Guest Blogger #2: Making Time For Mommy

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How To Get A Job In Social Media
By Alicia at Making Time For Mommy

My name is Alicia and I blog over at ‘Making Time For Mommy’
(http://aliciamarie112.wordpress.com). I am thankful to have a
wonderful, supportive man in my life and two little boys, Jacob (19
months) and Lucas (7 months). After being a stay-at-home-mom for over
a year I recently returned to work full-time. I am in charge of social
media for my father’s small business. I love my job and because I
have had others ask me how to get a job doing social media I thought I
would offer a simple game plan to help others get started. I have only
been doing this since November and obviously have an “in” at the
company I work at but I truly think that other moms can have this
career, too. I work from an office but one of the best parts about
social media is it can be done from home and at any time of the day so
the schedule is really flexible.

I think the easiest way you can get into social media is to find a
small business that does not currently have an online presence. Start
with somewhere local. A hair salon. A restaurant. A children’s
clothing store. Someplace that you frequent often or enjoy going to.
Don’t know if they are online? Google them and chances are if you
don’t find them easily they aren’t online. Or maybe they have a
website but it’s very basic and only includes their hours and
contact information. These businesses are perfect places to start.

Next research the company and their industry. Think about how this
company could use social media. How would it improve their business?
Look at their competitors and see if any of them are online and what
social sites they are using. Think ahead about any objections that a
small business owner/manager may have about utilizing social media and
how you would respond to that objection.

For example, my company was recently asked to speak at a conference
for Insurance Agents about our social media initiatives. When asked
why they weren’t online and using social media the biggest reason we
heard from these agents was that they didn’t think they would get
any clients from it. This was their objection. Maybe they were right,
maybe they wouldn’t gain any new clients directly from social media.
However, they didn’t consider the fact that maybe they had lost
clients from not being online. My dad, being in the same industry, was
able to show them that since we became active in social media we have
seen an increase in attendance at our events and less cancelations of
appointments. We have also seen reports that show people have been
looking up our company and my father online. They see his blog posts,
they see his tweets, they see his picture… they see him and get to
know him before they ever meet him so that when they do come in for an
appointment it’s like they already know him.

After you research the company and think of the many ways that social
media could help their particular company, it is time to contact the
owner and set up an appointment to meet. I am sure you have heard the
saying “time is money” and with small business owner’s this is
especially true. Often times they are running multiple, if not all,
aspects of the day to day business. They might tell you that they have
no time to meet with you and that’s great. Yes, I said great. These
are the people that probably need social media (and you!) the most. If
you tell them that you can show them a way to save them time and grow
their business using social media and ask them for only 15 minutes of
their time they may give it to you. If not, you find another company
and try again. Don’t be afraid to fail because this business is all
about trying new things to see what works. What works for one company
or one person may not work for another.

Once you set up an appointment to meet with the owner give yourself a
pat on the back because you have just overcome one of the largest
hurdles in getting the job. The rest is up to you. Go in with
confidence that you have the solution to their business problems.
First, explain to them what social media is and how companies can use
it to their advantage. Show them why they need to be online and how
not being online is costing them money. Tell them a personal story of
how you chose a certain company versus another because one company was
offering a coupon on facebook or had connected with you on twitter.
Whatever you need to do to let them see how valuable social media can
be to them.

After establishing why the company needs to be online, interacting
with consumers through social media tell them why you would be the
perfect person to represent them. What do you bring to the table? Why
should they choose you over someone else? This is, after all, a job
interview so treat it like one.

If you have a love for interacting with people and are constantly open
to new ideas I believe you can succeed in social media. I would love
to hear from anyone who decides to contact a company about being their
social media manager or has any thoughts or questions on this post.
You can contact me via email at aliciamarie112 (at) hotmail (dot) com, through my website ‘Making Time for Mommy’
http://aliciamarie112.wordpress.com , or through my twitter handle-
@aliciamarie112 .

Tagged as: guest blogger, guest post