SEO Reseller Tip #1: Understand the Business Model

As with many ventures, the business model of SEO reselling matters. In fact, if there's a single tip you can take away from the many tips you will find on this blog, it is tip No. 1: understand the business model.

Corporate mumbo jumbo and management buzz words aside, a business model is simply how the business works. It's the idea behind the company. It's the process of how the product creates value for both customer and producer. It doesn't have to be complicated for any business, reselling SEO included.

In a nutshell, this is how the SEO reseller business model works:

The basic SEO Reseller Business Model

As you may have noticed, there are three parties involved: the producer, the reseller, and the client. This business model works not just for SEO but for any product or service. For instance, when yo buy a juice drink at the convenience store, you might notice two company names and address; one is of the "manufacturer" and the other, the "distributor." In essence, he producer is the one creating the product or the service. The reseller is the one distributing or bringing the product to the client or customer.

One thing to note here is there is a line draw across the reseller. This line represents a wall that prevents the producer and the client from dealing directly with each other. Therefore, in the SEO reseller business model, the producer deals with the reseller, not with the client. The client deals with the reseller, not with the producer.

The Reseller Vs. the Retail Business Model

As a reseller, this business model is your safeguard. This is what prevents a producer from stealing your clients. After all, what the client needs is the service provided by the producer, right? However, it would be unfair to count the reseller out of the equation since he found the client AND the producer.

Unfortunately, that scenario happens in the real world. You cannot remove the possibility of the producer stealing the client from you and suddenly switching into a retail model. In this case, the reseller is deemed irrelevant and is take out of the equation. The transaction happens between the provider and the client. See the diagram below.

The basic Retail Business Model takes out the reseller.

To Sum It All Up...

1. Entrepreneurs or agencies that want to resell SEO should know the reseller business model
2. They should ensure that the provider practices the reseller model, not the retail model