I had two really interesting conversations with potential clients yesterday (Monday) that got me thinking about honesty in business.
The first one told me they’d come to me because they liked my “say it like it is” style – no bullshit, just open and honest. So I was open and honest when I told them I wasn’t the right person for their project, and referred them to someone I knew would be perfect for them.
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The second one said she came to me because I “call a shovel a fucking shovel” – which made me unreasonably happy, I’m not going to lie.
It reminded me why being straight with people matters, even when it costs you work.
Which is why this week I’m talking about the value of saying no, how to spot straight talkers versus bullshitters, and why desperation makes for terrible business decisions.
What you’ll find inside
1 | Why sometimes saying no to a lucrative job is a good thing
2 | My journey down the rabbit hole
3 | Why over-promising and under-delivering can’t be a good thing
4 | My recommendation of the week (to be fair, only if you’re a web designer though)
5 | Your free SEO tip
Let’s dig in, shall we?
Thoughts this week: Why I turned away a perfectly good client
The first potential client’s project was going to be intense – months long, loads of moving parts, multiple stakeholders all needing co-ordination. Big budget, interesting work, and I absolutely could have blagged my way through it.
But it didn’t feel right.
It wasn’t my kind of project. I work best as a solo consultant on focused SEO strategy and implementation, not managing a massive team across multiple departments.
Could I have done it? Probably.
Would it have been the best use of their money? Definitely not.
So I was honest. I told them what I thought, explained why it wasn’t the right fit, and pointed them towards someone who’d be perfect for what they needed.
On the one hand I turned down a massive chunk of income, But on the other I did the right thing and regret absolutely nothing.
Taking on clients you know aren’t right for you is shit business. For you AND for them.
You end up stressed, they end up disappointed, and you’ve wasted everyone’s time and money. Plus you’ve probably damaged your reputation in the process because word gets around when projects go badly.
The second potential client’s project? That’s right up my street. Website migration, technical SEO, the kind of work I genuinely love and know I can smash. I’ve put in an honest quote and I’m hoping it comes off, because it’s exactly where I can make a real difference.
Plus, the business owner I spoke to very explicitly said “You call a shovel a fucking shovel” in our discovery call, and how can I turn down the chance to work with someone like that?
Saying it like it is (international edition)
Apparently in Scotland they say “call a shovel a shovel” – I’m more used to saying “call a spade a spade” (which has an interesting backstory), and it sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole to find out some other ways of saying it.
This has no business use whatsoever, but I found it amusing, so you might too.
In Ireland, they apparently say both “”Not one for wrapping shite in ribbons” and “Calling a spade a shovel and a shovel a bastarding great spade”.
South Africa prefer “No dressing up a donkey as a racehorse”.
Over in Australia, the saying is “Not here to fuck spiders”.
Meanwhile the Brazilian Portuguese could be “Não ter papas na língua” – having no mush in your tongue (speaking clearly without softening it). I don’t speak Portugese so maybe someone who does can tell me if this is true?
Anyway, it’s interesting to see that a lot of countries and cultures have a saying for ‘saying it like it is’ which kind of implies it’s a good thing, right?
Why this matters for anyone hiring an SEO
Right now, loads of SEOs (and other service providers) are desperate for work. And when people are desperate, they’ll say yes to anything.
You need a complete website rebuild, ongoing content strategy, technical SEO, and someone to make you coffee? Sure, they can do all that. You want results in three weeks? Absolutely, no problem. You’ve got a budget that wouldn’t cover a decent meal out? They’ll make it work somehow.
Bollocks will they.
What you actually get is someone who’s overpromised, can’t deliver, and will either ghost you halfway through or produce work so mediocre you’d have been better off doing it yourself.
The SEOs worth hiring are the ones who’ll tell you honestly what they can and can’t do. Who’ll say “that’s not my area, but I know someone brilliant who can help.” Who’ll tell you your timeline is unrealistic or your budget won’t get you what you’re hoping for.
That honesty might sting a bit in the moment, but it saves you a fortune in wasted time and money down the line.
Recommendation of the week: The Phoenix Programme
If you’re a web designer on my list, have a look at The Phoenix Programme by my good friend Holly Christie.
Holly’s the brain behind Websites Made Simple, and she’s opened applications for her nine-month programme for website designers sick of the feast-or-famine cycle.
This isn’t generic business coaching. It’s proper hands-on support – plus you get a complete website review and access to all Holly’s templates and resources.
The best bit? Holly tackles the stuff nobody teaches you – pricing with confidence, handling difficult clients, and building systems that don’t fall apart when you get busy.
If I were a web designer, I’d jump at this. (And she hasn’t paid me to say this!)
Your free SEO tip: Write a brief that attracts honest SEOs
The easiest way to separate the honest SEOs from the bullshitters? Write a proper brief.
Include the real scope of work, your timeline, and your genuine budget range. Don’t play games by hiding information to “test” people. Don’t make them guess what you’re after.
A detailed brief does two things: it scares off the chancers who were going to wing it anyway, and it helps the good SEOs give you an accurate proposal based on what you need.
Include these in your brief:
What you want to achieve – not “more traffic” but business goals. More leads? Better conversion? Ranking for specific terms?
Your timeline – when do you need this done, and is that flexible?
Your budget range – even a ballpark helps. “£2k-5k” or “£500/month” gives people something to work with.
What you’ve tried before – have you worked with other SEOs? What went well or badly?
Access and resources – do they get full access to analytics, Search Console, your CMS? Or will they need to work around limitations?
Who’s involved – is it just you, or will they need to coordinate with designers, developers, content writers?
The honest SEOs will read this and tell you straight away if they’re right for it. The bullshitters will send you a generic proposal that ignores half of what you wrote.
(I wrote this about SEOs, but it could really be about any industry – if you’re hiring people, give them a chance by giving them a proper brief.)
What am I working on this week?
Usual SEO retainers are keeping me busy, plus I’m working on:
- A website migration that went wrong – 1100 pages removed and redirected to the home page, traffic plummeted, massively inflated bounce rate, enquiries now non-existent. All because no-one asked the right questions.
- Ditching thin content for a SaaS business with over 800 blog posts, most of which are 250 words. We’re combining the bits that make sense, binning the bits that don’t, and developing topic clusters that will help search engines AND users make the most of the site.
- Recording more podcast episodes for SEO F**king What? – the latest one is about why you can’t trust ChatGPT to “SEO” your website – listen where you get your podcasts.
Oh, and I’m working on something for copywriters that’s going to be awesome, but I can’t talk about it until next week because the people on my course got first dibs, there are only 10 places, and I promised them I wouldn’t promote it to everyone else until then.
Need help with any of the above? You know where I am.
That’s it for this week,
Always non-wanky,
Nx
P.S. If you’re currently working with an SEO who won’t give you a straight answer about anything, that’s probably your sign to find someone who will. Life’s too short for people who can’t tell you what they think.
