There is no special magic to SEO, it is just knowing the proper practices to follow. The reason there are a growing number of good SEO companies is because ranking for organic search takes a lot of effort, and the more competitive the industry, the more effort it takes. The best SEOs wouldn’t even be interested in talking to you since they are probably already working for the Fortune 500s and top eCommerce sites on the web.
That said, you could probably find some small companies or individuals who might be willing to take you on, but it is a very tough search given the nature of our industry, the $60 an hour quoted above is quite good. Professional SEOs charge much more than that, because they know they can and are can prove the ROI to their clients.
Didn’t mean to get off on a rant about SEO, but I just got back from the Chicago SES conference and those people definitely know what they are talking about and are doing it successfully and properly.