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This is not an article that is going to fix all your ills and make your website zoom to the top of your search engine. Sorry!

This is not even a how-to article, however if you are considering spending your advertising and marketing dollars on link building, directory listings, and Ad words please read on.

I have spent all of three month’s working in the social media, SEO development world, and I am amazed at the different values companies are charging for these services.  (Yes I have found after three month’s that I am already ahead of the curve in online marketing knowledge.)

The time to get your business listed is valuable, I get it, these companies know what they are doing and will save you a tremendous amount of time. But before you pay that monthly fee ask yourself this question?  What knowledge will you have learned and how have you improved your company in the process.

See I have come to realize that these services are extremely valuable in saving me time. However I have also come to realize that by doing it myself (once) I save money and I learn a valuable asset that gives me control, and knowledge to grow in the future. I spoke with an account the other day which was going to spend $695 a month to have her Web-site Optimized and placed on all the major search engines plus run an effective ad word campaign  to guarantee her traffic to her site. As I looked at this package and started to add up all the services which are Free to her if she does it herself I started to get a little baffled.

Then I started searching her company on search engines and she was already in the top three locations in four of the five local search categories most relevant to her business.  So she was basically paying someone $695 a month to manage an ad word program.  Is this a fair price? Maybe, I can’t tell you that. But I am certain this account had no idea that the services she was being sold had little to no expense involved and her company will not be moving up very far in search results that are with in her buying area.

So what do we do, capitalism and free enterprise are the life blood of America. I have no complaints about any company that is charging for these services.

But I am trying to educate small business owners about the savings that are all around them with just a little searching. You can truly capture share of marketplace with a shoestring budget if you are willing to give it a little effort.

• Directories will take you about three to four hours. Most if not all have a Free listing you just need to claim, and many have low-budget link builders that can be purchased to help you rank higher.
• Links can be complicated but can be done for free in many cases.  Often starting a simple business blog and setting a routine schedule of blogs will get you the desired results and give you a place to exchange links.  Want to learn check this site out, it is filled with great links that will get you the information needed.  http://www.verticalmeasures.com/link-building/top-100-link-building-resources/
• Ad words – a Google account is free and the dashboards they have are easy to operate and manage. Just set a monthly budget and target the customers of choice.

Alright I know I have done nothing but add to your already busy schedule. Do yourself a favor, before your next purchase talk to some one who has done this and get an evaluation of your goals and where you are at first. You might just save yourself a ton of expense and still reach your desired goals.

I offer local businesses a one hour FREE consultation to discuss Media Goals and options. Give me a call . http://www.1to1valet.com

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