Approached by Local Construction Company to Do SEO...How Much Do I Charge!?

[Dexx]

Hey Guys,

I was approached by the owner of a local construction company who is a friend of a friend of mine, and heard that I do online marketing and SEO in my spare time.

He gave me his business card and wants me to contact him in regards to helping his company's website rank better in the search engines for certain keywords.

Problem is, I've never done work for people outside of my own promotions!

I don't know what to charge, or what I should ask...

The owner himself is worth approx $1,000,000 so money shouldn't be too big of a concern, however I haven't asked what his budget is yet.

I just took a look at the company website, and it consists of a "fancy" flash movie on page load, and then a small flash page saying what the company does, and how to contact them (by regular mail of all things!)

So I can tell if I do decide to help him out, it's going to require an SEO overhaul of the website since I know flash doesn't rank for anything keyword wise (I think?)

Off the top of my head I'm thinking of these services to offer:

Keyword Analysis and Market Research - Including Current Site Analysis ($1,000 cost)

Keyword Marketing and SEO Optimization - Articles, Web 2.0 links etc. ($2,000)

...What else should I be offering as services?

Am I pricing too low? What do most people charge for SEO consulting / contracting work?


I just recently launched my own product on ClickBank which I planned to begin marketing solely for the next few months, however if I take this SEO job, then I obviously won't have much time as I do have a full-time shift work job.


Anyone have thoughts or comments on this please!

~Dexx

PS - Just did a link analysis on the site and it has ZERO backlinks currently. Oh wow.

PSS - I should have mentioned that one of things I'd be suggesting is having me build them a properly optimized site. Possibly using a CMS such as Joomla which they can easily update themselves later.

[nzdealer]

I would go for $3500 all up. You can outsource all link building etc

[Dexx]

Originally Posted by nzdealer

I would go for $3500 all up. You can outsource all link building etc

For that $3500, what would you be providing?


Also, since SEO results take 3 - 6 months to possibly reach Top 10 results for achievable keywords, how do I deal with that?

What happens after the keywords hit Top 10 results? Do I charge a retainer or something for continual "upkeep" of the keywords?

[Mark Brian]

Originally Posted by Dexx

What happens after the keywords hit Top 10 results? Do I charge a retainer or something for continual "upkeep" of the keywords?

You can ask him about that and explain to him that in order to retain top 10 rankings, off-page SEO should be continuous.

[Dexx]

Originally Posted by Mark Brian

You can ask him about that and explain to him that in order to retain top 10 rankings, off-page SEO should be continuous.

Hrmmm and then just charge him like a monthly fee? Or something...

[Kunle Olomofe]

Hi Dexx

You asked a question in your own sales letter just before making your offer...

"Just how much is your time worth?"

If...

1. You have a full time job then you will be doing this in your spare time right? And that means working "OVERTIME". So how much would you want to be paid for that?

2. How much does the competition charge? You can't blindly tell him a price, that would be unprofessional at best. You need to investigate what local SEO companies are charging, do some spy work, grab the classifieds, yellow pages, call them or send in a mole client, whatever you have to do to find out, get an idea at least to work with so that if you charge $1,000 and others are charging $500 you can explain why, if you charge $1,000 and others are charging $10,000 you won't look like you don't have a clue.

And if others are charging $10,000 and you can't possibly offer the level of quality they are offering, here's an idea... let THEM do the work and you get a commission off of the introduction, what I mean is... You manage the project, someone else does the work, you still get paid, not every cent that your customer spends but then you also still have time to go back to promote your clickbank product which is what you were doing in the first place before this seemingly good op dropped in your lap, it's not going to be a good op if you end up charging too little or too much and lose the contract or, you charge too little and don't get fulfilled doing the job, or you mess it up from lack of experience etc.

So, here's my advice (I've been down this road before so I'm telling you from experience)

1. Keep your focus and stick to what you know

2. Get someone else to do the monkey work, supervise them, but let THEM do it.

3. Learn from the process, this guy is worth a mil, means if you don't goof, you will get another chance plus he will have friends who are worth a mil at least, everyone will come to you if you play your cards right

4. If you insist on doing this yourself (and that's fine if you can handle the work and deliver the quality expected), then check your competition online and locally and price compared to A) what you can deliver B) what they are charging so you appear to be a professional at the game.

Best of luck,

Kunle

[Dexx]

Oh wow Kunle, thanks for the well detailed response!

It definitely put a lot into perspective, thank you

[NetMediaGeek]

Make sure you get a monthly maintainace fee, to keep him there..

