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How to Grow Your SEO Agency and Land Leads

Written by: Liz Bowers Tags: jobs-career, biz of seo, local-seo

Published: Sep 3, 2026  |  Last Updated: Sep 4, 2026

Lessons from The SEO Community’s First “Biz-of-SEO” Meet-Up

One phrase heard all around The SEO Community is from the founder, Noah Learner: "Make me smarter." Noah has built a community with a space where we can share actual pain points and help each other level up.

In that same vein, last week we officially kicked off our very first Biz-of-SEO Monthly Meetup, and if the insights dropped in that room were any indicator, we are off to an incredible start.

I wanted to review the highlights and share the biggest takeaways for those that weren’t able to join.

1. Getting Out There: The Power of Local Authority

One of my personal highlights from the call was listening to Jaclyn Cox breakdown how she approaches agency growth. Jaclyn runs a 6-person brand and web design agency in Seattle, and her strategies for getting her business known blew me away.

She shared that 70% of her leads come purely from trusted referrals, but her secret sauce isn't cold emailing—it's local authority building. Jaclyn frequently hosts small "SEO 101" workshops for local Chambers of Commerce and networking groups. Even in rooms with 30 attendees, her conversion rate is staggering because delivering value in person creates instant trust.

2. Diversifying Pipelines & The "Cold Outreach" Myth

We spent a good chunk of time debating where quality leads actually come from. The consensus across freelancers and agency leaders? Cold outreach is largely dead; building a personal brand and nurturing real relationships is what moves the needle.

• • Multi-Channel Acquisition: Noordeep Singh shared how his agency generates 30–40 leads monthly via Upwork by strictly filtering out price-shoppers, while simultaneously collaborating with fractional CMOs to execute technical SEO.
  • Passive Inbound: Stephen Vernon noted that simply optimizing his LinkedIn profile and sending polite, non-salesy connection requests led to inbound meetings within weeks—proving that showing up consistently beats spamming inboxes.
  • Community Synergy: I've personally landed business right inside specialized SEO Slack channels simply by jumping in to help consultants whose clients had technical needs outside their usual service scope.

This echoes Aimee Jurenka’s recent Campfire piece on the shift away from traditional inbound marketing.

3. Fixing the Sales "Colander" & Holding Firm on Rates

When we pivoted to client acquisition bottlenecks, Renee Roberts dropped one of my favorite analogies of the day.

We also tackled the awkward reality of price negotiations. When a prospect tries to chip away at your retainer, hold your ground on price. As Renee and I discussed, dropping your rates signals that your work wasn't worth the original price tag. If a client has budget constraints, negotiate the scope of work or timeline instead. Know your value!

RSVP For Our Next Meet-Up!

A huge thank you to all who attended and contributed to such a candid, high-value conversation! We want these sessions to keep making all of us smarter, so we’re already prepping for next month.

Want in on the next Biz of SEO Meet-up? Head over to the events tab in the community Slack group to get the info for joining our next session. Let's keep growing together!