How Benas Leonavicius Used Case Studies to Build a Successful SEO Agency

Benas Leonavicius, the founder of a successful SEO agency, has turned his passion for search engine optimization into a thriving business with an 80% profit margin in 2024. Over the past decade, he has built a reputation for delivering results, forging long-term client relationships, and operating a lean, highly profitable business model.

In this candid interview, Benas shares his journey from humble beginnings to building a sustainable and scalable business. He opens up about the challenges of freelancing, the strategies that have fueled his growth, and the lessons he’s learned along the way. Read on to discover how he bootstrapped his way to success and why he believes the “vibe” he brings to client interactions is his ultimate competitive edge.

How much revenue and profit does the business generate?

During 2024, the business has generated €126,000 ($132,000) in revenue. Since I mainly sell my services, the business has more than 80% profit margin, so most of the revenue is also profit. For 2024, that comes down to €106,000 ($111,000).

Tell us about yourself and your business.

I come from a small European country called Lithuania. Ever since I was a kid, I new that I would start a business on my own, but first, I had to finish school.

After finishing high school, this is where everything started. I began studying at university, but my main priority was to begin experimenting with different ventures like e-commerce, content writing, self-publishing books, and social media. This exploration led me to marketing, where I delved into paid media and email marketing.

Eventually, I found a passion for SEO, which became my main expertise. For more than ten years, I’ve been offering SEO services and building a business around it.

I have a few freelancers and contractors that help me with SEO, but mainly, it’s just me working with clients and helping them grow their organic traffic.

How does your business make money?

My main business generates revenue by offering SEO services to clients. I focus solely on providing these services and don’t have any physical or digital products, subscriptions, or other offerings. It’s all about delivering results through SEO.

What was your inspiration for starting the business?

My biggest inspiration was my father. He started his own business right after high school, and growing up, I always admired that.

While I wasn’t sure what kind of business I wanted to start, I knew I wanted to follow a similar path and build something of my own. My father’s example definitely played the biggest role in inspiring me to pursue entrepreneurship.

How and when did you launch the business?

Technically, I began working with SEO about 10 years ago, but the early years were focused on experimenting and learning. At that time, I wasn’t certain SEO would become my main focus.

I started exploring the field around 11 years ago and spent the first couple of years experimenting with cold emails, cold calls, freelancing platforms and understanding the craft itself.

The current version of my business—its structure and the specific services I offer—really came together in the last four years.

How is the business funded? 

My business is completely bootstrapped.

Since I offer services, there wasn’t much need for an upfront investment. The only expenses are tools and subscriptions related to SEO and email management, which amount to less than $1,000 per year.

Beyond that, no significant investments were required to get started. It’s been a lean operation focused on providing value through services without the need for large overhead costs.

How did you find your first few clients or customers?

My very first client came through a personal connection. I was exploring writing and wanted to create articles, and a friend of a friend had a website that needed content. It was a natural fit, and we started working together.

However, my first real SEO client came from proactive outreach—cold calling and cold emailing to find businesses interested in my services. That initial hustle helped me secure a few clients.

Things really took off when I joined Upwork, where I found significant success and connected with many more clients, which helped grow my freelancing career.

What was your first year in business like?

My first year in business was more about learning than earning.

I didn’t make much money initially, as I was just starting out and figuring everything out. At the time, it felt more like a side project than a full-fledged business.

Since it was my first experience earning money, it didn’t feel like work—I wasn’t putting in long hours, just exploring and learning as I went. Within six months, I started making money, and by the end of the first year, I had a steady monthly income.

During that time, my main focus was writing articles, primarily for my first client. We ended up working together for about a year and a half.

That experience introduced me to SEO and gave me a solid understanding of how online marketing works. It was a foundational period that set the stage for my future growth.

What strategies did you use to grow the business?

The main way I grew my business was by building a strong foundation of case studies.

Early on, I focused on delivering successful results for my clients and documenting those outcomes. These case studies helped me attract more long-term partnerships and serious clients.

From there, my priority was creating exceptional client experiences and building solid relationships. Once clients saw the results I was delivering, my business started growing primarily through referrals. Most of my success over the past few years has come from those relationships and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Another factor that contributed to my growth was somewhat unexpected. I joined some YouTube courses to improve my video creation skills, and through those courses, I connected with a few people who owned websites and needed SEO services.

These turned into long-term, serious client relationships that I still maintain today. Additionally, those clients referred me to others, further expanding my network.

So, between referrals and connections made through the courses, I’ve been able to grow my business significantly.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?

My biggest challenge with freelancing has always been the constant cycle of chasing clients.

There were months when projects would end, leaving me with no income, and I’d have to start the process all over again—searching for new clients, pitching, and securing projects. This endless hustle felt unsustainable, as I was always focused on finding the next job instead of building stability.

Eventually, I realized I needed to break out of that cycle. The turning point came when I shifted my focus to finding clients with long-term projects—clients I could build strong relationships with.

By transitioning away from one-time projects to more sustainable, ongoing collaborations, I was able to create a more reliable workflow.

With this new approach, I found that having just a few long-term clients at a time was enough to keep my workload steady. On top of that, I could still take on occasional one-time projects when needed.

This balance allowed me to move away from the constant hustle and focus more on delivering value to my clients.

For example, I have a client I have been working with for more than six years and I still work with them to this day.

What have been the most significant keys to your business’ success?

From what I can tell, the most significant success was client relationships, which led to many referral opportunities and building a mini personal brand online.

Only these few factors have really accelerated my growth. However, I could have not done it without also having years of experience and a lot of case studies to prove my SEO abilities.

Tell us about your team.

I don’t have a big team, just a few freelancers, contractors and a few partnerships established. All of this allows me to offer full SEO services.

How did you make the transition from side hustle to full-time?

For me, it happened quite naturally. Since I started my freelancing business back when I was studying at university, once I finished my studies, I was already a full-time freelancer, so I didn’t really need to transition.

What was the turning point when you knew your business was successful?

To be honest, I am only realizing this now, or at least this year, when I finally crossed that long-awaited $100k/year mark.

What separates your business from your competitors?

Good question! I don’t have any extraordinary skills, and my results are nothing that others cannot replicate.

I think it comes down to the “vibe” and how I communicate with clients. I received a lot of feedback that I am just a very nice guy to work with – everybody finds it easy, which sets me apart from the others.

If you had to start from scratch, where would you begin?

Funny you ask this since I made a whole YouTube video exploring this exact question. So, if anyone is interested in a full story, they can check it out here.

However, besides the basics, such as building your skills and portfolio and starting to create your personal brand, I would actually target Youtubers as my clients.

I see a huge demand for freelancers for all of the YouTube businesses out there, but not enough supply of freelancers that work directly with them. I explore the specific ways I would approach this in my video.

What are some of your favorite books, blogs, podcasts, or YouTube channels?

4-hour workweek by Tim Ferris had one of the most significant impacts on me and my whole entrepeneruil journey.

That book showed me what is possible, and I instantly got hooked on doing something very similar.

I do enjoy podcasts quite a bit and have a few that I follow. I enjoy listening while working out or doing other things.

• Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal 
• Chris Williamson
• The Iced Coffee Hour
• Authority Hacker
• Colin and Samir

As for YouTube channels, I admit I watch a bit too much of them. From entertainment to learning, I follow all sorts of channels and couldn’t really select a few to list here.