The potential problems of hiring a freelancing SEO 'guru'

Hi all,

I am thinking of outsourcing my SEO to a freelancer... through either ODesk, or HireaFreelancer.

I posted my job, I had a whole bunch of replies, and am now sifting through the resumes.

I get the impression from half of them that I could do a better job, and am worried that they might get my sites sandboxed, by linking from bad neighborhoods... using bad methods... etc..

Some boast of their results, But I'm sure I could come up number 1 in google for a lontail like "unique tennis court matts screen" LOL (with only 5 competing sites LOL LOL)

What are some of the experiences of other members on these services?

Has anyone had any positive results / negative results?

How do you find the wheat amonst the chaf...?

And, what are the pitfalls to watch out for, should I decide to go with one of these guys?

Thanks.

Find someone that is already making ok money on here doing the same thing you're trying to do now. From my understanding, a few of my seo ppl split 50/50 with the person offering it to local biz and do quite well. If you dont want to hire a team, i think its best to go with someone that already has one.

do it yourself or just hire me

There's this great site called Blackhat World with freelancers listed there.