Becoming a social media manager has been one of the best things to happen to me.
Before I started my business, I worked in a corporate setting and hated the long commutes.
I had dreamt about being able to work from home so that I could stay home with my family.
Finally one day when I found myself out of work….I decided to just go for it.
I started networking in my local community through the chamber of commerce and business after hour events.
My first clients were small business owners who needed help with blog writing and sharing content on social media.
Since I enjoyed writing, it was really easy for me to come up with new ideas and do market research on topics to share on social media.
I also found some of my first clients on freelancer platforms.
Like most new social media managers who are just getting started, I charge really low prices just to build up my experience.
And I’ll be honest, at first, I was a little nervous, but after working on a few projects, I felt a lot more confident.
Finally, I got my first high paying client paying me $1,600 per month.
From there, I started charging even higher rates at $2,500 per month.
Where Are the High Paying Clients?
Someone recently asked me: "What types of businesses pay you over $1,000 per month to do their social media?"
They are everywhere and especially in your own neighborhood.
This could be local restaurants, gyms, accountants, lawyers, doctor's offices, and chiropractors.
Think about it, if you're running a restaurant or a fitness studio, you're busy helping customers and maybe even your own staff.
You wouldn't have time to do your own marketing.
And that's why businesses need your help to get them in front of the right people on social media.
When I first started offering my services, I noticed that my clients were overwhelmed and overworked.
They were happy to give those marketing tasks to me!
In my experience, I have found that high paying clients are typically established businesses that have the resources to invest in hiring a social media manager.
You can find high paying clients in the following places:
Local networking events
Referrals
Facebook groups for business owners
Linkedin
The most important thing to do is to start networking where established business owners are.
I recommend that you start out with your local chamber of commerce.
Most cities and even smaller towns have a chamber of commerce for small business owners.
Creating a Micro Agency
I remember the day, that one of my very first high paying clients asked me to write 30 blog posts per month.
And he was going to pay me a hefty price for it.....he even told me that he would.
I said yes, but I realized that it was too much for one person to do it alone.
So I hired some other freelancer writers, and that's how my agency grew.
Outsourcing to Grow Your Social Media Management Business
One of my first hires was a college student who was studying to become school teacher.
She was the perfect fit because she was majoring in education and had really good writing skills.
With her and a few other freelancers we were able to help my clients with fresh content each month.
And having someone else there to create content, saved me a lot of time and allowed me to focus on getting additional clients.
I call my social media business a "Micro Agency" because I have a small but mighty team.
You can create your own boutique agency by hiring a virtual assistant to help you schedule content, a graphic designer to create images and even a blog writer if you plan to help your clients create content.
There are plenty of freelancers who would be happy to subcontract under your business.
If you want to learn how to create your very own social media management business, I have a free guide that shows you how to get started.
