Before everything went to hell, I decided that social media consulting and management was probably going to lead me nowhere despite how busy I was. I’ve worked for a ton of start-ups, handled marketing for some large corporations and consulted with small and moderate-sized businesses. They all had the same goals and, by in large, the same issues.
The Truth About Social Media Consulting
- I think Brogan tweeted it best when he said that unless you’re doing social media “in house” you’re an actor.
- You’ll spend a lot of your time on education.
- The ROI on social media is marginal for a huge percentage of small businesses. Social media works best as a component to marketing, it can’t be all that you do. And if they don’t have a budget for marketing, why are they in business?
- Most startups mean a start to a quick end. Seriously.
- If you’re managing, you can be replaced by an intern (whether right or wrong) and you cannot negotiate with free.
- Not everyone is a marketer and most bloggers are good at pimping themselves not marketing. There is a difference.
- Great products or great writing — to an extent — share and sell themselves. Apple, for example, has no social media presence.
- Social media does not work for every business. It just doesn’t.
Losing Sight of YOUR Goals
At the end of the day, I didn’t want to be a marketer. Social media management/consulting is, in general, the most logical progression for bloggers to monetize and make a living. For me, blogging is a platform and a means to an end. Without the clients I had and the jobs I performed, I would have never been able to survive or learn what works and what doesn’t.
And in Philadelphia, so many consider themselves consultants, how do you set yourself apart from the novice to the experienced? Finally, why would you want to? I found that, quite frankly, it was time for me to let others battle it out while I created my own startup and stuck to writing.
Back then I lost sight of what my “end” goal was and it certainly wasn’t hosting blogger parties or creating strategic marketing plans or even selling someone else’s site. As a consultant, you begin to find yourself as the PR rep, the marketing director, the creative director and more. In order to be successful, you have to start smart.
I didn’t do that.
Let’s Start Talking & Sharing About Writing
In the upcoming weeks, I’ll start to make the physical shift that I did months ago: get rid of the “Work with Liz” portion of this site and start featuring conversations about and with other writers. For months, I’ve been working on “Blogspiration” which is a 7-ish step guide to becoming a better writer that will run through email for seven weeks.
This fits.
The other stuff? Not so much. Let everyone else figure it out. I’ll be writing and owning stuff.
Hey there, a friend sent me your blog link and said I might be interested. I am! What is this blogspiration you speak of? How do I get in on the fun? Okay then, I’m going to go browse around your blog and figure out how things work around here.
Looking forward to reading more.
Carol recently posted..Who, What, Wear
Hi Carol! Thanks for stopping by. You can sign up for Blogspiration by clicking this link: http://eepurl.com/qQ4_X
Liz Henry recently posted..Why I Gave Up Social Media Consulting
Thanks. Done.
Carol recently posted..Who, What, Wear
Awesome! I forgot to add that Blogspiration is basically a 7-step guide to stop waiting to be picked, kicking ass, and doing everything wrong in order to succeed as a writer and, of course, blogger.
I hope it helps and if it doesn’t, you can hit the unsubscribe and I’ll get the message. =)
I’ve been struggling with this for months. I do some SM and general marketing for some small companies, and it is super hard. The reason people like me and my personal blog is because I say whatever I want, because I can. Doing that for other companies and maintaining professionalism is tough-I try to give it personality, gah. The line between professional and boring seems to be the same.
Tricia O. recently posted..Holiday booty shaking
Looking forward to seeing your transformation. I have to say I agree with you about social media, I have had so-called SM consultants approach me about working with my agency. I have explained that as a heavy user of SM, I know that SM is simply not feasible with every business. For starters my “clients” are low income often poor folks, they could care less about what we are doing online, few of our clients even access Facebook on a regular basis much less Twitter or anything else.
Even our funders and donors aren’t heavy users and frankly being a non-profit using public money that is meant to fund our programs and therefore our clients is not a wise use of money or trust.
As someone who has worked with non-profits as a consultant and grant writer, I feel there are parallels to that work and social media consulting. I always tell clients in the end, they are better off writing their own grants rather than using a consultant long term. Why? They can tell their story with a passion and a person outside the organization will never have.
Great piece then again all your stuff is great.
Blackgirlinmaine recently posted..It is not about you! A rant…a large rant