Global communication is still nascent, and I'm firmly convinced my grandchildren will titter at the notion of Twitter being online communication. As the space explodes, an in-house online marketer needs to do a brutally honest assessment of their own skills and their staff's skills.

There are simply too many sub-disciplines with nuances that create success or cause failure if not properly addressed. In the last two months, I've hired two consultants for areas in which I thought my team was weak. I also approached a third I heard speak at SES and asked that person to take on a job.

His response, similar to one I recently received from a well-known Gooruze member, was surprising. This person politely turned down the job because the company didn't specialize in that area. We're all online a lot. We know the basics of many different areas. Just like my general practitioner can see me for a variety of ailments, most of the people reading this have at least a fundamental knowledge of content, SEO, PPC, rich media, public relations and more. Like my doctor, however, we must learn when to say, "I understand this, but there are better people who can care for your needs."

I remain impressed by those in our industry who remain true to their specialties and keep an active network of specialists who can help in other areas.

Be Not Afraid

One issue I've heard in talking with other in-house marketers is that they are concerned that management will push back on any consulting fees for online marketing.

Don't you know all that web SE-whatever jazz?

That is when your skills assessment comes in to play. You're going to have to slowly educate the boss. You may not know how site architecture relates to organic or the best ways to optimize social. And if you do know those things, you may be able to muddle through writing a press release, but not as well as a media relations person can -- especially if the target is an online audience. Let's agree to not even discuss usability since everyone on the planet is an instant usability expert the minute they see a web site.

As someone building your company's profitability, you owe a fair assessment to all the stakeholders. That means knowing that you don't get design, but you're a PPC wizard. Or maybe you just want a second set of eyes on something. I've experienced both of those situations this quarter.

In the first instance, I knew that a client's organic was not working as smoothly as the others. There were multiple issues, and I wasn't sure I could determine which ones were causing the drop. So I squared my shoulders and told two executives that it was time to spend some money. The results were interesting -- I had missed two things, which both contributed to the issue because I was so focused on the egregious problems I did find.

In the second instance, I wanted a usability and landing pages expert to look over my shoulder. Two in-house already had done so, and they are good, but this was an important part of 2008's strategy. I wrote the person I heard at SES and received a lovely candid email saying, "We could do this, but it's not what we do well."

Knowing What To Spend On

The good old traditional SWOT analysis is a great assessment tool for an inhouse team. Figure out where you all rank well (pun intended) and where you have opportunity. Put your best number crunchers and strategists on the opportunities. Now the big issues -- figure out where your team is weak or faces a threat and ask some hard questions:

• Does this weakness materially impact the business?
• What's the ROI on curing the weakness through a hire versus a consultant?
• Does the team have the right mix of people? On a five person time, having four PPC specialists may be needed because of PPC volume, but what can be automated? And if something can be automated to free up X hours, is there someone who can transition to a new specialty or is it time to look at reconfiguring the team?
• Ask people whose opinion you trust, obviously not competitors, and certainly not people in the organization if they have an axe to grind.

Most importantly, after your medical checkup when you decide you need a specialist, bring solutions, not problems to the executive team. Reach out to people here at Gooruze or in your social networks. Describe the issue in broad terms. Ask for an assessment and a rough estimate if you're going the consulting route. Get multiple opinions, not just one from you buddy, but be honest and tell the person that this is an unbudgeted initiative. Ask others in the field if they think bringing the competency inhouse is a good idea, and if you don't know what people in that sub-specialty are earning, ask others who hire them.

Go in to your meeting with management armed with a full cost-benefit analysis. Describe the issue and the solution. Look for a go/no-go. Maybe starting with a consultant before hiring is smart. Maybe it's just time to hire a critical need. If so, consider hiring the consultant to help you interview.

The issue is to be confident. Lawyers specialize. Physicians specialize. Auto mechanics specialize. There is a good reason for online marketers to also specialize, and more importantly, not doing so could hurt you.