There are various online business models that you can choose to make money online with, but is social media marketing worth it? With time, more social media platforms are created and used. As a result, digital marketers look for a way to leverage those platforms to promote products and services. In this article, I'm going to cover what it takes to start a social media marketing agency and if it's the best way to become financially free. I'll also compare creating a social media marketing agency with another popular online business model called local lead generation and see which one has the most benefits.
Invest In Education
When starting a social media marketing agency, you first need to have skills in each of the marketing platforms.
Where do you learn them?
Online.
Instead of going to a university or a college, you can learn the skills necessary to change your life and that of another business from home.
For the most part, your investment in a course is only a fraction of what you would pay if you went to college.
You still need to do your research.
Don’t just go after the first online course you come across.
Remember, in every ad you see of a guru selling they're online course, they’re going to show you all of the money, penthouse suites, mansions and exotic cars they have.
Don’t let this fool you.
Many people see those ads think they’ve found the solution to their life problems and automatically get their credit card out.
What they later find out is that to start up certain business models, you need to invest a lot of money.
You may even find various different courses that all teach the same business model.
For example, Facebook ads.
There are so many courses that teach you how to advertise on this platform.
Here are just 3 of the best ones in my opinion...
Some cost more than others and others offer more value than most.
Make sure to do your due diligence to see if a business model is something you want to get into.
Try to look up 3-4 business models and then analyze the cost.
Initially, you may be hesitant to pay for a course.
- Is it a scam?
- Will it be worth it?
- What if it isn’t worth it?
These are just some of the more common questions that may run through your mind when deciding if you’re going to invest in a course or not.
It’s 2021 people.
We’re in the digital age and we have been for a while.
Now, more than ever is the time to learn digital skills and be your own boss.
Make sure you look through case studies and if you happen to be on a "breakthrough" call, see if you can take a peek into their private community.
I’ll even help you out.
I’ve reviewed various different courses that teach how to get started in business models such as:
I invite you to take time to check out the in-depth reviews for each of those business models.
I've messed with different biz models and through it all, I’ve focused on lead generation.
Yes, you can make plenty of money on social media, I just personally prefer my lead generation business plan at this point in my life.
Let's get into the next step.
Self Marketing
This is a must.
How are you going to market for others if you can’t promote yourself?
Now, don’t think that you have to go and run a ton of ads and get into insane debt right off the bat.
No.
What you should do first is create social media business accounts/pages for each one.
Let everyone know what you do.
It's not about being egotistical, but confident.
When you're confident, you'll be able to take a no and keep pushing forward until you get a yes.
A yes means money so, no giving up!
These are skills that can help so many business owners in this digital age.
If you're confident about yourself, it'll show in the way you market yourself.
After you create these business profiles, engage with different business profiles and provide value.
Ex. Free digital marketing audit, free PDF with tips etc.
Creating your own agency website is easy and a must.
There are plenty of platforms that can help you get a site up within the day and you don’t even need to know anything about coding.
Prospecting
Before you prospect, you need to get your mindset ready.
Understand that if you don’t prospect, you’re not going to get any clients and you won’t make money.
Be bold, be courageous and get to talking with everyone.
Forget what anyone can say about you and your new career choice.
Here are a few ways you can prospect for clients.
Talk to your family and...
These really are going to be the easiest clients you can obtain especially if you’re starting out and have no results to show for.
They aren’t cold leads and can most likely use the help of someone they can trust.
This is a no brainer.
If you get them results, then they can refer you to other business owners they know.
Another way is...
This means reaching out to business owners on these platforms.
Connect on LinkedIn, friend them on Facebook and Instagram etc.
When you friend business owners, don’t be a creep.
Be active on their page, like some of their posts (NOT ALL OF THEM) and make a comment or two.
It’s almost like you’re trying to date someone.
If you immediately go and send them a super long message, you’re going to come off as spammy and turn them off.
Don’t get impatient.
Another great way is to record a video.
Sounds simple enough right?
That’s because it is.
So many digital marketers do the bare minimum by sending emails and Facebook messages.
You need to stand out from the rest.
By making a video, they’ll automatically be drawn in to your message because business owners can hear your voice and see your face.
If you do a screencast, for example, you can show them what you can do for them straight from your computer.
