So, how does one actually become a social media manager?
What experience do you need to be considered an expert online?
Let's talk about how to start a social media manager business.
Luckily for you, I've been there and done that.
I want to tell you what's the best way to get started in a social media management business
to ensure you're ready to go full-time.
And if you're already your own boss and you don't know what to do next, don't panic.
I'm gonna let you in on my 3 tips for getting your social media management business off the ground.
But maybe you're still weighing your options and considering social media management as a career.
We'll talk about the skills you need to become a highly valuable social media manager later
in today's video.
I started my business as a social media manager back in 2016 while I was still in my 9-5 as
a dental hygienist.
Yes, I used to clean teeth all day, everyday.
And for me, I knew that I wanted something that was more creative so I started doing
social media management for the dental office that I worked at.
Between patients, I would just post on their social media and I would make some Facebook
and Instagram posts to share things that were going on in the office and I started to get
some good results with that.
People would come into the office after hearing about us on these platforms and from that,
the I.T. guy at the dental office said, "Hey, would you be interested in doing social media
management for my other client?
They'll pay you," and I didn't even really know that it was something that I could get
paid for but it was something I knew how to do and was good at it so I said sure.
Well, next thing I know, he referred me to all of his clients and I had the start of
a good business.
What I really want to highlight in that story is that you never know where your opportunity
might come from.
You experimenting on different platforms or having little side jobs for friends or family
could lead into more opportunities and referrals.
Once I had my foot in the door with some social media clients, I knew that for me, to grow
my business, I needed to grow my portfolio.
So, I went into some social media manager Facebook groups to expand my skills and also
try to find other opportunities.
I also asked friends and family if they needed help or if they had referrals for friends
that might need help with their businesses' social media.
The other way for you to expand your skills as a social media manager is by doing your
own social media to the point where you get noticed and people start to recognize you
as an expert and might want to hire you for their business.
So since you clicked on this video, I want to know who do you want to help as a social media manager.
What's your mission statement? Let me know in the comments below.
This could be a really great place to get inspiration or maybe someone watching this
video might be your next opportunity so share your mission statement and who you help in
the comments below.
If you're just getting started, I want to share with you my 3 biggest tips for getting
started with your business.
I shared with you that you can reach out to friends and family for referrals but you can
also find local businesses near you that could become your first clients.
Now, I will put a big disclaimer in this.
When you're first starting, a lot of people will discount their services or work for free.
Now, I don't typically like discounting services because I don't want people to discount the
attention or appreciation that they put into the work that you're doing.
When people pay, they pay more attention.
They're gonna appreciate it more.
So, if you're eager to get clients but you're a little hesitant to charge the going rate
for your work, maybe work at cost to build the experience or position yourself as creating
a ton of value for them at a minimal cost because you're beta testing some of your new strategies.
Determine your rates and your financial policies before you approach a client.
One of the most important things that I unfortunately learned the hard way is that most times as
a social media manager, you need to charge for your services upfront.
You're doing a ton of work and work that's gonna help them to grow their clientele or
grow their business, you should be compensated for that.
I unfortunately got myself into the position where I would do a month full of work and
then be chasing them for their payment and sometimes that payment never came.
This is just completely industry standard so don't feel guilty about charging upfront
for the work that you're doing, especially as a contractor.
Another great tip for you to expand your business as a social media manager is to niche down
and start freelancing within that Niche.
And what I mean by niche down is to have a specific strategy or business that you like to work with.
I know social media managers that specially work with only dental offices or I know social
media managers that are specific in their work for e-commerce clients or you might niche
down into a specific strategy.
Maybe you're a social media manager that specializes on Instagram.
You might think that niching down means that you have less clientele to work with but as
a specialist, you are actually going to niche down to blow up because you become well-known
for that specific thing.
If you've ever heard of the term "jack of all trades, master of none," think of that
when you're considering what niche should I go into and what could I niche down to blow up?
Before I share with you the skills that you need to become a social media manager, make
sure that you subscribe to this channel.
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Now, as a social media manager, there's some very specific skills that you need.
First of all, I would recommend that you are a good writer.
If you're gonna be creating content, you need to know how to be able to reach your audience
with clear messaging, persuasion and of course, at minimum, good spelling and grammar.
In addition to content writing, you're gonna want to become good at researching.
Especially if you have clients of all different industries, you're gonna learn a lot about
businesses, you maybe never would've had the opportunity to.
One of my first clients was a plumbing company and I learned way more about plumbing than
I ever thought possible but it was so helpful in me creating content especially as someone
that doesn't have an education in plumbing or pipe fitting.
I thought about how would I want to consume content from a plumbing content as a homeowner.
And if you can create content that you enjoy consuming, that's the first step.
I know for me that when I would see on other plumbing companies' social media there be
like these tips and fun facts, sure that's great but what about the stuff that actually
makes an impact on people and makes them stop scrolling among all the other noise on social media.
So, in that case I started creating content based on yes, tips and things that they should
know but included the story of the company and the people that work there behind that.
That way people could relate to people and be captivated by the stories which could then
lead them into the tactical tips and fun facts that they should know.
It's also super helpful if you have some graphic design skills.
Now, it's not that you have to go to school and learn Photoshop and all these crazy intense
tools because I sure don't, but Canva is a great software and a free tool that you can
use online to be able to create content for yourself or your social media clients very easily.
So, knowing those tips and moving forward into your social media business, make sure
that before you work with any client, you determine the parameters of your business.
What responsibilities do you want to have?
What responsibilities do you want to exclude?
If clients ever come to you and say, "Hey, could you just do a little bit more of this?"
Make sure that you have clear boundaries on what you do and what you don't do and what
they've paid for and what you might need to increase in your invoice if they're gonna
ask for additional help.
I know that when you're first starting your business we want to say yes to everyone, we
might want to be a people pleaser but it's really important for you to be able to sustain
this business that you have clear boundaries and expectations and results.
I am so excited that you're growing your social media business, that's how I started and I
grew it into a 7-figure per year business and I help people grow it through my niche
of video marketing and helping them to sell high ticket through that.
I want to help you as a social media manager get high ticket clients.
Imagine being able to have clients that pay you 5 or even $10,000 a month?
Can you believe that? It's real.
If you're ready to take your content marketing to the next level and build an evergreen lead
generation machine that gets you high ticket clients, click the link in the description below.
I want to give you access to my free training called "Hello to High Ticket" so you can get
those high ticket clients.