Ranking for competitive niche?

Does anyone have good stories about people ranking for competitive niches? Not just one word or two words, but a whole bunch of keywords. While it may be nice to score 100$ a day or so from hitting a semi-competitive keyword its a big difference from hitting 10+ keywords that are ultra competitive.

I was just wondering if anyone had a good story about someone on how they did it or whom they are. I am looking to hire REAL SEO wizards for my project.