agree. I'm doing seo for a financial website, it's a very competitive niche, but both he and I knew that going in... I charge him $2500 a month and he's happy since he's getting traffic and signups. The more competitive the niche, the more difficult to obtain a first page listing. In his case we agreed upfront that he'd hire me for 120 days. During that time I worked my tail off, learned a lot, did a lot and we communicated regularly and what I was doing and what he needed.
He got to #6 on G... then we slacked off and he's now on the top of page 2. Whomever you hire, me or any of many talented SEO specialist on BHW, make certain you understand going in the SEO isn't a quick fix and that you will need a full scale attack to make it work..
Then... once you reach your desired spot, a lesser degree of intensity can be used, but still you have to show G that you're in the game if you want to REMAIN "King of the Mountain"