When I started Garrett Digital in 2017, my first consulting clients didn’t come from cold email or from ranking my own website. They came from people I’d worked with during 16 years leading SEO in-house at one organization. Some had moved to organizations that needed SEO help. They had worked with me for years, knew my work, and hired me. That gave me somewhere to start.
If you’re leaving an agency or an in-house role, start the same way. Tell the people who have seen your work that you’re available for consulting.
Agencies Report That Client Referrals Lead New Business
Client referrals also lead new business in agency surveys. SparkToro published the sales results from its 2025 State of Digital Agencies survey in February 2026. Agency owners and consultants named referrals from existing and past clients as by far their biggest source of new business. Among agencies that had tried outbound sales, 9% called it very effective, 58% moderately effective, and 33% not effective at all.
Alisa Scharf, VP of SEO and Generative AI at Seer Interactive, described the same pattern in an August 2025 Ahrefs article: “Do great work for your clients and they will take you with them as they move to different organizations.”
That’s what happened to me. Former colleagues hired me after they moved to new organizations.
Check Your Agreements Before You Reach Out
Before you contact anyone from a previous job, check any employment, contractor, or separation agreements you signed. Look for three kinds of restrictions:
- Noncompete. Can restrict where or for whom you work after leaving, or whether you start a competing business. The FTC’s nationwide noncompete rule is not in effect. A federal court blocked it in August 2024, the FTC moved to dismiss its appeal in September 2025, and it removed the rule in February 2026. Whether a noncompete applies to you depends on your agreement and the law that governs it.
- Client nonsolicitation. Can restrict trying to win business from a former employer’s clients. If you worked at an agency, read this clause before contacting its clients.
- Confidentiality. Check whether it restricts sharing client lists, pricing, strategy, analytics, or work samples. An unenforceable noncompete doesn’t necessarily cancel separate confidentiality terms.
State law varies. California generally voids employment noncompetes. Minnesota voids most signed on or after July 1, 2023, but that ban doesn’t cover nonsolicitation or confidentiality terms. Texas can enforce reasonable ones. Wording matters too: Ogletree Deakins describes Minnesota court decisions that treated a neutral job announcement differently from a request for business.
I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice. If anything in your agreement is unclear, have an employment attorney read it before you reach out.
List the People Who’ve Seen You Work
Start with people you’ve worked with: former colleagues, agency partners, and people who hired you in a previous role.
Choose people who have seen how you work. Maybe you helped them launch a site, worked through a migration, or explained why a campaign wasn’t producing leads.
For each person, write down:
- What work you did together
- Where they work now and what they’re responsible for
- Whether they know you’re consulting
- Whether their organization might need your help
Keep the list short. You’re looking for a handful of people you’d like to work with again.
Then note whether each person could hire you or could introduce you to someone who could. For someone who might hire you, explain how you could help their organization. For a potential referral, give them a short note they can forward (there’s an example below).
Say What People Can Hire You For
Someone can respect your work and still not know what to hire you for.
“SEO consulting” means different things to different people. One person pictures keyword research. Another expects you to write content, fix the site, manage analytics, and explain every change in traffic.
Before you reach out, write your offer in a sentence or two. For example:
I help organizations figure out why they aren’t getting found in search and what to fix first. I also measure whether those changes bring in inquiries or sales.
Be clear about what you’ll do yourself and what the client’s team or another provider will handle. And decide which kinds of organizations and problems are a good fit.
A clear offer also makes you easier to refer. “You should talk to someone I know” is a start. “[Your name] can help you protect your search traffic during the redesign” explains why a conversation might help.
On LinkedIn, create a Service Page from your profile (Add profile section, then Add services) so people who hear about you can see what you offer. “Open to Work” is a separate feature meant for job searches.
Write Like You Know Them
If you know someone, write to them the way you normally would. Skip the sales sequence.
This example asks about potential work. If a nonsolicitation clause applies to you, have an attorney look at your outreach before you send it.
Hi [Name],
I’m consulting independently now, helping organizations improve their SEO and websites and measure the results.
I enjoyed working with you on [shared project]. If search or website performance comes up at [organization], I’d be glad to talk through whether I can help.
Hope the new role is going well.
Adjust it to the relationship. If you’ve stayed in touch, you don’t need an announcement. If it’s been years, acknowledge the gap and ask how they’ve been.
Explain what you do and when you could help. Keep the note friendly and give them time to respond.
Make Introductions Easy to Pass Along
A former colleague may introduce you to someone else instead of hiring you.
Give them a short note they can forward, so they don’t have to explain your business for you:
[Your name] helps organizations improve their search visibility and website performance. We worked together at [organization], and given your plans for [project], I thought a conversation might be useful.
After the introduction, follow up directly. Ask what they need and explain whether you can help.
If it isn’t a fit, say so. I’d rather tell someone I’m not the right person than take work I can’t do well.
Ask About the Business Before You Propose SEO
When someone is interested, don’t jump to an audit or a list of recommendations. Ask what they’re trying to do.
An association may want more members. A local service business may want more calls. Similar SEO tasks can support different goals.
Questions worth asking:
- What are you trying to sell, grow, or improve?
- Which customers or audiences matter most?
- What isn’t working, and what have you already tried?
- Who can make changes to the website?
- Who writes content, and who approves it?
- How are you measuring results now?
The answers help you judge whether the client can fund and carry out the work. A site can have a long list of fixable problems while the organization has no developer time, a six-week approval process, or no budget this quarter. Find that out before you write a proposal.
Mention one or two problems you noticed and how you’d approach them. You don’t need to complete an audit on the call.
Start With a Defined First Engagement
The first conversation doesn’t need to become a big contract.
One organization may need help understanding a traffic drop. Another may know its priorities and need someone to guide the work and measure progress. Base the proposal on the problem they described.
Whatever you propose, both of you should be able to answer:
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- What will you do?
- What does the client need to provide?
- What will they receive?
- What happens when this work is done?
“Help with SEO” leaves too much open, even between people who trust each other. Here’s what a defined first engagement might look like for a traffic drop:
Over three weeks, I’ll review your Search Console, analytics, and recent site changes to find what caused the drop. You’ll get a written summary of the causes I find, a ranked list of fixes, and a call to walk through them. Fixed fee. Implementation is scoped separately.
Decide how you’ll price your work before an opportunity turns into a proposal. A relationship can produce work before you have a rate, a proposal template, or a contract. Set your rates and put the scope, fee, client responsibilities, and payment terms in writing before you start. The Freelancers Union contract creator is a free starting point.
Offer a Retainer Only When There’s Monthly Work
When I went independent, I wanted a few clients paying a monthly fee for steady income. A retainer works when the client has work that needs doing every month and you can describe it. I cover how I set those up in building an SEO practice around a few retainer clients.
Where I’d Start Today
My first consulting clients came from relationships I’d built as an employee. Knowing them got the conversation started. I still had to agree on scope and price.
If you’re making the same move, start with people whose organizations need help you can provide. Tell them what they can hire you for, then ask what they need.