What if you could help local businesses get more customers while building a six-figure recurring revenue business from anywhere in the world?
Eric Dingler runs a successful digital agency, In Transit Studios, while traveling with his family across 20+ countries. But if he was starting over today, he’d focus on one simple service: local SEO.
While traditional SEO gets eaten alive by AI and Reddit, local search remains a goldmine.
When someone searches “barber near me” or “pizza delivery,” Google still shows real local businesses — not AI-generated answers.
Tune in to Episode 684 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:
- Why 75% of local businesses haven’t even claimed their Google Business Profile
- How to sell a $500 “SEO boost” before you know how to deliver it
- The path from one-time service to $750/month recurring revenue clients
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The Massive Local SEO Opportunity
Do you know that only 20-25% of businesses in the USA have claimed and optimized their Google Business Profile?
That means 3 out of 4 local businesses around you are essentially invisible when potential customers search for them on Google Maps or Apple Maps. They’re losing customers every single day.
Eric says: “75% of the local businesses around you haven’t done this yet. And they all already know about Google. They already know about SEO.”
These businesses aren’t waiting for you to educate them about why they need local SEO. They already understand the problem — they just don’t know how to fix it.
Your First Sale: The $500 Local SEO Boost
Eric’s advice is to sell first, learn later.
For his very first local SEO client, Eric collected $1,300 upfront, then used that money to pay for training on how to actually deliver the service. “You can tell your customer, ‘This is gonna take me four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks.’ They don’t know.”
Here’s Eric’s step-by-step approach for getting your first clients:
Step 1: Create a Beta Test Social Media Post
Eric recommends creating what he calls a “beta test social media post.”
The concept is to reach out to business owners in your network saying you’re testing new software or a new system that helps local businesses be found more often when people search for them.
You’re looking for businesses willing to let you use them as an experiment. In exchange for helping you test, they’ll get increased visibility on Google and you’ll share all the results with them.
Step 2: Talk to Every Business Owner You Know
You probably already have friends who own businesses. If you have a dentist, a barber, favorite local restaurants, start there.
When they respond, tell them it’s $500 for a one-time SEO boost. If you’re nervous about pricing, start lower, but Eric sold his first one for $1,300 with zero experience.
Step 3: Set Clear Expectations
Promise to “improve your position in Google Maps and Apple Maps within three months” and “increase your customer activity.”
Notice Eric doesn’t promise “more leads” — restaurants don’t want leads, they want customers. Barbershops want appointments and walk-ins. The phrase “customer activity” works for everyone.
What You’re Actually Delivering
The one-time SEO boost includes several key components:
Google Business Profile Optimization:
- Claim their profile (if unclaimed)
- Rewrite their description to focus on customer needs, not company history
- Fix their service area (many businesses accidentally set it to “United States,” or putting them in the middle of the Pacific Ocean)
- Fill in all the detail boxes: parking, accessibility, veteran-owned, etc.
Content Creation:
- Request 24 photos of their business, staff, and behind-the-scenes shots
- Use AI to create 12 social media posts about their business
- Post one photo per week for 12 weeks to their Google Business Profile
Results Tracking:
- Use Local Falcon ($29/month) to create heat maps showing their rankings
- Take before and after screenshots to prove results
- Monthly reporting to show improved positions
The Tech Stack You Need
Eric keeps the tools simple:
- Local Falcon – $29/month for ranking reports and heat maps
- Stripe or PayPal – For collecting payments (don’t let payment processing be the bottleneck)
- AI tools – For rewriting descriptions and creating social posts
- Sam Sarsten’s course – $49-99/month to learn the technical details
- Moz Local – Directory submissions
- Yext – Business listing management
As Eric says, “You don’t need a fancy automation tool” when starting out. Do the work manually for your first few clients, then invest in automation as you grow.
Scaling to Recurring Revenue
The real money is in monthly recurring revenue. Here’s how Eric transitions clients:
After showing results from the one-time boost, he goes back to clients and says, “You’re gonna need to keep posting once a week, plus we need to get into directories and backlinks.”
This becomes a $750/month ongoing service that includes:
- Weekly Google Business Profile posts
- Quarterly strategy sessions
- Directory submissions and backlink building
- Monthly reporting with actionable insights
Eric’s average monthly recurring revenue per customer has grown from $49 to $490. Some clients pay $2,000/month, while others pay $99 — it averages out across his client base.
Finding Clients: Local Networking Wins
While you might think this business requires social media marketing or online advertising, Eric’s secret weapon is local networking.
“The fastest way to $25,000 a month in recurring revenue is local networking.”
His strategies include:
- Joining local business associations (not just Chamber of Commerce)
- Offering to host a podcast for business associations
- Building strategic partnerships with commercial real estate agents
- Attending community events where business owners gather
- Creating relationships with complementary service providers
As Eric puts it, “There’s no money hiding behind your computer, especially starting out with local business. It’s hard to beat getting out there, hitting the pavement, and meeting people.”
Building Your Remote Team
You don’t need to become a local SEO expert. You need to become great at selling local SEO and managing the people who deliver it.
Eric has team members in around the world who handle all the technical work. One team member can do two strategy sessions per day and manages multiple clients for $750/month each.
His advice for scaling is to find somebody that can provide fulfillment, go out and sell it, and then pay that person to do the fulfillment.
If Eric was starting over, he’d study two things: leadership and list building.
Additional Revenue Streams
Once you have local SEO clients, you can expand with:
Website Design and Development: While Eric thinks AI website builders make this more competitive, you can still upsell websites after proving your SEO expertise.
Accessibility Compliance: Every business (except religious organizations and private clubs) must meet ADA requirements. Most AI website builders don’t create accessible sites, creating an opportunity.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Google Ads management for local businesses becomes a natural extension.
Review and Reputation Management: Help businesses systematically collect and respond to customer reviews.
Market Size and Competition
Eric’s take on market size: “Even in a very competitive market, there are plenty of businesses that those other brands are not even going to give the time of day to.”
Large agencies focus on big clients and mass marketing. They ignore small businesses that can’t afford $5,000/month retainers.
That’s your opportunity. While they’re cold calling and sending spam emails, you’re building relationships face-to-face with business owners who need help.
What’s Next for Eric?
Eric continues running In Transit Studios while traveling the world with his family. They’ve lived in over 20 countries in three and a half years, with London, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul topping their favorites list.
He offers a 90-day accelerator each quarter, teaching people how to hire and lead remote teams. You can learn more at ericdingler.com/sidehustle.
Eric’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation
“Real estate agents don’t build the houses they sell.”
“Figure out how to be a leader.”
Episode Links
- EricDingler.com
- In Transit Studios
- Local Falcon
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Sam Sarsten’s course
- Moz Local
- Yext
- Accessibility Compliance
- Ep 673: Reddit Marketing: How to Drive Traffic from Reddit
- Ep 506: 6 Million Visits a Month! SEO and Blogging Tips To Make More Money
- Ep 555: How to Dominate Local SEO: From Side Hustle to $300k a Year, with Cody Smith
- Ep 681: 15 List Building Tactics that Actually Work
- Ep 647: How to Start an Online Directory as a Side Hustle
- Ep 534: Easy Ways to Build Backlinks and Outrank the Competition
- Ep 245: Network Marketing, Imposter Syndrome, My Side Hustle Mistakes, and More
- Ep 292: Free Houses: How to Build a $1 Million Real Estate Portfolio on the Side
- Ep 631: How to Get Traffic to Your Website Without Relying on Google
- How Much Does it Cost to Start a Podcast? Less Than You Think
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