Hello? Hello. What's up everyone. And welcome back to my channel. It's been a while since we've
done a chill in chatty Q and a. So let's hop in. I asked y'all for questions on Instagram. I haven't looked at these yet. So these are gonna be kind of rapid fire. Let's hop in as a beginner, social media manager. How do I find my client's target? A. Pain points. Okay. So I think it's important to have
a conversation with your client. I think your client should be
giving you some of this information. Now they might not have everything, but
they should have some type of like a.
Customer avatar buyer persona,
something to provide you with. If they're not, you should be charging
for doing that brand research. In my opinion, you know, that's not
really the role of a social media manager. Of course, a social media manager needs
to understand like how to understand people and how to do research, but
you shouldn't necessarily be doing full brand strategy and only getting
paid for social media management. So they should be able
to give you something. And then I think, you know, if they. I don't know, say our target audiences,
women in their thirties who have one or more children and live in the suburbs
like that should give you a pretty good amount of information to be able to
start doing research yourself just by Googling even better if it's, you know, a
professional title or something like that.
Like I used to work in the
staffing industry that is no offense to anyone in staffing. It's kind of like a
boring and dry industry. I definitely knew nothing about it,
but I was living and breathing and. Not eating, but almost eating,
you know, the staffing industry, you know, I was reading staffing,
industry publications and looking at conferences and, and things like that. So you really have to kind
of immerse yourself as well. How do you generate and make
sales as a social media manager? Okay. So I'm guessing you mean to get your own
clients and if that's the case, inbound marketing, I've talked a lot about, and
that's really been my biggest thing, but what I don't talk about a lot is pitching. And I think we need to have
that conversation when I first. Went freelance, full time. I was applying to things on Upwork,
like every day, and we can have the whole conversation about Upwork. You know, a lot of people are
like, oh, it doesn't work as well.
Whatever. I went, where there were leads and
that was freelancing platforms for me. So I was pitching almost every day. If not every day. I was also like always raising my hand
for speaking and education opportunities. So I was speaking at
co-working spaces in my area. I was, you know, being like the
go-to person for business owners in my area to just answer questions for
them and just make friends with them. So I think that is a big part of
it as well is just going out and pitching and like shooting your shot. For sure. If you're not getting sales,
it's great to build in Instagram. It's great. Create YouTube videos, all the things,
but you have to eat first and you have to like, have something, keeping your
lights on before you can go all in with like, I'm gonna post on Instagram
every day for, you know, 50 times a day, like focus on getting a client or
two first to sustain yourself and then start with some of the inbound stuff.
Any new tools or techniques you have
been using that have been helpful? I just found this tool
and I don't know why. I can't remember the name of it, cuz I
just talked about it in my last blog. But it is a testimonial tool. It's really, really cool. Basically it enables you to easily
request testimonials from your clients and also store them and also get like
cool carousel and things like that. So it is amazing. I absolutely love it. I will link it down in
the description box. If you wanna check it out. Other than that though. I I'm really old school. People are always surprised by this. They're like, what social media, you know,
editor do you use and all this stuff and layout, preview, where I'm like, honestly,
like I use my computer for most things. What are some programs list you can
recommend for new social media managers? So I've recommended HubSpot.
Inbound and HubSpot academy in general
a lot before I think it's really great. They have a ton of courses that
are like tangentially related to social media management, because
here's the thing, like what even is social media management anymore. I mean, it's a lot of platforms. It's a lot of different. Disciplines that are related to it. Like it touches web, it touches
design, it touches SEO, it touches analytics, you know? So I think it's important to know a
little bit about each of those things. I'm not telling you to go out and
become a graphic designer to become an SEO specialist or whatever, but you
should know enough to be able to speak. About those topics, in my opinion,
and HubSpot academy has courses about like all those things, email ads,
everything, and I'm pretty sure they're all free, which is pretty amazing. I really like their inbound
course in particular. And then for my courses, I think
that the social media management accelerator is really like the crem. Derem like, if you are looking to
just really hit the ground running, that is probably the course for you.
