Q: Why is 49er-consulting special?
A: Small businesses just like large ones, need Internet marketing. But the challenges for small business to get talented help include budget and volume of hours. Small businesses don't have that much money to spend. But they do require a diversified approach to Internet marketing. Out of these needs, 49er-consulting saw our market niche.

We cater to small businesses who want:
1) Great rates (low pricing)
2) Great value (integrated labor even at entry level low-hour plans)
3) High level service and support (personal and custom solutions)

As an agency, we do without the gimmicky services and frills that can inflate our rates. We forego overhead where we can and pass it along to our clients. We give clients the straight labor and Fortune 500 client service at great prices. We continue to outdistance ourselves from the competition by our dedication for our clients. We want to be the primary search engine marketing agency clients can grow with and depend on over time.

Q: Why the name, 49er-consulting?
A: In life, we are all searching for something. In business, we are all prospecting for customers. 49er-consulting, like the namesake 49er of the Great Amercian Gold Rush, embodies that hands-on spirit. 49er-consulting is also a US company, so we are proud to choose the name because the 49er epitomizes the value of American exceptionalism to get things done. We are very proud of our brand. Read more about it here.

Q: Why should I hire an agency? I can do the work of ppc management and email marketing myself for my business.
A: Most business owners can do some of our kind of work with varying levels of success. But as a business owner, should you really be spending 3-4 hours each day doing such things? The greater question is, are you properly managing your Internet marketing campaigns with careful thought and strategy that they deserve? Or, are you just plugging along? 49er-consulting brings a wealth of experience documenting sorely needed strategy for our clients.

Q: There are other ppc management agencies out there. Why choose 49er-consulting?
A: We're kind of unique because we don't let autopiloting software manage your account like many other agencies do. We also don't employ so many wasteful employees and gimmicky resources. This keeps our rates low. We're also ok if you want us to use your existing google account and make improvements from there. Many agencies don't prefer to spend time that way. They like to recreate everything (and charge you an expensive setup fee). The bad part there is, your data is disregarded and left behind.

Q: Can't I just hire an employee or a freelancer?
A: How much would it cost to hire a junior ppc manager? When you find out you need more help than just with ppc, will you have enough payroll to hire more professionals? Will you understand the issues well enough to manage your technology employees efficiently? If you instead hired freelancers, will you be prepared to carefully and constantly document all the technical and business requirements in writing as most professional freelancers prefer? Will you be prepared to handle the unpredictable management issues involved with freelancers, especially international ones?

Q: How does 49er-consulting offer such low rates?
A: Most of our core services are managed by our small team of directors and staff. We are experienced enough to handle most tasks quickly and effectively. Only rarely will we contract other vendors or freelancers for help. We charge low rates because we love our clients and understand the needs of small businesses. We ourselves are a small business.

Q: What is Small Business Consulting (SBC)?
A: SBC is essentially the pre-priced packages you see on our homepage. SBC labor is perfect for small/micro businesses, start-ups, and individual agents (realtors, insurance reps, financial advisors, etc.). These entities require limited, although consistent consulting. Budgets are also a concern, so we keep our SBC low-priced, and high in value because clients can access any of our integrated services with their monthly bank of hours.

SBC involve annual contracts with fixed monthly consulting fees and banks of hours. You can see them on our homepage.

The SBC sales process is minimal and uncomplicated. Consultation may involve telephone calls, or face-to-face presentations that are simple in nature. Clients can begin the process right away by placing orders with their credit cards on the homepage.

Q: What is Full Service Consulting?
A: FSC is most called for when medium or large companies require projects that involve deadlines, complex labor, and or intensive personnel resources and management.

FSC involve project contracts that are fulfilled after requirements have been met with satisfaction, or when other conditions are met. FSC can also involve exclusive management agreements for a specified length of time, or when other conditions are met.

The FSC sales process is the traditional method of submitting Requests for Proposals in exchange for Proposals. To initiate the process, please submit a contact form and indicate Sales Questions in the Subject, and indicate your desire to submit an RFP in the Message field. We will reply with a direct email address and proposals account manager for you to work with.

Q: Do you have a money back guarantee?
A: Yes. If you don't like the service you are getting, then within 30 days, you can benefit from our money back guarantee policy. There's never any risk for buying a plan.

Q: Can I change my plan any time?
A: Yes, and without penalty. You can change your plan to accomodate more or less labor hours, and your contract duration will not reset. In other words, if you change your plan half way into your annual contract term, then your current contract will expire in six months as if you never changed plans.

