Lead, please help

[Joe]

Today I landed a fat lead. A **fat** lead. (this forum software is garbage, literarly no action path to formatting this right, tried every possible. combination on mobile. Tells you a lot that "it's the best".

I'm hoping for the following guidance. The lead is a startup who is pursuing a startup in what I call "hot Asia", i.e. "new shit is going on Asia" area.

This is a dude with **recognitionable energy and honesty**.

I made a gentleman's agreement that I'll boost his SERP rank in the specific areas that we discussed, and that I'll not even contact him if I don't hit that (after which he'll obviously pay. that company who made the world's biggest cannon as guider).

So if anyone can focus my attention, directly, or by PM, on what needs to be done to make this happen (my max of 70hrs per week is proven bymy thread), it could. make the difference on what iget to eatnext month..

Pre-emptive thanks (butnot to toots forum software)

 

[Samwise89]

Being drunk is no reason to blame a forum for the bold button being too blurry to press.

I managed to find the button, take a screen shot, mark it up with a red pen, upload it to Imgur, and post it in this thread, all on mobile, with no typos to boot.

I hope you can boost his rankings and he actually pays you. I wouldn't say it's "obvious" he'll pay. He can ghost you all the same.

So you'll need to be working in Asian SERPs? You'll probably need Asian local citations and lots of links in whatever language from IP addresses hosted in those areas. You'll need someone who can read and write and communicate in the language, probably, to score those links.

You might need access to their site too if they don't have the right info on site.

 

[CCarter]

You've never indicated that you knew or do SEO in any of your writing. I assumed you were a pure programmer based on your introduction thread and journal entries.

How much SEO knowledge do you have under your belt - in order for us to help you. A lot of people in this industry come in and do a lot more harm if they are inexperienced and take on clients they cannot handle - it results in SEO getting a bad rep which makes it difficult for everyone else in the industry.

Imagine trying to explain to a client that the $199 per month SEO guy is probably going to rip them off while you are pitching them a holistic online marketing campaign that is going to realistically cost them $5-$10K a month. Those pretenders always come in with a way to take people's money while the rest of us suffer the long-term effects.

With that said, do you actually know SEO and have experience in getting rankings? If not, it might be better to hand the lead off to someone with experience for a finders fee, or perhaps completely outsource the project and taking 10%, and hopefully get the job done with the other 90%.

Actually re-reading your OP, it looks like you aren't working on a monthly retainer... So for FREE until you get results? I can't imagine why you would be willing to work for free for over a year plus until you get some results (I am assuming you realize how long true SEO takes). Is the guy looking for results in a short time-frame or willing to wait the 1+ year for results, and nearly 3+ years for major significant results? (Domain Age For SEO Is EXTREMELY Important)

What about the content cost, outreach costs, and bribes you have to pay out to get backlinks? Is that coming out of your pocket for the 1-3+ years before you get significant white hat results? Or does the guy already have a website/domain to work off of and you aren't starting from scratch?

Perhaps an overall monthly/quarterly marketing budget might make sense so they can get results within the first year including but not limited to PPC, paid, outreach, and other marketing avenues available is needed while you wait for SEO results.

 

[Joe]

Being drunk is no reason to blame a forum for the bold button being too blurry to press.

The capability of a forum software to be effectively usable to a user who is wasted is a fantastic litmus test. It's a test that should be used more. Those who blame the user instead of the software because the user is drunk are more concerned with pathetic high-horsing than actual pro-social good-software outcomes. Pressing the italic & bold button on/off fucks up on mobile on XenForo, regardless of whether I'm drunk or not, but when I'm sober I hate on shit software less.

You've never indicated that you knew or do SEO in any of your writing. I assumed you were a pure programmer based on your introduction thread and journal entries.

Agreed, my understanding of SEO is that you need effectively "social proof" or quasi social proof indicators that people care what you say. I.e. backlinks.

How much SEO knowledge do you have under your belt - in order for us to help you.

Only what I've read here. My primary motivator on this is that the guy has literally done zero in the specific area & demographic that I feel will bring him the maximum monetization (fed by my worldly experience, which is all I have). I was literally googling what this guy's business and niche was in the languages of the groups he claims he's targeting, and he didn't even exist there (only in English). And this guy has been in business 6 years.