How to Build a 7-Figure SEO Business (From Scratch) with Nathan Gotch

0:01Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Billion Dollar Moves. Today, we'll be breaking down how to build a seven-figure SEO business from scratch. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Nathan Gotch into EO Fire Studios. Nathan is the founder of a seven-figure SEO company, Gotch SEO. He's been featured on Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Huffington Post. And today, we'll talk about how to get clients when no one knows you. We'll talk about what to do instead of traditional business methods, how to systemize your SEO, and so much more.

0:38And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Nathan and our sponsors. The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by Jenna Kuchar, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business hacks, inspirational stories, and so much more. One of my favorite recent episodes is titled How I've Built an Unmatched Team Culture, an insanely important topic for all business owners to dive into. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts.

1:08Wondering how to leverage a virtual assistant to save you time and money all while growing your business? Get Belay's ultimate guide to working with a virtual assistant today. Just text FIRE, that's F-I-R-E, to 55123 to get started. Nathan, say what's up to FIRE Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. For me, it's definitely the idea that working hard is the key to success. I actually found that that's not always true. In fact, most of the success I've had recently in my business has been the product of actually doing less in my business.

1:49So we can kind of talk about what that looks like, but really a matter of systemization and really focusing on things that I do best instead of trying to do everything myself, which is what I used to do. Oh, we'll be talking about that today for sure, because we're talking about how to build a seven-figure SEO business from scratch, Fire Nation. And Nathan, a lot of people who are listening right now, they may feel like no one knows them yet. So let's talk about how my listeners, Fire Nation, can get clients even if nobody knows them. You know, I can only speak in the context of SEO, right? So, you know, if you're trying to build a digital marketing business or an SEO business, uh, or really any really service-based business.

2:33The key is that you need to have some sort of results before anyone's going to care about what you're doing. Right. So, and that's kind of the catch 22 is like you, you, you need clients, uh, to get results. And the challenge is, you know, how do you get those results? So the way that I kind of, I don't want to say I hacked the system, but one thing, one way that I did is I actually created my own websites, my own projects, and I got results with those projects. And I use that as my portfolio to then, you know, actually close clients. So I actually had something. So I think the most important thing is getting that portfolio first.

3:08And then once you have that portfolio, then it's a matter of starting to tap into some of these acquisition channels. And for me, you know, it's, it's changed a lot over the years. But I'll, you know, I can, I'll give you currently what's working because, you know, in the past I used Craigslist and I don't recommend using Craigslist anymore. That was one of the early things I did. But now, you know, honestly, the thing that really works for me is continuing to do SEO. Like you just ranking for keywords that your ideal clients are actually searching for. It's the best thing that you can do because you have people actually coming to you as opposed to you having to cold call or interrupt people for them to try to become your clients.

3:47So they're actually coming to you to work with you, which is the best way. And then also, if you're comfortable, getting on YouTube is a big one for me. In fact, YouTube has actually become my number one source of leads, even above Google now at this point. And then number three, I kind of call these the trifecta, but these are the most important ones. So Google, YouTube, and then lastly is email. Email is huge. By far, my favorite channel has the highest conversions. And I can close so many deals just using email. And then there's other supplementary ones like LinkedIn and Twitter. But I think the most dangerous thing to do is to try to master all of these channels at the same time because each individual channel has its own unique nuances.

4:31So I would recommend just picking one channel and really understanding it and doing it well and figuring it out before moving on to another one. So I just kind of described five channels, but realistically, I just started with Google. Then once I understood Google, then I moved on to YouTube and email and you know, the rest is history. I'm a big believer in the fact that nobody wants a pale, weak imitation of somebody else. And that kind of goes along for nobody wants like somebody to be copying exactly what they're doing either. Because then it's just like, well, like, what are you bringing that's new to the world?

5:06And it seems like we just have this thing where people just think there's this one formula that's this traditional formula, and this is how you have to do it if you want to, you know, for instance, close new business. But you believe that the traditional way of closing business just doesn't work anymore. So tell us why and what we should do instead. I think there's certain ideas in many industries to just kind of get, everyone starts doing a lot of the same stuff and no one really tries to think outside of the box. but one thing I learned is like in the SEO industry in particular you know everyone is trying to close deals pretty much the same way like you you get a lead in the door you do a discovery call and then you do a proposal and then you hope that they close right and that's kind of like the the process at a high level but I actually teach a little bit of a different method and what I teach is actually to sell some sort of front-end offer to get that client in the door And then once you deliver extreme value with that kind of front end offer, then we can talk about what that full service kind of engagement is going to look like.

6:12So to be a little more specific, like in the context of SEO, that would be like instead of trying to sell a$5 ,000 per month SEO package, I'm just going to sell an SEO audit and SEO recommendations and as a kind of a one time deal. Right. And so what happens with that is instead of you competing on price and competing against other proposals, you're getting that client to actually commit to you. And then that negates all of your competitors. So there's just a slight tweak that makes a big difference. And there's so many different ways to slice and dice it. But you can you know, you could sell just keyword research.