It. Much more, you know, immersive and
involved than some of my other courses, which are also nice if you're just
looking for something quick to learn, but if you wanna like really immerse
yourself S M a is where it's at. It's not currently open
cuz we do do cohorts. So I actually like do live teaching
and live coaching and things like that. In addition to the course material,
it's not open at this exact moment, but it will be opening up very, very soon.
So I'll leave a link in the description
if you want to, um, get on like the hand Razer list so I can let you know. Soon as it's available. What's the max you've charged
for being a social media manager. Um, like one client I would, Mmm. Rates are so weird in this industry,
by the way, cuz even still like I've been doing this for a while. I've been working with so many
social media managers and like people are hush hush about their rates. But I would say the most that I've ever
charged was probably like around three. Three to 4k. Like I know people like
agencies and stuff, who've charged 10,000, 12,000, 20,000.
Uh, and I've always been a small team and
I've always worked with mostly startups. So for just social media management, now
I've had retainers, freelance retainers that are higher than that, like double
or more, but that was for video work. This is something also a lot of
people don't maybe know about me is a lot of my freelancing. Around video as well. I do a lot of social first
video, so I create video content. They call it U GC content. Now that's what the kids are calling it,
but I've been doing this for a long time, uh, before that was the name for it. So a lot of my work involves that. And for that, I actually find
that it's a little easier for me to charge higher rates. So I've had contracts as big as like
seven or eight K for video work. When you select your niche, can your
client's competition be your client too? I think this is a touchy topic.
I, uh, touchy subject. I, I don't know the answer. I mean, well, the answer
is, look at your contract. Did you sign off? Exclusivity. Did you sign off on saying you are
gonna be my only lawyer client? You're gonna be my only restaurant client. If so, then the answers, your question,
but if you don't have that in your contract, I think it really comes
down to what feels right for you. Is it ethical for you? I personally have never
worked with competing. Brands like direct competitors. So like I used to work
with beauty products a lot. Let's say that I worked with
like, you know, a eyelash company, a fake eyelash company. I'm probably not gonna work with
another fake eyelash company. I might work with a mascara company
or a company that sells eyeshadow or maybe even a company that does sell
lashes, but that's not like their main thing that would probably feel okay
for me, but I wouldn't work with like, I don't know even what the cool brands
are these days, but like RDA and.
Whatever something else, another
competitor to that brand. You know, I think there are industries
where this is challenging though. Like, let's say that you are
a social media manager for restaurants in your local area. You know, isn't every restaurant
technically in competition, more or less, as long as they're within the same price
point and food, you know, cuisine, style of cuisine or whatever I'm interested. If anybody watching has anything
to say on that, please let me know if you are in that situation. I'd be curious to know social
media management, beginners guide. So I've talked about some of the like
programs and stuff that I offer, but I also do have a little freebie for you all. I don't talk about it very much, but I
actually just went through and updated it. So it's clear, concise all the links work. It looks a little prettier, so
you can check out the link in the description for that as well.
It's called the social media
management starter kit. It's just like a quick little
mini ebook that kind of. Gives you an overview of the steps
that you should be taking if this is a career that you're interested in. So hopefully that helps for you tips
for getting leads on social media as a social media manager, I would say,
make sure that you have an email list. If nothing else, there are
so many times when I'm just like, I'm always just creeping. Every time somebody follows me on
Instagram or replies to an Instagram story, I creep, I creep, I admit it.
I look at everybody's Instagrams
and I go to your websites and you know, I just I'm, I'm nosy. Okay. I'm nosy. And a lot of times I'll
see people who I'm like. Oh, I really love their
style or they're really nice. Or for some reason I'm just really
drawn to them, but I don't have room on my team for them right now,
or I don't have a need for like a graphic design project, social media
management project, whatever right now. But I wanna keep them in
my Rolodex if you will. And you know, sometimes of course
I can just follow on social media, but as we know the algorithms,
you know, they do what they want. So I might not ever see you again
if I just follow you on Instagram. But if you have an email. I'm gonna sign up for it so that
when you have a promotion or when you have something going on or you
have an event or you have a cool newsletter to share, you're gonna
be top of mind for me again now.
