Does this type of SEO/Consultant exist?

Does this type of SEO/Consultant exist?

An SEO’er or consultant that get’s paid by how much money your site generates off of their services, as opposed to what ranking they can get for a certain keyword(s). For example, maybe give them 10% or whatever the agreed percentage is of your monthly earnings for a specified period of time?

I can see how this would be tough to do with an aged site that is already making money, as it would be hard to decipher how much of the earnings the consultant is responsible for. But, in the case of a newer website that isn’t generating any earnings yet it might work.

The reason I am asking is because I thought it would be a good way for newer sites that don’t have a lot of money to spend off the start, to be able to afford such services. And I suppose it would be an added incentive for the consultant to try and get the site to make as much money as possible, so they can get more money themselves.

It might work...

I've built, optimised and promoted sites for people based on a cut price / lifetime comission (but only for people I know, trust and want to help out)!

The downside is that the SEO gets little or no income whilst doing the majority of his work (So - for a start - you'd need a binding legal agreement to prevent you from shutting him out at some point and "full disclosure" to allow him to be certain you aren't skimming/scamming)... The only way you could do that to my satisfaction would be to give me an equal share in the company that owns the site, otherwise you could sell off the completed site to a new company - owned entirely by you - and I'd get squat

And - once the work is done he/she's at the mercy of Google / other SE's (who could devalue months of work in a single stroke and therefore make his/her efforts worthless.
So if you're lucky enough to attract a real SEO professional, you would probably have to pay more in the long run to make up for the short term risk.

The main problem - when starting out the site owner wants to save money - so an experienced SEO professional doesn't need to take the contract when he/she can take contracts which pay from day #1.
If you can only attract rookie/opportunist SEO's you would probably be better off doing it yourself and keeping all the earnings (or offering the same deal to a trusted friend who might have the brains/time/inclination to study the subject if there's money to be made).

Thanks for the fast reply! You raised some interesting downsides to this idea. I was basically asking this question because I have a website about 9 months old thats not really generating any money yet, and I have very little money to work with. I was kind of hoping somebody would offer this type of service so I could try it out. I would be willing to offer quit a big percentage as anything would be more than I'm getting right now.

Thanks again for your reply.

The really good one do... but that in itself isn't really attractive.



Risk & rewards are one in the same...

All new sites can make money immediately with low cost PPC... it's low cost because you pay as you go at the level you can afford... and as your sales grow so does your available budget...

But any owner not willing to risk a dime, a dollar, 50 or 100 on any form of advertising - doesn't sound like a good investment for anyone putting up sweat equity when they're not the owner.

If you're not willing to risk "anything" on your own opportunity - surely you can see how that is a huge blackmark against working with you... you don't believe your own opportunity has any money making merit.

That said, if I was the SEO partnering with you and you proposed this to me... and I wanted to assume all risks for you...

I'd want:

1. ownership of the domain.
2. direct access to the bank account and all merchant services that is provided by your service providers [not just something you can edit me out at your convenience.
3. and whatever my agreed percentage is per unit sold I get first - the first bill paid - not the second or last.

Now you have what you wanted "zero cash risk"...
And I have what I want.. equal risk that we both can live with.

Why do you always have to put things in perspective?!

Ok, I believe my site is worthy of making alot of money and I believe if the consultant took a look at my site they would agree, I just a) don't have any money to risk, b) my wife would take the kids and run if i took out a business loan right now.

But, I do see where your coming from. There's just way too much risk for the SEO'er. And I understood that before posting, I was just kind of hoping one of you guru's have figured out a way to offer such service. Thanks fathom.

You have the right idea... I have no problem taking risks so long as that risk is being shared by people I'm involved with...

I often offer up my skills to get something in return and that doesn't need to be cash... that could be:

1. a regional [local] value
2. more diversity of hosting IP
3. a use for my ad space [I'd rather spend that on myself]
4. complementary developments for what I'm working on...?
5. new blood in content ideas - I've got the design people which are free to me - but I struggle for content ideas.

send an email - you never know - but at the same time... remember what I desire for my protection... "trust is a two way street"... you can't expect anyone to unilaterally trust you to protect their interests by only protecting your own.

Sorry tmac, I didn't intend to make my response all negative, but I got to the end of the negatives and dinner was served... sometimes you have to prioritise!

Fathom gave you some good ideas though... so I can bow out gracefully and go get supper

As he said - if you are willing to give up some time and/or other incentives you should be able to get a "taker".
For instance - there are good SEO's who have experience and a track record but no previous "3rd party seo" contracts, thus will take on "shared income deals" to get testimonials/track record etc, and there are other incentives you can offer. (Of course - if you can get Fathom interested you should probably give him whatever he asks)

I forget wayy more ideas than I ever have time to put into practice... I'll start keeping a list and get back to you

So, if I wash your dirty laundry for a year you will help me?!

Seriously though, I don't think your demands to take on a project like this are asking too much at all. Maybe if I can meet all your demands you will be interested in helping me? Either way, I appreciate your input, you too ClickyB.

I worked for others for 10 years before I gave it all away to do my own... not much really changed other than I only work on the projects that peak my interests and I don't need to chase the money.

Both of which were my two biggest issues... I did like the content I had to support and clients late with payments and then upset because they had to make late payments.

Be that as it may, only real hurdle is making me interested in your project.

A little late to this good discussion....

I've worked with companies who want to sell a product.... however, as fathom mentioned, I don't want to put my own time into building the rankings of another person's website. If I do that I want to own the site.

So, I have placed their items in my shopping cart. I get the customer, collect the money, they fill the order and I pay them monthly. I work really hard for this because I build equity on my own site - not on theirs where the work that I have done can be yanked out from under me. I want to be your partner not your serf.

Another situation is an affiliate program where I refer traffic to you that you convert. My tracking on your thank you page gives me data on how many units you have sold to my refered visitors.

Both of these are a little dangerous for you because if (no when) I become powerful I can give my biz to your competitor or become one myself.

hehe, I know the feeling... I've been begging for some "special attention" for a year now on different sites from different people with little success...maybe I need a new approach!

Sorry but you didn't want complementary assistance.

It takes "great effort to learn and be on the inside of new subject matter"... you will find the most successful strategies are not based on the knowledge of the SEO in SEOing but on the ability of the SEO to learn and adapt to the new subject matter and the nuances of that industry...

Try this... "if you don't like calamari" forcing you to eat it might be worth your while if I paid you a large sum of money in advance... but if your incentive to eat what you don't like is purely based on someone else getting out of eating what they don't like... the desire to eat loses its luster pretty quickly.

On the other hand "if you love calamari"... the act of eating isn't a chore anymore.

hehe, do you love seo?

but you may say, yes I love eating, but I don't like calamari.. .well i'm not really sure what calamari is but it doesn't sound good, lol... take care.

Gotta love Google. I knew already, but found a better explanation:

"Squid or cuttlefish. Very popular in Italy either deep fried or lightly boiled and served in a seafood salad. The black ink from this seafood is used to flavor and color both pasta and risotto."

That's what calamari is. And as with SEO, not everyone likes it; some people think they won't like it but find that they do when they try it.