Customer doesn't want to pay...

You don't need advice...
You know what to do....

If he doesn't want to pay you don't do the work. Let his employee do it. He can either pay you or pay them. If he doesn't want to pay you move on and stop talking to the guy unless you need to and he is paying you to.

Wish him well in his endeavors...and move on. You can't guarantee (nor do you want to fix and answer for) someone else's research and work!

No pay = NO Work

I had a web client come to me a year ago asking my company to run an eBay store and weekly auctions for their antique biz. Drew up the proposal. Dotted all the i's and same thing they said no. Not only did I lose the eBay gig, we also no longer do their web work.

It's amazing how little others truly think your time/effort is worth.

I think it's time to introduce his knee caps to Mr. Bat!!

I really hope that I am reading this wrong.

But are you saying that he hasn't paid you this original fee?

Or when you said still nothing that meant he didn't have work for you for 2 months?

If you wrote it meaning that he didn't pay you this original fee, then what makes you think that he will pay you the fees for the SEO and PPC?

Like I said I hope I am reading this wrong.

Some great advice here guys!!

Shane, he did pay me for the website re-design but he's not got me any more work as promised...

Eddie, pure genius!! But what is wrong with buying 5er links? I've had some fantastic results! I hire vendors who use SENuke Xcr to build a multitude of high quality Google friendly links for 5 BUCKS!

That is exactly what I'm going to do! I think I'll even quote the lobster analogy in the Email.

Thanks again folks - have a great weekend!

-Robbie

Fire the customer.

You are massively undercutting your business by charging so low.

The relationship might be different if you charged more and gave more in exchange (which is win-win), than if you charged less and offered less which is lose-lose.

no pay = no work

LOL at people saying fire the customer. The op is lucky to get anyone to pay him. He needs to improve HIS skills and knowledge first.

This statement alone tells me his is clueless when it comes to real marketing

But what is wrong with buying 5er links? I've had some fantastic results! I hire vendors who use SENuke Xcr to build a multitude of high quality Google friendly links for 5 BUCKS

OP this is not a bash at you as many people reading are probably in your position and want to blame the customer when the fact of the matter is that the salesperson is just not ready for the big leagues yet. The sooner he recognizes this fact and the sooner he improves his own game then he can move up.

I don't think it is worth having troubles with a customer. If you're really good at SEO, you should apply it more on your own sites and earn the same money and more with your own products/sites.

There's a lesson I learned about agreements like those. And that's always get something equitable in exchange. A like for a like. What you got was inequitable. You got a promise for a certainty. They promised, you did something. To be "like for a like" you'd offer them a promise in exchange for their promise OR do something in exchange for them doing something. That's only fair! And keeps you from getting into these unfair deals.

Just to illustrate the above, "a promise in exchange for their promise" would be, "I promise I'll give you more work. You: OK. And when you do, I promise I'll give you the discount (or rebate back to you what you're paying for this assignment you want done now)."

Likewise, an example of "do something in exchange for them doing something" would be "I'll do this website for £250. THEM: And we'll sign on for the next website."

"That's not the way I work because I can't vouch for the quality of their keywords and ad copy." Maybe even hint there would be additional and substantial fees charged when you find you have to correct what their guy did, and would only delay their getting the results they want.

Here's an idea: next time with the next person, try offering the whole thing (SEO & PPC campaign and ad campaigns) as one package, at a reduced price off the per item rates, showing them the value of bundling your services.

So, say your SEO for 2 sites is £500 and 3 ad campaigns are £225, making a total of £775, you'd show them that and then offer the whole thing for perhaps £700. And that would block out the "my guy will do the keywords" because if they try to chip away at the package, they go back to the higher per item rates.

You still need to go in and set-up landing pages for the ad campaign.

I just had a client fire an SEO company because I showed him how the company was inflating search volume with the "phrase" match... I'd do your own research, and wait for the list of keywords to come in and show him where his friend has showed his amateur side.

That is of course, if you feel you should continue to work with him.

If you can confidently advise people on the correct way to make their business more profitable online, then you don't deserve to be treated like crap.

On the other hand, if you just took mindless action before you were ready and are trying to be a jack-of-all-trades just to make the most money possible, you should stop and make sure you're actually providing value to this person.

My advice is to cease any communication with the client and forget about the what he's supposed to pay you for the web design.

Such a waste of time dealing with those types of people. The guy's giving you a hard time.

sometimes one of the best business moves you can make is to "fire" your customer. If you have a customer that is costing you time and money, wish him luck and move on.