6:47You could sell just, you know, SEO content or maybe even AI SEO content strategy or whatever it may be. some sort of offer though that helps you differentiate from everyone else really makes a huge difference, right? And it's not super complicated. You don't need to be a genius to do it. You really just need to look at like, okay, if everyone else is doing this thing, what could I do that helps me stand out a little bit? And that's one way to do it. I've always loved that Mark Twain quote that whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect. It's that blue ocean strategy, Fire Nation.

7:21I mean, You know, I hearken back 10 and a half years ago to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Everybody's doing a once a week podcast. I said, I'm going to go in a different route. I'm going to do it every single day, seven days a week. And I'm not saying that's a huge diversion. I mean, a podcast is a podcast, but the quantity was a massive change. It was what nobody was doing. And that was enough to get me that initial momentum and traction. That was a different enough direction to allow me to stand out and to start getting recognized, get that momentum. And then once you get that momentum, you just don't let go.

7:51you just keep on pressing on that accelerator button. And we have a lot more to talk about around this topic when we get back from thanking our sponsors. I'm all about lifestyle freedom. I want to be able to do what I want, when I want, and there's no better time to kick your feet up poolside than the summertime. But to achieve this lifestyle freedom I speak of, you and your team need to work smarter, not harder. That's why we're so excited about HubSpot's integrated AI tech. It's helping teams of all types and sizes automate the more tedious parts of running a business. With AI-powered tools built into HubSpot CRM, you can pull reports, sift through loads of data to see what's working and what's not, and even craft content all in a flash.

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9:44It's packed with helpful content about how to leverage a virtual assistant to save you time and money all while growing your business. Just text FIRE, that's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started. Now, Nathan, you mentioned this a little bit before the break, but I want to dive in deeper because nothing is more annoying than chasing potential clients down, especially if you're not even sure if they actually want to work with you. So reveal to us how we can get clients to come to us instead. That's right in my wheelhouse because, um, yeah, I mean, truthfully, you know, there's a lot of people who kind of push these, these outbound approaches when, when you're new.

10:27And for me personally, I really didn't do any of that in the beginning. Mostly what I did with the exception is on Craigslist. I did apply to a lot of the gigs that I saw on Craigslist. Um, but aside from that, like 99 % of what I did was completely built on organic marketing with the intent of having people come to me. I always felt that that was the right thing to do because I'd rather have people who are actually searching for SEO or searching for my solutions and then giving them what they're looking for, as opposed to me trying to convince them that they need this particular thing. So in the case of SEO, what I did in the very beginning, and to this day still works, is I actually, when I was living in California, I started to rank for specific things like Santa Monica SEO company, Glendale SEO company, Beverly Hills SEO company.

11:15And I specifically targeted those cities because they were extremely high value cities. And so what I did is I ranked there and then I started to actually get leads from those rankings. And then I actually moved to St. Louis in 2013. And so what I did was like, well, now I need to actually rank in St. Louis. So I made the decision that I was just going to try to become the SEO guy in St. Louis. Like I wanted to be one of the number one SEO guys in St. Louis. So I tried, I started ranking for St. Louis SEO, St. Louis SEO company. Um, and that ended up being like one of the biggest sources of leads for me, for my entire business.

11:52And then from there, I just started, you know, targeting new cities and then targeting more national based keywords for SEO. And really the goal is just, I just want to rank for a lot of relevant keywords so that I can attract my ideal clients. And so for me, like if you're trying to get inbound leads, there is no better method. And obviously I'm very biased, but there's really no better method than using SEO because you're getting people who are already searching on Google. You know the intent of those searches. So then you just have to deliver up the right pages for them and really build those pages for based on the intent of those keywords.

12:29And And then after that, I highly recommend YouTube as well if you're comfortable doing video because it's a huge inbound source. Very powerful stuff, Fire Nation. Again, this is the type of business you want to create. This is how you're going to scale and leverage. Which kind of leads me to the next thing I want to talk about is that you believe, Nathan, that we need to systemize our SEO so that we can scale, so that we can leverage, so that we can grow a business that is functional. How can we do this? SEO is one of those things where it seems like there's so many different ways to do it. And there's so many different theories.

13:04And truthfully, though, SEO can be systemized. And I've really proven that in my own business. And I've helped a lot of other people systemize their processes. And it is so critical for so many reasons. Number one is when you when you systemize the process, it's not this like rigid thing where like you set up a system and then you know, it just is it goes on autopilot forever. It's more like you set up little systems, you test those systems, you iterate on them. And then over time, those systems become more efficient, more effective. And as a whole, the business and the service becomes better.

13:38And that's not only good for your team internally, but it's also good for the clients, right? Because if you can do work more efficiently and more effectively, you're going to be able to do more for the client and you're going to be able to get them consistent results across multiple campaigns. So that was one thing that I didn't really invest in the beginning. Like I just would use all the stuff that was in my head. And so every time I'd get a client, it was like starting a brand new campaign every single time, like a brand new situation. And then I realized I'm like, I can't keep doing this if I want to take this to the next level.

