Use a Partner to Grow Your Business, Not Consultant

In the rapid-fire digital world, it’s easy for SEOs to get lost in the web. At the same time, more and more consultant services are readily available. Yet these services often offer no more than a quick fix, something that won’t benefit small businesses in the long run.
What you really want is something that comes with added marketing benefits during the life of your business. Instead of opting with a short-term, simple solution, getting an equity partner might serve as a preferable option.
Partnering to Keep Up
Since the internet never comes to a stop, your work as an SEO quickly becomes negligible. Consulting simply cannot keep up with the pace of the internet. That’s why equity partnering benefits two parties: the SEO and the business it serves.

• Becoming an equity partner allows SEOs and business owners to work together, and take advantage of the ever-growing internet.
• Both can decide on how much equity the SEO gets in return for its marketing services.
• Traditional payments become a thing of the past, as small business owners figure out how to share their increased revenue while the SEO partners with the business.

Lazy Workers Beware
Equity partnerships are for the SEOs and business owners who are passionate about their work. The agreement inherently demands that the two synergize to help the business flourish. Making equity partners shows a devotion to the work both parties produce, so flat-rate consultants probably should stick to their few links a week. And business owners who don’t have any interest in expanding their company shouldn’t bother with equity partnerships.
Partnering is Investing
This model—where services are paid for in equity—is here to stay. It almost reads like a barter system, but equity partnership is more than that; it’s a commitment between two parties that produces a symbiotic relationship. By tackling an endeavor with an equity partner, you’re investing your time, energy and talent into a company. Though the SEOs may not have equal stake in the company, business owners can add incentives to keep the SEOs working hard. Though there’s already a built-in incentive for the SEO: equity. This partnership—when formed by two ambitious parties—is nothing but a win-win.

This is a guest post by Kevin Kaiser of Startup Biz Blog. Kevin has been working with new startups and small businesses helping achieve their maximum potential. If you enjoyed this article, you might consider subscribing to his blog.