K each month with one month where I grossed 8K. I’m hoping with the additional time that I have I will be able to grow the business even more.

I appreciate your help throughout the journey and I’m so glad I decided to join LR in January of this year. It’s amazing to think about what has happened in 10 short months!

If you’re wondering if Blair is still running his content writing agency, the answer is yes! We just got another email from him in July of 2018.

Who is SEO Writing For?

We see people (both in and out of LRA) making money from this type of content writing all the time.

Is it the sexiest work? Not by a long shot.

At Location Rebel Academy we look at it as a way to get your foot in the door as opposed to a long-term career option (unless you’re looking to follow in the footsteps of Carlo and Blair).

SEO writing is not particularly well paid, especially at the entry level, so unless you’re churning out dozens of articles a week, you won’t be getting rich.

The Beginner

But for the absolute beginner, this is a good place to start. One thing note for beginners, as the Google algorithm has gotten more advanced, it relies more on quality content in English.

So, non-native English speakers tend to see more difficulty if their written English isn’t really on point. It wasn’t always like that but is increasingly moving in this direction.

It’s especially good for people who are currently in a job and are thinking about taking the leap but haven’t started anything yet. While it’s not exactly the free for all it used to be, this type of writing can help you make a bit of money and build your confidence in the freelance process and your ability to get work.

This does more than just put some money in your bank account, it also helps you get into the mindset that you can make money online. That in and of itself is something that’s worth it for a lot of people.

Liz’s Example

Building up a solo SEO content writing business while still in a 9-5 job is the method Liz took when she started with LRA. She spent a year building up clients and income from SEO writing and then blog writing before she left her full-time job.

This helped her bring in some cash flow to add to her savings but also was a huge confidence builder. She learned she did have the skills to get clients and make money with her writing.

Then, when she did quit, she wasn’t stressed looking for clients and income while starting from zero. She already had freelance work and could start transitioning up the content writing ladder.

How to Start SEO Writing This Week

Now that you know what SEO writing is, we’re going to show you how to get started, step by step.

If after reading the beginning of this post you already know this is not the direction you want to take, then I’d consider checking out our posts on starting a niche site or our beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing as other alternatives for creating a lifestyle business.

Let’s get to it.

Step 1: Get Your Site Up and Running

First things first, you need to claim your little corner of the internet.

So in order to do that, you want to get your website set up so you can have your freelancer portfolio on display.

Now, it’s not 100% required to get a website but frankly, it just makes things easier. Plus, it’s always a good idea to own your name as a URL (or as close to your name as you can get).

As a starting point, yourname.com is a great way to go.

The URL or name of the site doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It just needs to be something simple and straightforward.

Don’t waste lots of time trying to come up with something creative or clever, you don’t want to get bogged down here. You want to get to searching for clients as soon as possible.

You can use a site like NameCheap and their bulk search to brainstorm a few ideas.

Here are a couple of easy examples you can use:

Try to get the .com if you can. If you can’t it’s fine to use .net or .co (or .co.uk for example if you’re in the UK).

What we like about simply using your name, is that it allows you to pivot easily in the future if you decide to move on from just writing. You’ll likely not always be an SEO writer, so it gives you some flexibility over the long run.

For instance, this blog was just seanogle.com for 7 years before we moved to the Location Rebel domain.

Once your domain is established sign up a for any hosting account and install WordPress.

Not exactly sure how to get the site setup?

No problem, check out How to Set up a Blog Step by Step.

Step 2: Content and Design

Next up, you need to design your site and get it presentation ready.

To get started with your site, keep it simple. This is an area where you can easily go off the rails and waste a lot of time. I’ve seen that happen quite a bit with brand new members.

Remember, at this stage of the game, your site does not have to be fancy, all you need are the basics. As you get more experienced and know which direction you want to take your business, you can step up your game.

All you need to get started is to create five pages in total.

Home Page

This is the second most important page on the site. It’s the first thing potential clients see when they come to your site so it needs to be in tip-top shape.

Write a little intro, and then give them some reasons to stick around. You can highlight your unique selling perspective (USP), that is what makes you special, or why someone should hire you as opposed to all those other SEO writers out there.