Screencasts are a fantastic way to attract prospects.
I can’t count the number of screencasts I’ve done that have been successful in helping me obtain clients.
Why?
These videos show that you've gone the extra mile to stand out and believe me, it matters.
When making these videos, make sure to get to the point and do a great job articulating what you can do for the business owner.
You may need to practice a few times so that you can sound like a pro and don't forget to keep the video under 10 minutes.
Another great way to prospect is by joining a BNI (Business Network International).
Joining a BNI can really get you some steady work.
Once you join a chapter, believe me, everyone is going to want your business card on your first visit.
You’ll be able to visit a chapter twice before having to decide if you'll join.
The membership may seem a bit expensive but, if you choose the right BNI chapter to join, you can end up with plenty of recurring business.
Sounds nice, right?
The good thing about a BNI is that if you find a chapter that doesn’t have a social media marketer and you decide to join, no other social media marketer can join.
YOU will be the go-to person there for social media marketing.
It's worth saving some extra cash and consider joining a local BNI.
Chambers of Commerce are another way to increase your chances at getting referrals as well but, you may not be the only marketer around.
Discover Your Niche
So, you’ve learned your new skills and are super pumped to get to work for any and every business owner.
Great!
One of the most important pieces of advice that you may get is to focus on one niche instead of going after many.
In the beginning, you’re obviously going to take on any type of client that you come across to get some cash flow going.
As time passes though, your life would be easier if you stick to one niche.
Think about it.
Let’s say you’re successfully marketing for a certain niche.
You should look for another client in that same niche.
You already have a winning formula.
Since the formula for success for one niche may not be the same for another niche, in essence, you’re starting over for every new niche you go into.
If you keep to one niche, all you’re doing is rinsing and repeating while not breaking a sweat or wasting time.
Choose the niche you enjoy the most and that pays you the best.
If you can be successful at generating leads for one type of business, it will be easier to do so for others of the same niche.
This is smart business and it's how you can really earn a passive income.
That's what it's really all about.
Doing this is called “front-loading” because you do all of the work up-front and then reuse that same format or template again and again.
You may even put yourself in the position to demand more money upfront when speaking with new business owners because you have all the results to back it up.
How could they say no to you when you have the "formula" for success?
They won't, and if they do, they'll be losing out.
More often than not, they'll surely be more inclined to pay you.
Running Different Types Of Ads
Obviously, there are many different social media platforms in which you can advertise on.
Now, you may have only paid for one course that only teaches you one type of business model.
That’s fine, but think about this.
If you have a client who wants to market on all social media platforms, are you going to be able to handle that for them?
No.
Fortunate for you, I’ve made FREE step by step guides for each of the business models such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and more.
Below, you'll see links to those guides.
Let’s talk about the benefits of these business models and why you should run ads on these platforms.
First up is Facebook Advertising.
Facebook has 2.4 billion active users worldwide and counting.
The great thing about Facebook is that you can create great looking ads in formats such as video, 360° images, slideshows and more.
What separates Facebook with everyone else is the fact that you can target and re-target exactly who you want to based on their actions and demographics.
You’re even able to advertise on Instagram by means of Facebook.
For the free step by step guide on how to advertise on Facebook, click here.
Next is YouTube Ads.
Like Facebook, everyone, even your grandma is on YouTube watching videos, liking and subscribing to channels.
It's a perfect place to put your ads in front of people.
Many people do get annoyed when they see ads, but it's still a proven and effective way to advertise.
You'll have to have a Google Ads account to run ads on Youtube though.
If you create great content and provide value in your ads here, you'll be successful.
The best part of YouTube ads is that you only pay when someone shows interest.
How awesome and convenient is that?
Another method is Google Ads.
Everyone on Earth uses Google.
It’s the #1 search engine in the world by a long shot. Google gives people all of the information they want and need.
Though you don’t create ads like you do on Facebook with all of those different ad formats, you can still generate plenty of leads.
These are perfect for phone driven businesses.
Think about it, if someone is searching for a certain service such as pool maintenance, their intent to buy is high.
That’s what you can call a warm to hot lead.
For the free step by step guide on how to advertise on Google, click here.
LinkedIn is another platform that you can advertise on.
This platform is different that any other one.
