Rank & Rent SEO Empire - My 30k/month Journey

[Marshan]

UPDATE

There are a lot of replies to get through, so here’s a quick update. I ended up shelving my other projects after they tanked in Google—most of them got hit hard. I haven’t touched anything related to rank and rent in a while because the burnout from all the lost time and money was real. It felt like training for a title fight only to get knocked out in the first round. Brutal.

I took a break and focused on my agencies for a while, but now I’m back with a smarter, more sustainable plan.

This time around, I’m avoiding the programmatic SEO spam and going back to what I know works: solid SEO targeting low-competition local business niches. I’ve built a few niche sites over the past 2–3 weeks and the early results look promising. I’m renting them out to pay-per-call networks at the moment before I pitch local businesses.

Most of the sites I launched are already ranking between positions 20–30. I’m scaling up with around 50 sites in progress, and I’ll be using virtual assistants to help move things forward efficiently. The goal now is to avoid shortcuts and do this the right way.

Here’s one of the projects that’s already performing well:

 

[alwaysgrinding]

Wow, great progress. It is nice to see journey that is not abondoned

 

[justforsemrush]

UPDATE

There are a lot of replies to get through, so here’s a quick update. I ended up shelving my other projects after they tanked in Google—most of them got hit hard. I haven’t touched anything related to rank and rent in a while because the burnout from all the lost time and money was real. It felt like training for a title fight only to get knocked out in the first round. Brutal.

I took a break and focused on my agencies for a while, but now I’m back with a smarter, more sustainable plan.

This time around, I’m avoiding the programmatic SEO spam and going back to what I know works: solid SEO targeting low-competition local business niches. I’ve built a few niche sites over the past 2–3 weeks and the early results look promising. I’m renting them out to pay-per-call networks at the moment before I pitch local businesses.

Most of the sites I launched are already ranking between positions 20–30. I’m scaling up with around 50 sites in progress, and I’ll be using virtual assistants to help move things forward efficiently. The goal now is to avoid shortcuts and do this the right way.

Here’s one of the projects that’s already performing well:

View attachment 459968

Oh so still not at 30k per month ?
you didnt want to listen to me. you pay the price.

 

[Marshan]

Oh so still not at 30k per month ?
you didnt want to listen to me. you pay the price.

Haha, I actually appreciate you—it’s obvious you’re deeply invested in seeing this fail because your whole identity seems tied to GMBs. You really believe that’s the only way to succeed.

Please, keep trolling. I’m genuinely looking forward to what you’ll say when this works out.

No hard feelings—I don’t take the trolling personally. Keep it coming, big dawg.



Side note: As an agency owner, all due respect, this is how you conduct yourself with potential clients?

 

[justforsemrush]

Haha, I actually appreciate you—it’s obvious you’re deeply invested in seeing this fail because your whole identity seems tied to GMBs. You really believe that’s the only way to succeed.

Please, keep trolling. I’m genuinely looking forward to what you’ll say when this works out.

No hard feelings—I don’t take the trolling personally. Keep it coming, big dawg.

View attachment 459972

Side note: As an agency owner, all due respect, this is how you conduct yourself with potential clients?

where are your 30k dollars. you were speaking so bad with your mouth. reach 30k dollars even with gmb is hard. you should use all the leverage in local seo. and gmb is one of them.
PS: My client are smart don’t worry for them.

 

[Marshan]

where are your 30k dollars. you were speaking so bad with your mouth. reach 30k dollars even with gmb is hard. you should use all the leverage in local seo. and gmb is one of them.
PS: My client are smart don’t worry for them.

Just to clarify, I’m not speaking negatively about GMBs. I simply said you can do local SEO without one—and I personally choose not to use them. I prefer to build sustainable assets that won’t get disabled overnight or lead to legal issues.

With all due respect, based on your English, I’m guessing it’s not your first language and you may not be from a country where lawsuits are common (no hate at all). Where I’m from, it’s easy to get sued, and as an agency owner, I’d rather play it safe. On top of that, most PPC networks also don’t allow calls originating from GMB listings.

I get it—GMBs are the fastest way to do local SEO. But they’re not the only way. Just because someone takes a different route doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I understand it might feel threatening if GMBs are central to your model, but it’s okay—there’s room for different approaches.

Anyway, I’ll catch you at the top, big dawg.

 

[PromoEmpire]

Good Luck!
Do you have any update for us?
Best of luck!!!

 

[ritafairclough]

I tried rank and rent. Man I found it hard - inconsistent number of leads and cold calling business owners stressed me out big time.

Good luck but not for me. It definitely isn't as easy as people make out.

 

[Marshan]

Wow, great progress. It is nice to see journey that is not abondoned

Cheers.

Good Luck!
Do you have any update for us?
Best of luck!!!