If you think you don’t have a USP to highlight, spend some time thinking about it. It’s likely you do. Maybe you’re super quick at writing, or you love to research, or you have a specialty from a job or degree in an advanced topic, or you’re a local writer.

There are tons of things to highlight that will make you stand out, so be sure to add those here.

Another key to the home page is to focus on the customer. the point of the home page is to let potential customers know the services you offer and how you can help them. Write this with your customer in mind and highlight the ways you can deliver results.

Remember, the point of the home page is to let potential customers know the services you offer and how you can help them. Write this with your customer in mind and highlight the ways you can deliver results.

That means things like:

Communication style
Delivery turnaround time
Niche or area of expertise (if you have one)
Writing and editing process
Why they should work with you instead of all the other writers out there

Too many people approach SEO writing thinking about themselves, instead flip it and think about your potential clients. Taking that approach is the best way to keep potential customers on your site and have them click over to your samples.

About Me

The about page is all about humanizing yourself and your business. Too many people ignore this part of their brand. If you’re running a business, your personality and experiences matter and can appeal to other people, especially potential customers.

The easiest thing to do is show that you’re a real person. You’re not some sort of shop that spins or re-writes articles, you run your own brand and you care about what you put out there.

Share a little bit about yourself. Highlight a bit of your backstory and even a few of your hobbies. You’d be surprised at the things that jump off the page for people and really connect with them.

Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. Too many people think they have to hide that on their about pages and be ‘professional.’ In today’s world, professional doesn’t mean stuffy and boring, it means you have a great personality and deliver great content for your clients on time.

Also, explain why you got into the writing business.

If you have a niche or area that you’re focusing on with your writing, be sure to explain it here too. A lot of brands are interested in niche writers now.

Since everyone is competing for keywords, many brands would rather work with someone who really knows their subject matter than just any writer off the street.

It’s a great idea to also have an image of you here. Like we said, people want to feel like they are dealing with a real person. It doesn’t have to be a perfect headshot, but keep it relatively professional and show off a nice smile.

Writing Samples

Next up, your writing samples. This is another area where people get held up. It’s normal and natural to be a little nervous about getting your first writing samples up and running on your site.

That’s ok. The key is to stop over thinking and start writing.

You want to have a minimum of two and up to five samples to start. If you’re into a specific niche or specialized topic, make sure you highlight more of those topics in your samples to show you have some depth.

Also, keep in mind, your samples don’t have to be set in stone. As you become a better writer, go back and refine your samples.

There are a couple of reasons why having samples on your site is important:

Most potential customers want to see content that is live online, so they prefer links versus getting emailed a pdf document.
If you don’t have samples, it’s very hard for a potential client to see how you write, which dramatically reduces your chances of getting hired.
You can use your samples to showcase what you know and those little USPs that will set you apart, maybe you can highlight how you’d also be able to write social media shares or metadata for your content for clients as well
Having samples helps with your own sites SEO, which never hurts, right?

We’re going to cover the basics of the writing sample in the next step.

Rates

On this page, you can set up how much you plan to charge people, any discounts you may want to run, and any other special notes a potential client may want to know.

Special notes could include:

Prices for bulk rates (if you want to offer those)
Turnaround time
Revision policy (how many revisions, if any, you’ll accept with your submissions)
Any other special services you might offer (maybe you’ll come up with social media posts as well, or design a nice cover image, etc.)

There has been a debate out there for a while on if people should have a rates page. The reality is, there is no right or wrong answer.

To start see what works for you.

Try having a detailed rates page that highlights everything. If you prefer not to have one, that’s ok too. You can add something like “rates are available upon request” or “I price on a per project basis, so please contact me for rates” on your page.

It can’t hurt to experiment and see if one method brings you better results.

Contact

You want to have two ways for people to reach you.

First, your email. In an ideal world, you’ll have an email that’s tied to your website URL.

It looks way more professional to have john [@] johnsmith.com as opposed to johniskingoftheworld [@] gmail.com.

If you do want to use a Gmail account (or something similar), keep that professional too, use johnsmith [@] gmail.com or johnsmithwrites [@] gmail.com.

