It it easier with an Offline SEO Partner?

Hey Clive,

In November, when I started working towards my "offline" business, I had NO clue in what I was doing.

I found one method to contact people, and just start sending laser targeted mailers with: no website, no phone sales experience, basic SEO knowledge, zero GP knowledge, zero mobile site knowledge, zero sms knowledge.

My lead in was SEO + GP.

I started landing clients, all the mean while, I LLC'ed my company, and spun my self up on the services I am trying to sell. Got better on the phone just by taking phone calls (fumbled many).

The whole time I was talking to a buddy of mine, keeping him in the loop. Once I actually proved this can make money, and takes minimal "time" to perform the services he was sold. This was December.

Then we talked to another guy who is good with "start up" businesses.

Here we are near March, and we have created a partnership, full SMS reseller, SEO, PPC management, Social Media Management, Reputation Management company. We have in the works a few huge large (franchise) clients, and numerous things about to explode.

Doing the partnership agreement, and taking on more people was the smartest thing I could have did, as we can expand now 3 times as fast.

All of us have study and taught ourselves everything we need to know and them some on the services we offer.

Our overhead for our company (project management, sms reseller, office, receptionist, etc etc) is about $1600 a month. So 1 client covers our over head, it is ridiculous!

When people find like minded people, they can trust, with the same goals, and fire, the world is for the taken.

I don't think it is less professional to be a 1 man show (I played that card to land clients who have been ripped off by companies), but to be able to fall back on the company for larger clients (" Let me talk it over with my CTO") seems more professional. It is a win - win no matter what situation you take IMO, you just have to play the cards dealt.

Ryan

You absolutely must leverage other people if you want to scale your business. A one man show can only go so far and you are basically working as an employee so your business is running you instead of you running your business.

Its also imperative to have the proper agreements in place that address non disclosure and non compete.

I have wondered about this myself but there needs to be a lot of trust built...

Partnerships are one of the fastest ways to grow your business. Think about it this way. You are going to a source that already has the people you are looking sell to. Plus, they should be a trusted source so something they recommend would be looked at as reliable.

Partnerships have accounted for a good deal of our business. The best way to created partnerships are by going to networking events and meeting people. It's much easier to get someone to trust you over a few drinks rather than over a few emails.

Hope that helps,

Sean

Here is something to think about as I have seen a number of business partnerships crumble over the years from lack of planning. Often everything is great at the beginning, people are excited and not much thought was put into the business structure (aside from legally creating a business entity I am referring to ownership and decision making). I highly recommend you seriously think about your relationship with your partner(s). There needs to be someone with clear authority to make decisions. It's worth talking to a lawyer to figure out the best way to legally resolve this if this is new to you. You need someone who has the final say if there is a disagreement. You should really think about long term consequences if issues come up (and a good chance they will, it's just part of business). If you have a disagreement about how things should be run, how to handle a client etc., how are you going to resolve this if nobody has the final say? When giving out equity (if that is how you are doing it) it's worth putting some thought into this issue. Much easier to resolve now than trying to solve when there is an issue.

So are you in a partnership or looking for one?
I have recently entered into a partnership with someone. His skill set is more on the business acumen/financial management aspect, where my skill set is in web copy/SEO.

Does it matter that your partner be in your area?
This is a tough one. I prefer to have my partner locally as it enables us to have meetings regularly, face to face chats, etc. That being said, thanks to web conferencing, services like join.me, and Skype I could probably have a partner anywhere in the world and get by.

This is, of course, assuming that we have some kind of existing relationship. I would not enter into a partnership without building a relationship first.

Should you share the same level of expertise or have complimentary strengths (e.g. one does site builds the other the SEO)?
Depends on the skill set in question. In my case, having another SEO/copywriter as a partner would offer me little benefit. I need someone who can run the business side of the business while I focus on lead generation and product delivery.

I believe that having complimentary skill sets ensures the long-term need for the partnership to exist.

How do you establish that both partners methods (white/grey hat etc.) are mutually compatible?
This would need to be discussed prior to the partnership taking place. I assume that you are looking for another SEO expert to partner with you, and in that instance, I would want to see a history of sustainable results and successes. Anyone can call themselves an "SEO expert", but few actually are.

In the example provided, I would create an outline of role expectations for each partner so that all parties are aware of their roles, expected duties, and responsibilities.

Is being a 'one man show' business seen by potential clients as less professional than a 'company'?
Again, this depends on the business in question. Would you hire a one man show roofer, or would you prefer a company that can send a team of people out to do the job? Ultimately, it comes down to trust. Typically, businesses with multiple employees are seen as more trustworthy. It appears to be less of a flight risk, so to speak.

I don't know if the same stigma exists for SEO providers, but having a few people working with you would certainly ensure that objection was never raised in the first place.

I've fell into the "does everything himself" category...it's hard for me to give up control and there have been a few times that I have and been disappointed with the outcome.

That being said, I think my most valuable "partnerships" are those on going relationships I have with my service providers such as link builders or video designers. I do not give up a percentage of my LLC, nor do I have to discuss any of my business activities other than the work I need done from them.

It allows me to maintain control, take some workload off of my plate, and free up more time to sell and get more clients!

I think it's almost necessary to have a loose ad hoc arrangement and have multiple partners...IM is not for the monogamous. =)

Couldn't agree more....

I've been in an LLC with two CLOSE friends....NO ONE believe it, but it does change things. We ended up failing and dissolving the LLC within 2 years.

I won't do it again...

However, I did have a family member recently complete an unpaid internship with my CURRENT company....that was wonderful. I love to teach, and it was an excuse to go out for lunch. =)