Comments on: 10 SEO Client Archetypes

By: onreact

onreact — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:05:05 +0000

Jeff, well no, the ideal client is someone who respects what I do, respects me as a person and does not think that he owns me or is my boss because he is paying me.

xmobilemafia: Well, I work as a freelancer and I can work only for a few clients at a time, so often I have to choose and refuse to work with potential clients based on several factors. Moreover my experiene taught me that retaining difficult clients does not pay. The contrary is the case.

So why wasting time, money and resources on people who think paying a robot 5 times as much is better than paying you for hard work?

By: xmobilemafia

xmobilemafia — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:04:21 +0000

So you’re saying you dislike difficult clients and you like clients who think you’re great, pre-pay you and understand that you’re really busy? Wow, what a whiner.

As others have pointed out, you’re describing standard client services and getting 10 clients you hate for every 3 clients you like is absolutely expected. Deal with it.

By: Jeff Greene

Jeff Greene — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:55:38 +0000

Actually, the ideal client is the one who keeps you on retainer, pays and requires you to do … no work.

By: tamecrow

tamecrow — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:26:52 +0000

Don’t forget ‘The Doormat’! Whatever you do, you’re always right and the client will worship you.

Oh, and the ones who, each month, say “Well we will have to cut our budget by 10% this month as business hasn’t been good”. It’s not going to get much better if you’re cutting the spend on your high-ROI online marketing, is it? This client is the one who has the hardest time comprehending that, in the service industry, time = money and less money = less time.

By: onreact

onreact — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:40:36 +0000

Andrew, fortunately Indians do not speak German so I do not have to deal with those issues…

By: Local SEO Guide

Local SEO Guide — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:02:40 +0000

How about the “Be My Product Manager Because I am a Lean & Mean Start-Up CEO and Interface Directly With My Cheap Inept Development Team In India at 2am to Tell Them for the Millionth Time That They Have Caused Yet Another Major SEO Problem With Their Fifth Release of the Week” client?

Not that I’m bitter or anything…

Andrew

By: onreact

onreact — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:47:13 +0000

Thanks David. It’s alright with me if people use the name of their site or blog, even if it’s a keyphrase, but using a keyphrase from a subdirectory crosses the line in a way.

By: david deangelo

david deangelo — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:06:15 +0000

onreact, thanks for de spamming the comment. As such I have changed the pen name to david deangelo.

Neil, these business thinks SEO not only bring traffic but also increase their conversions. Which is fine if they state that in their requirements and not assume it. However, conversions is more in the realm of marketing than SEO

By: onreact

onreact — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:18:05 +0000

Not bad, Wiep kind of a subcategory of “the friend” but also with unique aspects.

By: Wiep

Wiep — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:50:11 +0000

How about The Referred Friend?

Is someone you (or your boss) knows. He or she pays near zilch and expects a lot. And if you don’t cope with his expectations, he or she is going to tell all your mutual friends…