SimΕne Learn it myself. But I guess it comes down to time. Business development and finance are my only roles in our family business. Others may not be so lucky to have the time to spend on it. It's not hard to do, just time consuming.
Luke βοΈ Yup, it certainly can be when you're trying to figure it out on your own. How's it going so far? SimΕne Β» Luke Really good! We are a small dental clinic in Australia. We're getting 4000 people a month visit our site. I'm now researching how to convert them as I see that's where I need to improve.
Jeffrey I prefer to understand as much as I can. Even if I contract someone to do the Search Engine Optimization (SEO), I want to understand the reports provided and make sure nothing is done to damage my brand name or business.
Luke βοΈ Smart. Did something happen in the past? Jeffrey Β» Luke Yes. I have been a business owner since 1983 and online since 1996. Even if you trust a employee or contractor you still need to verify what is being done. Luke βοΈ That's a long time. What type of work do you do? And absolutely, you have to know whether you're investment is working.
TaiW Time is money. If you make X dollar per hour working, and it costs less than X to hire someone, then the smart way is to hire.
Peter Β» TaiW But if you pay them less and they don't do the job right, you wont know as you don't know Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Learn it, implement it, then employ – as if they let you down, and they will, you aren't left stuck. TaiW Β» Peter Not being able to manage someone to do effective work is entirely different issue. You don't need to know what someone is doing to manage that person. Luke βοΈ A baseline understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), how it works, and the key components to make a site rank would help with understanding whether or not the company is worth the money. Mew Β» Luke Disagree. I don't need to have a baseline understanding of an oil change, plumbing, electric, tile etc etc to know whether a company is worth the money π Luke βοΈ 100% agree with you to outsource. I would argue that time is infinitely more value than money because when it's out – you can't buy more of it. Outsource everything you don't want to do so you can buy back your time.
John Cody π I've consulted with thousands of businesses over the last (almost decade now). I would say with confidence, that over 95% of them, that did their own marketing, either lost money or failed miserably. Which compounded in other areas, causing some serious stress tests. Owning a business, you wear many hats starting out, so it's good to have some knowledge overall of the different components. The problem is, if you think you can be good at all of these, you're probably in that 95% group, somewhere. I suck donkey balls when it comes to accounting, guess who isn't doing accounting? This guy. If you're truly bootstrapping a new business (with barely any working capital for marketing)β¦I suggest you spend every waking money banging on doors and getting your mug in front of people. Pick up the phone until the phone is actually you. Much better than trying to spend 20 hours a day learning Facebook/Email Marketing/Search Engine Optimization (SEO)/Enter 50 other possible marketing skills (if the business acquisition is your focus here in the first place). If you have cash, I suggest you plan your non-business operational hours around creating a plan on what you will start outsourcing first on the internet marketing side. If you keep yourself doing all of this as a business person whose business isn't internet marketing, you will likely grow super slow, scale even slower, and make the grind miserable. There are always exceptions to this, 5% can do fairly well, some even in this group, but typically, that 5% already has some experience previously in an area of (digital marketing). π€ππ½5
Luke βοΈ Love it. I've always opted for either outsourcing the work or investing in training to learn a skillset. Figuring it out is a tremendous waste of time when there are other people who can straight up tell you what you're doing right and wrong.
Mata It depends, If the so called expert is actually doing their job, not cheating yiu, and giving you results, then I would pay. But most these dudes lie, steal, and suck, so I do it myself. ππ€ππ½8
Luke βοΈ Sounds like you've had a fun time with companies you've hired beforeπ. Care to share what happened? Frank Β» Mata Correct, lots of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are coming from marketing School (aka liar School) β¦ They're good at selling services not at doing them La'Ced Castleberry Β» Mata Gotta ask for the deliverables my dude I can send a checklist to you for end of months.
William Finding someone is key! Avoid those who contact you Through messenger at all costs. Scammers π€ππ½2
Luke βοΈ Full disclosure, I've never hired someone who's messaged me through messenger. But I also don't know that I'd automatically write off EVERYONE π. Probably depends on what that opening line looks like.
