How to know when the expert you're hiring is the right choice
If you’re content with the profit level you’re currently at, it’s covering your lifestyle, you don’t have a desire to build more wealth or expand your team, and you can sustain your business activities for the foreseeable future on your own without additional support, this article likely isn’t for you.
(Psst…that’s completely okay! While society tends to glorify multi-million dollar company sales, hustling harder, and concepts like the 4-hour work week, as long as your lifestyle and company are aligned with your values, and you’re happy, there’s no need for you to strive for more just because someone else thinks you should.)
Many entrepreneurs, though, have bigger business goals than what they’re able to achieve on their own.
They desire more revenue to build a greater lifestyle for themselves or to pour back into their business.
They crave bigger impact and expanded reach.
They want to free up more of their time and energy so they can be more present with their friends or family, travel more often, be more creative – and overall live a more balanced life that better reflects their values.
And even if said business owner theoretically knows how to achieve those goals, they likely won’t be able to do so without hiring, delegating, automating, and outsourcing.
Many of the entrepreneurs and small business owners I work with are struggling to manage their daily marketing tasks, while also serving their clients, running day-to-day operations, and trying to plan for the future of their company.
Real and transformative growth can’t happen without the recognition that you don’t have all the answers, and that you can’t do everything on your own.
But how do you know if you’re making the right choice when hiring?
Where to begin when hiring marketing support
Running a small business can be challenging. The sheer number of tasks it takes to get a business up-and-running, and then maintain it, is overwhelming!
Even just on the marketing side of things, it’s almost impossible for business owners to do it all themselves:
Creating your marketing strategy and plan so you have clear steps to follow to reach your goals
Creating and maintaining your website
Optimizing your site for search engines (SEO)
Setting up 1-2 social media platforms and maintaining them with regular content
Growing your email list and sending out regular emails
Interacting with your community
And that’s on the conservative side.
The first step in hiring is recognizing that it’s almost impossible for you to do it all yourself.
It doesn’t make you a failure or an inadequate entrepreneur to hire support or ask for help. It makes you a savvy business owner who knows their priorities, recognizes their zone of genius, and understands that it’s not sustainable to try and do everything on your own.
Know your goals and vision
Have you sat down to determine your big picture goals? What actions do you need to be taking daily or weekly to work towards those goals?
Which of these actions do you need support with? Consider where your energy is best spent, what you enjoy doing, and where your zone of genius is.
If something doesn’t fall into any of these categories, it’s likely a good candidate for outsourcing.
Know what you want to accomplish in these areas, and set goals beforehand so you can ensure that you’re aligned with the person you hire and their approach.
Know what you’re looking for & what you want to achieve
While you don’t need to be an expert in what it is you’re hiring out for, knowing the basics can help you to gauge if the person you’re considering hiring knows what they’re talking about or not.
Do they specialize in what you want to accomplish? Can they clearly communicate with you what they will be delivering?
I have an unfortunate example of someone who paid $12,000 to a website and copywriter, under the assumption that they would be doing the full build-out and copywriting of the site.
After a call with the copywriter they were referred to, a contract was signed and the payment was made, before the client realized that the person they spoke to would actually not be doing any copywriting. Instead they were handing her website off to another employee, because they had decided they wanted to pivot their business into training other copywriters.
From there things only got worse. The copywriting wasn’t effective, and all that was built in terms of the website were Photoshop wireframes that the client wasn’t happy with.
While it’s hard to say who is at fault here because we weren’t privy to the conversations that took place, what is clear is that the client was likely not specific enough when it came to inquiring about what was going to be completed, and who was going to do it.
A few additional questions, back-and-forths, and/or an expression of their shock and disappointment with the process might have resulted in a different outcome.
Before moving forward with any hire, you should have a contract in place that outlines expectations on both the client and consultant/contractor end.
That includes boundaries and expectations for communication, deliverables and the scope of work, what is required from you as the business owner for the contractor to do their job, timelines, revisions and check-in guidelines, terms and conditions, and rates.
