Making Money with Social Media

kudos to brucesallan.com for the image

There is currently a list doing the rounds of jobs that did not exist 10 years ago. Four out of fifteen relate to Social Media. My thoughts are this will extend dramatically over the next few years and rather than social media managers you will have social media brand managers, social media analysts, social media marketers and more. The digital age will advance so much that business owners will finally realise there is no point trying to manage social media themselves, and duly pass the tasks on to qualified individuals.

The current problem is these "qualified" social media individuals presently reside on every corner, making social media one of the most competitive industries around. How does one penetrate the market to actually make money from social media?

USING FACEBOOK DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE A SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT

A little story. A friends daughter recently told me she is going to leave school before completing her finals to become a social media consultant. I asked her how much experience she has with brand management and online marketing. She said none. Apparently she does not need any as she knows Facebook inside out. Oh dear....

Do not fool yourself into thinking that a little bit of knowledge about Social Media will make you an expert and thus money will fall into your lap, should you launch a business. The gap between outstanding social media managers and  novices is becoming wider, and soon enough potential clients will know the basics just like you. So you must educate yourself in all aspects of social media AND marketing.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS A TOOL FOR SAVVY MARKETERS

Social Media is a tool that has made the job of marketers somewhat easier. Where we used to rely on radio, television and print media to reach mass audiences, social media has meant a campaign can spread like wildfire (if implemented smartly), providing a faster result and speedy success. However, without knowledge of marketing, your campaigns will still not reach the masses and there will be no brand success. To clearly demonstrate you can achieve social media success, take the time to learn the best marketing techniques for various industries.

BUILD TRAFFIC

Without traffic to your website and social media pages, you have no potential clients. Full stop.

To make any money using social media you must drive traffic to your sites. Get yourself a decent website and use clever SEO strategies. Once visitors reach destination YOU, then ensure you offer something unique. The selling comes by convincing visitors within 5 seconds that your business is worth looking into. Ensure your website clearly links to your social media profiles and provide visitors with a reason to keep coming back.

FIND A SOCIAL MEDIA NICHE
There are thousands of social media consultants (in excess of 15,000 worldwide) who have cast their net wide. They consult to all business types on all aspects of social media. A key to business success, regardless of industry, is finding a niche and becoming the GO TO person. Are you an expert in a particular industry such a beauty or finance?  Think about creating a social media business for one particular industry and carving your niche.

LOOK OFFLINE
If your intention is to seriously make money from social media, do not make the mistake of thinking your pot of gold lay online. Not true. Who do you think needs social media to grow their business? Local business owners and companies are desperate for social media assistance! One of the fastest ways to make money via social media is to start networking in your local community. Attend business breakfasts, introduce yourself and your services to business owners. Put yourself out there and show there is a personality to your social media business.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

There are ways to use social media for business other than posting articles and quotes. Twitter and Facebook can be utilised beautifully as customer support tools. Show potential clients that your customer service is outstanding. Be contactable via many methods and respond quickly. Consistency and reliability will create word of mouth and more business.

DEMONSTRATE YOUR OWN SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS

To me, this is the most important aspect of making money via social media. How can you be expected to make money from social media management if your own social media marketing, for your own business, is unsuccessful? Before putting yourself out there, concentrate on building the foundation of your brand on social networks. Show that others follow you, that you influence others.

MAKE USE OF MONEY MAKING TOOLS

Do you have a blog? Look into placing Adwords and Affiliate links on your blog to generate revenue. Again, you will only receive revenue if your blog has traffic and visitors click on your ads. Similarly, you could set up an Amazon account and sell products on your site, earning commission from each sale. Currently, this is not available to all countries (including Australia) for all products, so again, this is a limited money making tool.

The bottom line is, if you think that making money via social media is an easy gig then wake up and smell the roses. There may not be any formal degrees or qualifications required to operate a social media business, that does not mean you do not require knowledge. Continue to learn, build a brand and create your own online success first. Then, you are ready to manage the social media journey for others which is when the real money will come.