Can I Make Money Using My Social Media Expertise?

what is success

Do you hang out on Pinterest until 1:00 a.m.?  Do you have Facebook minimized on your computer at work just to check in on friends?  Or businesses you like?  Do you love creating pages, blogs, and pin boards online?  Do you tweet your status every 30 minutes?

Social media isn’t just a hobby anymore.  Businesses small and large know they need to use it, yet lack the time necessary to educate themselves on the “why” and the “how” and they have even less time to do the implementation. 

Companies need people to help them with their day-to-day social media tasks; they need people just like you.

Sit down and outline the different social media sites you use and jot down why you use them.

The purpose behind this is you will need this information to see what you know and then you can create a social media campaign around it.

If you think you don’t know how to create a social media campaign strategy, think again.  Most businesses know they need to have a Business Fan Page on Facebook, a Twitter account tweeting on a regular basis, and a Pinterest account to visually draw in their customers.  They all know this, and they want to jump on the same bandwagons that their competitors are on.  But they don’t know how to go about doing it.  That’s where your expertise comes on.

Consider the following:

  • 58% of Fortune 500 companies have an active corporate Facebook account, 62% have an active corporate Twitter account
  • 80% of US social network users prefer to connect with brands through Facebook
  • 40% of consumers prefer social logins over creating a new/guest account
  • Only 22% of businesses have a dedicated social media manager

As you can see there are many more social media campaigns that need to be created then there are people actually doing them.

Where to Begin

Grab your social media expertise list and create a rate sheet of what you can do and how much it will cost.  The pricing for services like these are all over the place, so you may want to Google locally to see what other Social Media Marketers are charging for their services to get an idea of a price point.

How Do You Find Clients?

By asking of course!  Start with your networks on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Here’s a good strategy for Facebook.  Post on your wall for friends and family to see the following:

“Does anyone know of a business or individual in need of a Facebook Fan Page, or Twitter account?  I can help them with very affordable rates.  Please let me know.”

You’ll be surprised at the responses you will get.

Another good option is the yellow pages.  Pick a market, like for example carpet cleaners.  Make a list of the carpet cleaning companies that have taken out an ad.  Those ads are mighty expensive and they have no idea how many “eyes” actually look at their ad.  These are the businesses that are more likely to be attracted to what you are offering.  One,  because it’s likely you will cost much less than a yellow page ad and two they will see results in terms of how many people see their social media accounts.

Do your homework and find out if these businesses have their social media accounts up and running.  Contact the ones that don’t, or the ones who do but haven’t done anything with them since five years ago.

How do you market your services?

In addition to the options above, you can start with Craigslist for one.  There are multiple opportunities listed for companies, realtors, and others looking for a social marketing strategist.  You can also post a list of your services as well.

Complimentary Hair Cut/Color

Have you ever thought about bartering your services for let’s say cut and color?  The next time you are at your favorite hair salon tell them about your social media services; just make sure you do your homework first and see what they have already completed before offering.

Work for Free…What?

This is the quickest way to obtain clients.  Find a non-profit or a small business that has no web presence as well as no money, and offer to create a social media campaign for them.  This will immediately give you credibility as an expert in the industry and no one will know that you did it for free.

These are just a few ideas that will help you turn your social media habit into something you get paid to do.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lisa Stein owns FreelanceMom.com, is a college business professor and a mom to Gabriela and Elle. Lisa is dedicated to playing a part in helping women and moms run a business they love, help support themselves and their family and create a flexible lifestyle. You can find her online on Facebook and Twitter or at home burning something in the kitchen.