Gave a quick update a few comments ago.

I tried rank and rent. Man I found it hard - inconsistent number of leads and cold calling business owners stressed me out big time.

Good luck but not for me. It definitely isn't as easy as people make out.

Where you using ads or only SEO? And were you dealing with networks or only local businesses?

 

[ritafairclough]

Cheers.

Gave a quick update a few comments ago.

Where you using ads or only SEO? And were you dealing with networks or only local businesses?

I was using ads at start then SEO. No networks just pure rank and rent. I looked at pay per call networks such as lead smart but payouts are very low and qualifying calls as paid leads difficult.

Typically, local businesses get around 15 - 30 calls per month in my niche. Say it's an average of 20 and the lead payout is 10 dollars you might convert 25% so that's 50 bucks per month. Just not worth it imho.

 

[Marshan]

I was using ads at start then SEO. No networks just pure rank and rent. I looked at pay per call networks such as lead smart but payouts are very low and qualifying calls as paid leads difficult.

Typically, local businesses get around 15 - 30 calls per month in my niche. Say it's an average of 20 and the lead payout is 10 dollars you might convert 25% so that's 50 bucks per month. Just not worth it imho.

Yeah, I hear you. Some niches just don’t pay well. That’s why I’m only focusing on ones with higher payouts — around $40–$50 per call — and then shifting to flat monthly fees with local businesses.

That’s also why I’m scaling out with about 50 niche websites to start. Even at $50 per site, that’s $2,500/month — and from there, it just grows as more sites start ranking and generating leads. The math’s not perfect, but you get the idea. Hope you jump back into it when the time feels right.

 

[soz4owned]

Yeah, I hear you. Some niches just don’t pay well. That’s why I’m only focusing on ones with higher payouts — around $40–$50 per call — and then shifting to flat monthly fees with local businesses.

That’s also why I’m scaling out with about 50 niche websites to start. Even at $50 per site, that’s $2,500/month — and from there, it just grows as more sites start ranking and generating leads. The math’s not perfect, but you get the idea. Hope you jump back into it when the time feels right.

Can I ask you a question about how do you set your monthly fee for local businesses? Since you can’t really measure how many leads will convert into actual costumers (because imo tracking CTR with analytics for calls and filled out forms wont be accurate since probably most of them only asking for prices), what do you base your price on?

 

[Marshan]

Can I ask you a question about how do you set your monthly fee for local businesses? Since you can’t really measure how many leads will convert into actual costumers (because imo tracking CTR with analytics for calls and filled out forms wont be accurate since probably most of them only asking for prices), what do you base your price on?

Hey brother,

Just being fully transparent — my background is in selling high-level SEO services, not rank and rent. That said, here’s how I plan to approach it:

I’ll be charging a flat-fee retainer between $500 to $1,000 per month, depending on the niche and location. As lead volume increases and results become more consistent, I’ll adjust the pricing accordingly.

 

[splishsplash]

Hey brother,

Just being fully transparent — my background is in selling high-level SEO services, not rank and rent. That said, here’s how I plan to approach it:

I’ll be charging a flat-fee retainer between $500 to $1,000 per month, depending on the niche and location. As lead volume increases and results become more consistent, I’ll adjust the pricing accordingly.

It's better to charge more and use more of the money for your client.

The way to succeed in 2025, if you *can* is this :l

Charge $5k-$20k/mo for your client, and spend $5k-$20k/mo on your client for the first 12 months.

And TELL them that.

Tell them you don't take a cent of profit in the first year, because you want to maximize their results and keep them for life. After the first 12 months, you then take 1/3 as profit, and continue to use 2/3.

Every time they upgrade, the extra they're spending gets 12 months at 100%.

Ie, they go from $5k to $10k after a year, and you put their new $5k back for a year, and take $3385 of the first $5k/mo in and take $1615 as profit.

You also push them to pay a year up front after you've sold them on your unique way of working. It's easier to rank someone with $60k than it is $5k/mo, because you'll use the first $20k-$25k in the first 2-3 months.

This separates you from EVERY competitor on the market, and you can actually get people results.

Run a small side business to pay your bills for the first year while you do this, ie, your $500-$1k/mo business. But just enough to keep you afloat.

The money from clients you can use for business costs and it goes towards your staff time. Ie, if you hire an internal SEO guy that's costing you $30/hr, and he's spending 15 hours a month on 1 client, then you subtract $450/mo from their $5k.

This sort of agency has the potential to *massively* scale to an 8 figure agency and you'll have such a strong brand that you barely need to advertise after a couple of years.

 

[Marshan]

UPDATE

Got a call on one of the numbers from a rank and rent site I’m working on. Unfortunately, it didn’t lead anywhere since I’m still stuck in onboarding limbo with the call network—they’re dragging their feet. Not a great look, so I’m planning to explore a few other networks as backups.

