Hiring a Social Media Manager or Virtual Assistant

 

You’ve reached the point in your business where you begin to realize time is valuable and time is money. Very valuable! Being able to run your business with more of a balanced approach will not only free up more of your time but will increase productivity. Are you becoming a bottleneck in your companies growth?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know the importance of social media. You also know the importance of building a team of support. Even when you are an entrepreneur working out of a home office, you’ll eventually need some help to maximize your companies growth. 

Using social media the right way can “amplify” your business by increasing your visibility online, increase your website traffic, generate sales leads by putting your company in front of the right audience, increase leads and sales.

If you are an entrepreneur, author or a small business owner who works from a mobile office hiring virtual assistants is the perfect solution to adding much-needed help to your team. If you are a small business who has run out of office space, has an increasing workload but you do not want to hire an additional employee, VA’s are a viable solution to your problem. 

By building a “virtual” team you can save money. When hiring a virtual assistant who is registered as an independent contractor or business owner they are responsible for their own taxes. They work from their own home office so you do not need to provide them office space, equipment, pay health insurance, or find fill in work to fill an 8 hour work day. Check with your tax preparer and save all your invoices, some marketing expenses including hiring help is tax deductible. From my personal experience virtual workers are more happy, balanced and have deep reasons for choosing the work from home life style. Maybe they are a stay at home mom who needs to work around their child’s schedule for extra money, a person who tired of the long commute or a person who turned a passion into a business.  

You can hire your new assistant by the hour, the project or contracted work. For example, as a social media manager I work under an agreed upon contract between myself and my client. After our first initial consultation I draw up an engagement letter and after all the details are agreed upon work begins. 

When looking for a social media manager and a virtual assistant to help make your business run more smoothly there are a few things to consider.

Do you want someone who represents your core values? Are you branding yourself or your company? Can you handle working by email and phones or Skype? 

You need to hire someone you can trust. They will be representing your company. Your social media manager has your reputation in their hands and will have access to all your social media accounts, sign in information and passwords. Look for recommendations and check references. When you find a reliable assistant hang onto them. Having a person you can trust with your reputation and rely on to get the job done is priceless. Acknowledge your appreciation for their work and pay them well.

Some things to avoid:

I cringe when I see these ads where a company is looking for an assistant to work for $3.00 an hour. Would you work for $3.00 an hour? No you would not. Would you put your heart and soul into a project for $3.00 an hour? You want productivity, reliability, integrity and honesty. Treat your assistants like you do your customers.  

Avoid running an ad asking someone to get you 200,000 followers for $20.00. Be realistic. Set your goals, write your mission statement and hire a team that represents what matters to you. You want real followers not computer generated followers or followers who signed up to win a prize but never plan on returning to your website again.

If your ready to hire a social media manager send me an email and let’s talk. 

Any company who wants to get anywhere needs an online presence. Being a social media manager is not about sitting around the computer having useless conversations and watching endless funny animal videos. Serious social media mangers know the importance of helping you grow your company, expanding your reach and helping you provide top-notch customer service.

 

Here are some examples of what a social media manager can do for your company.

1. Increase your visibility by managing and updating several social media sites.

2. They can help you choose the best sites for your business.

3. Creating and scheduling tweets For Twitter. Responding to @mentions, direct messages and retweeting relative content to your audience.

4. Grow your audience by pinning relative content on Pinterest. Filling in your Pinterest boards with complete descriptions with keywords and hashtags in mind.

5. Engage and dialogue directly with customers, provide the prompt attention they desire and inform you when you have activity you need to tend to.

6. They can monitor your reputation for anything coming through the blogosphere related to your company so you can respond appropriately. They know the importance of having you be connected with your online presence.

7. When looking for a social media manager, check out their online presence. Are they on Facebook? Twitter? Pinterest? Do they have a blog? Do they have experience? Some projects can be left to interns but your social media presence should be directed by a pro, who possibly directs the interns on the smaller projects.

8. Create a social media strategy.

9. Set up and manage your Facebook ads and sponsored posts.

10. Search for news, articles and appropriate content to post.

These are just a few of the projects a social media manager does.

Here are some examples of what a virtual assistant can do for your company.

1. Schedule phone calls

2. Check your emails, filter them and flag the really important ones.

3. Create logos, photo memes, banners and other content that can be used online to expand your expertise.

4. Return calls, texts, emails.

5. Editing and proofreading

6. Project management and reporting

7. Calendar and schedule management

8. Meeting preparation and notes

9. Expense reports

10. Online file management

11. Create opt-in boxes to capture email subscribers.

12. Help you with your monthly or weekly newsletters.

13. Create landing pages for your new projects.

Some social media managers and virtual assistants cross over into both realms. Some are more generalized and pick exactly what they want to excel in.

If you are interested in becoming a virtual assistant purchase my book, Working From Home As A Virtual Assistant: Real opportunities for people who are serious about working from home available on Amazon to see if this career path is a good fit for you and find out how to get started.

Carol Lawrence is the owner of Social Media Help 4 U, a virtual based business that supports authors and businesses based on integrity. Social Media Help 4 U offers conscious business services, providing intuitive and skill based social media management & consulting. Looking for social media assistance to grow your online presence and provide top notch customer service? Have a marketing budget? Look no further. Multiple packages available. Perfect for for the company who knows the value of a marketing budget and needs help putting their company on the social map! Contact her today! Want to learn more about Carol? Check out some of her references here and her packages here.