We actually work with a lot of real estate agents and brokers, who are a good representation of many small business owners, and have had to find solutions that work for both our customers and our business.

Explaining and selling packaged solutions has always been less of a challenge. I don’t see this approach ever being abandoned as it just resonates better with many consumers.

However, when it comes down to what turns out to be the most beneficial for both the client and our business at the same time, the approach of a monthly consulting strategy tends to work out the best. When we get the opportunity to tailor a custom approach with set expectations of time, services and estimated results, both sides seem most satisfied.

It is very tempting to create low cost, low value products for SMBs but after being in this industry for this long and seeing so many people get burned it is just not worth it. SEOs already have an uphill battle when presenting services as is. Contributing to the over-saturated pool of these worthless services is just not something we want to have anything to do with.

I personally think that agencies need to do a better job of researching a SMB before presenting to them and then tailoring their recommendations based on that research. On the other side, I think there is some responsibility on the SMB owner to do their due diligence as well.

@AJKohn makes an important point in his comment above where he basically found that his services were not a match for some clients. There is nothing wrong with walking away from a project….especially if it is not mutually beneficial. Turning down clients is very difficult, but sometimes it is in the best interest of the agency and the SMB owner.

Thanks again for keeping this conversation going…

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t apply my services to SMB clients. The level of paranoia (from being burned before), the expectations of success (usually too high) and lack of resources (both monetary and technical) simply didn’t match the amount of time and effort I’d expend.

The main reason I see is the gap in knowledge is so vast that the SMB business owner believes SEO to be either mysterious, a silver bullet or snake oil but, at the same time, doesn’t believe it to be time intensive or ‘that’ difficult. It’s sort of like they view it as changing the oil in your car, if they had the time and inclination they’d do it themselves but instead they want someone else to do it, but it better be cheap.

Of course, this isn’t every SMB, but there are enough out there that simply screening the good from the bad and finding the right SMB clients is too time intensive.

This is a great post and it reflects many of the reasons why we started our company, TrustWorkz, Inc. We are not strictly SEO, but it is a major part of what we believe to be an affordable package for small businesses. There are way too many snake oil salesmen out there who try to sell small business the world. The majority of our clients have been burned before, and it is constantly on our minds to never become like the rest. When you realize that your efforts for a small business mean them keeping their doors open another 5 years to feed their families, no business is treated the same. Each deserves the attention of an individual at an affordable price to help them be found on the internet. I really enjoyed your post. I believe that it reflects what we believe so strongly as well.

Thanks so much for your comment! I agree, budget presents the biggest challenge in small business SEO, but I am optimistic that SEO companies (who want to work with small businesses) and small business owners can meet somewhere in the middle and do good work together. :) Thanks again!