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Hi Igor, I didn't read you post, but will now! ;-)
Great Post!
So what are the most common problems are you seeing out of all? What are the most difficult.
I would venture to say that the most common and difficult are:
#3 - Their Business Doesn’t Scale
#7 - They Rely On One “Expert� to Provide All Client Recommendations
#8 - Client Information is Silo’d
What are your thoughts?
Cheers,
Daniel
There are many more, so maybe I'll do a follow-up with numbers 11-20. ;-)
Having a different goal than growing a large company also (almost) automatically removes a lot of the problems you (so rightly) describe - such as doing sales pitches at conference presentations. I've never done that because I am not selling anything. In fact, I don't really want to take on too many new clients :)
Money is nice, no doubt, and with the houly rate I (and other "profiled" SEOs) can charge I could probably make more than I do. But in recent years I come to realize that there are just more important things than work and money - for one, my family, my wife and kids. With a high hourly rate, very selective (and few) clients, I can make more than most people and only work very little. Having that as a goal totally change the top 10 mistakes one can make (because you can, off course, still make mistakes - large or small).
Anyway, you post was good, Andy - I just wanted to point out that there are other valid goals in the life of a good SEO than growing a larger firm :)
Those marginally beat the "Super Deluxe" and "Would you like fries with that?" SEO service package names.
Honestly, I used a few quirky (gay) names for services back in the day.
Your #1 - Charging a set up fee: I always find the monthly payment scenario the best for everyone and often compare it to a "hosting plan" when talking or emailing potential clients. Paying for SEO really should be like paying for hosting. I mean. come on - who would pay for a year's worth of hosting from 'xyz' hosting company without knowing uptime, support, and other problems that might occur? The same should go for SEO, at least until they're comfortable with the level of services and work being performed.
Thanks for stopping by and providing your thoughts. I certainly agree that those that are content to keep their business small, often don't face all of the issues I highlighted - in fact, they sometime have their own, which I am learning now that I am a consultant.
That being said, I think it makes sense for every small business to review the items I listed. A lot of them do apply to companies that want to grow, but they also apply to those that wish to stay small. For those, my advice helps them to be more efficient, which would allow them to have a greater work/life balance.
Andy
That's a great addition to the list and one that is just as important. I think also comes back to the "silo" of information I mentioned. SEO staff need to feel that they are making a difference to a campaign and not just expected to "churn" out deliverables.
I'd much rather measure performance based upon client satisfaction, than number of deliverables.
Andy
Long time no see! ;-)
I agree that insisting on a set-up fee makes it a lot harder to win a new client. With many companies already burned by at least one SEO campaign, a company that removes that fear, will more easily win the business.
Andy
PS. I should have recommended services be called "Regular", "Biggie" and "Super-Sized" ;-)
Thank you for highlighting these familiar issues. Can you talk more about, or give an example of, an SEM firm that scalable? To me, scalable and replicable means a certain amount of "cookie cutter" processes that must be followed. I use the term "cookie cutter" in a positive way here. The difficulty I have as the head of a small SEM firm is that we spend alot of time customizing for small clients. We want to grow by adding larger clients, and I have the franchise mindset but I'm not sure where to focus...
When I consult with SEM firms, there is never a single recommendation for how they can scale their business.
I certainly don't advocate a templated SEO campaign for clients, but the way you structure internal teams, training, rewards and some of the more routine task, is how you are able to replicate each team and grow the business.
That's the teaser version. ;-)
I was repeatedly saying the customers wanted "XX" and they were too busy color coding packages (which they changed, I swear, daily).
They also were not delivering at all what was being promised to customers I had brought in.
After losing several pending clients due to the company's total disregard for their needs and wants- and then the company having the gall to say I had not brought them any clients recently - I walked out of that consulting position as fast as I could.
I'll be reading more of your posts - this was my first visit here.
Regards,
ContrarianLuddite
In the meantime, please keep the good posts coming.
All the best,
Moshe
I make different recommendations, based upon other aspects of an SEO firms operations. It would be hard for me to make a suggestion that would fit all business models.
If you'd like to set-up a personalized consultation - with recommendations tailored to your business - I'd be happy to do so.
Thanks for reading!
We're a very young company and the problem were dealing with is too much work - a problem i think you never really dealt with in the body of your article.
When do you expand? what are the pitfalls young companys should expect? what are the measures for good expansion, from 2 - 10 employees.
"I can do some of this myself. But obviously this guy knows more and is more valuable to work with."
Great posts - blogrolled at Platinax. :)
I would also like to know what you think of automatically adding ppc to an SEO contract. Like saying that a certain percentage of the contract goes straight to PPC for every client.
This is a great article. Its of much help and an eye opener in its unique way. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Barry
I am from Croatia, and I am thinking of opening my own Marketing and Sales Consulting Firm (while in Croatia there's none, and I am pretty into it;-))...I agree on all statements, but it will pass at least 3 more years till people start realizing what is actually their problem, and start improving and upgarding current adventages instead of inventing new ones...well people do not devote too much time to develop strategies, or they simply do not get it....
I live in a country, which is just about the same as yours (I doubt, however you'll ever read my comment...) and SEO is something I am interested in for about 7 months. Many of the field experts think that this is nothing, and I agree, but I am eager to grow and to start a SEO business in my country. The Internet infrastructure there is rather poor, and people would hardly know what does a Search Engine mean, but I hope they'll soon understand and I'll be there for them, trying to avoid the point Andy described. Don't think that I live in a 'cave'-country. People do know what is Internet, but for many businesses a Web page in many cases doesn't mean anything.
I wish I could participate in that SEO article competition, but unfortunately, I don't have many chances with my 7 months of experience. I will try though...
http://www.netincomeplace.com
Keep up on Good work
I would never do seo by the month. We spend WAY to much time in the initial optimization, design of the optimization structure, research etc. We charge 3k up front, and i would not do a job for a penny less. Perhaps this is because we physical SEO redesign that actually takes design and programming time, apart from the normal SEO.
I think you should get as much as you can, so you have the resources to have success. I agree with the names Andy points out, it does make your options seem cheesy.
As for as month by month goes:
I require a one year commitment, and would never change it. Again, we put too much time, and too much value is received to let a customer see results and leave, thinking the results would continue. In fact we would strip out all SEO on termination, as it is our view that the work we are doing is ongoing and includes weekly updates mandatory for success...if a client leaves (like a membership) they should not continue to get your SEO infrastructure.
This all leads to perceived value IMO. I thin the biggest mistakes made by SEO firms is charging to little and de-valuating the services. SEO can make a company double their revenues, so i would not rent it month to month. Just my 2 cents... I did find many very interesting points in your article. thanks.
The number one error says everything, the clients expect many things from a SEM company, and if the first thing you tell them is about a setup fee, is like putting a wall between you and them. Why don’t give them a free consultation, the only thing that you’ll probably lose is a couple hours of your time, but you will win the confidence from them.
Keep up on Good work
I just started internet marketing about a year ago and found that search engine optimization is the way to go. I post to my blog regularly and submit articles to article directories when I can
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Enjoyed reading it. Thanks
if you can take such great care of existing clients that you'll almost never lose one, then their recommendations alone will create a climate for uninterrupted growth AND you'll be creating a legacy with rock-solid goodwill that can be sold or passed on.
I think the first part of a campaign needs to be a listening excercise - no-one knows the business better than the (potential) client, and that's where you always need to start.
Great article!