Q: Do you have any month to month agreements? I don't like the obligation of an annual contract.
A: Some Internet marketing agencies charge a large setup fee, and keep it month to month.

The disadvantages there are:
1) They charge an expensive setup fee upfront
2) They can increase prices at any time

An annual contract will protect you from rate increases. All agencies must increase their rates over time as they get busier. Our pricing is more fair. If set up work demands six hours, for example, then you consume six hours from your monthly allotment of hours. Other agencies will charge you hundreds or thousands for set up work that in reality can take just a few hours.

Requiring at least 12 months is the only way we offset our low fees. We can't stay in business offering our rates for just spot work assignments. We prefer to work with growing businesses that understand the benefits of long term agency relationships.

Q: Tell me more about your basic contracts. What mix of labor do they typically have?
A: Each client has different situations and needs. And we can be flexible every month with how you want to spend your allotted hours. We'll be there to guide you every step of the way and recommend actions to take.

You can read about some examples here.

To read more about our services, click here.

Q: What happens if I have questions or need help?
A: Once you open an account, you will be assigned a client manager. You can a direct all your service and support questions to that person, and you can be confident you will get the personalized help you need. Our client managers also have the responsibilities of consulting with your business. As time goes by, you can discuss the changing state and needs of your business with him or her. Your client manager will also discuss with you periodically how we are doing as an agency to reach your business goals. In short, your client manager is your main contact for all things. We are not so large and impersonal that we urge our clients to go through an impersonal support or consulting process.

Q: Is ppc management better run with software?
A: Many of the larger companies use bid management software. This software will automate reaching business goals like ROI or ad position levels. But sometimes, this can lead to unpredictable outcomes, like low lead volume, or consistently high ad spending. This software can be expensive to acquire and maintain by agencies. Guess who pays for that added expense? As the client, you do. Presently, we don't employ software to manage ppc accounts. We use good old-fashioned human eyes and brains to make decisions. Isn't your business worth it?

The disdavantages with allowing ppc agencies to use bid management software on your behalf is that you're kept in the dark, and leaving them becomes a risky proposition. PPC agencies don't want to spend time analyzing your existing Google account. They claim to prefer to re-build it with better organization in mind. In reality, they have to board your keywords into their bid management software. They probably won't allow you access to this software, let alone educate you on how it operates. So during your time with them, you will receive very little education. You may however, receive some occasional reports.

Having understood your keywords are organized into their bid management software, what happens on the day you decide to leave them? You may be able to retrieve some campaign report data if you ask nicely. But what will result is you will wind up with a data gap- From the time you used Google and then allowed another agency to manage your keywords using their software, to the time you're managing your keywords again when you leave that agency. The gap of data effects your campaign quality, and thus pricing and efficiencies.

Why would your former agency want to help you reconstruct your Google account? You just left them. In a correct sense, using bid management software is a good way to penalize from leaving them.

Q: Should I be paying attention to what social networks my agency chooses for my business?
A: Yes. Some agencies, frankly have a careless try anything approach. Or many times, they will go with whatever seems popular. For example, certain social networks have a traditional following of younger people. It may add more traffic to your ads or website, but ultimately, this would be the wrong kind of traffic and exposure for your business. Even worse, you certainly wouldn't want the wrong traffic to curiously click on one of your ppc ads, for example! 49er-consulting takes the quality approch to promoting your business with the right social networks. Our professional consultants know the limitations of each of the major social networks. And each do certainly have limitations!

Q: How do I know if my business will qualify for your low contract rates?
A: That's a tough question to answer in a few sentences. We want to make sure your company is a small business. It would be very unfair to us if a large company used our resources at our low rates because for them, it would be a way to avoid fair payroll to their employees, or more expensive fees with the more appropriate-sized agency. Our standards for what defines a small business can be relative from one industry to the next. On a case-by-case basis, we will review and decide whether to work with medium and large companies.

Q: Will my contract rate stay this low the next time I renew?
A: Most likely, no. Our rates will be guaranteed to increase over time. Furthermore, we fully expect to do good work for our clients, so that means our clients will grow over time as well. This means you will be demanding more services and complex labor, and with your own company growth, you can appropriately afford fair rates. Having said this, from time to time, we do offer promotions to save on your next renewal contracts. You just have to watch for them in your email!

This all just means you should sign up and lock into a good rate contract today!

Q: Will you sell or use my email to spam me junk mail?
A: No. If you submit your email to us to join our newsletter service, or ask for a free analysis, rest assured that is all we are interested in providing. We will never sell or email you anything unauthorized without your permission.