I have a confession … I don’t use Google Ads to promote my PPC management services.
Does this make me a hypocrite?
Well …
Let me tell you a story …
Years ago, I was a regular on an online business forum. That forum was teeming with self-anointed SEO “experts.”
As you can imagine, with so many SEOs touting their services, there were a lot of pissing contests. And one of the hot topics was how do you tell the good SEOs from the bad?
How to spot a good SEO
A common answer was: Go to Google, type in “SEO,” look at the organic results … and you’ll get a list of good SEOs.
And, if you’re not on page 1, you’re not good.
Is that a good answer?
Well … yes and no.
It would be correct to say that, if your company ranks on page 1 for “SEO,” you’re probably pretty good at SEO.
But, if you’re NOT on page 1, it doesn’t mean anything.
You see, it takes a lot of effort to rank for super-competitive keywords. And, if you’re a small agency – or a one-man band – that effort isn’t worth it.
All that’ll happen is that you’ll get flooded with enquiries. And responding to each enquiry costs you in time and effort.
And, if you can only take on a handful of clients each year, spending hours each day wading through enquiries is not a good use of your time.
On the other hand, if you’re a large SEO agency that farms out most of your work to India and the Philippines, then you want as many enquiries as you can get. You’re a volume business, rather than a quality business.
The same thing is true for PPC
And that takes me back to PPC – and why I don’t use Google Ads to promote my ppc services.
To make a profit from advertising for expensive keywords like “adwords management” you need three things:
#1: To be able to handle a lot of clients.
#2: To have a sales team whose job it is to close as many enquiries as possible.
#3: To charge high hourly rates.
I don’t do any of this …
As a one-man band, I only need a few new clients each year.
When I get an enquiry, my focus is on qualifying the prospect, not closing him. I want to know if PPC is right for his business, whether I can increase his profits, and whether his business is a good fit for me.
That means I turn down a lot of work.
And, when you turn down work, it increases your cost per sale. Which means the economics of PPC wouldn’t make sense to me.
So how do I get clients?
Usually from referrals, my blog, this newsletter, and direct mail.
They tend to be qualified prospects. Far better than someone who just did a Google search and clicked on my ad.
They’re not price shoppers. Nor are they looking for the company that’ll make the biggest promises.
And, because it cost me little to nothing to get them, I can charge competitive rates and still make a decent living.
It’s a win-win.
All the best,
Steve Gibson
