Expanding the pie

This is a negotiating term, but it applies to organic search (and lots of other concepts) IMO

Author

John McCoy
March 08, 2024

Years ago, I earned a Master’s degree in a fairly worthless discipline (you can look at my LinkedIn profile and see for yourself). But one framework was taught to us that does stand out in my mind: expanding the pie.

Now, this is actually a term used in negotiations and refers to both parties coalescing to get more than they originally wanted. Maybe this really happens in real life; I have no idea. But I will heist the term for my own purposes because, in the service industries, we’re all negotiating everything we do every day, right? Right.

Small business owners who are bootstrapping usually operate on a shoestring budget. They feel like their resources are limited (it is probably more than a feeling), so the idea of plunking down thousands on SEO services and content that might not start gaining traction for 6-12 months does not seem like a worthwhile investment. The ROI is either, in their eyes, too little or too far off.

But what if we flip the script? Small business owners: you cannot afford NOT to invest in SEO optimization and content. Why?

  1. 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine.

  2. 0.63% of Google searchers click on results from the second page.

  3. 53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search.

  4. 92.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps.

  5. SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media.

  6. 60% of marketers say that inbound (SEO, blog content, etc.) is their highest quality source of leads.

  7. SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate.

Thanks, Ahrefs, you guys rock. Small business owners, you don’t have time to learn these skills and do them on your own, but you do need to allocate for someone who understands them. It is how you will expand the pie.

In my opinion, this is one skill that has no downside to learning. Make sure to check out my video on how you can find and learn valuable skills like SEO here⬇️⬇️

If you want to start side hustling, make sure to pick up my book on using the Upwork platform. Is it perfect? No, but it is good. Learning how to optimize your profile and what to look for right off the bat makes it better.

Take it easy y’all, and happy Friday.

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