It’s busy around here.
Lots of projects for clients old and new. Then there’s blogging, LocalSpark, the time I spend running and lifting, and the need for a little time left over to be a halfway decent husband and to kinda sorta have a life.
Much of what clients pay me for is work that only I should do (for one reason or another). Also, I’ve long had a helper who handles the heavy lifting on citations. Those two facts have made it a great setup for a long time, partly because I’ve never wanted to become an agency. “Boutique consultancy” has been my bite-sized description of Local Visibility System.
But I want to free up more time, and to have someone who can move things along while I’m sleeping (often past noon 
).
That’s where you – or someone you know – might come in. I’m hiring a part-time helper.
Here’s the rundown:
Basics:
- You’ll mostly help me with hands-on client work. I might also want help with research for blog posts from time to time.
- Work on an as-needed basis – probably a few hours a week, at least at first. This is not full-time employment. I’ll send you a 1099. The upshot is that I assume you’ve got a day job, so of course I’m fine with that taking precedence.
- I’ll pay you hourly or per-project. It depends partly on what type of project you’re working on for me, and how good you are at it already. Well-developed skills are something you had to invest in. On the other hand, if I need to help you develop a skill, I’m making an investment. All very relevant to pay. We’ll talk about this more.
Typical tasks:
- Make changes to clients’ sites.
- Help troubleshoot ranking / visibility issues.
- Research link opportunities.
- Perhaps get on the phone with Google support occasionally.
- Help me do research for blog posts.
- Let me bounce ideas off you.
Requirements and preferences:
- You must be an un-lazy communicator. Don’t send me a five-word, no-period email after I send you a new project and Paypal you. Ask questions when you have them. Be willing to get on the phone every now and then in the afternoon. Remember what turnarounds we agree on, and let me know when you’re running late.
- You need at least 2 years of hands-on experience doing local SEO (I’ll ask for detail.)
- You’ll need to let me know if any conflicts of interest – like if one of my clients is a competitor to a client of yours.
- I’d love if you’re a longtime reader of mine (or became so familiar with my posts that you fool me). I want you to know my general approach and philosophy. Also, sometimes I’m lazy and don’t want to re-explain things I may have written about last year.
- I’d love if you’re experienced at other online-marketing activities besides local SEO. (Ideally it’s something I’m not good at.)
- If you email me about working together, you must tell me the name of our cat. (Not as tricky as it sounds.) That will tell me – among other things – that you actually read this. I’m channeling my inner David Lee Roth.
What’s in it for me:
- You’ll save me some time.
- You may have some skills I don’t, and I might learn from you.
What’s in it for you:
- Good money for the time you put in.
- Flexible schedule.
- You’ll learn my processes – which can help you in the rest of your local SEO / online-marketing career.
- If I get leads for projects I wouldn’t be good at but you’d be good at, I can just refer those people to you (especially if you’re a freelancer).
- You’ll gain a buddy and a reference.
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Interested? Zap me an email. Please don’t send a resume – just a solid pitch. Detail and specifics are good. (No need for quite as much detail if I know you already.) Some time after that, I’ll send you a quick “test” task.