I currently have 16 rank and rent sites that need proper optimization. A few are already ranking using temporary domains, which tells me the keyword research was on point. Most of the new sites I launch tend to rank around positions 20–30 within the first few weeks—which is a very promising indicator.

I’m holding off 14–21 days before building any backlinks. My initial focus is on branded foundational links (DA 30+). I’m using Scrapebox’s Alive Checker to remove dead pages, then the ******** Checker to filter quality referring domains. Once vetted, I send them through SpeedyIndex to ensure those links get indexed.

For branded foundations, I’m using RankerX—just $50/month for unlimited foundation links. Honestly, it’s a great investment considering I’ve got 50–60 websites that need these links.

For tier 2 and tier 3 support, I’m using GSA to boost the tier 1 links from RankerX and help with indexing. I tend to get laser-focused on SEO tasks, so I’m reminding myself to slow down, be more patient, and let the results come naturally instead of constantly grinding.

Next step: I’ll be testing SER Verified List for a month to access their verified GSA lists and see how it performs.

Stay tuned—I’ll be sharing updated rankings on a few of the newer rank and rent builds soon.

 

[ritafairclough]

UPDATE

Got a call on one of the numbers from a rank and rent site I’m working on. Unfortunately, it didn’t lead anywhere since I’m still stuck in onboarding limbo with the call network—they’re dragging their feet. Not a great look, so I’m planning to explore a few other networks as backups.

I currently have 16 rank and rent sites that need proper optimization. A few are already ranking using temporary domains, which tells me the keyword research was on point. Most of the new sites I launch tend to rank around positions 20–30 within the first few weeks—which is a very promising indicator.

I’m holding off 14–21 days before building any backlinks. My initial focus is on branded foundational links (DA 30+). I’m using Scrapebox’s Alive Checker to remove dead pages, then the ******** Checker to filter quality referring domains. Once vetted, I send them through SpeedyIndex to ensure those links get indexed.

For branded foundations, I’m using RankerX—just $50/month for unlimited foundation links. Honestly, it’s a great investment considering I’ve got 50–60 websites that need these links.

For tier 2 and tier 3 support, I’m using GSA to boost the tier 1 links from RankerX and help with indexing. I tend to get laser-focused on SEO tasks, so I’m reminding myself to slow down, be more patient, and let the results come naturally instead of constantly grinding.

Next step: I’ll be testing SER Verified List for a month to access their verified GSA lists and see how it performs.

Stay tuned—I’ll be sharing updated rankings on a few of the newer rank and rent builds soon.

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View attachment 460245

Super detailed update! Thanks.

I wondered about your strategy on building links. I went with building a PBN which worked very well so very interested if rankerx and GSA push the needle.

Considering the expense of buying links (especially for you with quite a few domains on the go), are you maybe thinking about a web 2.0 network to rank these sites?

Just super interested in your linking strategy!

 

[Marshan]

Super detailed update! Thanks.

I wondered about your strategy on building links. I went with building a PBN which worked very well so very interested if rankerx and GSA push the needle.

Considering the expense of buying links (especially for you with quite a few domains on the go), are you maybe thinking about a web 2.0 network to rank these sites?

Just super interested in your linking strategy!

Hey brother,

Appreciate it. My plan is to start with branded foundations — Web 2.0s, bookmarks, etc., all on DA 30+ — after waiting 14 to 21 days post-creation.

Month 2 is for local citations to build location relevance, then a press release in month 3 for additional authority.

If those steps don’t move the needle, I’ll move on to niche edits and guest posts. I’ll only use PBNs for tier 1 links if the properties are strong and trustworthy.

Once the sites start hitting the top 10, I’ll layer in CTR manipulation tools to give things an extra push.

 

[hunter41904]

Definitely would love to work with you some of the things that you're doing interests me

 

[factory24]

Appreciate it. My plan is to start with branded foundations — Web 2.0s, bookmarks, etc., all on DA 30+ — after waiting 14 to 21 days post-creation.

Month 2 is for local citations to build location relevance, then a press release in month 3 for additional authority.

Why not do citations and a press release right out of the gate from the start?

Those seem natural, local citations is a given foundation and PR makes sense that a new biz has been launched.

Does a local service biz site naturally get 2.0 (.blogger, .wordpress, etc.) links or bookmarks at first, or ever at all really? I mean, when a local biz like a roofer gets a site live and does not build any links and some links start to come in organically or even a digital marketing agency does a site + SEO package, either way I would not think these are the first type of links that would start to show up pointing to a site like this.

The heavier links later though make sense (edits, GP's, PBN's)

 

[bottingisfine]

Did the ranker x links move the needle? Are they easy to set up?