When do you hire the likes of me?

Well, it must be written. If you’re going to have lasting success, online, then you might as well know where I’m coming from.

This article represents the right mindset for hiring the likes of me. I’ve met enough peers to know that we, as Internet marketing consultants (IMCs), have these problems in common.

My goal is not to (as a potential client) to turn you off. Quite the contrary; my goal is to get you ready for the type of growth that my services can bring you, to educate you on the mindset that is critical for your future Internet marketing (and overall marketing) success.

Who am I to talk like this?

I have run 79 clients over the past 9 years as of the writing of this article. 79 deep analyses of how successful clients think. And they definitely think alike. I also know why they hired me, and took the chance on someone that they don’t know from Adam.

It all comes down to 4 primary characteristics. Knowledge. Wisdom. Desire. Trust.

I’m not going to explain why I think these things. If you get it, you get it.
If you don’t, you should wonder why.
If you’re offended, then, for the love of god, don’t hire me.

There are two types of business leaders.

Don’t you just hate when people say that?

Well, there are two types of business leaders, and if you’re a business leader with the right mindset, you should get a kick out of what’s below. You might even be wistful and nostalgic of the bygone days just starting out (and how far you’ve come).

Small thinkers…

Small thinkers think only in terms of cost.

Small thinkers think they can learn it all (lack of knowledge), do it all (lack of wisdom), are waiting for someone to sell them (lack of desire) and think Internet marketing is all hocus pocus (lack of trust).

Generally, they don’t spend the time to get to know me, and are waiting for someone to come along and prove themselves. They try to hire the cheapest guy they think can run the job and not bother them.

Often, they have no idea what an Internet marketer should cost, and try to look shocked when they finally hear price. They constantly judge everything on cost and not value.

Small thinkers try to hire me to do one aspect of marketing instead of marketing.

Basically, they try to hire a grunt instead of a general.

Big thinkers…

Big thinkers think primarily in terms of value. What can I bring them?

Big thinkers know how to lead, and understand enough about what I do to know they need a specialist like me to lead their online marketing. They spend more time trying to understand if I have ‘overall business strategy’ chops than if I can do SEO.

Big thinkers worry more about whether they’re team gets along with me, if they’re ready for me, if I feel accountable for what I do, and make me prove myself (which I have no problem with). In essence, they try to hire a leader instead of a soldier.

Knowledge.

It all comes down to knowledge. If you understand value, no cost is too high. If you don’t, no cost is too low.

You understand the basics of Internet marketing.

Internet marketing is not SEO. Savvy business leaders know that Internet marketing is way beyond mere visibility and traffic. Internet marketing can boost your return customers and create buzz.

You understand how all the components of Internet marketing fit together. You have a solid knowledge of the 7 steps to Internet marketing success. These 7 steps are what I live by – perhaps you should read t hem. Note that visibility and traffic are only the first two steps of 7.

But you also know the limits of what you can learn.

You understand how complex Internet marketing can be. Now that you have the basic solid knowledge of what I can do for you, you also probably understand your limits of you ability to deploy. A business like yours cannot go into this whole IM thing in fits and starts. You have to dive in. And that means you need a consultant like me.

You know you can’t learn it all on your own. Because it is complex, you need someone on your side that has the knowledge and wisdom of the totality of web marketing. That consultant should also know how offline marketing ‘blends into’ online marketing.

You want to learn more from a professional like me. You know that as a consultant I can be a teacher, a mentor to you and your team. And, a consultant like me doesn’t mind giving up my knowledge. Some consultants are wary of telling you what they do, because they think that (1) you’ll never understand, and (2) it will put them out of a job in the future. Bullshit.

Wisdom.

You have a marketing budget.

I can’t stress this one enough. If you don’t think of budget, you can’t understand how I, as an Internet marketing consultant (IMC) fit into your business.

You recognize that you need a budget for marketing. I’m pretty sure that everyone knows budgeting is a good thing. But do you practice it? Even after all these years, being an IMC, creating a budget is still painful. But dammit, I do it.

And a subset of that budget is Internet marketing. As a business leader, you know that online marketing is a slice of the pie. Perhaps you’re thinking about transferring some of your offline budget to online marketing. That’s a great time to call me.

Willing to invest in the future. You understand long-term goals, realize that an IMC doesn’t produce results overnight, and that the future yield can be in terms of months or even years. But you’re willing to invest, because you know that business takes time. If you think that I’m making excuses right now, then again, don’t call me.

You know your customers.

You have a solid understanding who your target markets are. Knowing your customers – what drives them, why they buy, when they buy, if they will buy again and why – if you don’t know that stuff, you’re in trouble.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you can’t hire me – much of what I do is segmentation – but you at least have to understand you need to understand. Discovering  buying trends if you’re going to take full advantage of someone like me.

