People often ask about how to start a social media business. I’ve been running a successful social media business since 2007 and have consulted with countless small businesses and social media agencies — so I’ve seen both sides of the equation.
When it comes to starting your social media business, many people aren’t sure where to start.
If you are thinking about starting any business, there are a few things to consider.
What are your goals?
Determine what your goals are for starting a social media business. What are you hoping to achieve? This will help you to establish your business model. Are you looking for:
- A new full-time company that you can start quickly
- A side-business to supplement your income
- A part-time business
- A large and growing business with a team
- A side business that can transition into full-time
I’ve seen college students that start a social media side-business to make extra money while in school, or seasoned professionals who are in transition create a successful business. There are different objectives depending on your goals.
What will it take to get there?
Once you know your goals, you’ll need to do some math to establish what it will take to get you there. Based on your unique objectives, figure out:
- How much time you’ll spend on an average client.
- How much you plan to charge a client.
Based on your time spent and how much you plan to charge, you’ll start to see what your business could look like based on the number of customers that you can handle.
There isn’t one set amount that any social media manager can charge – it will depend on your experience level and ability to impress your clients.
For example:
If you are looking to do social media management full time, you’ll probably have certain income requirements. You’ll need to be sure that your pricing structure allows you to meet your income goals.
1 average client is: $1,000 a month and takes about 10 hours a month to service
If you spend 80 hours a month on client work (50% of a full time job) you could manage up to 8 clients brining you $8,000/month.
Don’t Under Value Yourself
Many social media managers find that clients will offer to pay them small amounts, like $200 to run their social media. For most professionals, this would never lead to a viable income.
Consider how long you’ll spend with a client and don’t under-charge. If you want to build your experience base and results, consider offering a discount introductory rate.
Get Started!
Once you have your business model in place, get started. Depending on where you are at, you may need to start with a social media certification to validate your skills.
Next you’ll need to:
- Create a business name and presence
- Build marketing materials
- Prospect and find clients
- Pitch clients
- Write proposals or create packages
- Get clients set up (client on-boarding process)
- Manage social media effectively
(Launchest can help with this!)
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