How I Make up to $75,000 a Month As a Freelance SEO Consultant

• Amit Raj was operating as a pharmacist in 2013 when he begun discovering Search engine optimization from an online mentor. 
• Raj commenced freelancing as an Search engine marketing guide as a side hustle applying platforms like Upwork for gigs.
• Here’s how he quit to consult complete time and created his yearly wage in a thirty day period, as told to Amber Sunner.

This as-advised-to essay is primarily based on a transcribed dialogue with Amit Raj, a 35-calendar year-outdated founder from Glasgow, Scotland, about beginning an Search engine marketing and backlink-developing company. It has been edited for length and clarity. Insider has verified Raj’s earnings with documentation.

I joined Lloyds, a well-liked United kingdom pharmacy chain, as a pharmacist in 2012, but I have generally been fascinated in electronic marketing and advertising. 

In 2013, I begun looking into Search engine marketing. I was searching a advertising and marketing discussion board termed WarriorForum when I stumbled throughout a comment from Dan Ray. 

Dan was talking about consumers he worked with who had been paying in excess of £10,000 a month for Search engine marketing and electronic providers. I messaged him to obtain out additional, and I acquired he was an Web optimization expert.

We had a number of phone calls, and he questioned if I needed to be the “guinea pig” for his coaching business. He needed to try having a total newbie and training them to get to his stage of Web optimization skills. 

I uncovered the ropes of Seo by operating underneath him as an intern and eventually started to do link-setting up outreach for him all over 2014. This was generally unpaid for a few several hours a week. I did it in my spare time for about 6 months.

Connection developing is the method of getting your web-site included in other web sites as a hyperlink.  This builds a website’s authority on Google and will raise its targeted traffic and research position.

Obtaining viewed how rewarding the field was even though doing work with Dan, I begun an Website positioning facet hustle

I started out performing freelance Web optimization consulting consistently in 2016 although doing work complete time at Lloyds. I used a handful of hundred lbs of my discounts to make and host my freelancer site on WordPress. 

It was a great deal of manual do the job to build my website’s Seo to guarantee it  would rank for phrases this sort of as “freelance Seo specialist” and “freelance backlink builder.” I was in the leading 10 on Google research conditions at a single level. It aided to continuously travel potential customers. 

I worked on Search engine optimisation jobs immediately after get the job done and on the weekends. I only had two purchasers at the begin and had made the decision to focus in the link-setting up part of Web optimization get the job done.

I would reach out to other websites and weblogs on my client’s behalf to be showcased as a hyperlink by either demonstrating them our client’s material or sharing a little something newsworthy about the shopper.

My initial handful of customers came as a result of freelancing platforms these types of as Upwork

When I first started out out, I was charging £10 an hour or functioning on a bundle basis. (Currently, £10 is the equal of about $12.50.)

In 2018, I was normally doing work with involving two to 4 consumers, and I was generating more than enough income to employ the service of my very first freelancer. They assisted me scale the business by having on the guide get the job done of sending arrive at-outs.   

In 2019, I determined to move to component-time do the job at the pharmacy, operating two days a week.

I desired to make investments additional time in the organization and obtain larger-value consumers who signed longer-expression contracts, but quitting completely seemed as well dangerous. 

With my time freed up, I learned a lot more Search engine marketing expertise. I also began submitting far more on social media and in Search engine optimization and advertising and marketing-related groups about my enterprise and individual manufacturer. As a consequence, I received several new shoppers and began setting up up my network of freelancers.

In 2020, I rebranded my organization to The Backlinks Dude and established up a a lot more experienced web page on World-wide-web Move. We employed a internet designer for £600 to style a web-site that would inspire much more belief in our customers.

Since the pandemic, additional corporations have turned to on the web expert services, so they are investing extra in Search engine optimisation

In the 2020-2021 tax yr, we manufactured £151,000. 

In June 2021, I stop Lloyds. I failed to enjoy the pharmacy market — it truly is a ton of tension to take care of people’s remedies.

I also still left for financial factors. My Website positioning organization was increasing, but my pharmacist wage had stagnated, so I made a decision to emphasis on my business enterprise.

I commenced getting purchasers organically by means of referrals in 2021. Now 90% of my purchasers tactic me. We have purchasers in dental, tech, and telecoms. A single of our consumers is Formula Swiss, a producer of large-top quality CBD oil.

Last 12 months, we produced £285,500 in income. I now have 20 freelancers performing on our information. and I am even now the only entire-time employee.

I created £60,000, or about $75,000, in earnings previous thirty day period. My yearly income as a entire-time pharmacist was significantly less than a single month’s profits now.

I have figured out not to scale too rapid

Never test to do every little thing — we concentrate on backlink creating. It helps make points less difficult to regulate when it arrives to marketing and advertising Search engine marketing providers. 

I recommend that you check a business enterprise notion out before having a big chance. See if it will function out by likely component time in your latest job or executing the enterprise on a compact scale.