Again, was this type of contract in place in the example above? I honestly can’t say for sure. But regardless it’s a jarring reminder to not feel bad about taking the hiring process slow.
Ask questions. Get the clarity you need. And read contracts carefully before moving forward with anything.
Look for previous client feedback & examples of their work
A great indicator of whether the person you’re considering hiring is a good fit for what you need, is looking at their previous work.
Do they have a portfolio you can review? Are there testimonials from previous clients clearly visible on their website?
Going beyond their website (because technically anyone can create and post a few fake testimonials), it might also be beneficial to review recent comments on their social media feeds, look for any Google reviews that have been posted, and to search them on LinkedIn.
A quick Google search can do wonders to confirm that the business and its reviews are real, and can offer more transparency than just reviewing the company’s site.
If it’s a big investment or longer contract, maybe consider reaching out to people who have worked with them before, to hear their experience firsthand.
A final element to consider, is if they’re walking the talk themselves.
If you’re considering hiring a web designer, you likely don’t want to scroll down to their website footer and see that their own site was designed by someone else.
Or if you’re hiring a social media manager, it’s likely not a great sign if the creator clearly has an account with fake followers and minimal engagement.
Now granted, sometimes service providers get so caught up in serving their clients that their own marketing takes the backseat. But, the basics should be there! Or, there should be enough other portfolio examples and positive client feedback to make up for it.
Know your values
With so many different approaches to marketing and business growth out there, you want to find someone who aligns with your values.
This includes alignment in:
Their approach to achieving your goals. Are they prioritizing metrics you don’t care about? Are they bending or blurring lines in marketing that are important to you?
Your brand voice. Do they understand your audience enough to speak to them in a way that resonates?
Hours and methods of contact. Do you have clear boundaries around your work that they are going to respect? Or will they be emailing and texting you at all hours of the night?
Timelines and organization. Are you on the same page when it comes to turnaround times and deadlines?
If you want to feel a sense of connection with the person you’re hiring, a conversation or some email back and forth can be quite telling.
If you’re buying a program where you won’t be working with the person directly, consider following the creator on Instagram for a little bit first or consuming their free blog content, to ensure that it’s aligned before you hit purchase on a paid program.
Red flags to watch out for before hiring support
Marketing and content creation can be a challenging game to play. Metrics are constantly changing, and ROI can be hard to determine.
Unfortunately, because of these sometimes blurry lines, and the amount of work that goes on behind-the-scenes, there are a lot of short-cuts people can take to deliver a subpar version of what you requested as the client.
For example, a creator solely using Canva templates for social media creation, companies who “specialize in building websites,” using an easy-to-use platform like Wix to build their client’s sites, or content writers using AI services like ChatGPT to write their captions or blogs without revisions to connect it to the client brand.
That said, there are a lot of red flags to look out for when hiring.
People promising specific follower amounts or revenue levels from their course, training, or by working with them
In marketing, outcomes are dependent on what you do, and how your audience engages with what you create.
Your revenue will depend on how you’ve priced your offer, if the offer is in alignment with your target audience, how you’re promoting it, and if the way you’re presenting the offer is speaking to your audience.
While experts can help you ensure these pieces are in alignment, and that you have specific action steps to take each day to make it more likely people will buy, anyone guaranteeing a specific revenue level is a huge red flag.
In terms of your following on social media, there’s simply no way to guarantee a specific follower amount unless you’re paying for fake followers or bots.
And while having a bigger Instagram following might sound enticing, these fake followers aren’t going to engage with your content or purchase from you anyways. Instead they’ll just drive your engagement down (because the ratio of your followers to metrics like likes and comments will be low), and will cause new potential followers and customers to be skeptical of your account and offerings.
Instead, look for clearly outlined deliverables about how the company or contractor will support you with clarity, content, or strategy.
