There is a world of difference between working out a digital marketing strategy for a client and actually implementing it.
One of the key issues is that there are many contributors to the process and briefs need to be prepared and explained and then project managed.
You will need access to a lot of resources and they all need co-ordinating and management;
- one or more designers (individual designers are good at different things so you need to understand which designer is right for a given job)
- website developers
- programmers (yes, there is a difference between a website developer and programmer, and once again, you need them for different purposes)
- software and plugin sources
- supplier relationship management
- email and hosting services (outsourced or your own servers)
- technical support for your own hosting servers
- website content writers and content developers
- sources for images
- SEO strategists and implementers
- security scanning and malware removal specialists
- website maintenance developers
While a few of these functions may be done by the same person, the best results come from having access to specialists. And don’t forget, you need to recruit all of these providers, some of whom may be employees or permanent contractors and others may be outsource businesses. Then of course you have to pay them all.
So why don’t more Consultants build a business in this space…isn’t it obvious? Too big a job and insufficient business volume to justify the initial investment required.
Vee Digital makes this a viable business model for Consultants by allowing them to share the resources and knowledge that Vee Digital has built over the last 5 years.
We provide an on-line store exclusively for our Partners that they purchase products and services from. Pricing is set at wholesale levels with mark-ups available to Partners reseller pricing generally within the 15%-100%+ range and in many cases substantially higher depending on the value adds that you provide in the course of your business. You continue to earn your own consulting fees and product margins and more because there are opportunities to Project Manage, earn margins on products and services provided by Vee Digital and carry out work that would otherwise have been outsourced elsewhere directly by the client previously.
Vee Digital deals with you as our Partner only, and you retain full control of your client relationship. You charge the client direct and present all products and services. We can remain in the back ground or be visible as some of our Partners prefer as a demonstration of their back office capability.
Cash flow funding is carefully structured. Our Partners generally charge fees to their client by way of a 50% deposit plus usually 2 x 25% tranches (for more substantial works such as website development) which means that when you place the order to buy our product or service, the 50% retail deposit either completely or closely covers the wholesale price. All in much the same way that a clothing retailer makes purchases from a wholesaler, marks the prices up in their shop and sells them to their customers. Some products of course a fully charged up front at your retail price. This allows back to back pricing for recurring fees (you collect retail, pay wholesale and retain the margin) and consulting fees for which you keep 100% of course.
Work is managed through an on-line Project Management website and websites are hosted either on Vee Digital servers or on specialist hosting providers. Our hosting is only our customers and we do not permit risky ventures to reside on our servers…unlike lots of the big brand name, shared server facilities. We also provide security services.
Then there is Partner training. We provide a membership login on the website where stationery and website briefing templates are available for you to download and re-brand to use in your business. New information and trainings are being added progressively and we run regular webinars for product knowledge sessions…which are recorded for future access.
Our member Partners pay a monthly membership fee for access to project management, our wholesale store, the membership training and stationery portal, access to our Project Manager.
So as you can see there is quite a lot of work involved in running a Digital Consultancy, but it is a totally viable and affordable option for Consultants who Partner with Vee Digital.
Discover more about becoming a Vee Digital Partner here.