Building a Social Media Business Archives - Page 2 of 4

Founder vs. Freelancer: Starting A Social Media Business

Some of the best advice I’ve heard given to an entrepreneur is NOT to go into business. This is not easy for some to hear, but it should not be ignored. You see, if you’re not ready to take on the responsibility of running a social media business, or if you simply don’t have the skill set, then you are likely to fail miserably, lose tons of money and waste 100’s of hours of precious time.

The idea of going into business sounds glamorous. People assume that as a business owner, you have tons of free time and piles of money. The reality is, many small business owners have neither of those, especially when starting out.

So why would you even want to build a social media business anyway?

Passion.

Successful social media marketers love what they do. They enjoy the ins and outs of social media and especially love driving results. Successful campaigns excite them. Happy clients are their lifeblood. And the cool thing about it is when you love what you do, the money follows. And that’s why starting a social media business might just be the best idea you ever had.

If you’re considering going into business for yourself and starting a social media company of any size, there are some pros and cons to consider. And there is more than one way to get started. Now is the time to ask yourself – are you a founder or a freelancer?

Being a founder of a social media business is a big responsibility. Not only do you need the business smarts to start and run a successful business, but you need the social media skill set to produce results for your clients. As a founder, you will wear multiple hats. One day you’re building strategic social media plans and the next day you’re working on payroll and taxes. If you already feel overwhelmed at your day job, imagine adding in about 5 more jobs on top of that, all of which you’ve never done before and have no clue how to manage. Sounds fun right?

Not. At. All.

This is why businesses fail. They chase the idea of the glamorous dream, but once it gets real and they are in the trenches working 80 hour weeks + weekends and not getting paid because clients are late paying and cash flow sucks, the dream fades fast.

So if running your own social media agency is your dream, make sure you are realistic about what it takes to turn it into a reality and not fry your brain in the process. It’s a lot of hard work. But hard work pays off. So does working smart.

So what does working smart look like for a social media agency founder?

Knowledge base – you need to be amazing at social media. Not ok, not good, amazing. Get advanced training. Get certified. You need to know what you’re doing so you can produce great results and keep your clients happy. Happy clients are like money in the bank.
Efficient processes – everything should be turned into a process and you need to get super fast at it. Efficient processes make you and your team faster, and save tons of time when onboarding new team members.
Business smarts – you need to understand how to start and run a business. You will need to consider things like filing an LLC, hiring a bookkeeper, and even learn how to be a good manager if you plan to hire people. Some of these tasks have nothing to do with social media, and may be something you’ve never done before. But unless you know what you’re doing, you can be amazing at social media and suck at business. And sucking at business results in a failed business.

This is just a reality check, and isn’t meant to scare you. I’m just keeping it real. If you’re a more cautious person, or literally can’t afford to quit your day job and go all in on building a business, then a freelancer role may be a better fit and an better start.

As a freelancer, you can cut out a lot of the time consuming steps of starting a business. You don’t need to invest in designing a logo or website, or even setting up an LLC. Reach out to your network and let them know that you’re available for freelance work. Freelancers are very common in the social media world, and it’s not hard to find a couple paying gigs.

Attend networking events and groups in your local area. The best way to make connections and form relationships is in person. Put yourself out there and let people know that you’re looking for projects. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to find an opportunity, and how people will want to hire you to help you build your portfolio. Pro Tip! Offer a promotion with limited availability and special pricing for new clients.

Your portfolio that you build as a freelancer will help build your credibility for your future business. Any work you can get, even if you have to offer it at a super low cost, is important for your portfolio, to prove that you can do the work it takes to get results. Pro Tip! If you have any connections with well-known brands, offer to do some pro-bono work to help build your portfolio.

As a freelancer, you can hone your skills, improve efficiency, and free up time to take on the additional responsibilities of business ownership. Keep your day job, and commit to continued education to sharpen your social media skill set on nights and weekends. The sacrifices you make now will pay off in the future. You’ll look back and be glad you did it when you’re making a 6-figure income.

More than 80% of all businesses use social media, so starting a social media business can be a very profitable move. Just know the risks and rewards ahead of you, and plan accordingly. There’s nothing wrong with starting slow as a freelancer and building as time and budget allows. And if you’re all-in, make sure you build your social media empire on a solid foundation of knowledge and efficient processes.

The good news? Launchest is the tool that will get you on the fast track from freelancer to founder. It’s your social media business in a box, and everything you need to get started and run a successful social media business.

4 Reasons Why You Need An Employee Handbook NOW!

by Allison Chaney Leave a Comment

When you start your social media business and you begin to build your team and hire new talent, you will need an employee handbook. However, in these early stages of scaling a business, things are exciting and you are focused on all of the positive reasons why you’re hiring new people. And you will probably think you don’t need an employee handbook, until you do.

You see, the problem is, this is how many businesses think. It’s like the classic “pre-nup before the wedding” argument. When you’re all happy and in love, you would never think that your love would turn on you and you would never think you would have to protect yourself. But the moment you realize you do, that’s when you regret not having an agreement in place. Bad things can happen if that relationship sours. You need to protect yourself not only in love, but especially in business.

Employee handbooks are critical, and can save you a ridiculous amount of heartache in the long run. Consider these 4 important benefits of having an employee handbook for your business.

