The Sad Truth About "Experts"
By Christina Gillick

Christina Gillick back again …

Let’s imagine for a moment you were one of the first web designers on the scene when businesses realized they needed to get a website up to stay competitive.

Companies would have begged you to build their website – for any amount.

You could have worked hard for a couple of years and retired early.

There is a similar opportunity right now – and it will be around for several more years. I’m talking about social media.

Social media is a great freelance opportunity right now because it’s changing the way businesses market and reach their potential customers. And businesses don't have time to learn everything they need to know about social media.

They need an expert who can take all the information and give them only the parts that are relevant to their business.

I'm talking about businesses using social networks (like Facebook, LinkedIn, Meetup, YouTube, Twitter, among others) to connect with people who might want to buy their products or use their services.

Not all businesses will need all social networks – that's where you come in. You can create a social media strategy that tells them where to focus their efforts.

Another perk is your social media knowledge can mean big, long-term revenue for you because managing a client's social media is not a one-time service.

Once you create their strategy and their social profiles are set up, they'll need someone to keep their profiles up to date and interact with real people on a regular basis.

If they simply set up social profiles and forget about them, they'll never reach enough people to build momentum and increase their client base.

Some businesses will hire you to consistently reach out to potential customers over time. They'll want to increase their brand awareness and annual sales.

Others will want you to come in and create a social media campaign that will quickly increase their website traffic, leads, and sales. They might have a new product, and to increase its sales, they'll launch a social media campaign. Depending on the network they're using, they might have discounts, contests, prizes, or free samples.

The entire goal is to spread their message far and wide as fast as possible so they can sell a lot of their new product.

One example is the clothing store Gap, which used Groupon (a popular social buying site) to offer $50 worth of clothing for just $25. This social media campaign brought in $11 million in one day.

As you can tell, there are many options when it comes to social media campaigns. That’s why business owners are hiring social media experts to handle it for them.

As I said, the opportunity is now to get in on the ground floor of this trend. I’m putting everything in action to be one of the “lucky” ones. And I want to show you how I’m doing it so you can become a social media expert too.

Many people think it’s already too late, that there are already too many social media experts out there. But let me bust this myth for you …

Yes, it is true that the Internet is full of people claiming to be social media experts. But we all know that proving it is a completely different thing.

Businesses only care about results. They expect increased sales, more leads, and more visitors to their websites from social media campaigns. And only a teeny-tiny fraction of these so-called “social media experts” know how to get those results.

They don’t know anything about marketing, writing, or building relationships with potential customers.

I promise you, the majority of them will disappear quickly.

But you and I won’t.

Because once you know how to use social media to get results for businesses (like more visitors, more leads, and more sales), you’ll never have a shortage of jobs. That’s been my personal experience.

I recently consulted with a copywriting client who flat out refused to take an interest in social media. He wanted to stick with the old way of doing things. He thought social media was a fad that would quickly pass.

I really believe every business needs a strong social media presence, so I kept trying.

I finally convinced him to give it a try. I offered to spend just one hour on his social media strategy.

During that hour, I set up his Twitter account, followed several people interested in his niche, posted a few tweets linking back to his content, and engaged with potential customers.

And to make sure I proved the value of social media, I also made sure to create tracking links so he could see any sales that came in from Twitter.

Then I waited …

Within a few days, he had made almost $1,000 directly from Twitter. From just an hour’s worth of work.

This was enough to convince him of the value in social media. Now I’m managing all his campaigns. I’m even training other people on his staff to pitch in.

The true potential in social media is the value you bring to the businesses you can help.

If you can create a strategy for a business that gets results, you will be their hero. Clients will be excited to pay you because they know you’ll get them a huge return on their investment. And they’ll recommend you to everyone.

Most self-proclaimed social media experts don’t understand that having a social media profile alone will do nothing for a business. It takes an actual comprehensive strategy to make social media work.

Learn why anyone who wants to live the writer’s life should embrace social media now, check out this article: “3 Reasons You Should Embrace Social Media Now.”

Do you have a social media success story, or are you just getting started? Let me know by posting a comment below.