Internet Marketing Counsultant
The internet marketing business has flourished rapidly in recent
years due to the increased volume of online shopping. Therefore,
many internet based businesses have begun to mushroom, most of
them owned by novices who are eager to grab a slice of the
lucrative internet marketing business. With its 24-hour
operability, international presence and low start up costs, an
internet business seems to be the key for exponential business
growth.
However, with stiff competition over the internet, many business
owners do not have the capability and knowledge to make their
site sell. Even if a site is beautifully designed complete with
inventory listings and shopping cart facilities, it would be a
total failure if the site is unable to generate adequate
internet traffic.
This is where the services of an internet marketing consultant
come in. The business of an Internet marketing consultant would
be to help clients increase web traffic to their internet sites.
This can be done in a variety of ways such as through search
engine optimization, pay per click advertising or affiliate
marketing. Although many website owners may be familiar with
these concepts, they may lack the time and expertise to do it
the correct way. An internet marketing consultant would be able
to apply the appropriate strategies for websites to create the
needed traffic and increase sales in the process.
Start Up Costs and Financing Sources:
The core of an
internet marketing consulting business is highly dependent on
the skills and efforts of the business owner. In fact, as the
business is service based, the start-up costs are relatively low
as no inventories are required. However, the business owner will
need to obtain education, skills and expertise in the area of
internet marketing before he can start the business. This can be
obtained from self-study in the area of internet marketing,
attending a seminar or a course on this area or by working for a
mentor who is an expert.
Thus, the start-up costs for this business would primarily be
for the cost of education which may vary from $500 to $10,000
depending on the type of education received. A marketing website
would be essential to your services as an internet consultant.
This would probably cost you another $1000 - $2000 for website
development and server space maintenance and support.
In order to obtain financing, a business plan should be drafted
to indicate the growth potential of the business including a
sound marketing plan. With this, the plan can be used to obtain
funding for the business either from commercial lenders or
venture capitalists.
Pricing Guidelines for Service:
The pricing for
internet marketing consulting can vary greatly depending on the
source of internet traffic, advertising efforts required as well
as the keywords of the site that would need to be optimized.
This is due to the fact that some more common keywords may
require more work from the internet marketing consultant in
order to produce the expected results.
Advertising such as pay per click can also vary depending on the
maximum number of clicks that the site owner has preset. Other
areas of concern are the current marketing strategies that the
site owner is already implementing, in which an analysis needs
to be done by the internet business consultant to determine what
is working and what isn't.
Some internet business consultants charge their clients based on
the additional sales generated by their strategies. They may
charge based on a percentage of increased sales from the site
over a period of time, which is a more justified method of
charging the client.
As a rule of thumb, internet marketing consultants can start
their charges from $80 an hour just for consulting services
alone.