Mediaboss Marketing

Are you a small to medium business owner who'sthinking of growing your business via the internet

Then you should read this.

Its important to start by saying:

No consultant is a miracle worker. Even though some of them might tell you they are.

Im telling you isbecause unless you have an excellent product or service along with a keenness to deliver every time, then your busines will struggle to grow online.

So the first thing to do is ensure your business provides a product that people love and a delivery process/time that exceeds expectations. Then you can think about hiring a consultant to help you with your strategy.

Once youve decided you do or don't want to hire a consultant, think about what you might want he or she to do.

Do you just want them to give advice so that youor your teamcan go away and make the changes?

If you do, then it is a good idea to at least get a little understanding of the fundamentals first.

Or do you want them to give you advice and implement the tasks or ideas or improvements for you.

Either way, it is always best to work closely with your consultant so that you can build a strong business relationship and build the business together.

Sometimes businesses dont have the technical expertise to deliver the ideas and its therefore quicker (but more costly) to have a 3rd party company do the implementation. Find out from your consultation whether your consultant has the ability to deliver or you need to find your own help once you know what you are doing.

Over timehowever, you may want to bring the expertise in-house so that you dont have to spend money outsourcing. Therefore training is anan important factor as part of the consulting,outsourcing or hiring a new expert.

In the UK and as of this writing, the average cost of a digital marketing manager is between 25,000 and 30,000.

So if youre thinking of hiring a consultant, you should bear this in mind when weighing up the possible returns on your investment.

Your potential consultant should be able to give you an idea of what your return on investment might be depending on the marketing activities that you undertake.

If you were to hire a consultant or 3rd party on 25 per hour for 60 hours per month (part-time) it would cost 1500. Therefore a total of 18,000 for the year. So the expertise of the person delivering the work is slightly lower but you receive less of a focus on your business.

If you decide it's best to hire staff, make sure you look for the following qualities:

There are a number of approaches you can take here.

The first is to do a search in Google and add your local area to the search term. For example

I personally would advise you use a consultant who you can get hold of quickly and easily. You never know when you might have that all important idea you really want to discuss immediately.

Another way of finding a consultant is by looking on the local and national directory listings. Many frelancers will list themselves as a marketing consultant and you can screen them before making that all important decision.

Thirdly, you could speak to people you know who have used consultants in the past. Ask about their services and how good they are. Theres nothing better than someone endorsing a consultant to you because the proof is already there.

Many people jump straight into building a website and only think about the design. This is a huge mistake.

Why?

Because you end up spending thousands on a website and then having to spend thousands on marketing and promotion

Before building a website, you need to think about your internet marketing strategy.

Its so much easier to build your website with your strategy in mind than it is to rework your website after its been built.

I compare it to a house. It would be very difficult to build a house and then decide how you want to lay out the windows.

Well you website is the same. Its much easier to decide on the keywords, tone of voice, customer journey and product offerings well before you build your website.

In essence, you are the only person who can make the final decision but hoepfully this post gives you some things to think about. But ultimately if you dont have the expertise in-house and are confident In your product or service. Try to get a free consultation with an internet marketing consultant before you make the jump into buying a brand new website. It could save you a lot of money in the long run.

No matter what you do, it's always a good idea to farmiliarise yourself with the environment you're business is stepping in to. So remember to give yourself time and add it to your to-do list when necessary.

Visit link:
How to hire an Internet Marketing Consultant - BusinessZone (blog)