If you are looking for advice on how not to begin a search engine optimization project, the user SEO Quick Project just created a case study for you.

this job has a 100% chance of failure.

Here is the title of the job listing:

SEO Quick Project - See original job posting at Elance »
Hello, We are looking for help with our SEO project and need someone who can quickly update our site to maximize our upcoming marketing campaign. Cost is a concern but we have two additional projects and would like to use the same provider for each. Our budget for this SEO project is $120.00. We are hoping to complete this within the next week or so. thank … view or apply to job view or apply to job

Problems with this SEO proposal: no budget, no tools, no content to work with, no realistic schedule, no provision for acquiring links.

It is impossible to have anything resembling useful SEO for $120 except an hour of consulting.