I have spent the last few weeks networking like crazy and it’s been amazing! Meeting other solopreneurs and small business owners has been huge for my growing business. But, every time I talk at a networking event (using my 1 minute elevator pitch), I inevitably watch at least one person’s eyes go dead. My quick pitch is about how I help small businesses with their social media, digital marketing, websites, branding, etc. and that my mission is to make sure that small businesses can get marketing help without contracts and without breaking the bank. The people with the dead eyes are those who have been screwed over by a marketer in the past and worse, some of them are still in the middle of a contract with someone who is not delivering.

When I talk to these people after the meeting they are upset that they have already paid in full and are locked into a deal that they don’t like.  Sometimes they are in a contract where they aren’t getting at all what they paid for. They always say they wish they had met me before they signed a contract that they still have months left on. And I end up furious that there are so many shady businesses out there who take advantage of people who just don’t know any better. 😡 I want to help all small business owners KNOW BETTER!

Some things to consider and questions to ask before you hire a marketer so you don’t get taken advantage of -

• Hire a smaller (local) company or solopreneur. The big companies are generally going to have a giant client list and you will just be a number. Also, they are going to charge you top dollar. You can do better!

• Price check several different companies and then don’t hire the cheapest or most expensive. The most expensive will probably be overpriced for the work. The cheapest could be inexperienced, or maybe not, but they will definitely be in a rush because they have to do a lot more work to make the money that they need, since their prices are lower. This could cause you to get shoddy service and results and/or make it so your project takes longer because they are overcommitting. Either way, not what you want to deal with.

• Shop around and ask to see a portfolio of work. Find several options of marketers and ask them for some websites that they have built or social media accounts they manage. Do you like what you see? If not, they aren’t your person.

• Check their references. If you were hiring someone to work for you full time, you would check out their references, and you have to do the same thing here. Their portfolio may be impressive but only previous/current clients can tell you about their responsiveness, accountability, and customer service. I would check their website for past customers in their portfolio to reach out to instead of asking them for references. This way you can get real ones, not the ones they set up.

• If it costs more than $1,000 up front, negotiate. I recommend talking about half up front for a project or a monthly payment for ongoing work.

• Contracts…should you sign them before you see what the quality of work is going to be? I say run! I have no contracts because I don’t want someone to be locked into working with me if there is an unforeseen expense in their business and they can’t afford me in their budget anymore. And I definitely don’t want anyone to be stuck with me if they aren’t happy with my services. I’m amazing, so I don’t see this being a problem (haha), but sometimes people have creative differences and the business deserves to be able to go their own way if that is best for them. The other side of the coin though is that the marketing company may need to protect themselves with a contract, and I hear this a lot from people who have advice about my business. In this case, I recommend trying to negotiate a deal where you get one trial month (still paid), and if that goes well, you can sign for the year.

These tips are just suggestions but hopefully they give everyone something to think about! I hope by getting this message out, I start to hear less and less about people who paid $5,000 for a website that took over a year to build, when I could have done it in 2 weeks for $1,000.

If you or someone you know has been burned, don’t give up. There are great marketers out there with integrity, that will get you where you want to go. I know one that would love to help you. ME! I’m talking about me. 😊

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