So I think definitely just have a
place for people to sign up on your newsletter if they wanna hear from
you, if now is not the right time. And then I think also. Just be where your clients are. You know, we get so focused
on where our peers are. We get so focused on like what's the
most fun to do and don't get me wrong. I started doing this because I love social
media, but at the end of the day, if I'm trying to get clients, I'm gonna be.
Flexing my LinkedIn muscles,
cuz that's where my clients are. Your clients might be somewhere
else, you know, but, uh, that's where my clients are. So I'm gonna go heavy on
LinkedIn, even though I don't necessarily love being on LinkedIn. If I'm looking for clients,
that's what I'm gonna be doing. So go where your clients are. Do you have a social media
manager membership group? I do. I don't talk about it very
much, but I've had one for. A couple years now it's called
the freelance Friday club. I might change the name of it soon. I'm not sure, but yes, that's my
membership group that will also be linked in the description. If you're interested. It's a lot of fun. We do two masterminds every single month. So we meet like on a zoom call
and just chat about what's going on in our businesses. It's kind of like my way to like
scratch my coaching itch if you will. Cause I don't do one on one
coaching anymore, so it's, it's fun. And then there's a group
forum where you can post.
Whenever you want, I check, check in
on it, like every day, every other day and make sure everyone's doing good. We bring guests in. Sometimes we haven't done that in
a while, but I am ramping up to get some more guests in there soon. So yeah, I would love to have you in
there and it's, it's a lot of fun.
Oh. But it isn't just for
social media managers. I should mention that. It's just for freelancers in general. So we have designers in there. We have coaches in there. We have mostly social media managers,
but we do have other people in there as well, which I think is fun. I think. Is nice to have a good mix, any
cool projects or collaborations you can tease or talk about? I feel like I've been talking a
lot about myself, so I don't wanna talk too much, but S M M a, the
accelerator is gonna be opening soon.
We'll probably start class in the fall. That means we'll probably start
pre-selling in the next month or two. So definitely stay tuned. If that's something that you're open to. And the thing that I'm
really excited about. So we've run this program three times
now, and it's been identical, you know, we've run the same curriculum every time. This time, I'm going to pull the lever. We're gonna go a little harder on
this stuff that you all are asking about, which is selling, marketing
yourself, uh, getting clients.
So if that's something that you
are interested in, uh, sign up for the wait list, for sure. And then I did mention guests. I'm hoping to do some more collaborative
things here in the future too, because I just know so many smart people
that know so many amazing things. So I'm trying to figure out ways
we, we have guest instructors. Social media management
accelerator and things like that. But I, I want more, like, I want you
to learn some amazing things from some of my smart friends, so I'm
trying to work on some cool things. And I also, you know, I'm an introvert,
but I've been just been in a season of like really wanting to collaborate. It's just been really making me
happy, working with other people. So. . Yeah, hopefully there will be more
collaborations in the future as well. Okay. These ones are all a little bit more
on the like general business, less, uh, social media management, or some
of them are a little more personal.
So how do you go about
recording podcasts with others? Like guests? I use stream yard. Which is the tool that I use to
live stream, and it does cost money. It's like, I think it's $15 a month,
but you can also, if you want a free option, you can use zoom. I use zoom for years and
that's what I used a lot. but I use stream yard now just
cause I already have the tool and it's pretty cool because you
can like toggle in between who's. Like the speaker view and stuff.
I don't know. It's pretty cool. And really user friendly. What would you have done differently
if you were starting your business now? I think I would've niche down sooner
because I spent a lot of time when I was side hustling, working with clients
who weren't really like my ideal client, just working with clients. Cause I felt like I should be doing it. And they either ended up being
a nightmare or like, I I'd never really used them in my portfolio. You know? Like they weren't at all. Any, you know, any type of client that I
would want to really put in my portfolio. So I would say that really being
a little bit more picky, even though I was just starting out. And then another thing I wish I would've
done is shot my shot, you know, a little bit more like I did apply for things on
Upwork a lot, but I have never been like a big colder and whenever I do it, . I
feel like I'm decently successful at it.
