How to Attract Readers to Your Website (hint: don't hire a marketing pro)

So, you've been thinking about hiring a marketing consultant for your blog, your website, or your business. You want to attract customers, traffic, and readers...why not turn to a "professional"?

Well, put simply, because you should look for someone that can do a better job.

Here's some tips for locating help:

• Don't search for help under "Marketing" or "Advertising" or "Business."
• Think of someone you know who is a good writer and who has good social skills.
• If you don't know someone like that, ask around.
  
• Good marketers typically don't go into marketing. They are people in other fields who have an excellent mastery of the English language and who are likable because they are just really nice people. [They won't be pushy, manipulating, self-serving, or dishonest. And they won't claim to be doing it all for a greater good. That's the kind of marketer that you'll probably find if you search "marketing" on Google.]
  
• If you find a potential candidate, go out to coffee with him/her. See if he can market himself (the real test). What does that mean? Well, do you walk away, thinking "that's a caring, intelligent person with a purpose greater than themselves" OR do you think "just another schmooze who spends way too much talking and way too little time listening"? If he/she is the caring, intelligent type, then you can move to step two (asking about other skills they might have...).
  

So, if you're looking for a marketing pro, look in unexpected places. Maybe it's your son's fifth grade teacher or the stay-at-home mom down the street or that recent college grad you struck up a conversation with at the coffeehouse...

(Picture by: sgis)