Client Almost Closed - Need Social Media Advice

I am always supportive of selling new services - but I would advise that you don't sell social marketing if you have basically zero knowledge about it. Surely, if you don't know which sites to be on, or how to make it work, you will disappoint the client.

Some people may come and tell you to hire cheap Facebook posters in the Philippines, but that is not what this client needs. This client needs a specific campaign to create a specific response.

It isn't super difficult, but it does take some expertise and a has TONS of real value. We charge a minimum of $10k for this type of work. Our normal campaign is $15k (just letting you know that I'm not talking from my arse).

The results of social can be unreal for the client but if you miss a few key components, you might get no result for them.

Take some time, get REALLY familiar with what you want to sell and what result you will achieve.

Social isn't like design or other typical marketing where you can let others do most of the work. Social requires deep client and market knowledge to be really effective.

Of course, you could just do some daily posting for him, but that isn't what he needs. He wants to target a specific group in a specific area to sell a lot of stuff. Posting and friending will not be enough to reach that goal.

1. I don't think JUST social media sites is your answer. I'd try to get him on a weekend radio show for small business (there's like 4 on at the same time on Saturdays in my area) and i would try to setup an interview with the host. Imagine how many listeners are home owner, and could benefit from this service?
2. All of them - Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus.
3. Contact them directly, via phone. Tell them that he would like to help others do the same thing, and needs their help spreading the word. Offer them $100 referral bonus for each paid customer they refer or something to make it worth their wild.

I don't think you should get into social media without having a clear idea of what you want and realistic targets (likes, shares, engagement, conversion). It's easy to post and create content for social media but if you don't have a clear goal, it's easy to waste time and money on it without getting good results.

Do NOT tell you him you can do something you cannot.
Be brutally honest about your skills!

Having said this, when I first started out I landed some clients like this believe it or not. I was honest, they took a risk, I took a risk and the few deals I did like this worked out nicely for everyone. A sample for illustration purposes only.

"Bob, I am excited about maybe working together on this as there is an opportunity for both of us. If you go hire a top dog in the field of social media marketing they are going to want a big fat 15k + check upfront! Hec, I even recommend you do that if you have the money and are confident in the provider and the appeal of your service.

If you would rather take an extremely educated risk I have this proposal. Pay me an upfront fee of 2k to prove your serious and a x% on every sale and I will get to work on putting this together. I will be dead honest, this is NOT my specific area of specialty but I can tell you that it is the next logical progression of my services as I am already expert at lead generation and web development. I will not have this up and running and perfect over night but I can tell you that my track record demonstrates I always figure out a way to make my clients more than I cost them."

I would suggest you still only do something like this if it interests you and the prospect is exactly the right fit in personality. Don't do it if your not excited about doing this and confident with some time and testing you can get the ball rolling.

Another little secret? None of us, no matter how experienced know exactly how a new project will unfold. Yes we may have a framework we use that will let us get to the facts and conversions more quickly but we all simply analyze, test and adjust.

I would also agree that just because the client thinks he needs social media does NOT mean that is the only thing he really needs! He is the client but you are the expert. Hec he may hire you for social media but after you look at his site, copy, stats etc.. may find a way to quickly double his conversion rates from existing traffic.

Good luck.