I need some SEO done on one of my blogs, but as I have high ambitions would it be better to look on somewhere like Elance or try to do it myself ?
Depends on several factors - including what exactly you want done, SEO can cover a multitude of tasks - from keyword research, link-building, writing articles, onpage factors - a good policy might be to start doing a bit yourself and reading up on it, then when you've got an idea of what you want, how much time it's likely to take, and how much it's worth to you, taking a look at what services are being offered.
If there is a chance to make good money from the blog - then its worth hiring a proffessinal. If you have time to make trial and error, and to take your time- then go into it yourself
Thanks for the help. So how realistic is getting 1st page Google for a term? I know this is general but as I am fairly new to the whole online business and blog type thing how much would I expect to shell out a month for this. My budget would be about $200.