by Leo Wiles
01 March 2017
I often get asked if I do social media (I don’t, not for clients, that is) but I say no because I just think it would be bitsy and annoying and not worth an hour here and an hour there. But am I ignoring what could be a nice little earner? Carly
Yes! A big, fat, resounding yes. It sounds like you already do social media to promote yourself, so why not do it for other people and get paid for it, especially if you’re a good writer and can pen engaging tweets and Facebook posts, Instagram descriptions and teasers for other social media platforms? It doesn’t have to be ‘bitsy’. It can be something you factor in as a package so you’re writing several months’ worth of posts and scheduling them, so it’s worth your time.
You may also underestimate how easy it is for you to navigate these platforms and do things like changing business details on Facebook or a profile picture that fits on Twitter. For a lot of business people who aren’t so web-savvy, it’s a punish – and they’re desperate for help and to not be left behind in the digital maelstrom.
The kicker for this type of digital writing is, of course, the volume and opportunity. And, when you consider all the businesses of all sizes out there with an incessant demand for this type of thing; who simply don’t have the skills or the time to do it themselves but really want to build brand awareness and engagement and a community to sell to, you’d be downright cray-cray to not take advantage, especially if clients are specifically asking you for those services. And that’s before you even start to consider potential clients who are already doing a total balls-up of their social media and might really welcome some help on that score. (We’ve all seen companies like them. They could be waiting for your call right now.)
In terms of income, I know a journalist who recently took on a job writing a year’s worth of social media posts for a client. They want to handle the scheduling, but needed him to do the research and writing side. It’s about 2 weeks’ work and he’s getting a decent project rate for the entire job.
I’ll also never forget reading an interview with US multimedia freelancer David Leavitt, who told the Columbia Journalism Review that social media was more lucrative to him than reporting. ‘These days I find that I’m getting paid more for a sponsored tweet or Instagram post that takes less than a minute,” he told the interviewer, “than I do for actual journalism.”
And while that might make some of us feel sad, or groan at yet another sign that our industry is evolving and moving (rightly or wrongly) towards marketing and copywriting, if you’re not doing it or offering it and you have the skills to, it’s time to get smart.
List members, we’d love to hear from you. Do you take on social media jobs and gigs, or find it’s not worth your time?
Good piece Leo. I agree with everything you’ve said in the piece but I have found problems with pricing. A lot of small businesses I talk to love the idea of getting someone to do their social media for them but when I quote them what I think is a fairly reasonable price to do it, they’re not so enthusiastic.
In my experience also Darren SME’s in particular seem to be very short sighted / misguided when it comes to understanding the value of what a professional writer can do. The best way to minimise the wasted time and frustration your end is to have a rate sheet you can send before that initial hour / two hour chat and also talk in terms they understand. Which means understanding how your SEO pimping or tweeting helped out a previous client by delivering more eyeballs / time spent with or swelled their newsletter database. In this way they can understand the way in which their investment in you translates. Admittedly however it used to be far easier to show clients that by paying me for two days per week as their PR I could generate over $1.2M worth of editorial style advertorial in 2years. [sighs]
Darren I feel your pain. I have just updated my rate card and chatted to two different potential clients in the past 2 weeks; I try to keep the phoner short and get to the point of what they need, then do a quote and send the rate card as well. I often get the line about how they don’t have any budget for content / social media. It’s hard. But sometimes you get someone who values it and your writing and just wants to hand it over and get on with running their business – so they are out there 🙂
Hmmm. That’s interesting. Thanks for the post.
Hi Leo
This is very timely. I have just taken on the social media and EDM writing for a small new company. Lovely clients, lovely products and it hardly takes any of my time. I’m charging an hourly rate. It all adds up and is added to my portfolio as a new service I am offering
There seems to be a lot of work out there for this sort of writing. It’s worth dipping your toe in, I think.
Congratulations Lynne