I work for an online travel agency where i manage the company website. Another person has approached me to do a review his site and suggest ideas on how to optimise it and bring in more traffic. I have reviewed his site and came up with a detailed report of what needs to be done to optimise the website. Now, this is my first time to do a proposal for someone else website. I havent givem him the proposal yet and wanted your help. *Do I ask him to give me a downpayment for my work or does he pay me the whole amount before I hand over the work * Do i need to write a contract first before i give him the report * What specific steps do i need to do to make sure i dont get conned? * Are their free sample proposals documents on the net that I can use to create a polished proposal to make it look more professional? Thanks guys
Hey, well the way I do it, if you can prove you know what your doing, have examples and proof, you should never hand over any work with out atleast some payment up front. I see a lot of people (so called companies) trying to con others into working for free promising "shares", "co ownership", all sorts of crap, these people don't have any cash and are full of shit. Dont waste your time with these types of clients. Im your case I would not hand over any work without out atleast 50% upfront. P.S. But this is if you actually know what your doing (no ofense!) but the reverse is also true lots of so called SEO experts that don't know the difference between a browser and Google. (Unfortunately lots of shady stuff goes on in the SEO world from both sides, clients and SEOs)
I'd insist on money up front, or if you're doing linkbuilding as well, then a setup fee and then a monthly fee.
i suggest you give the client first of your 5 day free trial... then if they like your job,, they'll have to pay you ahead about 50% or even a complete payment... regards
*Do I ask him to give me a downpayment for my work or does he pay me the whole amount before I hand over the work - dont hand in the work before you see the payment, like bigbadwolf said, at least got half the payent first then hand it to client. and another half after customer satisfied or see a godo result. * Do i need to write a contract first before i give him the report - this one is depend. contract still mean nothing actually. they can break it easy and you cant do thing much especially if you got clients from internet. * What specific steps do i need to do to make sure i dont get conned? - pay upfront is best ^^ * Are their free sample proposals documents on the net that I can use to create a polished proposal to make it look more professional? - umm try usinf program called "Internet Business Promoter" it gives you some good report to follow though.
yup, i know.. but the reports and the process of optimization is your proof that you can optimize the clients site and know how to handle it...
You did reports? I go through a whole planning of needs stage before money changes hands. That means all of my analysis and so forth of the condition of the web site is free. Getting the client involved in the process of determining what they need and how to meet their goals increases conversion. Once they approve the proposal I send an agreement and invoice. 50% of on page up front, 50% before code is released. Off-page optimization (Web promotion) generally a monthly fee as I don't get 10 000 links in one shot.
Not really. These days anyone with a basic knowledge of SEO can optimise a site. A real SEO proves their worth through a decent link building strategy, and being able to put that into practice. A client is going to be looking at a minimum of 8-12 weeks before there's any tangible results with an old site, longer for a new one.