Though I don’t call myself an SEO expert — I’ll leave the bragging to those who have built up a name for themselves over the years — I’ve had to ask myself the same question several times since I launched my freelance writing site, The Article Writer, in May 2005: would I do better building up my personal network of sites or should I take on client work?

Well, that answer would be “all of the above” as I like to balance the work that I do for my clients with the small network of sites I own and manage.  Definitely, I like receiving money from a client for work done, but I also like to monetize my sites and use them as one way to showcase my talents.  My thinking in this area is probably best described along these lines:

Build, Monetize, and Sell — Over the past three years I’ve built up more than a dozen sites from the ground up, monetized almost every single one of them, and later sold off ten forums, blogs, and websites during that period. There is a certain thrill that I get when I build a site from scratch, attract a following, make some money off of it and, when tired of it, am able to sell it for a profit.

Fix, Improve, and Move On — When working for a client, I almost always am brought on to help improve an existing site. I’ve gotten away from building sites from nothing as the time involved in this work is intensive. Besides, I haven’t kept up with my web design skills other than being able to build a decent WordPress blog with the assorted tools I like to use. What’s fun about this option is that I can measure a job’s progress and show the client where improvements have been made. In most cases they quickly see it for themselves which makes my job a snap.

Mixing Things Up — I promised myself when I became self-employed in 2002 that I wouldn’t grow stagnant in my work. My last full time paid position hindered my growth, something that I will not allow to happen again. I do have a long term strategy in place, but I also make adjustments along the way. I find that making careful changes helps me to work better, a benefit for my clients as well as for my sites.

How about you? What is your business strategy? Do you like to work for clients exclusively? For yourself? Or do you balance the two? Inquiring minds want to know, so please hit the comment button and share what’s on your mind.

Last week, I gained double the satisfaction when learning that one of my customer’s blogs had been accepted by Google for inclusion in their Google News service while also hearing that one of his closely related web sites had a remarkable SERP surge for an important key word. Although I didn’t take complete credit for the latter, I later remembered that I pulled out a couple of “SEO tricks” which likely helped fuel the change.

Going Above And Beyond

As a freelance writer, I like to give my customers a bonus — if I manage their blog, they’ll get well written, interesting, and concise articles, but I don’t leave them with just that. As a bonus, I’ll provide some SEO tools (e.g., link baiting) to bring in traffic. So far, I like my results and my customers are happy.

I don’t offer the name recognition that an A-lister like Danny Sullivan can offer or the breadth and depth of service that a search marketing firm such as aimClear can provide, but I have a niche and I am happy with it.

To that end, I have repurposed and renamed the blog that bears my name and am calling it MatthewKeegan | SEO. No, the SEO mavens need not fear that I’ll be encroaching on their territory, rather my customers will see it as a clear signal for what I already am offering to them — very good writing with an SEO bonus to boot.

Your Freebie For Stopping By

Of course, if you visit that ”other” blog at any time over the next few days, I have a freebie waiting there just for you. It is a limited time offer, one that might have already  expired by the time that you read this. So, please hurry on over right now and thanks for keeping tabs on me through this blog.

The internet is a fantastic place to promote your skills and accomplishments. You can pay a large sum of money by coming up with banner ad or pay per click plans to “get the word out” or you can go the budget way and market yourself smartly without spending nary a dime. I’ll leave the money plans for another article, instead let’s take a look at smart ways for you to promote you or your product online for little or no money!

Who said you have to have a marketing budget to promote yourself? Well, many companies do, but they are in the business to sell you something [namely, their marketing plan]. If you have the money to spend on marketing then go for it. If not, then you must examine cost effective ways to get your name out there. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Write Articles – Yes, just as I am writing this article in hope that you are reading it, you can do the same and submit your missives to leading article directories. A well written article of medium length [500-750 words] can go a long way in attracting interest by others. If you are new to the game, write the article and give it to a friend for their review and critique. Once you make your changes, find article directories you can join and start submitting. Make sure your resource box – the information at the end of the article – effectively pitches your product or you personally. Enjoy the resultant [and free!] links back to your site. Submit on a regular basis and you will reap the added traffic to your site resulting in more business for you.

Join Forums — I used to manage several message board communities and with my two largest ones — the Corporate Flight Attendant Community and the Aviation Employment Board — I allowed members to add a link within their signature to their personal or business website. Many of my threads are indexed by Google and picked up by people all over the world. Thus, the right person at the right time can click on a thread and see valuable links to other sites of interest. Not every forum manager permits this practice, however. I guess I am just a nick guy! [wink]

Post on Craigslist — Craig Newmark started his “list” more than a decade ago to serve the San Francisco community. Years later his site is still going strong with well over one hundred cities across the globe featured. People from Atlanta to Auckland and from Zurich to Zimbabwe now have access to a site that allows them to pitch their products, display their resumes, or sell their very souls. The site is still free unless you are posting a job opportunity or real estate information under a few, select cities.

Your Website — You do have a website (or blog), right? Oddly in this day and age I am meeting people who do not. I hear all kinds of excuses: it is too expensive, too time consuming, too difficult, etc. Heck, if you are going to “play” the internet you must be properly equipped to participate. Quit making excuses…find a way to get online and do it today! At the very least your DSL account probably provides a page or two where you can design your personal page and upload it to the internet. Oh, you are still using dial up? Yikes!

As with any marketing campaign you must stay on top of it at all times. What I mean is this: however you choose to proceed, you must continually monitor and adjust your plan to maximize its effectiveness. No going on auto-pilot here: you must take charge of what you are doing to reap the rewards. If you do, you can gain a lot of exposure – and work – without expending a huge amount of money.

Copyright 2005-2008 — Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Samples from his portfolio are available right online.