Start up Dilemma.. Now What?
Discussion
Picking the clients I go through my own research on the clients im pitching right now too defiantly trying to be slightly picky if its possible. I just basically research a local company who im going to pitch to, have a look through there SM and have a look whats missing and what can be done. Sales Call I go through how important SM is currently for advertising, ask them a few basic questions regarding the SM, let them know who I am and what im offering ask do they have any questions, would they be happy with going ahead should the price be right, if YES then I tell the price, have made up some documents I send out with more information and then I will call them back regarding starting work and payment If they are happy too. Ive wrote a script just last night going to try it out soon.
Okay so taking 5 clients at £100 p/week would be on average lets say 5/8 posts a day so working on that with 5 clients that is 200 post's per week which would all be scheduled when im working on the business for a few hours so they would update throughout the week. I would need to publish 5 articles/ blog posts so there is another few hours work on top. Breaking even right now isnt really the issue with 1 client a week I would break even as I am running this from home right now so expenses are relatively low taking into account phone bills etc. Obviously I wouldnt be able to take on more than 5/6 clients whilst doing this part time as I just would not have the time to keep up with the workload and put 100% effort into each client. With 5/6 clients that is £5/600 a week which I could comfortably then pursue this venture full time. There is alot of IF and WHEN's regarding gaining clients that why right now I am just testing the water and doing this in my spare hours. Yes I wont have much spare time for myself after working full time and pursing this but if that is what it takes to make this work then I am going to put the hours in.
Also guys if you don't mind me asking, how do I go about registering the business and how does the tax work whilst working full time? Will I be taxed extra from my full time income "Wage" or just the profits I make from this side venture? I have tried looking into it and it is totally baffling me how to go about this, same with licenses with this sort of business.
Who is Eric?! haha my ex was studying accountancy breaking up with her could then potentially cost me alot of money! hahaha so for now lets say whilst I am testing the waters just keep a log of money taken/ expenses etc then in a few months time register the company and sort tax etc? That is what I am reading from that, correct me if I am wrong 
Okay Richard well a few ways I can see that conflicting would be how would the Client justify giving me £100 per week to just push post for them on SM sites? They wont do that. Secondly if the client was to write them and for this example I will use Twitter as the SM Platform, whats to say they are going to word it correctly? Without wording correctly the post will only realistically hit there initial following. If worded correctly the potential of viewers will go up drastically by people searching for the products or services provided by the client. Ill give you an example lets use the bridal shop again. Lets say the client wants to run a competition to gather more of a following and create some brand awareness.
Client writes : Win a tiara at "Name of bridal store"
I would write : For you chance at winning a "name of brand and item" at "Bridal store" simply follow and repost/retweet to enter. #wedding #bridal etc etc
Do you see how it is totally different yet produces the same message? The idea of sending out these post's is to gain awareness about your business/ brand and potentially increase sales. If someone is marketing there SM to gain quick sales it will never happen it just wont. SM is used to bring awareness with the added potential of sales not sales alone.
Client writes : Win a tiara at "Name of bridal store"
I would write : For you chance at winning a "name of brand and item" at "Bridal store" simply follow and repost/retweet to enter. #wedding #bridal etc etc
Do you see how it is totally different yet produces the same message? The idea of sending out these post's is to gain awareness about your business/ brand and potentially increase sales. If someone is marketing there SM to gain quick sales it will never happen it just wont. SM is used to bring awareness with the added potential of sales not sales alone.
Edited by sammc123 on Friday 7th February 12:07
Also the homework that has to be put into creating these post's will be difficult following trends in different industries etc. I have decided over the next week and weekend I have left I am going to target just 2 industries starting out, they are B&B's and Bridal Stores, I believe these 2 will have the best option to start out and the most "simple" in terms of homework/industry information etc
In terms of gaining enough clients to make it worthwhile will definitely be alot of hardwork. I was just thinking and had the thought of how much easier this could be if I had a office the size of my last sales job with about 35 people on the phones and a SM team haha! One can only dream!!
That is my plan right now I am just building my site, then will be sorting business cards out. I will need to get a monthly subscription to buffer/hootsuite but for that I will go for a small business account with up to 10 account for now where I am starting that is £7.99 p/month. I am trying everything possible to reduce spending on unnecessary things right now. Computer wise isn't really an issue I will use my Laptop for most things but in the event of it dying on me or needed an extra screen to work I also have a desktop PC available for use here.
Yes this is pretty much correct except after working through numbers and help from other posters on this forum I have revised the cost's of the service and I am currently at the drawing board for different packages to cover different business needs and business budgets. Lets say you want on average 6 posts a day over 5 days that is 30 posts alone and if using other platforms also it quickly adds up, lets say 60 posts a week over 2 platforms for £2 a day? After the discussion on here about the cost its seems quite evident I would basically be working crazy hours for little to no pay. This weekend will be a long one working through everything but to put it simply, the idea is to take control of SM for clients who either are too busy to actively use SM or dont know where to start and want to actually have there business marketed through the platforms.
