We’ve been at this specialty small business online marketing game for the better part of 10 years now, and we have hundreds of successful specialty small business customers, for whom we generate literally tens of millions of dollars in new revenue from the web…
So here’s what really chaps my set-upon; I would have to say that every customer (to a one) that we’ve gotten (and still have by the way) over the years, has had at least one (if not several) bad experience with another web development company or so-called guru or expert, before we’ve had the pleasure of their business.
In most cases this has cost them tens of thousands of dollars in fees for a mediocre website and whatnot, plus the loss of revenues, i.e., the money they should have made but didn’t. This can easily get into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Being completely objective, which is difficult for me to do in this particular case, this is a blessing and a curse:
The Blessing — There are an ever increasing number of hucksters out there putting out an incessant commentary on the virtues (not that they would know virtue if it bit them) of Internet Marketing, in all of its varied forms and functions.
That’s good, because whether they realize it or not, they are advancing the cause, so-to-speak, by raising the awareness of the relatively uninitiated small business owner or entrepreneur for all things Internet. If there is anything we can use more of it’s awareness.
The Curse — These maleficent marketers who shill, bait and switch, sell a pig in a poke, have no concern for the bad faith and jaundice they create in the industry as a whole. I can’t tell you the number of times we hear things like, “You guys are all the same.” Or, “I just talked to a group that does exactly what you do.” Or, “I spent 2o grand with the company who did my website and now they want even more money to fix it. Why should I trust you?”
Needless to say most small businesses are gun shy when it comes to Internet Marketing or the companies who profess expertise in this area. Can you blame them?
For this reason, I’ve come up with the following questions to help small businesses in their vetting process when determining an Internet Marketing company to work with.
How many customers do you have?
How many customers like me do you have?
What is your Federal Tax ID?
How long have you been in business?
Can y0u give me a list of a dozen customers, with their website addresses, that I can call and talk to personally?
Do you have employees (i.e., the kind you can touch), and if so how many?
Can you give me a demonstration of your work?
Who will I be working with if I choose to become a customer of yours?
Can you show me first hand examples of the results, SEO, Conversion, Sales that you have achieved?
Do you have your own technology? If not, who’s do you use?
Do you have any certifications, Google Analytics, Addwords, etc?
What are you going to do for me EXACTLY?
What is this going to cost, EXACTLY?
And of course; Does your mom still do your laundry?
For our part, I welcome all of these questions and any others that you can think up. We’ll continue to keep killin’ it for our specialty small business customers, under-promising and over-delivering every single time.
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My biggest question would be what are you going to do for me exactly! I know a fair amount about online marketing but by no means am i an expert or do i want to spend the time doing everything perfectly. But I think its key you are educated on the things a marketing company will be doing for you so that when they give that list of what they will do you can really determine if they are covering everything and if those tools truly apply.
Absolutely Jared. Furthermore when you do get that list the next step, if you determine that you want to do business, is to incorporate it into an agreement so that both parties are clear on the work to be performed. This is good for both side because as a customer you have the assurance that you will get what you paid for, and as a service provider the marketing company knows precisely what they need to deliver in the relationship.
Speaking from experience also – the small chop shops tend to build and run, and if you are lucky may sell what they call ‘SEO’ thinking that internet marketing is all wrapped up into pay per click advertising and meta-tags.
Be sure when you hire a company to build and market your website that they offer the complete beginning to end relationship – that actually never ends because true internet marketing is an ongoing effort.
What I do for my clients today as an internet marketing account manager is entirely different, I am sure, from what I’ll be doing one year from now – as it more than I was doing year ago. Be sure your marketer is staying current with the latest “need to knows”.