Want to Work With Someone Like Tim Denning?
Here’s how I did it
Image made by the author on Canva
You know Tim.
He’s one of the internet’s most prolific writers, with 500M+ views and 324K followers on Medium.
A few months ago, we started working together on the SEO for his website — and things are going great!
But how did this opportunity come about? And how could you create similar opportunities for yourself?
Let me take you back to March 2022.*
*I asked Tim for permission to post this article with the following screenshots.
“Been reading a few of your articles Scott.”
One random Saturday, Tim dropped me a message.
I couldn’t believe my eyes!
I refreshed my Twitter DMs to make sure it was legit:
Screenshot from my Twitter DMs
*Cue the fanboying!*
We then went back and forth about freelancing and outsourcing to virtual assistants (VAs):
Screenshot from my Twitter DMs
I answered some outsourcing questions, and he referred a client my way.
Win-win!
A few months later, I introduced him to my VA:
Screenshot from my Twitter DMs
And a few months after this, I dropped him a message about one of his Medium articles:
Screenshot from my Twitter DMs
And that was that for a while.
I continued to enjoy his articles, and maybe he enjoyed mine.
Takeaways: Put out great content and build genuine connections. If you see a pain point that someone’s struggling with, offer solutions.
Until last August…
Tim reached out to me by email.
He probably sent the same message to a bunch of people, but I don’t care.
It’s nice when people take an interest in what you’re doing.
Screenshot from my emails
So I took his questions at face value and fired off this response.
And that was that.
Screenshot from my emails
An hour or so later, he followed up with this:
Screenshot from my emails
“I might need some SEO. Is this something you do freelance wise?”
I was busy doing client work, so I didn’t see his email until later that day.
When I did, I replied back with this:
Screenshot from my emails
“Yeah, I do SEO work for clients (SEO audits, strategy, and content writing.) I’d be happy to take a look at your site, give you some suggestions, and go from there.”
Tim was interested:
“What would you want for taking a look at the SEO on timdenning.com?”
Aka — what do you charge?
We’ll get to this shortly.
Takeaways: Keep offering solutions. When you build trust, opportunities arise.
“Would love to hear what you think about this proposal.”
With an abundance mindset, you can make better decisions.
And because I already run a six-figure writing business from my bedroom, I don’t need the money.
So I pitched something different.
The first step was to record videos of me going through his website, suggesting SEO improvements.
This is the bird’s eye view stuff — the strategy.
I recorded the videos using Screencast-O-Matic (now called ScreenPal). I then uploaded them to my Google Drive so I could share them with Tim:
Screenshot of the recorded videos
Once recorded, I fired off my proposal.
Bear in mind this all took place over three days:
Screenshot from my emails
“Rather than charging for these insights and any SEO implementation work, I would ask for a testimonial from you.”
I rarely offer to work with someone for free — if ever — and I usually charge $1,000s for this sort of SEO work.
But in Tim’s case, it makes sense to work for free.
Here’s why:
A testimonial from Tim is far more beneficial to me in the long term than a few thousand dollars. Why? I can put the testimonial on my website and tell people I’ve worked with one of the world’s most successful writers.
If I do a good job on Tim’s site, there’s a chance he may send more work my way from other people. I’m increasing the surface area for Lady Luck to land on.
Working for free lowers expectations. So when I deliver amazing results (which I’m confident of doing), it’ll be easier to surpass his expectations.
I can write unique articles like the one that you’re reading right now. Not many people get the chance to work with people like Tim!
Tim went for it:
Screenshot from my emails
“Your proposal sounds good. What do you need to get started?”
He shared login details with me over email so I could access his site and Google Analytics.
I then started working on his site.
Takeaways: Think long term. Sometimes, it makes sense to work for free if you can leverage a testimonial for future opportunities.
Takeaways
This is our third month of working together, and our SEO efforts look to be paying off.
His site’s sessions are up nearly 60% year on year, and keyword rankings are continuing to improve. (Tim’s writing is doing the heavy lifting, so I can’t take all the credit here!)
At the end of every month, I send him a report and detail the improvements I’ve made.
For example, in September, I spotted a technical SEO issue that could have negatively impacted his site. This is now fixed.
Tim is happy:
Screenshot from my emails
So do you want to work with successful people like Tim?
Here’s my roadmap for attracting opportunities:
Step #1: Consistently produce great content over a period of two years. You never know who might see it.
Step #2: Build genuine connections with people when they reach out. And if you see a pain point they’re struggling with, offer solutions.
Step #3: Repeat steps 1–2 indefinitely. Trust is built over time.
Step #4: Create an abundance mindset. Don’t snatch at opportunities.
Step #5: Think long-term. Sometimes, it makes sense to work for free if you can leverage testimonials.
Remember: People do business with people they trust.
Go be that person.
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