Landing your first SEO client is tough. Even if you do some free work for local nonprofits or build your own sites and optimize them to build a portfolio of case studies, it's still challenging to get the first person to pay you. You must have confidence in your skills if you want to convince someone that you can make their site rank higher.
One tactic freelancers use is to charge clients a rising scale fee based on their site's ranking. You can't work for free, as SEO is time-consuming and takes a while to show results. Charge so much a month for several months, then raise the fee as the site moves up in the search results and the client sees more leads and sales.
This only works if you and the client agree on keyword phrases that will earn him or her money, but are not too difficult to rank for, For example, your client probably won't rank in the top three spots for weight loss. It's a highly competitive keyword, and the top spots are held by authoritative websites with aged domains and lots of good backlinks. If your client sells weight loss supplements, aim for keyword phrases like cheap weight loss pills that work fast.
You must explain to clients that SEO is an ongoing process. If they stop paying once they rank well, their competitors will soon overtake them in the SERPs. Their competitors will be building backlinks and creating new content, and your client has to do the same.
Don't charge lower prices than your competitors. Clients that choose an SEO freelancer or agency based solely on price are usually a pain. They care about getting the best results at the cheapest price. They will dump you as soon as they start ranking better. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/lqdwgy/landingmyfirst_client/.