I said SEO is a scam. I take it back. Here is what I really meant by that.

You’ve heard about SEO. You know what it is. You know it’s important. At least, that’s what everybody says. But it’s not the all-in-one marketing strategy that will make you a millionaire. It won’t turn your 1K MRR SaaS into a unicorn. Not yet.

If you’re struggling to make sales, SEO won’t make them happen magically. If you’re just starting out, SEO isn’t the solution. There’s a cost of opportunity by focusing on SEO too early.

You might miss out on critical feedback and earlier sales. SEO takes time to give results. A lot of it.

Here’s what you should be aiming for instead:

• Partner with other brands in the same or different spaces.

• Offer packages/bundles with other entrepreneurs

• Get featured on podcasts to talk about your product, journey as entrepreneur, something you’re good at or whatever.
  Podcasters often need guests, already have an audience and will gladly talk about your product in exchange of your presence. They’ll probably link to your site in the show notes as well. (Yay, free backlink)

• Same thing for Youtube channels. There might be some that will want to work with you

• Reach out to influential people on social media (other builders, or people who have a crowd you want to sell to). But don’t spam, send wacky offers or do that kind of terrible stuff. Do this instead:

  • Get them to notice you by:

    • Giving freely (promote or comment about their product/brand).
    • Interacting with them. At some point they’ll want to know more about you, look at your bio/profile and respond to your messages. They might even give you a backlink if you have something they like.

  • Their crowd might also notice you.

  • Talk to your clients, if you already have some.

    • Get to know them.
    • Learn what they like and dislike about your product.
    • Create content that addresses their needs.

  Don’t have anything to write? Are you kidding me?

  The company that makes your toaster is able to produce a 14 pages manual on how to make toast. You can write a few blog posts.

  (By the way, that toaster manual might be a good source of inspiration. How to use your product, how to fix the common issues, where to get support, other products you might have, warranty? how to make the most with your product)

• Learn the language of your client. This will be important for copywriting.

• Establish a strong and authentic presence on social media. Be you. This is your advantage as an Indie. People buy you for your authenticity and your story. Everyone likes an underdog.

Entrepreneurs live and die by their network. Connect with as many people as possible. Establish genuine relationships. Be helpful. Be kind. Be generous. Bring joy. Make smile. Create friendships. Remember, friends help friends.

Now, let’s talk about the benefits of a strong network for you and your product:

• People from your network have friends, contacts, relations. When their entourage encounters the problem you solve, who do you think they will refer?
• If they know and like you, don’t you think they’re going to add a backlink to your site?
• Your contacts will be able to open doors for you. As they say, it’s who you know that matters.
• If your contacts refer you, your potential customers will have a much better conversion rate than cold traffic from Google.
• People who have interacted with your brand are more likely to make a purchase and trust you.

Am I saying that SEO doesn’t work? No. I’m not saying that. It does.

And it will continue to work in the foreseeable future.

But focusing only on that single channel is a waste of time and money. So is doing it too early. You will be better off with a network of friends, partners and contacts to grow your business. Build your other channels first. SEO will be easy afterwards. It doesn’t have to be hard.

If you’re genuinely helping people, making connections, solving a real problem and have content that your customers want or need, the backlinks will come. Eventually.