No I Dont Want To Help You
January 30, 2011
Welcome to the Google Places SEO blog at Tucson SEO Solutions.
No I Don’t Want To Help You
This was first posted in 2009.
Now, that’s a very odd tittle for me to use. I really do enjoy helping others in a variety of different ways. That is one big reason why I blog. I am an educator at heart and by training. Having said that I have had to say no a lot in this past month. It seems that some individuals think Tucson is a good spot to set up an SEO business. That’s ok with me. I relish the new competition and when I discover my new competition I generally welcome them.
However, I have been saying no a lot lately to these new competitors. They have been calling me on the phone and emailing me quit a bit lately. They want to be direct competitors of mine and they expect that I should not only welcome them but also assist them!
They all want my expertise and experience provided for free. They want to know everything about the market for SEO in Tucson. The best offer that I have received is an offer to lunch! Heck, I have even turned down a paid offers a few months back.
I was amazed when I got the first request, but the requests kept coming. I have had five such requests in the last month alone. I can not fathom where these men are coming from. They want explicit information about SEO and the market conditions in Tucson and they expect that I should be willing to meet their desires. Not only that, they expect this information for free!
All of these individuals start off their conversations by stating that they have noticed that am all over the internet for anything SEO related in Tucson. Of course this is true. But stroking me about how good I am, is only stating the obvious and doesn’t impress me. No ego boost is going to change my mind.
I got burnt early on by a web developer here in Tucson and I am extremely cautious. This person hired me do to a project for him with the understanding that I would get all of his SEO work. Problem is the work never arrived. I showed him the ropes and that was it. I was now competing with the person that I had helped. As the saying goes once bitten twice shy.
My response was very straight forward “I have no interest helping someone so they can compete with me.” Everyone who contacted me seemed shocked that the Big Dog of SEO in Tucson didn’t want to assist them and I didn’t care. The economy is tough all over and I am not going to assist someone who may later take bread off my table. So I have become every good at saying No.
Now, having said that I still offer loads of free advice on this blog and off. Last week a woman called requesting assistance on getting her website noticed. The site ended up being a very generic one page website. This person had no money for my services but I spent a very long time talking and educating this woman.
The site offers Christian music but the site had no real focus. I spent much of the discussion and providing resources. We also discussed defining her sites keywords. When I asked her to define what her sight was about she could not provide a good answer. I recommended that she do some research with people where she goes to fellowship with to provide her with input about the site and how they might search for her music.
Any website that wants to be successful has to define what their website was about (keywords). I pointed out that if she focused on the keywords “Christian music” that she would have a huge amount of competition. I also explained that she would need lots of time and resources to accomplish ranking well in this area. I further explained that she needed to do lots of research to find out how others would search for her music. I went on to explain that she would need to create an interactive website to be able to take better advantage of her music. I ended up recommending that she consider WordPress.
I really enjoy conversations like this. While I am not producing billable hours I am making a deposit in the bank of good will. I truly believe in what goes around comes around. This isn’t an isolated event. I will assist just about anyone who calls, who is sincere, but generally clueless about SEO and Internet Marketing. By the way, I have saved these folks tens of thousands of dollars in the process and that makes my days!
Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it!
What say you?
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Comments
5 Responses to “No I Dont Want To Help You”
I always think there’s enough niches to go around, so there’s no excuse for treading on your toes, much less asking you to assist a direct competitor. looking for a silver lining though, if your competitors feel the need to ask your advice then you’re obviously percieved as the guy to beat!
.-= JamesM@Directory Blog´s last blog ..Stop! You’re making a mistake (by not listing my site)… =-.
Admin: While this is true I consider it to be more a waste of time than anything else.
I love the new comment approach. It’s certainly encouraging me to both comment, and to try and provide a useful addition to your content. It’s also getting me to read a lot more often.
That said, I’ve been in the same position as you, Urban, with regard to my development and design skills. The thing I find is that lots of folks expect me to charge very little for what only takes me a little bit of time. One guy here in Tucson said to me, “dude, it would take you literally 2 hours to do this for me!”
To that I say, “I’ve spent literally YEARS of my life learning how to develop websites and applications. While I do charge for my time, I also charge for my experience.”
Good for you for saying no. It’s taken me awhile to get comfortable with telling people no, but I find it to be an essential skill for running a business.
Admin: Allen, not only did I say no… I laughed… I learned because I had desire. I did my research and I didn’t expect anyone to hand me anything on a platter. I own the SEO market here in Tucson because I had a need to be # 1 and I have put in thousands of hours. I’m not giving this away at any price. Having said that I help real people all the time that are trying to get a handle on their website but have little money.
How can people be ballsy enough to ask for free help directly from their competitors?! That is pretty shocking! You obviously are very helpful, and you have also been kind to me, so thank you for that. :) However, no one should expect for you to give them free SEO advice, especially when so many other services out there charge up to $7000 per month!
Admin: Mark I have to agree with you on that. I found it very amazing as well but it something hat is taught at many business schools.
Thanks for sharing it. This is new comment approach. While I do charge for my time, I also charge for my experience. Good for you for saying no. It�s taken me awhile to get comfortable with telling people no, but I find it to be an essential skill for running a business.
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It’s much the same on many of the forums. I’m happy to help newbies and honest webmasters (even enjoy it) but there are far too many so called “SEOs” who are selling SEO services and still expect me to help them with the most basic of issues for free!
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