Comments on: Flat-Fee Consultants Give You Flat Results

By: Nathaniel

Nathaniel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:30:45 +0000

Good points stlouisseo - we all suffer from the stigma brought on our industry by the snake oil SEO firms. Part of our backlash against flat fees stems directly from it.

It sure is a lot easier to have a client sign off on a flat fee arrangement (they know what they're paying, and 'giving up') versus trying to structure an equity arrangement or even some rev share deals.

Ultimately it's about the quality of service someone brings to the table. We have to stay to true to our angel investing roots here and go for the equity deal, working together with business owners towards future growth we both share in.

By: stlouisseo

stlouisseo — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:20:31 +0000

As an SEO guy who charges a flat fee, I must disagree. There's always more to do, and a structured fee schedule fits some businesses just fine. They know what they're spending, I know how much time to allocate to the project. To say because a company hired a flat-rate SEO means they'll get flat-rate results is incorrect. You're lumping those who scam with those who kick ass yet do it within the set parameters of a companies boundaries.

There's always plenty of work to do no matter which way you're getting paid. If a client of mine started to flat line, I'd have to find out why. And if I didn't, I'd probably lose the gig. So it's not in my interest to see that happen. Even rev-share guys see flatlines from time to time.

Revenue share is a tough way to go IMO. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sucks. I've experienced both. And yeah I know what you're thinking - if it didn't work then you're just a bad SEO. But there are plenty of factors beyond what we can do, and limitations put on us by companies/beaurocrats can really screw up what looks to be a really nice revshare deal.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:21:02 +0000

Great post. In my last company I ran into this issue where I hired an SEO guy and he did minimal work. Obviously his incentive was to get companies on board and than send them a Google Analytics report at the the end of the month showing basic things like visitors.

In the future I will definitely use this strategy with an SEM/SEO guy. What a great relationship. Till than I will be on countless blogs trying to learn it.