Unfortunately, for every great online marketing professional out there, there are 10 more people who truly suck. I’ve heard tons of horror stories from entrepreneurs who got burned by a social media or SEO expert and are now too gun shy to hire an expert again. You shouldn’t let the bad apples scare you off from the entire profession, though. Here are some tips I’ve learned from clients’ experiences that will hopefully help you pick a top notch online marketing professional and not waste another penny on one who’s not worth his or her salt.

If you have any other tips for how to spot the superstar online marketers in a sea of fakes, please let me know in the comments below!