Introduce Company Culture, Mission + Values. An employee handbook is one of the first documents your new hire should review and sign. Starting off on a positive note sets the stage for your entire relationship moving forward. Welcome your new employee by showing them that they are now part of the team, and get them excited about what that means exactly, in terms of culture and values.
Set Expectations. An employee handbook sets expectations for the work environment. Employees get a clear understanding of what is expected of them as they take on the responsibility of their job and a representative of the business and the brand.
Save HR Resources. Employee handbooks cover everything from conduct to compensation to vacation and personal time. Many of the questions that often get asked of HR can be answered in the employee handbook. What if you don’t have an HR person? Who does the responsibility of answering those questions fall on? Chances are it’s someone that you don’t want to have to pay to answer questions that can be answered quickly by a document.
Avoid Lawsuits. When you have everything in writing, and all parties involved have signed on the dotted line, it gives you ground to stand on in case you need to fire or reprimand employees for violating the rules outlined in the handbook. This can also be your line of defense in an unemployment lawsuit.

There are a lot of reasons why companies don’t have employee handbooks, but it always comes down to that sense early on in a relationship that the person you are hiring is amazing and “they would never do you wrong so why do I need to protect myself?”. But employee handbooks aren’t just to cover yourself if you need a reason to fire someone. They set the stage for a positive work environment and provide valuable information that can be found quickly so you can move on with your day and focus on what matters: growing your business and servicing your clients.

For these reasons, we’ve included an Employee Handbook Template in our Launchest Resources. Customize the template to your own company culture and policies and start hiring and managing your team like a pro! Your employees will appreciate you for it, and your team will be stronger as a result.

Hire Slow, Fire Fast – Trust Your Gut!

by Allison Chaney Leave a Comment

If you do the opposite, you’re destined to learn this lesson the hard way. When you are building your team, don’t make this critical mistake that could cost you your agency.

Following the mantra of hire slow, fire fast, will guide you through the process of finding the right talent and into the journey of growing and running your business with a great team.

But when businesses forget the importance of taking their time to build the team, and knowing when to cut bait fast when something ins’t working out, everything starts to derail. Consider the following story, where “hire slow, fire fast” would have produced a completely different (and better) result.

A small business was growing at a rapid rate and in desperate need of some experts to add to the team. They needed someone to fill a position fast. Proposals were going out, work was coming in, and the entire team was beyond capacity. So when a seemingly qualified candidate entered their office, everyone jumped on the hire-fast train. They were excited because, on paper, he was a perfect fit. So they hired him, fast.

But it didn’t take long until the red flags started to appear. It wasn’t anything major at first. No seriously unethical behavior. But, it was very clear that it was not a good culture fit. But something like that seems petty and the business wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was just a personality conflict, they thought. But then clients started canceling contracts. New proposals were taking weeks to go out. Business was suffering. Red flag!

But the sad part of this story is that the business didn’t fire fast. They did quite the opposite. They took almost a year to make the decision. Despite the mutual “gut feeling” around the office that everyone just didn’t feel like it was a good fit, and then the glaring fact that business was suffering, they just didn’t take action. This happens a lot in business. No one wants to fire a person. It doesn’t feel good and it can have a really bad impact on an entire family. So even if business is suffering, the business will make the decision to protect the individual vs. the business.

What happened in that year almost took down the entire agency. Clients were canceling contracts, proposals were stalling out, new business was dwindling, and employees were quitting because the company culture just sucked.

But here’s the thing, when you are running a business, you have to take emotion out of it. Hiring an employee, while it may seem like the advice is similar to dating (take it slow but stick to your ethics and break up if there’s a deal breaker), this is not dating. It’s business. And you could very well be sacrificing the livelihood of an entire team of people to save the feelings of one person who should take responsibility for their own actions.

So what can you learn from this?

Hire Slow: Check references, make calls. Don’t just go with what looks good on paper. If they are leaving a current job, talk to their supervisor or coworkers and ask for a reference. Look them up on LinkedIn and see if you have any mutual connections who you can reach out to for a reference. Spend some time with them too. Have lunch or coffee with a few members of your team and see how your personalities mesh. One of the best interviews I ever had was one where I sat in a room with the team and we talked about the type of music we like, our favorite foods, and what we like to do for fun. From that experience, we all knew that I was a good fit for the company, and ended up staying there over 10 years!

Fire Fast: Trust your gut. If something seems off, investigate. Don’t fall victim to office gossip, but pay attention to the things being said around the water cooler. Ultimately, the proof is in the results so if you have a sense that someone isn’t a good fit, AND business is suffering as a direct result of their efforts (or lack thereof), it might be time to let them go.

Power Tip! When hiring, begin the relationship with a trial period that is contingent on one project with a solid end date. If things are working out, then you offer them a position. But if they aren’t working out, you simply thank them at the end of the contract term, offer some constructive feedback if you have it, and tell them you’ll let them know if more work comes up.

Here’s the bottom line…

You can’t afford to have someone on your team who isn’t contributing to the overall success of your business and positive company culture. You literally can’t afford it. One bad hiring decision may cost you your business. Leave emotion out of it. Don’t be a jerk, but don’t sacrifice your livelihood to save someone’s feelings, especially if they are hurting your business. We’re only human and we all make mistakes, but know the difference between something that is teachable and something that is not fixable. It’s much easier to train someone who is a good culture fit, than to have a smart person on staff who doesn’t have the best interests of the business in mind.