how should I answer this client?

Hi

I made a mistake today. I need to undo it.

so there is this lawyer that I do seo for. He know some seo because when he first became a lawyer, he had no clients and he starting learning about seo.
today I went to his office and we were just chatting and he said "does commenting still work?" and I said "yes" like some kind of an idiot.
now why is this bad? because he will think "i dont need to pay this guy any more, I will hire some retard to comment on a bunch of websites and pay $3/hr"
then I will be out of a job.
how can I undo this in a subtle way? I cant go back tomorrow and say "you know, about that comment thing yesterday, actually, commenting doesn't work." it has to be subtle.

edit: hi guys, whether or not commenting works is irrelevant. what i am concerned about is that I said "yes" so he now thinks he got it all figured out and doesn't need me any more. I want him to feel like all his ideas are worthless. so if he asks me "does private blog network with a bunch of PR6 sites work?" I should still say no so he feels like there is some secret ingredient that he doesn't know. some of you are saying I gave him the "right" answer because commenting does work...but that's irrelevant, everything that he says, I should say "no, that doesn't work" so he will feel he needs me. that's the message I am trying to get across.

edit2: why am I paranoid? because he is constantly trying to undercut me. every time I go to his office, he is trying to find out trade secrets. he always asks questions like "how do you rank?" "what network do you use?" "do social media matter?"

it works but only in combination with a lot of other things done .. only comments done rank you allone .. some like that

theseodude said:

Hi

I made a mistake today. I need to undo it.

so there is this lawyer that I do seo for. He has studied seo because when he first passed the bar, he had no clients and he says he spent a lot of time learning seo.
today I went to his office and we were just chatting and he said "does commenting still work?" and I said "yes" like some kind of an idiot.
now why is this bad? because he will think "i dont need to pay this guy any more, I will hire some retard to comment on a bunch of websites and pay $3/hr"
then I will be out of a job.
how can I undo this in a subtle way? I cant go back tomorrow and say "you know, about that comment thing yesterday, actually, commenting doesn't work." it has to be subtle.

Click to expand...

dude if he studied seo tell him to do it himself,, yes commenting does work as about 200 other things do and 200 things that don't help. If he really studied seo he would be paying someone $3 an hour now. Be honest, be trustworthy and show the value you bring.

Well, I don't think that's an wrong answer. Commenting is just a broad term. It involves a lot of factors too, such as OBL, PR, Niche and more.

Of course, no one said 100000x commenting blast still works. I think you were simply referring to 'commenting still works' as in it is still involved in part of YOUR SEO strategy correct?

I believe the web is made up of a combination of different types of links - articles, commenting, web2.0, social network, forum etc.,. Nothing works 'alone'.

well if he wants to hire a retard to do commenting, then let him do so. Is this guy your only client? And what are you actually supposed to be doing for him? you should be doing it, not worrying about small problems like this.

He just might go ahead and hire a retard if he suspects that your not doing your job properly. He's a lawyer, so he's busy. Stop wasting the dudes time with chat about blog comments, and get him some results. That gets you the money.

don't talk about that now , You would look desperate .

Even if the guy goes ahead and buys a bunch of fiverr blasts to his site, he's gonna get deranked big time. Then he'll probably come back to you asking for help and you can charge him more in return for him being a idiot and doing retarded things as Panther ^^ has said.

If he wants to undercut you, he's probably not really worth being your client anyway IMO

The best way: give yourself the aura of safety and security.

Tell him that an amateur using comments not only will not help but can easily get a site blacklisted in google (deindexed).

Despite this being a tactic that works in nearly every situation to keep clients away from cheaper providers, it is also very true, and if he checks up on this, he can find plenty of confirmation online.

Business owners don't want to get the cheapest thing, if they have any brains, when the success of their business depends on it. Make him believe that switching will sooner or later ruin his internet presence, and you got him.

Dude, it seems like every time you have a conversation with a client you need to start a thread here and ask advice on how to fix your screw ups.

Don't mean to be nasty but rather than deal with clients why don't you spend some time learning SEO.

Seriously not trying to put you down and I wish you every success possible but all the threads you start and the questions you ask, give the impression that you are an incompetent noob.

Sorry if that is harsh but that is how you are coming across.

Anyway, Good Luck

That is not an error you are dealing with an educated man...

If you need to expand on the comments issue - qualify that by saying comments only work if they are constructed with keywords and long tail keywords blah blah and more...

Remember that you are dealing with a man that spins the meaning of words for a profession...

Give him some oblique spin as in double entendre conjugaison and the like...

He will absorb your knowledge skill sets and say you know what this SEO who works for me is smart - I need to keep paying him...

Smart people deal with smart people in similar ways...

Good Luck and keep cool, you have the ability so use it!

Just say you were referring to an excellent post you read on the warrior forum :-/

Just tell them what else you need including commenting to rank and how proper commenting is very important and how nobody else can comment better then you!

W130SN said:

Dude, it seems like every time you have a conversation with a client you need to start a thread here and ask advice on how to fix your screw ups.

Don't mean to be nasty but rather than deal with clients why don't you spend some time learning SEO.

Seriously not trying to put you down and I wish you every success possible but all the threads you start and the questions you ask, give the impression that you are an incompetent noob.

Sorry if that is harsh but that is how you are coming across.

Anyway, Good Luck

Click to expand...

Hey buddy thanks for the heads up...

It is the first and last for me with the OP, thanks now I know he is numpty!

Lol, OP your thread made me smile... Thanks. +Repped.

Yes it works but you have to know how to do it. If you don't do things the right way you can get penalized. You can say that about everything and it's the truth. Just stick with that and you'll be fine, good luck. I hate douche clients.

OP, just to follow up on my previous post, I am not trying to be mean.

The advice Steelballs gave you is good.

I think you need to have more confidence in your abilities.
You need to show your clients that you know what you are talking about.

Don't appear to be afraid to lose clients, you need to take charge. If you are meek then people will try to use that against you.

You are dealing with professionals and you need to show them that you are a professional on their level.

Don't let this one conversation with a client have you questioning yourself, forget about it.
Tomorrow is another day and you are going to kick arse. Get pumped up for your next meeting.

All the best.

In addition to what the other users said.

First of all, if he knows SEO it means he has no time to do it himself, hence you came into the picture.

Secondly, maybe he was testing you (don't know the dynamics between you guys so I'm just guessing here). Commenting still helps, link diversity, no follow profile, bladablabla. So, you gave him a correct answer. Will this enable him to do SEO himself? Hell no. End of story.

I hope you don't turn out to be another troll around here with all your posts asking help on how to deal with insignificant client issues.

Get another client.

Whoa. Imagine my surprise when I read this thread. Somehow, I always knew you lurked here OP. I think I'm you're gonna be surprised next time we meet. :scool:

IF he knows anything about seo he will know that commenting alone won't do the job and he won't be able to undercut you. Simply let him know yes it works but you have to do it the right way or it will negatively effect your seo. If he asks too many details just let him know that it's your job to get it done and not give away your secrets.