Thank you for all the good comments guy's. One more thing I would like to ask is, lets say you are potential clients.... What would you expect to pay for this service on a basic package of General SM updates and maybe a Blog article written? I am thinking £100 per week may be too expensive for alot of small business' but this still seems to be cheaper than alot of the other companies offering this service.
I am grateful for all the help given from you guys, If it takes off I am sure I shall owe you all one! haha
I am grateful for all the help given from you guys, If it takes off I am sure I shall owe you all one! haha
So you are saying drop the article page out of the package and charge extra for that?, and for a basic package of £100 per week just do general updates on there SM pages from the newsletter sent by the client each week of there goings on and offers etc? My issue would be pictures from the client I couldn't stress it enough that these would need to be sent over with the newsletter should they want them posted.
I am just trying to currently work out my price structure to make this a worthwhile venture. Obviously I don't want to be too expensive but £100 per week is still cheaper than most of the other companies offering this service, but to me £100 per week still seems quite steep. What I am asking is... Lets say you guys are looking for this sort of service, what would you expect to pay and for what exactly? This is where I am currently, trying to construct my price structure and put together say 3 packages.
When you say "Creating material for the sales team". What do you mean by that? Sending over leads etc direct to the business? Also dealing with questions etc would become a full time job when you take into account potential questions of stock related issue's etc. Im trying to find a way to test the water with this business before jumping in with both feet and leaving a full time job which just isnt viable right now, before that I would need to prove to myself that this can work. Also regarding PPC that wouldn't really fall under social media? Correct me if I am wrong but unless they are using paid ads on FB etc then Google and SEO are completely different issue's other than SM Management.
Ahh okay I think I understand, so.. reports of analytic's etc from there pages at the end of a week etc? The question of "What could I get for £100 if I didn't use SM?" Well there is plenty of option's out there but any business that isn't promoting on SM is potentially losing out on brand recognition and potential leads/sales. It is not a sure fire way to sales but works very well as a recognition tool. I think I am going to have a smoke and get some dinner and write up a fresh plan, I will post up on here later with what I have come up with would be nice for a little feedback. Im finding I am starting to slightly go off my original plan of SM media management of basic posting etc going into alot more diverse work that would require me to be working this full time. Which don't get me wrong is great, but for the future when I have the resources and money to pursue this as a full time venture.
Yes so if the don't "get" SM, its a case of explaining the benefits of SM and how it can help them. If someone was thinking that they could start a business page on SM and instantly see a huge rise in sales its never going to happen! SM benefits alot more with business recognition and away to connect with your customer's with the added POTENTIAL to bring in extra sales. If a client was to say to me they only wanted a SM page to increase sales I would explain to them realistically it wouldn't happen right away, it is something that has to be managed consistently and not just a "One month, no sales, doesn't work". Maybe being an online retailer etc would see an increase quite quickly but a store like a bridal shop etc it just doesn't work that way.
5000 likes on Facebook would be hard to do straight away for a brand new facebook page but, I suppose we are talking here about your facebook page? I have checked it out! haha anyway one thing I would suggest is that you run a competition on a twitter page, this doesn't have to be for a huge prize nor expensive it can be something really simple. Just make sure that it is worded correctly to make sure that it is hitting the right target, in your case fitness/well being etc. Now for the competition I would make sure that they will follow your twitter and also your facebook page to enter and also retweet this to there own followers. In turn this will not only grow your twitter page but also your FB at the same time. 5000 likes for a business page is no easy feat for anyone and it is something that has to be done over time, sometimes local small niche business' will never hit this target or it will be extremely difficult as the target market and area is relatively small. All I can say is I can't put a time limit on how long it could take to hit 5000 on FB without first knowing the target market. Also the target area if your are as I said a local niche business.
I have checked it out! haha anyway one thing I would suggest is that you run a competition on a twitter page, this doesn't have to be for a huge prize nor expensive it can be something really simple. Just make sure that it is worded correctly to make sure that it is hitting the right target, in your case fitness/well being etc. Now for the competition I would make sure that they will follow your twitter and also your facebook page to enter and also retweet this to there own followers. In turn this will not only grow your twitter page but also your FB at the same time. 5000 likes for a business page is no easy feat for anyone and it is something that has to be done over time, sometimes local small niche business' will never hit this target or it will be extremely difficult as the target market and area is relatively small. All I can say is I can't put a time limit on how long it could take to hit 5000 on FB without first knowing the target market. Also the target area if your are as I said a local niche business.Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff