“For a social media consultant, you sure don’t write much on your own blog.”
It’s true. That’s one of the downsides of being a blogger-for-hire. There’s not been much time for my own blog because I’ve been super busy the last couple of weeks…
- talking with potential new clients,
- developing analysis & evaluation reports,
- handling my blogging duties for both Haunt Jaunts and Maggie’s Station.
But that’s also a good thing. I’ve had a chance to hone my business mission and philosophy. I’ve also had a chance to figrue out how I’ll answer some tough questions, such as:
- How do you measure ROI?
- How much do you charge?
- What kind of specific services can you provide to me and my company?
To #1 my answer is: It’s a little trickier measuring ROI than you would with traditional advertising, but we can definitely figure out ways to gauge it. If you sell something and we run an Internet discount campaign separate from your regular advertising, we can measure how much response we got to that from the amount of time put in promoting it and compare how it stacked up against your traditional advertising efforts. Also, we can judge it via the parameters of how many fans/followers you’ve added in X amount of time, if interaction is increasing (more comments, likes, RTs and such), what people respond to most, etc. Basically, we have to identify what goals you want to accomplish and then we can gauge the ROI.
To #2 my answer is: I charge $30 per hour and design custom packages based on how many hours a month I estimate a social media campaign will require. For instance, I just quoted Max Muscles Cool Springs two social media campaign packages: a client’s choice two network combo pack at 20 hours a month and “The Works” 40 hour a month package. So that’s either $600 or $1,200 a month depending which choice, if any, works best for them.
To #3 my answer is: Anything. I can set up a blog, handle social networking accounts (be they big ones like Facebook and Twitter to niche or boutique ones like those found on Ning networks), identify topical influencers and interact with them, create not only a YouTube channel but also content, participate in forums, and much more. Basically, my job if you hire me to do it is to identify the top social media outlets and then cultivate them to grow your brand, message, presence, and personality.
I know what I can do and offer and I’m more confident than ever that I can deliver quality services. So I may not have had a chance to blow my own horn here much. That’s okay. I’ve always been taught to “show not tell.” That’s what I’ve been doing. Showing I know how to get a job done with the other sites I handle.
