AdWords Consult - Jackpot?!

You're missing out on the fact that Adwords isn't as simple as you think it is. Yea, it's true that you could easily make bank selling such a service, but at what cost? If you DON'T know what you're doing, then you're going to blow through budgets like water down the drain. I don't suppose that your clients would be too happy about it either.

Consider a $5k Adwords budget being blown in 5 days or less. It has happened, and still does, to people who think they've "hit the jackpot" with this untapped advertising model. Adwords is not to be taken lightly, and if you don't know what you're doing, it could be the end of your business before it even starts.

On the upside, Adwords advertising is a quick way to generate targeted traffic, and could prove to be useful to your clients. I'm sure that many local business owners would be happy to see 'instant' results, and it would likely result in a well padded bank account for you. But, again, this is only if you know what you are doing. So, if you've mastered Adwords for yourself, then I see no reason why you shouldn't profit from the knowledge you can offer to others.

If all you are thinking about doing is running an AdWords campaign for them, the first thing I'd check is that their site will actually create sales or generate leads for the existing traffic going to it. In other words, test their current conversion rate.

If their site's not converting well and then you blow big bucks on traffic, they probably won't feel all warm and fuzzy?

Most small business sites (non-IM'ers) absolutely positively SUCK at conversion. It's part of the reason so many small business owners are skeptical of the services we offer. They have been burned by having their silver bullet (website) they paid for not do squat for them. Then they eventually buy into SEO as the cure, and while they DO get a lot more traffic after having the SEO work performed, many see only marginally increased sales or leads 'cause the site doesn't convert.

Expressed with my OJ spin: If the site don't convert, you must a'quit' running paid traffic

If you get them to pay for traffic that doesn't convert, ouch... That's gonna leave a red-mark!

For example, if you were trying to sell them on an improved website (better conversions) and SEO work (more free traffic to test conversion rate) and setting up an auto-responder (for lead generation), then perhaps a future AdWords campaign would be a good closing tool to offer if they are pleased with your other work?

To answer your question more directly, you may be able to sell 1 in 100 small business owners on an AdWords campaign. Of the '1's who take you up on it, maybe 1 in 10 of them have an adequate website for conversions. By now you are so hungry, you'd kill for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so you run the campaign knowing the results aren't gonna be slick.

...Hope the liability clauses in your contract are iron clad!

I say the above half in jest, but that's my take on it (in a slightly exaggerated format)

Here is what Google doesn't tell you - not every business model can be supported by Adwords.

Even if you have a million dollars to spend it may mean nothing. Why?

Well, if there are only 200 people searching for what you've got, there is nothing you can about that, can you?

Now, I have brought down the cost of expensive campaigns by optimizing accounts. Guess what?

Some people think that because you're spending less, you're doing something wrong. Plus, as Sondor said, the results are just as depended on the site, landing page, and the offer.

It's a huge paradigm shift for business owners. You wanna deal with that? Be my guest!

As a certified Google Adwords consultant, I can tell you that Adwords is not always the answer. It's definitely not the magic pill people want it to be.

If you want to succeed as an Adwords consultant, you must have in-depth knowledge of other marketing areas too.

Unless of course, you don't mind working with nitwits. There are people who are glad spending money as long as they are getting traffic. Even if it's not targeted!

Oh yeah... and Adwords might ban your account for no good reason at all. This happened to me recently when my landing page was my blog - full of content, but Adwords didn't give a damn. Me and countless others this has happened to. Don't put your life savings into Adwords.

Ever heard of The One Platform Bringing the Local Internet in Reach. | ReachLocal Corporate ?

They've raised quite a bit of money of the years. Adwords is a great way to drive traffic, but is by no means "new" and most business owners are, at minimum, aware of Google Adwords.

If you were to compete against ReachLocal, and the other 2 dozen BIG PLAYERS in the small business PPC game, you'll need a good USP or just be happy with a few clients paying a couple $100 a month.