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The title to a post on WebProWorld really got to me today. Do You Have any Stupid Clients?
The post wasn’t as aggressive as the title, but it really upset me that the statement was even made. Stupid implies that a person is unable to learn or understand. Why on Earth would an SEO, or an expert in any industry, declare stupidity on one that is not an expert in said industry?
As SEO’s, we have placed ourselves in an field that is still very¬† new, and very mysterious to those that aren’t involved. We research, test, implement and repeat our processes over and over until some form of understanding can be achieved. All these things take a lot of time and patience. But that is OUR job, Not that of our clients.
I personally cater to a ton of people that had absolutely no previous knowledge that my craft even existed before I came along. I felt, and still feel, that it was a part of my responsibility to educate these people. My clients may not be able to optimize or promote a page themselves, but I’ll be damned if they don’t at least get a basic understanding of what I’m doing. Hell, I barely sell a service before a 3rd or 4th call. I would much rather have an understanding and comfortable client than a quick sale. And my clients are. This isn’t stupidity at all.
Instead of degrading someone who doesn’t know something about what you do, why not help them by educating? It’s something that we as SEO’s should be doing as much as possible. There are plenty of snake oil salemen out there making our jobs difficult enough. We have to bring a little positive light to what we do, and poking at a business owner where we could have instead helped them doesn’t help.
And on another note. For the advice that was given to me that posting “beginner” articles on this blog should stop, I respectfully decline. I’ve gotten 2 emails in the last month from SEO’s that I completely respect telling me how I should leave that area of blogging, or I would never really get traffic from Sphinn, or Digg, or get links from other SEO bloggers. To that I say, that’s cool with me. I’m not ready to be a leader yet. I’m a worker right now. I know my place, and am very happy with it. Maybe later.
If I were blogging for money, I sure as hell wouldn’t have started one for the SEO world. There are a ton of SEO’s out there that can blog circles around me. Instead, I would much rather have a log (a “web log” if you will) to point potential clients to specific posts.
I worked in a corporate Internet marketing world for 3 very long years, and I have a very strong opinion now on quality of work because of them. Small business owners are getting ripped off daily, and have almost nobody to turn to. If posting beginner articles doesn’t make me a famous SEO, that’s OK by me. I can still take part in forum and Sphinn discussions, which is probably the most important thing I do anyway. So, I’m off to continue the Begginer’s Guide To Local Search I’ve been working on over the last week.
O.K. I’m done getting cranky. It’s Friday, and I am to propose to my loved one today. The good mood has to be kept. I wish everyone a well Friday.
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