Quick help needed re. social media...charges?

[MrsWinnibago]

I write guest blogs, articles and product descriptions. I've been doing it for about 4 years and things are busy. Lately I've been asked to write some social media stuff and a regular client (he has his own marketing agency) has asked me how much I'd charge to do the following

Daily Facebook updates - either own content or sharing trending content
Daily Tweets - either own content or sharing trending content
Daily Google+ - either own content or sharing trending content

for two different businesses. My problem is this...I don't know how many updates they want/expect and I don't want to seem like an amateur by asking...is there an expected figure? Should I offer for eg. 8 of each per day for a fixed cost? How much? I charge between 10 and 20 an hour depending what I'm writing about usually...so this is a bit tricky...also should I check that the accounts are already set up? I don't want to get into the business of setting them up as it's not my area.

Also just had a read and realise that I may be expected to keep well abreast of trending keywords and to use various tools to ensure that I target the right users...what a nightmare. I hate new things! I'm pretty competent with social media but not an expert....I think they want me for the word-skills rather than my social media expertise but should the two be exclusive?

Ask yourself if you really want to get into this sort of thing?

I'm not sure I do Sun but I also feel that I sort of should because of the way things are now. It started with a few tweets I was asked to write...catchy ones iykwim....and it makes sense that businesses want decent copy in their updates and that they employ people who can write compelling copy to do it.

So I worry that if I turn it down, it's through my fear of the unknown rather than the fact that it's too time consuming.

It sounds pretty time consuming to a social media numpty like me.

Have you tried to cost it out, using your normal rate and estimating time?

The relentless nature of it would grind me down, I think, even if I knew how to do it!

What happens if you're ill or on holiday?

It's a community manager role really, google salaries for that

Sun I'm freelance...if I can't do it I can't do it though over the years I've learned that I pretty much HAVE to do it I had DD2 and was back on the job the next day.

I will so the costing thing you suggest...that's the only way I know how really..

Re relentless...I'm used to that and tbf it's not half as relentless as some of the stuff I write!

Sponge right...thanks for that tip!

Hi, depends wholly on the brand and what their expectation is. I'm us

Oops...
I'm using a freelancer for the same thing for a high profile TV show. 4 FB updates and 4 tweets a week, but, there is already a following. If you're starting from scratch then you'll also need to factor in time for making sure the twitter acc follows other relevant people (to get follows back) and on FB linking up with relevant people and businesses to build that following up. And it doesn't happen over night!! To be honest, I don't think there is a general rule. Depends on what your client expects and who your audience is so I wouldn't be embarrassed about clarifying their expectations.
Also. We've found Twitter a total waste of time so have just stopped and will focus budget elsewhere. HTH

And I'm sure you already know; you can schedule twitter and Fb posts for the future so if you're ever away, updates still happen. I'll stop twittering now!

Social media is a whole new learning curve. Facebook has recently changed how they show business posts for example. I think you really need to check all the accounts are set up, what the engagement rate is (and does he want you to increase this?), the number of followers etc.

I did something similar for a client for a while. I based my proposal on time as others have suggested.

I did: 30 mins a day for researching, reading and scheduling c5 Tweets (Bufferapp is my fave) a day x 5 days. And then I added in 2 hours a month for 'account maintenance' eg following more people, responding to messages (mainly "Thanks for the RT" in my case) and producing a short analytics report. I wasn't writing any original content. Once I got into the swing of it, it probably took a bit less than 30 mins. But you do have to look at content carefully, lots of stuff can be drivel/old.

I didn't enjoy the pressure of having something to do everyday (like you I was back Tweeting on DD's day 2!) and as others have mentioned you need to think about holidays/being with another client all day etc. It is difficult to outsource it for a few days.

However, it is a good way to learn more about the market you are working in and might help with content ideas should you be asked to write the content for them too.

I think it also depends on the business. If it is a kitchen designer, it might just be promo tweets and sharing design content, which can be scheduled. However, something more interactive, a FMCG brand or a charity/organisation that is very PR/newsy then it will need more management.

I think it is fine to go back and ask your client:

• is there a strategy set up?
• has the target audience been defined?
• what sort of engagement are they expecting? What measures will his client be looking for?
• what is the sign off process for tweets - ie is somebody going to check each one or will you be left to it after a bit?

I am guessing he'll have a standard brief for freelancers he uses - ask if he has?

I would stick to the top price you charge him. I get the idea of different rates, but whilst you are Tweeting for him at a lower rate you cannot do other higher rate stuff for other clients. £10 sounds very low, where are you based?

On a related note I was once looking at the idea of outsourcing one of my client's social media and I found a good freelancer who would cover Twitter and Facebook for £350 a month. That was for a high profile issue charity.

I would give it a go, as you say this could be the start of a new package of services you can offer!

Might be a totally different kind of thing but dh has a marketing company and for our smallest customer, who has a pub, we do a daily tweet and 4 fb updates a week and only charge £10 a week (we are up north so cheaper rates than the south I imagine).

It's pretty easy work, we can tweet about some of the food specials that day, what football game will be on that night, good luck to the darts team in the tournament etc. so it actually takes less than a couple of minutes to do.

Although it's easy work we wouldn't take on anyone else like that, you would have to have tons of these to make any decent money, this one is more of a favour as we know the customer (and his pub!) really well.

I am a freelance online writer too and never take on these types of jobs. Like you, I am no social media expert and find it very time consuming to learn a new skill. I also find it very boring to find the right links and to think up things to say.

Then you have the pressure from the client who turns round and says that the number of "likes" or readers isn't improving - do something different. you think...what, exactly?

I believe it is very possible to get through life as a freelance writer without having to resort to this kind of writing. it isn't proper writing at all - just soundbites...

Leave it to social media experts.

We either include it as part of our main marketing team or outsource... Generally about £8k a year to maintain social media which involves a bit of customer service and interacting with valuable brands/groups.

That's manning it daily although the hours can vary and obviously keeping abreast of new developments that are relevant to our brand.

Also we don't quantify 'success' by numbers of likes etc. Success is measured as part of our turnover as we can tell who follows is on fb and is taking advantage of our services.