You should also use a contact form.

This is easy. Just get a contact form plug-in from WordPress, install it on your contact page, and you’re good to go.

Design

A nice design helps but again, it’s not something you want to go overboard with. There are tons of quality themes you can buy today.

If you go to a site like ThemeForest, you’ll see that spending anywhere from $25-50 can land you a really high-quality theme. These themes will be easy to install, responsive (works on mobile), and look great.

The specifics of the design doesn’t matter. Potential clients are coming to your site because you can write. Not design.

But there are a few things you want to keep in mind when looking for a theme:

Don’t go crazy picking a complex theme, you will waste hours and hours trying to get it to look good, time you should be spending on finding clients
Make sure it works on WordPress
Make sure it has a help desk, anyone who is new to creating a website will run into issues, so a responsive help desk will solve a lot of problems (and time)
Look for a responsive theme, most people look at the web from mobile devices today it will be easier for them to navigate

Beyond the design and your pages, there are a couple of additional things you can do to make sure your site is optimized.

For example, you might want to target a local area, so if potential customers are looking for a Portland based writer and type that into Google, you pop up.

Here are some more things to check out to ensure your site is as optimized for search as possible. You don’t have to go overboard, but every little bit helps to get you found online.

Step 3: Writing Samples

Your writing samples are where you can really shine. Each and every one of your potential clients is going to look at your writing samples.

Check Your Grammar and Spelling

These have to be near perfect. Don’t even think about putting up samples that have simple spelling and grammar mistakes.

Remember, this is your first impression with a potential client, so don’t skimp on this step. After all, would you be interested in hiring someone who had tons of spelling or grammar mistakes in their samples?

It’s not professional and is something that can easily be avoided, so don’t disqualify yourself before you start.

Be 100% sure you run through the grammar and spelling of each of your samples a few times. It’s probably a good idea to have another pair of eyes take a look at them, pay an editor, or use tools like Grammarly and the Hemmingway App to spot any mistakes.

The Number of Articles

Write at least two and up to five articles. If you’re chomping at the bit to get started, do a minimum to two articles, and you can add more as you go.

Even if you advertise that you’re specializing in a specific niche it’s still a good idea to write some sample articles out of your chosen niche.

In the beginning, you’ll probably be taking a variety of writing work so you should have a variety of sample articles. If you do have a niche you really want to focus on, be sure you have at least three or four of those samples. Then one or two in another area to highlight some variety.

Write a little bit of everything and make them damn good.

Writing Tips

A lot of people get stuck when it comes to the actual writing part. They don’t know exactly how to get going with their writing.

Here’s a very easy way to get started with a 500-word post. Think about features and benefits. For any keyword come up with 3-7 benefits or advantages of using it, then write about them.

This is what it would look like in a simple (but effective) format:

Title: 3 Benefits of Keyword
Intro paragraph (50-100 words)
First benefit (100-150ish words)
Second benefit (100-150ish words)
Third benefit (100-150ish words)
Summary paragraph (50-100 words)

Here are the basics for a good SEO article:

Usually around 450-600 words
Uses keyword 1-3 times in the article in a way that sounds very natural (no “keyword stuffing”), a good rule of thumb is one keyword for every 250 words
Uses keyword in the title
Includes a link back to the site you wish to rank with the anchor text being the keyword (anchor text is what the link says. In this link for Location Rebel, “Location Rebel” is the anchor text)

We’ve created this visual for you to see the steps that go into writing this type of content:

Once you’ve got your first article written, simply rinse and repeat. As you get more comfortable writing these, you’ll know what works for you.

Step 4: Email Template

Now that you have an established website it’s time to write up an email. Since this is the email you are going to start using for your cold pitches, it also has to be solid.

Sending emails is the hardest (and sometimes most demoralizing) part of the entire process. Be prepared, you will get a lot of no’s, and you will get a lot of people who won’t even respond.

This is a fact of life.

More often that not with this type of content writing is it’s a number’s game. That means sending out 10 cold emails is oftentimes not enough. You have to work with a combination of creating a really good email, a little bit of luck with timing, and finding the right people. That mix can be hard to nail every single time.

