Things you should know before hiring an Internet Marketing Company

So a few weeks ago an “Internet marketing company” who was looking for a web development partner to create templates and websites contacted us and stated that they were looking to promote us along with their company.

Our first order of business for them was to design a template for their flagship website. The person on the phone stated that they had a mockup ready for us to look at. They stated that they wanted their template to look just like the mockup. We looked at the mockup and decided that we could do it. After faxing them a contract, they called and asked if we could guarantee them a template that would work in all future versions of WordPress and to please include it in the language of the contract! Well golly, how could anyone “guarantee” a template to work in all future versions of WordPress?  I imagine a degree of clairvoyance would be needed to fulfill this tall order! At this point we became a little concerned about this “Internet marketing company” I mean first of all, their business plan stated that they were going to show people how to do Internet marketing and also design blogs and websites for them as if they were the experts.

Hmmm…..

We began to wonder just how much experience these folks actually had in Internet marketing, web development and SEO as we were led to believe in the beginning. Since their website copy touted how they were professionals with “years of experience in Internet marketing and web design”. At this point we really began to pick up the clue phone here.

So I wrote them back and explained the impossible nature of the request, but assured them that the template would be XHTML and CSS compliant, which is what you want to guarantee to any client. They said “okay”, and faxed back a signed contract and sent us a deposit for the template design. Once we were finished with the first draft, they came back and said they liked it. Now keep in mind, that the mockup they sent included all of their graphic design and artwork, so naturally our quote did not encompass graphic design work. Well they called a while later and after having a discussion within their group, decided that they did not like the colors or the graphic design and informed us that they wanted us to do it instead. I said okay and promptly sent a quote for doing a mockup theme and graphic design work. This was followed by a “We thought it was included in the original price?” Which I responded with “Please read the contract and please remember the initial phone call regarding the quote we gave which did not included graphic design.” They understood at this point, but after we agreed to do it, They began calling us constantly with questions that they should have known and also began sending us a barrage of images they wanted to include.  Many of the questions equated to training and they wanted to have long conference calls on the ins and outs of web design. To top it all off, I asked them several times to pick fonts and colors they wanted. This was met with great resistance and the only answer we got was, “You decide and make it awesome. Are you up for the challenge?”

No not really. We don’t make it our business to shoot in the dark here. If you are a marketing company with “years of experience” don’t you think you should have a firm grasp on your company logo, colors, etc.?

We unfortunately had to fire this client due to their inexperience with WordPress, web design, and online marketing in general. Not only that, after reading their copy, it was obvious to us that they were not looking to partner with anyone as we were led to believe.  They were simply looking for a contractor and then planned on making it look like they had done the web development. There was no mention of partnership within the copy or anything that led us to believe they were going to showcase our partnership. So the point of this article is, be careful who you hire to do your web development, SEO and online marketing. There are a million companies out there who front as online marketing companies, but the truth is; they are nothing more than a front, a facade, or a scam altogether.  These “companies” simply hire contractors to do the work for them and then mark up the costs.  They know all the buzzwords, the terminology and the lingo, but the truth is, they know nothing about online marketing or web development. These sham companies simply know how to scam others. So here are some things to consider when choosing a marketing company, a web development firm or even an SEO firm:

Ask them for case studies and references.

Ask them for keywords they can share with you so you can see how they rank. Any marketing company worth their weight will happily provide this. Then take those keywords and plug them into Google. See where they come up. Also ask for some of their client sites and ask for keywords to see how those sites place as well.

Ask them if they outsource their work or if they do it inhouse. If they say yes to outsourcing, RUN!

Be sure and ask them lots of questions and feel them out. Don’t assume they know what they are talking about!  These guys may have some slick web copy and even a slicker website, but be sure and ask pointed questions before you hire them.

Do they use inhouse programmers? Can you call some of their clients?

People who know nothing about online marketing or web development run many of these companies.  Eventually they run them into the ground. Why? Because it takes someone with real world experience to run a successful company and run it right.  Companies that are successful are all about providing value as opposed to seeing only money.

The Internet in my opinion can be equated to the California Gold Rush of the 1800’s: Millions saw gold and came seeking gold, but few had the actual experience to do so. Why waste your money on a firm who outsources the work to some other company, or worse, to some third world company a million miles away? Why not hire the right company from the start?