Is it the Amway salesman?
No.
Is it a used car salesman?
No.
Is it the “cure all” juice salesman? (formerly known as the “snake oil salesman”)
No.
It’s the Internet marketing consultant! Run for your lives!!!
The great thing about blogs is we can vent and complain freely, but as a friend once told me; just because I am only venting doesn’t mean I do not offend.
So let me apologize to the honest Amway sales person; Sorry-you guys do have some great products.
I also want to apologize to the used car salesmen-NOT including the guy I bought my Lexus from. I actually had to put in a new engine 2 weeks after I bought it. Now I have to drive it for another 10 years to get my money’s worth out of it. I am sure somewhere out there lives an honest used car salesperson, but I am a little bitter about them right now.
Some of that juice stuff from Australia tastes really good, but my wife swears we can do better at with her own concoction from ingredients found at Whole Foods. Since she makes the food choices in our home, I can apologize to the juice people but I can’t buy their juice.
As far as the Internet marketing consultant goes, I am sorry. Sorry that you have made my job so hard.
Why is that? What’s the story? Why can’t I proudly raise my head as I tell people what I do for a living without adding-”but I am an honest Internet marketing consultant.”
Well in the late 1990s, ”Internet marketing consultants” walked into small businesses and fortune 500 companies and took them for a ride. They spent millions and got little in return.
After Enron, Worldcomm, and 9/11 the advertisers got a realty check and pulled their money out of the Internet. It wasn’t until the end of 2003 that more money was spent on Internet marketing than was spent in the 1990s heyday.
Starting a few years ago local search became a big deal. People started looking for local service related businesses that were well suited to the information and efficiency offered by the Internet. Insurance, real estate and lawyer searches have gone through the roof.
The result has been everybody and their brother trying to sell all of you law firms every kind of “Internet marketing solution” under the sun. At best, the people selling you all these programs are/were naïve, at worst-dishonest and greedy. They want your yellow pages, television and your banner advertising budget, and they are willing to say just about anything to get it.
Whatever the reason, the truth is that I can tell you from my experience 90%+ of the Internet marketing strategies out there are bad ones.
I have yet to meey an attorney that has figured out how to market their firms on the Internet perfectly (it’s an imperfect world). Here is a paraphrase from a blog I wrote over a year ago, and looking back it still holds true.
In this post I try to answer the question: “As a business/firm owner; do you need an Internet marketing consultant?” In the next post I will answer what questions you can ask to figure out WHO you can trust. (Of course, you could just call me at 702-966-9414, or 206-501-4569)
Whether you have just started a law firm or you have been in business for years, you probably fall into one of these categories when it comes to Internet marketing:
Level 1 Internet Marketer:
You do not have a website; however there is a good chance that you have some kind of Internet presence that you may be unaware of through your local Yellow Pages, Lawyers.com or some other source.
Level 2 Internet Marketer:
You do not have a website, but you have an intentional Internet presence through different organizations like Lawyers.com, City Search, a local Yellow Pages Company, the local bar web site, the Better Business Bureau or some other organization. You are probably getting decent results from your efforts-at least your referrals are finding you by name.
Level 3 Internet Marketer:
You have a website, but have no intentional marketing presence where people can find you, other than what you may have as a Level 1 Internet Marketer. Your web site is probably dated, and more people will see your web site than see your office. I would argue that you could be better off at Level 2.
Level 4 Internet Marketer:
You have a website, you have spent money on a marketing it, but nothing has worked so you have a bad feeling about Internet marketing. Again, you could be better off at Level 2, because at least then you would have an optimistic outlook on Internet Marketing.
Level 5 Internet Marketer:
You have a website, you have spent money on a marketing it, you are getting some results that you are happy with, but you could be getting a better return on your Internet Marketing investment if you were implementing better strategies for your firm.
Level 6 Internet Marketer:
You have a web site; you have done a perfect job of marketing it and you have reached the full potential of the Internet with your brilliant Strategic Internet Marketing Plan that includes strategic email marketing and cross-marketing. I have yet to meet anyone who is at level 6.
If you are at level 1-4, there is a good chance that you could benefit by utilizing an Internet marketing consultant. If you are at Level 5 and want to get to Level 6 or if you think you are at Level 6, it is probably worthwhile to at least sit own with a consultant and see if they can help you increase your return on investment. There is nothing wrong with a free consultation-if the consultant is looking out for your best interests.
Who can you trust to be your “Internet Marketing Consultant”? Well, for attorneys, my peers at LexisNexis/Martindale Hubbell and I are a professional bunch of knowledgeable and integrity based consultants. I have met them all and I believe they know the market and they look out for their customers. I am sure that there are also good consultants from other companies, but it seems to be the exception, not the rule.
Here are some other options, which I will discuss in detail next week.
-Your Yellow Pages representative. (Good, bad and ugly suggestions from this talented and persuasive bunch)
-A Google or Yahoo! Representative. (Can you trust Google?)
-A website developer. (Is he or she left or right brained?)
-An SEO firm. (How do you select the right one?)
-A PR firm. (Do PR firms know Search Engine Marketing?)
-A Pay-Per-Click management firm. (How can these guys help you?)
Wow.