Nancy I am learning it myself. But, I will be paying someone else to do it.
Luke βοΈ What are you doing to learn it? Nancy First, I built my own website and implemented Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is crappy and needs fixed. Then, I took some online video courses and learned a bit more and built some more websites using SEO strategies. I made a bunch of mistakes and the scores aren't great. So, I am taking courses in HubSpot and doing independent research to dig deeper. I learned a lot about my mistakes and I have a better idea how to fix them. But, I am starting a new website build this week. I will be applying better, clearer, and focused SEO strategy starting from the ground up. I will carefully measure, test, and adjust everything I do until I have mastery.
Nick I think as a business owner it's important to learn as much as possible so that you don't get screwed when you hire somebody this is probably true and just about every industry
Huang Β» Nick That's so true, and you can save money in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and marketing if you don't know SEO at all. Many scams online and we learn to be able to tell the good from the bad Luke βοΈ Agreed, at least at a high level to protect yourself and hire appropriately. Luke βοΈ appreciate that
Daryl If your business has any market, and you have any ability ability to make money in that market, that's probably what you should be doing. You should be selling and delivering as promised. It's highly unlikely that you're the best person to be doing the Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That Does not mean there is never a situation we're doing it yourself isn't bring it yourself is it appropriate. But it's far fewer than the people I see attempting to do it.
Miguel Both, have the knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and be able to do basic SEO things but definitely hire someone to do the most difficult and time consuming tasks πππ½3 Faisal If the business owners put their time and effort into Search Engine Optimization (SEO) then who is going to handle their business? Knowing SEO is good to track the work of your SEO guy but doing it all by yourself consume a lot of time. π€πππ½4
Umar Β» Faisal Right, a business owner can't do every work personally. Better way to hire some professional for specific workβ¦
Mary I learned Search Engine Optimization (SEO) myself little over 10 years ago when it wasn't such a "thing" everywhere and there were not that many people doing it. Nowadays I struggle to keep up, also because my hours in my main field aren't getting less. But I still love to experiment, learn, grow and build a larger skillset because I find it quite interesting. Also in some projects it actually makes sense to experiment yourself and see your project from a different angle, not once that perspective really helped me to tie it all together. It also helps me A LOT to hire someone more professional where I need it, since I feel like online marketing kind of became the #1 scam business and rip off where 9 people out of 10 are just trying to make money selling services they don't have enough knowledge about. I interviewed SO many freelancers/self-proclaimed experts that had obviously even less knowledge than I (and I'm nowhere near the top of this) or have mistaken it for some WordPress plugin/keyword game or social media strategie. It's very frustrating if you are the one looking for an expert but have more knowledge about how much deeper it goes and how much more technical it is than the one who wants to charge for it.
Luke βοΈ Asking to see tangible results from past clients is helpful for weeding out some of the candidates. Mary, did you learn it to use on a business you were running? Mary Β» Luke I had not one candidate with altered references. The freelance market is wild west right now. And this is stuff everyone expects to make an easy buck with, because classic education is not necessarily a benchmark and the market is very easily accessible. Interviews and having a solid knowledge base is the key element in selecting the right professional. I learned it through student consulting, when it really wasn't something the average business knew about and utilized. Back then it was kind of a really hip new age gimmick. Later, in my first job with a second tier (but still very reputable) consulting firm I had a different focus but then switched to strategic communication/digital strategies (sth that was not my major in university) because I was one of the most experienced non IT person in this up and coming field (as a first year greenhorn bc I played around with it in my student years) and it was the time when the demand really began to rise faster than there were real experts outside of IT. It really boosted my career, I didn't have the education to be the IT person but it got me into managing positions because I understood what it can do, why it is important and how it advances the overall strategy. Back then being able to tie together the IT and non IT part of a com strategy was a rare skill for a short time. Now I have my own business and outsource the technical part to pros, because I can't keep up with the complexity and again my main field is a different one.