The good news is it only takes one yes to get started. And that’s what you’re looking for here. The first yes.

This is where the cold email comes in.

A great email can dramatically improve your chances of getting that yes.

But first, we want to highlight a few of the cardinal rules of sending pitch emails. Follow these tips and you will have better chances of getting your emails read.

Here are a few:

Keep it short you want your email to be about 150 words, longer than that and it won’t get read (seriously)
Don’t copy and paste the exact same email and send it to everyone
Include links to your site and sample articles
Write each email for one person and make it personal (yes this takes more time, but it gets better results)
Highlight how you can help deliver results, save them time, and make them more money

We are real sticklers when it comes to email.

The reason is simple, it’s because 95% of the pitch emails people get are absolutely terrible. It honestly doesn’t take much extra effort to separate yourself out from the 95% of bad emailers and get actual results.

Get Personal

The best way to set yourself apart with your emails is to get personal. Find something, anything, that you can include in your email (in just a sentence or two) that can make a connection. The vast majority of people won’t be willing to do that so it’s an easy way to set yourself apart.

Here are ways to find out personal information (without being a stalker):

Website: Yup, actually read the website, including the about page you can find out some good info there
Social media: See what kind of content they are tweeting, make a note of anything that’s not exactly business related like a hobby, pet, or joke
Employees: Many brands will also have their employees tweet too, maybe you know one, or have a friend of a friend, or the CEO tweets as well, see what information you can glean from there too
Google: Search for the brand and also the CEO or marketing manager online, see if they’ve written any posts or got a recent award or were quoted in an article or participated in a charity event

These all seem like really small things, but deployed in the right way, it can cause an instant connection and push you to the top of the list.

Here are some things you can mention in your email:

Location – (i.e. this works if you’re targeting local brands, make it a USP that you’re a local writer)
Hobbies – People always connect over hobbies, pets, etc.
Education – Maybe you went to the same college or high school, mention that
Recent news – If you got any results from your Google search, mention an article or quote you liked, congratulate them for the award they won

For even more tips and do’s and don’ts on cold emails, check out this post, The Ultimate Cold Email Checklist.

Template

Alright, we promised a template, so here are a few.

Before we jump in, there are a few things to remember here.

No template is going to get a 100% yes rate.

As you send more emails you will get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. So use this as a starting point and tweak from there. Most people will have to change their pitch email a number of times before they land on one that works consistently.

Hey, [Name]!

My name is Sean Ogle, and I’m a freelance content writer based out of Portland, Oregon (I hope it isn’t as rainy back in [their town name]).

I wanted to reach out because I’ve done some freelance writing for a few companies similar to yours. I specialize in consumer products, the golf industry, and brand copywriting – but have worked with a bunch of other industries as well.

Any chance you guys are currently looking for high quality, reliable writers? If so, just let me know a little bit about your needs and maybe we can work together.

Alright, time to see if Tiger Woods can still hit a golf ball. [Replace that with some other timely, casual, current event]. Thanks for taking the time, and hope you have a great weekend.

Cheers,
Sean

The above template hits all the main points we talk about above. It’s short, to the point, personal, clearly not a template, and offers content the client would likely need.

The Follow Up

There’s something else to keep in mind with your emails, and that’s the follow-up.

A lot of people send one email, hear nothing back and move on.

But, you’d be surprised to find you can nab a few clients just by simply following up and staying on their radar. On your spreadsheet (more below) where you keep track of who you are sending to, note if you’ve heard back.

If you’ve heard nothing back after 3-5 business days, send a follow-up email. We recommend forwarded the previous email you sent and adding a few sentences at the top as a friendly reminder.

This is what it can look like:

Hi Client [Company Name or Person’s Name],

I’m following up on my email I sent you last week (see below). If you are currently looking for writers, I’d love to help! You can see some of my sample pieces here [link to your website or samples].

Look forward to hearing from you,
[You]

Keep track of your follow-ups as well. Don’t be afraid to follow up again and again until you hear no. Make a schedule to follow up after a month, three months, six months, and so on.

Sometimes all you need is to be in the right place at the right time to get a yes.

