Do personal contacts work better for you than a stranger?

As the previous topic 5 Main Components of Search Engine Optimization-SEO discussed there are main parts of online marketing. It's important to know the background and personality of the individual(s)/company that will help promote your company's image online. If you choose someone that uses unethical practices or old methods like Black Hat SEO then your image could become tarnished.
You can recover from your company becoming tarnished or penalized by search engines but the process can involve a lot of time and money (in SEO efforts). Therefore, many people ask:
·         Should I work with someone or people I know like family, friends or acquaintances?
·         How can I know if the person has my company's best interest at heart when they're working on my Website development, website maintenance, content writing, SEO and Social Media marketing?
Those are valid questions.

Mixed feelings about working with Personal Contacts to build a business

Some people think that you can't mix pleasure with business. Sometimes people hesitate to hire a family member or friends to do their online marketing because they're afraid that it could ruin their relationship. They may hesitate at the thought of hiring someone they know, for fear of 'what if it doesn't work out'.
On the other hand, there are people that prefer to avail of the products or services they need from people they know. These people can include: family, friends or acquaintances.

5 Tips to reduce the risk of hiring the wrong personal Contact

If you've heard that someone you personally know does any of the following: website design, website maintenance, copywriting, blog writing, SEO or social media marketing you may want to conduct an indirect interview. Don't tell them you're looking to hire someone to help you with improving your online presence before asking them these questions.
Here are 5 tips to reduce your risk of ruining a relationship. Begin with asking them these things:

General Questions – If you're not familiar with website terms, SEO, Content Writing or Social Media Marketing look it up (you can even refer to our previous blogs). Then ask them something like:
-        Is it true that Black hat SEO is a thing of the past.
-        How do I know if someone plagiarized content on my website?
-        What is SEO?
-        What is Social Media Marketing?
Website Development
-        What's an easy website platform to work with for designing and maintaining a website?
-        Do I need to pay for hosting if I want my website to be SEO-friendly?
-        Can I use a free blogger platform for my e-commerce website?
-        Can I show you a design I want and can you tell me how easy it would be to make it and what costs are involved i.e. Theme, hosting, etc.?
SEO and Social Media Marketing
-        Are SEO and Social Media Marketing the same thing?
-        Do I need to pay to do SEO or Social Media marketing?
Is this a Hobby – if you're family, friend or acquaintance does SEO/Social Media Marketing, Content writing or website development and website updating as a hobby you need to know that. Why? Depending on your business objectives you may need someone to be able to work on those tasks on a consistent basis. However, if you only need 1-2 blog articles written a week and it takes them a couple of hours to write one, they may be capable of doing that task.

Availability – If your personal contact is answering the questions you asked them then they may be the one (s) you're looking for to help you build your business. It's important that they have the time available to do the tasks you'd like them to do. If they don't then you need to look for someone else.

Take action now
Dramatically improving your online presence organically doesn't happen overnight. Anyone that tells you that you can, in 2014, is most likely after your money and not your business' interest. There are a lot of steps involved with building your online presence. Start today!