Lack of customer feedback or portfolio examples
If a company has little to no examples of their work, or previous testimonials, it’s not a good sign.
Unless you’re someone’s first client, they should be able to provide examples of previous work – even if it’s simply their own website, or work they’ve created that hasn't been published.
Lack of portfolio work makes it incredibly hard to gauge if the contractor’s style and execution is aligned with what you’re looking for, and a lack of testimonials can be a sign of a lack of experience, or that previous working relationships have ended poorly.
Content that’s outdated
When purchasing courses or ebooks on anything marketing related, it’s likely a red flag if things haven’t been updated or refreshed recently.
Particularly with a medium like social media that moves so quickly, courses need to as well.
If a course is talking about things like Vine or IGTV, chances are the course isn’t up-to-date enough to support you in achieving your goals.
Unrealistic timelines
Marketing is a long-term play. It’s about strategizing, executing or testing, reviewing the data, getting feedback from your audience, tweaking your plan, and executing again.
Anyone that is promising you “overnight” results, “quick mastery” or results with “little effort” invested, likely has motives that aren’t helping you achieve success long-term.
Aggressive sales tactics
You want to feel confident in any investment you’re making.
Pressure to purchase within a short, specific time, repeated warnings that spaces are selling out, or very limited time offers can be a red flag, depending on the context of the situation and offer.
Of course, if a contractor only takes on a certain number of clients or has a specific time frame where a spot for a client has opened up, there may be some pressure to secure your spot.
But most of the time a contractor should want – just as much as you – for there to be alignment between them and who they work with.
That means they’ll likely have a discussion with you to see if the partnership is a good fit, send you an initial proposal, and give you ample time to respond with questions, to ensure you’re both confident that working together makes sense.
Long-term contracts
Sometimes long-term contracts make sense. Certain projects might require longer testing or implementation periods, and it can be beneficial to work with the same person long-term so that they can become an expert in supporting you and your business.
However, if a marketing company or contractor is aggressive in trying to get you to sign a long-term contract (for example a year or more), it’s not a great sign.
At a minimum, they should be able to explain their rationale and the practical reasons for this contract length.
Especially when first starting with a contractor or company, it’s more common to have a trial period to ensure things are flowing smoothly.
Many companies also offer flexibility in their packages. That’s why I offer my Sharp Marketing Program with 3, 6, or 12 month options. I want you to be confident and comfortable with your investment, and how we’re working together, before we commit to anything too long-term.
Whoever you choose to work with should have a similar mentality – otherwise they may just be in it for their own benefit.
Misalignment
This goes back to the example of a company claiming to specialize in websites, creating only Wix sites (this is another real example, by the way).
There should be alignment between what the contractor is offering, and how they’re delivering it.
Wix is meant to be an incredibly easy-to-use platform. In fact, most of their marketing campaigns are based around the fact that anyone can create a Wix site.
If that’s the case, why would a company specializing in web design use that as their platform of choice? To other web designers, it’s a clear red flag that they might not actually be experts in web design. And, especially depending on the features and functionality you’re looking for in your site, they might not be able to support you.
Offers and packages need to make sense. If something seems off, or too good to be true, it probably is.
This post isn’t meant to scare you – you should hire support!
With all of these potential red flags and warning signs, you might be wondering if it’s easier to just do everything yourself. It’s okay that you may not know what you don’t know yet.
And while that might work for a little while, it’s not sustainable.
The best thing you can do for yourself when you’re getting started hiring help in your business is talk to other business owners who’ve used similar services.
Get an idea from them on what you can and should expect from the service provider, along with some good questions to ask. Having a strong business network will be your greatest asset as you build your business!
While hiring support might take a little effort, there are many incredible service providers out there who have the expertise you need, share your values, and are excited to help you grow your business.
Look for alignment, transparency, and previous social proof and examples when making your decision. At the same time, keep an eye out for anything that seems a little too easy or anyone that promises results a little too quickly.