Note: We created an entire course on being a better emailer that will help you connect with influencers and land more jobs. Check out The Rebel’s Guide to Mastering Email here.

Step 5: Collecting Emails

Now that you’ve got a website and a solid email template it’s time to market your business.

This part is really important. The fact of the matter is, people aren’t going to just discover you and beg you to write for them. You have to put in the work.

A big part of being a freelancer is constantly pitching. You need to have lots of irons in the fire to avoid dips in income and lack of clients.

In order to find clients, you’re going to have to send out a bunch of emails to internet marketing companies, brands, product sites, and blogs.

As content writing has evolved, you don’t have to limit yourself to just searching for SEO marketing companies to pitch. Don’t hesitate to reach out to local small businesses, blogs, and other sites that could use writing services. You can also hit up job boards, find more on that (including places to pitch) right here.

To find your potential clients you just have to do a simple Google search.

The best way to start is going local.

The key with Google search is to direct the search to your current location and terms like ‘SEO company’ or ‘digital marketing company’ or ‘search engine marketing.’ You can play around with the search terms and see what you get.

Here’s an example for the local Portland, Oregon area:

Go through the results in Google, check out the sites and find contact emails.

Then it’s time to make a list.

You can use Google Docs but any program will work, just keep it simple. Write down the name of the company, the email address, and the name of the CEO (if it’s visible).

As we suggested above, it’s also a good idea to poke around the site and social media accounts for a few minutes too. More than likely, you’re going to be able to find something that you can include in your pitch email.

Make a note of these things on your list too, so you can easily reference them when you get your email template ready.

Note: If the email isn’t visible then just copy and paste the contact form URL into your list. It’s fine to connect with people that way if there is no other option.

You can go to a site like Fiverr or UpWork and pay someone to create a list for you. But, buyer beware, a lot of these people are just handing out the same list to everyone. So while it might take up less of your time, you’re also likely going to have a smaller success rate of getting actual responses.

Now it’s onto the final step!

Step 6: Send Out Emails and Make $$$

Finding potential clients is a numbers game. You have to send out a bunch of emails and only a few will bite. But that’s all you need.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get many responses. Most people send out dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of emails and will only hear back from a handful. If you’ve sent out a ton and have heard nothing back, then consider tweaking your email and keep at it.

With only a few clients giving you recurring work you can start making hundreds if not over $1,000+ (if you’re really hustling) per month.

Set up a plan around sending your emails.

Do 5-10 every day and set up a rotation to follow up. If you don’t have the time to look during the work week, then set aside two hours on your weekend and blast out emails to as many potential clients as you can.

Don’t slow down with the emails, especially at first. Just because you might get a bite it doesn’t mean you’ve landed a client. If you stop sending emails and never hear back from them, you’re back to zero with your momentum.

You’re a Content Writer, Not an “SEO Writer”

Today online writing is called ‘content.’ Content covers everything from SEO articles to blog posts to sales pages, ebooks, and email newsletters.

So, positioning yourself as a freelance content writer is an excellent place to start your career. That’s why we tend to steer people on this path as a place to start.

One of the biggest things we hear from current members who are using SEO writing to bring in some income is they sometimes get better results by offering content writing. Since content is the thing everyone is out there looking for, the terminology has changed but the idea hasn’t.

This is one of the reasons why at the start of 2017 we tossed out the SEO Writing Blueprint at Location Rebel Academy and rewrote it, creating a Content Writing Blueprint.

Approaching SEO writing as content writing can help open doors to other types of writing like copywriting and B2B writing (many of which are higher paid).

If you want a place to start, check out this post where you can find all sorts of writing jobs online.

Ready to Get Started with Your New Content Writing Business?

SEO writing has a relatively low barrier to entry.

It’s not quite as easy now as it used to be, but it can still be a way to get your foot in the door and bring in some money. If you’re looking to cross the threshold into entrepreneurship but can’t figure out where to start this is your answer.

You can make your first dollar online within just a few weeks of launching your business. It’s happened to countless other Location Rebels.

Follow the steps listed above and start forging your own entrepreneurial path today.

Sean Ogle

Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.