How to Earn Money as a Social Media Consultant – Neal Schaffer

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How well do you know Social Media? Are you pretty good at it? Have you ever helped a friend and answered questions about how to use social media for business? Have you ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I could make a few extra dollars coaching or consulting”?

So the big question is how does one earn money as a Social Media Consultant?

Neal Schaffer is listed as one of Forbes Top 30 Power Influencers. He is the author of Maximize your Social, A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing, and Business Success.

Social media consultants are in demand – and you don’t need a university degree to earn an excellent income by helping others manage their social media presence.

Here’s what you do need:

• Relationships
• Credibility
• Sales skills

Once thought important to marketing only, social media activity now permeates the company from human resources to the executive suite. It is vital to have sound advice to form policy and integrate efforts.

Selling your social media services

Capturing a social media contract is just like landing any other sales proposal. You must understand your prospects pains and help uncover solutions to those pains – solutions you can provide.

• Relate your experience to show how you can help
• Present yourself professionally
• Position yourself as an able consultant
• Get out there in real life … go to meetings and conferences
• Let everyone know what you do and the type of clients you seek

Don’t live on Twitter and G+. People don’t know what they don’t know. Help them. You can parlay books, speaking, and referrals into job proposals. When you let it be known that you have definite expertise, the right clients will often find you through the relationships you have built.

Should there be criteria established to credential social media consultants?

Of course, anyone can hang up a shingle and call themselves a “social media professional.” HootSuite (and other service providers) developed a certification course to help their customers choose capable consultants.

Certification by a tool or platform provider does give you more credibility … but you need more. Credibility is built by doing it. The more experience you have and war stories to tell, the better capable you will be of helping others succeed.

Jack or Jill of All Trades?

How many platforms should you be proficient in? Depends on your clientele and where they need to be. You should be proficient on all the major social media platforms.

You don’t need to know everything about everything, but you should be aware and proficient.

More about social media marketing

Don’t sell social media. Don’t try to convince people. Move on. Talk with people who already know the value of social media marketing.

Don’t alienate potential customers, of course. They may be back later, when they have been convinced of the value of what you do.
Those who only have a website are missing out much of the potential audience. The more able you are to help them realize that fact, the better will be your close rate.

Social media is more trackable than other marketing tactics. You can show hard data to prove the worth of your efforts on behalf of others.

Remember: It’s a solution sale. What does the customer need? It’s a partnership. They need to be clear about objectives. You need to be clear about what you can do.

More tips:

• Begin with a social media audit
• Limit new clients to 90 day trials to be sure you can work with them
• Move in the right direction to meet objectives

Part of building a strategy is also deciding what not to do. Every hour of time you invest is a potential opportunity loss.

Invest your time wisely. Know your craft. Forge relationships. And you can’t help but succeed.

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Keep reading to see the TimeStamps!

Get Neal Schaffer’s books including Maximize your Social – Click Here

3:00 Do you need to have a University degree to be a QUALIFIED Social Media Coach / Consultant?

5:00 How did Neal Schaffer get his first paid Social Media Consulting job?

7:55 How to find a qualified social media consultant to work with?

10:30 Is there and/or should there be a way to TEST qualifications of Social Media Consultants?

11:30 Working On a Google+ Challenge
Take the challenge here: http://bit.ly/GooglePlusChallenge

12:55 Neal’s thoughts on the Scoring Systems from things like Cred, Klout, or Empire Ave

14:40 How many Platforms / Networks do I need to be an EXPERT in before I can become a consultant? Specialist vs. Generalist?

16:20 “Most businesses in my town don’t do anything online at all. How do I create a compelling desire with people who need to be on social media but are afraid of it?” +jd quinitchette

16:38 As a Social Media Consultant, how do I validate or explain ROI to my client and where do I put my dollars?

20:50 TWEET CTA:
#ontracktips Don’t sell social media @Neil Schaffer @MaxYourSocial

21:14 Part of building a strategy is also deciding what NOT to do

22:00 Mastermind coming up this summer! “Reinventing Re-purposing 2014”

22:20 How do you SCALE as a Social Media Consultant and why Neal says “people don’t scale”?

24:40 3 things every Social Media Consultant NEEDS in order to charge for services.

25:20 Q: Hey Neal, do you charge HOURLY or VALUE BASED billing?

26:00 Does Neal have a team or is he a one-man band?

26:25 _”How can you emphasize quality over quantity when people want to focus on your number of followers, fans, etc?”_ +Marie Roker-Jones

28:10 This is Neal Schaffer’s personal “friend / follower” policy across all networks.

29:40 Where to find Neal Schaffer?

Buy Neal’s Book here
MaximizeYourSocial.com
MaximizeSocialBusiness.com

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