6 Reasons to Hire an Expert (or Not)

In my previous post, I talked about the growing trend towards do-it-yourself in business.  With all these tools available, it’s easy for business owners to get distracted by how much money they could save and try to do everything themselves.  However, in some instances, it really is advantageous to hire an expert.  What follows are six reasons that you might want to hire an expert.  If after going through the list, you remain unconvinced, then chances are you can do it yourself.

1. Expertise

Okay, so this might seem blatantly obvious and ridiculous for being included, but oftentimes, we tend to forget that experts (real experts), actually do possess knowledge and expertise that the rest of us do not.  That’s how they became experts.  In some cases, you absolutely need that expertise.  Also, how much expertise you need is a function of the severity of the situation.  If I need to change the oil on my car, I can do that myself.  If I need to change the transmission on my car, I need an expert.

In the world of internet marketing, it’s no different.  You may be able to write pretty well, and you might be able to throw together a half-decent looking site using some free resources.  For many people that may be all they need.  However, if you really want to maximize the potential of your website, a good professional copywriter has the expertise necessary to write you copy that will sell.  You can write, but he is an expert at writing.

2. Time Savings

“Time is money.”  I have no idea where that quote came from, but its truth for any businessperson is undeniable.  Every hour you waste fiddling with your website, or your Adwords campaign, or your analytics reports, is an hour you’re not spending making the products that make you money.  Saving $2,000 on hiring a consultant is not savings if you could have spent the time you were using doing the consultant’s job making $5,000.

Not to mention that entrepreneurs work notoriously long hours, and sometimes, the money spent on an expert is worth it even if all it means is that you have a little more time for yourself, for your family and for your life outside of your business.

3. Money Savings

This might seem counter-intuitive, because you spend money on experts, so how can they save you money?  Well, if you’ve ever tried to do something yourself and screwed it up royally, then you understand.  A friend of mine once tried to save some cash by remodeling his bathroom himself.  He paid for the materials, but saved on labour, and he had the extra time on his hands to do the renovations.  All was going well, until in the course of remodeling, he burst a water pipe.  He had to hire a contractor to fix the resulting damage caused by flooding.  Total savings?  Negative.

The same thing can happen with your marketing.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can potentially waste thousands of dollars on ineffective advertising.  That’s not to say you can’t figure it out.  You can, but you have to accept the risk that something might go wrong, and that could cost you far more than hiring an expert would have cost you.

4. Learning Experience

Something I look for in any expert I hire is someone that is willing to share his experience and educate me while still doing the job I hired him for.  This is particularly great if you want to learn a new field or just further your knowledge in a certain field.  Perhaps you can learn enough that next time around you’ll feel comfortable doing the job yourself.  True, not everything can be taught in the course of a short relationship.  My mechanic just wasn’t willing to talk me through how he went about changing my transmission.  However, in small business marketing, where most experts fulfill a consultative role, their goal should be to help the client learn.

5. Benefiting from Connections

If you go to a foreign country on vacation, and you look like a tourist, it won’t take you long to feel like you’re getting screwed.  You always get the sense that there’s two prices.  One for the locals, and one for the tourists.  That’s because there is.  Dabbling in do-it-yourself is a lot like that.  When you venture into the world of internet marketing, you’re a tourist.  You will go to the tourist attractions, and you will pay more for less.

Hiring an expert is like getting a local guide.  He knows the lay of the land.  He knows where the best deals are.  He knows who to go to get a quality service, and who’s just going to rob you.  This knowledge, these connections and this network come from living and breathing the stuff that you’re just dabbling in.  When you hire an expert, you get to take advantage of all that.

6. Growing Your Own Network

You know all those connections and that network that your expert used to help you when you hired him?  Well, if you play your cards right, you’ll be able to use some of those connections and part of that network even after the relationship with the expert is over.  In the world of business, the cliche is that who you know is as important as what you know.  By using experts, you get introductions to the right people who may be of service to you in the future.

To Hire or Not to Hire?

After going through the above list, what are your thoughts?  Do you still believe that experts are a waste of money?  Or would you never even consider undertaking a project in unfamiliar territory without the help of an expert? Let’s hear about it in the comments.