LiveBlogged: Transitioning from Blogger to Social Media Consultant #typeacon

Session: Transitioning from Blogger to Social Media Consulltant

Speakers: Amanda Henson and Sarah Pinnix

Where: TypeAParent Conference, June 23-25, 2011, Asheville, NC

Amanda — If people ask you about social media, chances are good that you are seen as an expert on social media.
If you have a passion for promoting businesses, go into Social Media consulting.
If you don’t like promoting businesses, don’t get into it.

Know Your Marketing Terms
You need to be able to speak to your clients in the same language. Speak as a professional.

• Inbound marketing
• Permission marketing
• Relationship marketing
• SEO — search engine optimization
• ROI — return on investment
• Social Media Optimization
• Link Building

Sarah — Figure out what you are doing in social media, so that you can help the brands.

Resources for Marketing with Social Media

• Seth Godin — Sethgodin.com
• Jason Falls
• Socialmediaexplorer.com
• Peter Shankman — shankman.com/blog
• Chris Brogan — Chrisbrogan.com

If you love to work with businesses and you are passionate, you can feel it. You will be pushed.

Book Resource — Meatball Sundae — by Seth Godin — Meatballs are traditional marketing. How to bridge to social media marketing. Want to get business to change their ways from traditional marketing.

Measurements

Have your own stats available to show what you have done with your blog. Need to have numbers.

Must reinvent old marketing techniques by introducing social media marketing.  Make a bridge between old and new marketing.

How to Transition to Becoming a Social Media Consultant

• Join local chamber of commerce.
• Send out postcards to local business. Order postcards from Vistaprint. Send to local companies. Can get leads from sending out postcards. Offer a discount for anyone who brings you a postcard. Get out there — how do businesses know you are there unless you put yourself out there?
• Offer social media classes. Teach them how to use the internet…social media. Go through local businesses, industry, amusement parks, stores, associations, etc. What to charge? Look at your local market and what you can charge. You can charge more in cities than in rural communities.
• Brainstorm fun and creative ideas for a couple of your favorite businesses and bring it to them.
• Get featured in local papers for your work/social media activities.

Branding Yourself

• You can either brand yourself.
• Or start a social media company.
• Start a portfolio site for yourself if you don’t want to start a company
• Ask clients for testimonials. Ask them to say something specific. Get facts from say.
• Facebook engagement.
• Attend social media meetings. @cecilyK said Socialmedia.org — to register a social media club.

At times you can find people who are giving out bad information.

Question from @littletechgirl — How much free advice should you give? Amanda said that she would be happy to sit down with a person/new vlient for an hour. Anything after an hour she will charge.

Sarah — Does a 20-minute phone call. Gives out tips. Then  sets up a 1- to 2-hour consultation session. People know that consultation is paid. Flesh out the tips given in to a proposal for the new client.

Amanda — Tell them you have a set amount of pro bono time. Tell the potential client that you need to charge since you are done with your pro bono hours for the year.

Portfolio site — Get one. Use your full name as the url. Add twitter, flickr feed, and feeds from your blog.

Measurement — Send reports on level of engagement to your clients.

Tools

• Hootsuite Pro $6/month
• Hashtracking
• Google analytics
• Facebook
• Tweetreach
• Klout

Social Media Management v. Strategy Consultant

• Is there a difference between building a following for a company v. doing it as a blogger?
• Fit the company to your passions.
• Think about how to get personal with the business.
• Don’t become a walking billboard.
• Add your name to the page you are tweeting on “Tweets by.”
• On your personal page, if you tweet for a brand add a disclaimer “These tweets are my own.” Bear in mind that everything you tweet will be read by someone

After You Become a Social Media Consultant

• Can you keep a blog going? That is a personal choice. Maybe reduce the number of times you post per week rather than ceasing to blog. A company wants to see that you are fully engaged in the social media community as a blogger.
• Brands want to see that you have a presence.
• Where do you host the social media classes? Sarah has a deal with a local hotel to use their space. Library. Colleges.
• Question from @guavalicious — How do you find people to consult for? How do you read out?
• Build relationships. Talk to businesses. Throw what you know in to a conversation. Distinguish yourself from other social media consultants.

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3. A Place for Moms in Social Media and Networking
4. LiveBlogged: Power Marketing Presentation #Typeacon
5. Being a Social Media Mom in Rural America