If you want to start a social media business, the main thing that you’ll need is CLIENTS!!! People who will pay you for your services. If you don’t have clients, you are basically dead in the water.

So, how do you find clients?

The first step is identifying the types of businesses that will actually make good clients… getting them to sign up for your services is a whole different blog post (or 10).

When evaluating a business to determine if they’ll make a good client, consider the following factors:

1) Do they have an established and profitable business?

Businesses that aren’t making money won’t have money to invest in marketing – especially marketing that generates returns over time vs. direct response marketing. If they aren’t yet profitable or they aren’t established, chances are they won’t be able to hire you. Even if they can hire you, they will probably be more difficult clients because they will feel like they are spending a lot of money, but they may be one of your smallest clients.

2) Do they invest in marketing?

A company that doesn’t do any marketing will be difficult to sell on social media marketing. Start with companies that spend on marketing already — it is easier to get a budget allocation than it is to create a new budget.

3) Is social media a good choice for them?

I’ve seen marketing agencies turn through clients faster than you can say “good-bye” because they had an excellent sales team, but they were working with a lot of businesses that really shouldn’t have invested in social media. As a result, even though the agency did a great job, they had huge turnover and were constantly selling and onboarding new clients.

4) Are their competitors doing it? And doing it well?

Many businesses can be easily persuaded into running a social media campaign if they see that their competitors are doing it (and doing it well). Look for businesses that are nailing their social media strategy and approach their competitors. For example, one local restaurant hired a social media manager who did an excellent job. Most of the other restaurants in the area didn’t really do much on Facebook. After one restaurant was successful, they all wanted the same success and within 6 months 5 neighboring restaurants had hired professional social media management services.

5) Does word of mouth drive their business?

Social media is like word of mouth on steroids. Most businesses rely on word of mouth to get new customers, and social media marketing is a strong strategy to amplify word-of-mouth. These businesses can be easy to sell on social media because you can easily demonstrate the value.

Determining how much to charge as a consultant is difficult. There are HUGE variances in what consultants charge, and it depends on how you structure your offerings.

There is no single answer to this, and you’ll have to get feedback along the way.

Some of the things to consider are:

• Are you selling your time or a result/deliverable?
• How experienced are you?
• How much will your knowledge/advice impact their results?
• Are they used to hiring consultants? What rates are they used to?
• How big is the project?
• Is it retainer based or one-time?
• What is the market rate in your local market?

 

Launchest includes a complete pricing guide with industry ranges for different experience levels, but here are some top-level guidelines:

1) HOURLY: Charge hourly if the scope of the project isn’t clearly defined, or if you aren’t sure how much time/effort it will take. Agree to a range upfront, but the client will only pay for what they use. This is low risk for the client.

2) PROJECT BASED: If the project can be clearly defined, consider charging a flat rate for the entire project. This gives the client and you a clear idea of the total scope and investment. Most project based quotes are based on estimated time investments, but this reduces uncertainty and the need to track hours.

3) RETAINER BASED: You agree to set monthly services for a monthly rate. This allows for a long-term relationship where you contribute a set amount each month.

The specific amounts to charge are variable based on the factors above, so you’ll need to use your judgment and have a dialogue with the client to determine how much they are willing to invest.

Many people starting a social media business aren’t sure how to charge or how to build a price list. When offering social media management services, there are 3 basic ways to charge clients:

 

1) Setup Fee + Monthly Rate

Some social media managements charge a setup fee to account for the time and effort it takes to create the profiles. Once the profiles are created, the payment plan will switch to a monthly rate.

 

PRO:

If a client doesn’t stick with you for management, you have appropriately charged them for the setup investment.

 

CON:

Some clients will be uncomfortable with a large upfront payment – especially since during the setup stage they won’t see any tangible results.

 

2) Hourly Rate

Some social media management companies will charge based on an hourly rate. The client will have a slightly different bill each month based on how much time and effort was invested.

 

PRO:

It is very transparent and fair to both you and the client – only pay for what you use.

 

CON:

Most clients want some certainty of what they will pay each month and don’t want to be responsible for a big bill if a problem arises (or if you take more time). This also doesn’t account for when you are thinking about the client during time when you aren’t “on the clock”.

 

3) Standard Monthly Rate with Contract

Most social media management companies charge a standard monthly rate and have a minimum commitment. The setup time/cost is absorbed for the duration of the contract vs. requiring an additional upfront investment.

 

PRO:

It is easier to pitch a single flat rate to a client vs an upfront large charge. This is probably the easiest billing option to sell-in.

 

CON:

If you spend a ton of time, you may not be making great money (although most social media managers