With more than 706 million active users, LinkedIn is the perfect platform to connect with business owners and decision makers.
You won’t find selfies here like you do on Facebook or Instagram.
This is all for business professionals.
Like Facebook though, you do have the opportunity to choose different ad formats so that you can attract your ideal clients.
You’re also able to target certain types of professionals.
Although the up front cost of running ads is higher here than on Facebook, the ROI (Return On Investment) is also higher because of the type of audience.
This platform is a great way to avoid talking to the “gatekeeper” and connect directly with the business owners.
To learn how to advertise on LinkedIn, click here.
Know What To Charge For Your Services
As a business owner yourself, you should know what it is that you’re going to charge for your services.
This may be tough because many people weren’t educated on money.
Now, because you’re new to social media marketing, you may have trouble charging clients top dollar initially.
One of the deciding factors for a business owner signing on for your service, is the proof you have that you can follow through with what you’re saying you can do for them.
Tip: Tell the business owner that they don’t have to pay you until they make money from your efforts OR offer a refund if you don’t provide results.
Doing so will let the business owner know that their investment in you is risk-free.
They lose nothing.
Either way, I recommend having different types of packages based off of the services you offer.
Something like this:
- Basic Package
- Gold Package
- Platinum Package
The Platinum package will clearly offer everything you've got and will cost the most.
The Gold package will have everything the Basic package has and a little more to offer but, not as much as the Platinum pack.
Obviously you don't have to name your packages the way I just did but, it's only to give you an idea.
By dividing your services in this manner, the business owner will get to see what they're getting and at what cost.
This will let the business owner know that you’re organized, sure of yourself and your work especially if you present it in a nice attractive and professional form.
I've used this method for a while and it still proves successful for me.
if you're lost...
...a good place to start would be to let the business owner that you'd like the pay to be at least a 5:1 ration in favor of the business owner.
From there, you can talk it out with them and see what’s mutually beneficial.
If you have to start off charging lower initially, do so.
Just let the business owner know that at some point down the line, if there are consistent results, your price will go up.
Be flexible to a certain extent, but don’t let them take advantage of you either.
Remember, they need YOU, not the other way around.
Legally Set Up Your Business
Once you’ve gotten some steady clients, you should make sure you set up your business legally.
You can either start off as a sole proprietor if you wish, or start up an LLC.
You do need to check to see what the exact requirements are for starting a business in your state.
To check if the name you want to use for your business is available, go to: https://www.uspto.gov/trademark.
Make sure you do this so that you don't have any issues with Uncle Sam.
Final Thoughts
You were obviously wondering how to start a social media marketing agency before you came across this article.
Is a social media marketing agency even a good business?
If you use these steps and don't neglect any of them, you'll be in great shape to be able to start your own agency.
You're looking to take control of your life so you need to take it seriously and be sure you're going to work hard at starting a successful agency.
The only way to become a pro is to gain experience.
Take imperfect action and keep it rolling. Be resolved to never give up.
Go ahead and start taking action!
Social media marketing isn't personally my #1 online business though.
Let me show you why.
My #1 Internet Business Recommendation
Social Media
Lead Generation
Local lead generation is my favorite business model for many reasons.
How do I do it?
By ranking simple sites on page 1 of Google.
Check out this website I own.
In 2014, I built out a site that offers tree services and as you can see above, I targeted those buyer intent keywords so that once people search for "tree service grand rapids", my site shows up.
I made sure to rank this site for those and other keywords related to tree services.
For example:
- tree removal
- stump grinding
- emergency tree removal
- tree removal Grand Rapids
It didn't take me long to build or rank this site and to this day I get $750 per month for this site.
All the calls that come in because of my site, I forward to a tree service company looking for more work.
Of course business owners are going to want more work.
Especially if their own site isn't ranking well.
what's even more awesome...
...is the fact that once I rank the site, I barely need to go back and do anything more to it.
There's no ad creation or conversion tracking like you need to do on Facebook.
This is why this is the best business model in my opinion.
I can earn a truly passive residual income.
Advertising on social media can put you out of hundreds of dollars in a matter of a couple of days with no ROI.
I'd rather take that money and build out all of my sites, rank them and have business owners pay me to send them exclusive leads.
It's genius!
Here are all of the best reasons why local lead generation is my #1 online business.
