Starting New SEO company

[clo2008]

Hello,

This is posed to the experts who have successfully started their own online marketing companies...

I am starting a new SEO services company with a colleague, targeting small businesses. I have 2 years experience performing in-house online marketing for two small start-ups and have provided consulting for a handful of friends and family websites. I have performed well, however, with all the competition out there, I have concerns in this turbulent economy. As I'm preparing my business plan and financial budget, I have a few questions..

Currently we are 2 employees (myself included) and already have 2 clients. Our goals are to have 10 clients/month.

Here goes:

1). What should I expect to be my main expenses per month?
2). Does it make sense to spend the time and money for higher education (online marketing certificate programs?)
3). Are there any examples of financial budgets I can refer to for a similar startup SEO company?
4). Should we charge a la carte services or bundle? hourly or monthly?
5). How many smart-*** replies will I receive telling me I will fail?

[gobeyond]

If you are really good at SEO, you can stand out in the crowd. Most so-called SEO companies don't deliver the results clients want. Many SEO services are provided by web design companies that are not up to speed about SEO.

As to the eductation, I don't believe that would help. Since SEO is growing so fast. Today's training program can be outdated in 2-6 months. Do your own research on SEO techniques and skip the classes.

Charging a flat fee is easier for people to accept. If you bill them hourly, that is fine, but you may meet some resistence.

Best of Luck!

[AussieWebmaster]

1). What should I expect to be my main expenses per month?

Office rent and overhead and employees when you add them.

2). Does it make sense to spend the time and money for higher education (online marketing certificate programs?)

Speaking engagements are better than certification but learning how analytics programs etc. work is worth the time.

3). Are there any examples of financial budgets I can refer to for a similar startup SEO company?

Not really

4). Should we charge a la carte services or bundle? hourly or monthly?

This will vary by what each client wants - hourly and base monthly is usual but others charge percentages of spend on PPC side.

5). How many smart-*** replies will I receive telling me I will fail?

None yet