14:08So I just literally sat down one day and spent like three months just pouring everything out of my mind into systems. And even down to the most granular detail. Even like I have a system just for how to make a copy of a Google template, Google sheet template, like getting down to the most granular level. And when I'm building the systems, I'm thinking about like, if someone had zero experience in SEO or zero experience in this particular thing, would they be able to understand this? And so my kind of like litmus test for that is that I'll have my VA go through it. And my VA is not an SEO. She I know if she understands the system, then I know that, you know, really anyone could, even with a minor level of SEO experience.

14:53So that's what I think about, not just in the context of SEO, but also just business as a whole, like dumbing these systems down so much. And really also on top of it, using video is really powerful for standard operating procedures, just watching someone actually do it. It's been great for us too, Fire Nation. Like we literally have video screen flow videos of all of our processes in a Dropbox folder. So guess what? If one of our virtual assistants decides to leave or something happens or this or that, we can bring somebody in, have them watch those video tutorials and they can get up to speed fast.

15:27Because listen, if we're not doing those things, we may lose that those skills to kind of recreate that wheel. So I love that documentation process. And Nathan, I want to give you the mic and kind of allow you to step back and really share with Fire Nation what you want them to know about building a seven-figure SEO business from scratch. We talked about a lot today, but what is the thought you want to leave them with? If the goal is to build a successful SEO business, I mean, there's many different types of SEO businesses. Obviously, there's affiliate-based businesses. There's client service businesses.

16:03Um, but I think personally the, the client SEO type of business is really not just in SEO, but really one of the best business models for anyone that's trying like as a beginner entrepreneur, because for me, when I was thinking about like starting a business, I didn't really start what I did because I had some sort of like grand vision. I just did it because I wanted to not work a traditional job. So I was like, well, what's the easiest thing that I could do? it looks like, you know, I could offer this SEO service to businesses. Like that was basically the, uh, you know, the revelation that I had, uh, and fortunately it turned into much more than that, but I cannot express how grateful I am that I, I did client SEO first because what it did is it gave me, not only did it give me a massive amount of experience working on real businesses, uh, but it taught me so many other things.

16:55It taught me how to sell, taught me how to market. It taught me operations. It just taught me business in general. But most importantly, it gave me cash flow. And that's the beauty of doing a service-based business is you get cash flow. Like I get paid before the work is done every single month. And I take the profit from the business and I can reinvest that into other more scalable business models. So like in the case of my business, Like I used to only do client SEO, but then I realized like long-term I'm going to need to start to develop some, you know, more scalable types of, uh, business models.

17:31So I, I actually created a course, which has got you SEO Academy. Um, and then even right now we're working on a SAS product. So I've kind of gone through this, you know, maturity as an entrepreneur, but it all is really possible because I've had cashflow, uh, through my client SEO business. And I think of it as like, it's like my startup capital to invest in these other more scalable forms of monetization. So really, at the end of the day, to build a seven-figure SEO business or agency or whatever it is, it's just a matter of really doing great work, right, at the end of the day. Like you can, you can try every tactic, you can do whatever you want, all these little shiny objects.

18:14But at the end of the day, you have to be able to deliver value consistently over the longterm. Um, and you actually have to help people, not just your clients, but also through your content. Like I spend so much time just creating free content without ever asking for anything, because I know if I deliver so much value up front that my, you know, my big secret is that, uh, people want to work with me. Right. So I just try to do that across all my channels, give as much value as I can without holding anything back. And funny thing is when you give as much value as you can in your content and you don't hold things back, people still want to invest in your higher things, your higher ticket things, the deeper level services, because you've given them so much value and you've actually helped them.

18:57So I don't really have any secrets. It's more just, I just keep giving as much value and trying to establish myself as an authority in my industry. and it seems to work pretty well, I guess. Fire Nation, wise words. Keep giving. Don't hold anything back. Nathan, if Fire Nation wanted to connect with you, learn more from you, what's your call to action for our listeners today? Simplest thing is just, you can, of course, Google Gotch SEO or you can just go to gotchseo.com and you're going to find everything you need to know. You can also go to YouTube as well and just search Gotch SEO. Fire Nation, you're the average.

19:30Of the five people you spend the most time with, You've been hanging out with NG and JLD today, so keep up that heat. For links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Nathan in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up. Nathan, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, and value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you, brother, and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thank you so much. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Nathan for sponsoring today's episode. and Fire Nation, successful entrepreneurs accomplish big goals. That is why I created the Freedom Journal to guide you in accomplishing your number one goal in 100 days.

20:09And we're talking step by step. Visit thefreedomjournal.com and I'll catch you there or on the flip side. The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by Jenna Kuchar, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business hacks, inspirational stories, and so much more. One of my favorite recent episodes is titled How I've Built an Unmatched Team Culture, an insanely important topic for all business owners to dive into. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts.

20:41Wondering how to leverage a virtual assistant to save you time and money all while growing your business? Get Belay's ultimate guide to working with a virtual assistant today. Just text FIRE, that's F-I-R-E, to 55123 to get started.