Like I have gotten some contracts
that way I've gotten sponsors that way of, you know, gotten like
speaking gigs and stuff that way. So I'm just really shy. Like I am just naturally really
shy and it's hard for me. It doesn't come naturally for me. And I think in those earlier days,
like what would've happened if I would've pitched to like my dream. You know, like what would've happened. If I would've pitched for a collaboration
with a creator who I really admired what would've happened today, you
know, if I did that, I never do that. And I'm just scared, you know? And it's not that it's too late.
I don't wanna say like my career's
over, you know, knock on wood. Like hopefully hopefully still
got plenty of years in me, but I definitely don't feel that same. you know, drive that I did when I was,
you know, 23, 24, like I'm, I'm chill now. Like I'm like, all right,
let's just maintain stuff. I'm not out here trying to like
pitch to talk to Oprah or anything, but what would've happened if I did
that at 24, you know, I don't know. I don't know. Do you have any summer
reading recommendations? What am I even reading right now? I've kind of fallen off of reading
a little bit since the move I am. Oh, I am reading a book right now. Um, if you're interested in writing
a book, I'm reading a book called before and after the book deal. It's really good because I am manifesting. I'm trying out here, I'm working on it. I'm working on getting a book deal. That's my goal.
Hopefully by the end of 2022,
that that's what we're gonna put out into the universe. I'm reading a book about
it and it's really good. Really easy read. I do like it. And then I'm also rereading rework. Wow. How many times can somebody with. letter R speech impediment, say
the letter R in a sentence that was like acrobats for my mouth. That was very hard rereading rework,
which is, that was a hugely influential book when it comes to like company
culture and how you structure business for a lot of people that I really admire. So I did read it. A while ago, but I'm rereading it once
again, cause I'm really focusing on what type of company do I really want to build? What type of team do I really wanna build? Company culture stuff is like
really where my head's at right now.
So that one, and then for fun
books, I've been reading just a lot of short story collections. So I'll put some up on the screen that
I am either currently reading or like thumbing through or recently read. And then let's see. What's the last question
we're gonna answer. How was the move. Well, it's still kind of going, you
know, but I'm mostly feeling good. I will say the first two weeks
were fun and exciting, but from a business perspective, it was hard
because I'm very much somebody who I need to like have my environment. You know, write in order to be
creative in order to feel comfortable. So I didn't work really for
the first week I took off. And then the second week I barely worked. Like, I, it was just really hard for me.
So thank goodness for batching. This is why I'm always preaching batching
to you all because I recorded a ton of videos before I moved out of my apartment. So really this week, I think, or
maybe last week's podcast was the first that you've seen, like in this
environment, as far as sit down videos. Cause I'm finally at the point where. I feel good about filming. I mean, I still am figuring out my
filming set up because I still feel like my face looks really weird. Every time I look at a video that I
record in this space, like the lighting is different and the angle is different. So I don't like how my face looks.
I'm not looking for compliments. I'm just being honest. Um, so I'm still figuring some
stuff out, but like, you can see me, you can hear me like, okay, cool. I can create content. So that's good. Yeah. It's going well. And I, I just feel very grateful and
thankful that I was able to move and. That I'm able to have space to like
create and, and really build a life here. It's kind of exciting. It's also exciting to be in. Not the city anymore. You know, I've lived in the
city for like seven years. I don't know, drive me
down dirt roads again.
Like, what is this? It's kind of interesting and
cool, but at the same time, I'm still very close to cities and
doing cool stuff if I want to too. So thank you for asking. I'm doing well. All right. How are you all doing? Let me know in the comments, say hello. I love hearing from you. And if you have any questions for
me for future Q and a, let's go ahead and use this comment box as a
thread to start asking for questions. I hope you enjoyed. I hope y'all are doing well, and
I will see you in my next video. Have a good one. Bye..