Notice also that I said target markets, not market. You should ultimately have knowledge of all the archetypes of customers. That means that if you sell to single moms, that you also know how long it has been since they separated, what age their children are, how many children they have, what else they buy, where they live, what their income is, what challenges they face as single mothers, how much they teach their children, etc, etc, etc.

You understand customer service.

You know that customer service cannot die as you grow. Hiring the likes of me means an increase in business. But can you grow with the surge? Customer service cannot fall apart now that you have more customers. That’s just bad business.

You understand customer loyalty.

You value customer loyalty, over profits. Chasing after customers is just fine, as long as it’s not completely profit driven. If you just chase profits, loyalty fails.

You understand the need to build loyalty. Return business is far easier to control and profitable. No sales (or very little sales) need be applied if you treat your customers with respect and attention.

I think it was Jeffrey Gitomer that expounded upon the old Dale Carnegie quote, and I am paraphrasing here,

“All things being equal, people buy from who they like and trust; all things not being equal, people buy from who they like and trust.”

Desire.

You want a business strategist, not just a marketer.

Many Internet marketers work only on what clients want them to do. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it really cuts off the whole ‘expert in your midst’ value that I can bring.

You want to hire someone that can think of your business in new ways. I can introduce ideas to your business that you haven’t, and might never have, brought into your business. If you’re hiring an expert, then for Pete’s sake, let them give you their expertise.

You want a visionary leader.

You want someone that can lead your in-house team to greatness. You don’t want another employee, you want a “mini-me”. You have ideas. I have ideas. Let’s talk about those ideas.

Hiring a visionary is one of the most important things. Your job is to pick someone that has vision for your business (or develop vision along the way.)

Note that does not mean you have to start implementing radical changes in your business right away. You can start small with someone like me, but you gotta keep thinking big picture.

If you want me to come in and do SEO, or PPC, or Social media marketing, then stop, then I won’t work for you.

Trust.

You’re willing to take chances with marketing.

All marketing is a calculated risk. Let me say that again: well,  you can reread it. If you’re not going to take a chance, then you’re probably either going to stay where you are, or go out of business. So, grow a pair and start rockin’.

Internet marketing is no different. There are things that I can guarantee, and things that I won’t. Probably because they have never been done before, at least by you. But there’s this feeling amongst potential clients that Internet marketing is some type of magical thing, and if they could just find the right person to trust, everything will grow wildly. Nope. Wild growth means an almost artistic integration of everything in business. I can bring you business, but if you can’t integrate what I do with the rest of your business, all I’m doing is bringing you potential business, but no sales.

You’re willing to test out ideas. You’ll let me test ideas. A small test that I did years ago for a dentist client of mine made him close to $40K. Took me about 15 minutes to dream up, 3 hours to implement, zero additional money. But the point that I am trying to make here is you should step outside your comfort zone and start to believe in who you hire.

You’re willing to trust an outsider.

You’re willing to trust someone. If I’m rambling a little in the trust section, my profuse apologies. But trust is definitely the area out of the four that potential clients have the most difficulty.  Why? Well, I’m an outsider. I can show you examples of past success all you want but there is that nagging tickle in the back of your head saying, “Well, he doesn’t understand my business.”

Um, yeah, I do. Your business is not that complex to me.

You can appoint a Point-of-Contact (POC). My POC is something that I will never be without again. It could even be the owner of the company. But if you’re larger than yourself (and you probably are), appointing me someone in your business that I can ask questions of anytime of the day is a great idea. It’s not a hard, steadfast rule, but it’s probably the most important decision you’ll make beyond the signing of the contract.

See, information flows between your business and your consultant. You have to make sure that the IMC understands things like, well, all the things above that YOU understand. Your customers. Your budget. Your lessons that you have learned. Your business model. Your big dreams. I’m a business leader too. Why don’t you and I start talking a little bit more like peers.

You’re the king, I’m the magician. And this is the big one. The court magician is supposed to have a great deal of influence, not necessarily power, over the king’s decisions. I’m supposed to have a mystical approach to business. After all, if marketing is a predator/prey interaction, then I have to “think around corners” for your business. I have to get crafty and outsmart your competition. Isn’t that why you’re hiring me in the first place?

I have to think up ideas that you (and your competitors) will not think of. I have to brainstorm. I have to test not just your marketing, but the limits of your ideas. I have to challenge you a bit on why you do what you do. It’s growth, in it’s purest form. Don’t be threatened; be interactive. I’m doing this for your benefit.

Now, how do you feel?

If you are a business leader… I hope you feel good. I hope that I have inspired you to call, too. It’s time to ante up and start dreaming with me.

If you’re not a business leader… I hope that I have given you a few thinking points to becoming one. Who do I write for? It’s all about you, Baby. I love writing for you, the emerging leader of your life and others. Make sure that you sign up for the newsletter, O emerging Tribal leaders!

If you know a business leader and have their ear, send this article along to them, would you? They might like to work with me. I have a vision for their business, they just don’t know it yet.

And, as always, thank you for reading my long articles.

- Gregory Cox, Leader.