Līve Ambitions

In today’s economy, it’s not easy for small businesses to find a good SEO or Internet Marketer.  There are many hurdles to overcome when choosing to outsource some of your work.  Here are some of them:

• finding a provider within your budget
• finding a provider who is skilled enough
• finding a provider who is meticulous
• finding a provider who cares about quality
• avoiding SEO scams and rip-offs

The SEO market is so saturated, it’s gotten to be quite difficult to find the right one for the job.  You see the resumes and service offerings at nearly every job employment site, freelance job site, classified ads site, forums and even blogs.  So, from all these options, what is a small business owner to do with the little to no hiring experience they have?

Well, unfortunately there is no easy answer.  It comes down to how much time/effort you’re willing to put into the search, and also how much you’re willing to fork out.  I’m not saying you always get what you pay for, but pricing does play a role in the level of service you receive.

Here are some effective ways to find a good provider:

• Employment/Job sites are good for finding highly-qualified job seekers.  However for contract-type positions, you may be better off using a freelance job site.  Employment sites like Monster and Careerbuilder are better suited for businesses seeking a permanent, in-house employee.  And, you’ll mostlikely pay a premium if you hire someone from one of these sites.
• Freelance job sites like oDesk and eLance are ideal places for finding freelance or contract workers.  For some business owners, they like the ability to scan through provider reviews and ratings, portfolios, and being able to see the provider rates up-front.  Because so many service providers are from less developed countries, you can often find bargains.  However, for many others, the process of using a freelance site (middle man) can be quite daunting.  There is usually a learning curve before you can effectively use their system.
• Classified ads sites like Craigslist and Backpage are also good for finding local SEOs and Internet Marketers.  You’ll get a ton of responses, however you may spend a lot of time weeding through emails before you come across potential candidates.  With classified ad sites, you really need to watch out for scams and rip-offs.
• Forums like DP and Sitepoint are great places to find affordable labor.  Start by checking out their marketplace sections, since this is where most freelancers hang out.  Then, try to find a SEO or Internet Marketer who is a regular and trusted by other members.  Many forums have a ratings feature for its members, so you can see how they conduct business and if they’re trustworthy.
• Some popular blogs actually provide a section in their blog where they offer job listings.  The quality of providers is pretty good, but their rates may be on the higher end.

So, the bottom line is you can find legitimate help at most of the job/freelancing sources out there.  The hard part is avoiding scams and screening for the right person.