My ideal client is someone in a decision making role that has been trying to create and manage a successful AdWords campaign themselves for several weeks, months or even years. They have come to realize that while it is easy to open an AdWords account and spend money on clicks, it's quite another thing to create and manage a successful AdWords campaign that delivers the results they hoped for. They have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars, only to realize they are spending way too much of their valuable time and wasting far too much money.

Here are some characteristics of a perspective client I believe will be pleased with my work.

• They have an established, profitable business.
• They are serious about hiring a professional and not simply looking for a quick fix or free advice.
• They have an existing Google AdWords account with at least three month's experience. My business model is a collaborative process. You must have a working knowledge of AdWords in order for the process to work effectively. There are exceptions to this rule, but it will require more time and accepting more risk.
• They like the idea of a collaborative approach and want to know what is happening in their account, why and what the options are for enhancing performance. They want to be part of the decision making process, even if it only has to do with the business and not the technical aspects of the account. They want to know that their knowledge of the market, their product and their prospect is taken into account.
• They are committed to search marketing for the long run or they are willing to make an investment to determine if AdWords can be a viable source of leads or sales. How much that costs and how long it takes is unique to each business. However, they are prepared to invest at least $1,000 in getting professional help to determine if it will work for them, even though they are not committed to actually spending the $1,000.
• They accept responsibility for their ultimate search marketing success. They understand that search marketing encompasses a lot more than just their AdWords account. Their business model, website, sales process, value proposition, profit margin and many other important factors will determine their ultimate success. They appreciate that the campaign manager brings qualified visitors and the website convinces the visitor to take the desired action.
• They understand that creating the optimal campaign is a process of testing & refining; testing keywords, bid prices, ad copy, landing pages, geo-targeting, networks and more. The emphasis is on executing a process because no one gets it exactly right without testing and adjusting. Testing means there will be setbacks. You must be willing to experiment.
• They are willing to have a daily budget large enough to bring the amount of traffic necessary to work the process of optimizing their account. The size of the daily budget is dependent on the average cost-per-click and the amount of traffic purchased. Both of these factors are unique to each business and can only be estimated once adequate research is done.
• They are selling a product or service that has enough profit to support PPC click charges, the cost of my services and possible enhancements to their website. This is somewhat arbitrary, but I believe there needs to be at least $20 of profit in a sale or in the value of a lead or you won't be able to justify my service. This is a case where "more is better".

Here are examples of situations which I don't believe will work well for either of us.

• If you believe what stands between where you are today and a significant increase in online leads or sales, are just a few tweaks to your AdWords account, then we probably are not a good fit. Why, because AdWords is deceptively simple, yet devilishly complex. And, even a perfectly designed and implemented AdWords campaign only delivers a qualified prospect to your website. At that point, you are still a long way from getting that lead or sale or more importantly, increased profits. For some additional insight, read my article titled What is your problem.
• Those who want guaranteed results in the form of increased profits or sales as a qualification for hiring me. You see, there are just too many variables beyond my control to accept that kind of responsibility. For example, even if I do everything perfectly, which I won’t, all I have done is deliver a qualified visitor to your website. After that, it’s the job of the website to convince the visitor to take the action you want.
• I have tried several different business models, but have settled on hourly consulting because it reduces the client's risk and gives them a lot more flexibility over the process and their budget. However, it won't work for everyone. If you are the kind of person who thinks that just because someone works by the hour, you get to control their every move or are entitled to a detailed report of their activities, then my service will not be a good fit for you. When clients hire me, it's because I have knowledge, experience and a proven process that works. When you hire me to help you develop and manage your campaign, you are buying my process.
• Those who expect perfection. I realize that $100/hour may seem like a lot, but there are other consultants that do what I do, that charge $300, $500, $750 and even $1,000 per hour, and even they won't guarantee perfection. When you hire me you are getting someone who has been doing nothing but creating and managing PPC campaigns, full-time for at least 7 years. You are getting the benefit of that experience on an hourly basis. You can turn it on and off at will. Any campaign or ad group I develop, will not be perfect when it is first launched and it will take time, and often a collaborative effort to complete the optimization process.
• If you are spending only a few dollars a day on PPC click charges and you are looking for short-term, tangible results, chances are you won't be happy. The more you are spending on AdWords, the more I will be able to save you and the easier it will be for you to justify my service. Finding new opportunities comes after I understand your business, your market and your competition.
• Those who are looking for someone to "just set up" their campaign. This is typical of a person who does not appreciate that having a successful advertising campaign is a process. Although there are lots of firms who will be happy to take your money and "just set up" your campaign, I am not one of them. If all I did was set up your campaign without understanding your business or having an opportunity to fine-tune the campaign, chances are very good you will not be happy.
• "Bus Op", short for Business Opportunity or "get rich quick". Most of the clients I've worked with in this industry are victims who are under the mistaken impression that all they need to do is drive traffic to their website and the money will just roll in. In many cases, their mentor, the person who got them into this get-rich-quick scheme, has even given them the exact keywords to use. When that doesn't work out, they go looking for a professional who can provide a quick fix.
• Other AdWords agencies! Yes, I get a call about once a month from another Google AdWords agency who is in over their head and needs help. Usually they simply don't have the skills to handle anything but the most basic campaign or they are one step away from being let go from their client because they can't deliver on a promise they shouldn't have made in the first place. The problem with this scenario is not that I can't help them, it's that they insist on isolating me from the client, and to the agency it's about controlling costs instead of about increasing profits. Two recipes for failure.