[Vince Runza Online]

Originally Posted by Dexx

Also, since SEO results take 3 - 6 months to possibly reach Top 10 results for achievable keywords, how do I deal with that?

What happens after the keywords hit Top 10 results? Do I charge a retainer or something for continual "upkeep" of the keywords?

Backlinks that point to the owner's website neatly sidestep the problem of taking months to rank well in the SERP's. A simple blog post can, in most cases, shoot to the top and stay there, over time.

The real strategy here is to get recurring income, month after month, for maintaining several backlinks for this business. It's not only about getting the owner's website to the top -- it's also about pushing the competition farther and farther down in the search results.

As for what to charge: make it value based, not time based. What is the lifetime value of a new client, on average? If you only supply one new client per year and that client's lifetime value is in excess of $50,000, you should charge a hefty percentage of that amount divided into monthly fees. NEVER charge by the hour -- that's a losing model...

[Dexx]

Originally Posted by Vince Runza Online

As for what to charge: make it value based, not time based. What is the lifetime value of a new client, on average? If you only supply one new client per year and that client's lifetime value is in excess of $50,000, you should charge a hefty percentage of that amount divided into monthly fees. NEVER charge by the hour -- that's a losing model...

Hrmmm very good point, as they deal with commercial construction and renovation, really any customers they obtained will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. (prob why the owner is a millionaire)

I'll be sure to take that into consideration!

[Sheila]

It all comes down to questions and answers . . . ask him what he's looking for - ask him what he's currently doing - ask him what he's paying now - and ask him how that's working for him? Once you know what he wants, you'll have a better idea how to structure your offer, and price yourself right. You don't need to have a dollar amount in mind yet, just meet with him, so some fact finding, tell him you'll work up a proposal and get back to him.

A couple other notes:

Presenting the Lifetime Value of a Customer, and then comparing that benefit to the investment in your services - is an excellent sales strategy. It's the apples to oranges comparison used by Yanik Silver and other top marketers. It works online and offline too.

I agree with the post that suggested a monthly maintenance fee - it's another logical approach to a business owner. Why pay to get ranked in the search engines, and then lose their position? . . . at least that's how they'll see it, once you present it to him:-)

Btw, another thing business owners usually like to do is stay ahead of their competition - so, seeing themselves ranked higher than their competitors on google will be an emotional advantage too! If you research his competition, you'll be able to relate to what he's trying to accomplish and have an even greater advantage when you present your offer to him.

As far as your clickbank product goes - please don't give it up just because this guy gave you his business card. Right now, it seems like you're ready to put aside your project for a "maybe".

Your primary focus needs to be on YOUR ultimate goals - What do YOU want to do? Figure out what will take you closer to where you want to be, then do it. There's always a way - even if it turns out you want to do both projects, you can always outsource whatever you don't have the time to do.

If you step back and think about your goals and the path you want to take now, you'll know that whatever work you decide to do will be well worth the time you'll be investing in doing it. I admire your ambition and your creativity. You're willing to put yourself in unfamiliar territory to learn and grow. Good for you! So, go out there, have fun and make some money!

Best of success to you!

[Dexx]

Originally Posted by Sheila

As far as your clickbank product goes - please don't give it up just because this guy gave you his business card. Right now, it seems like you're ready to put aside your project for a "maybe".

Hi Sheila, thanks for well detailed post, much appreciated!!

Just going back to the clickbank comment, I was more stating that if I was paid $5,000+ to focus on marketing this company's website, I'd have less time to promote my own product (I shouldn't have made it seem like I'd stop completely)

Just that there's only so much time in a day, you know?

But ya, I definitely won't be slowing down my own marketing until there's a payment in my bank account

[dbarnum]

Some tips:

1) You'll want to have ongoing interaction during the week, so hook up with someone on the inside to communicate with (like for getting you company info, testimonials, etc. for press releases and business articles as needed)

2) Start lining up outsource teams (we're one - -hand in the air!) because you'll want more than one helper or virtual assistant, you'll want a team.

3) Be organized right off the bat and stay that way with Excel docs or another means of managing your internet marketing. List log ins, accounts (like article directories, Hubpages, Squidoos, classified ads, etc. for linking)

4) Always keep up with SEO here on the forum to know what works now and what is best to leave alone.


More, but gotta run!

[Dexx]

Hrmm outsource teams eh? Never heard of them before?

I thought most people just go to freelance / elance and get stuff outsourced as they needed them... heh