The social media bubble is growing and everyone knows how to use Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. Of late, I realized that a lot of organizations and businesses know that they can make money by having online communities but a lot of them either don’t grow one or don’t have time for it. I am blogging about some tips for making money through social media skills.

1. Your skills should have a price tag – The big problem I often notice is that a lot of people do have all the necessary skills but don’t get paid for it. This is primarily because they don’t put a price tag on themselves. If you know all about social media and know how to use it strategically, then you should work around it. There are chances that people will pay you for it.
2. Work for free but just once – You will have to prove how good you are at growing the online communities both to your potential clients and to yourself. I will recommend you to find some cash strapped tiny business or any non-profit organization and then offer to do the work for free. This will go on your resume and will also build your knowledge and self-confidence. You will end up growing your network too and there will be clients who will recommend you.
   
3. Landing your first paid client – You might find it hard to work for free but it is ideal to start like this because you get a lot of experience. Also, you will get more clients through your existing one. So how to sign that first client? For me, it happened through my existing friends and contacts. You can tap your networks through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and your own blog. Also, don’t hesitate to tell your friends, they will help you spread the word and you might get to a gold mine through this.
4. Decide what are your services – Your offerings shouldn’t just say ‘do social media work’. Are you going to teach people how to use Facebook and Twitter? Will you make blog strategies for the companies to implement? You might even grow online communities for the clients. You should also consider the type of clients that you wish to work for – organizations, businesses, individuals, or all. If a new acquaintance asks you about what you do, then you should be able to explain everything in simple terms and you should use examples too.
5. How much are you going to charge? – Social media consulting prices can start from free and go up to several hundred dollars per hour. Irrespective of your price tag, there will be people who will either think that you are dirt cheap or that you are too expensive. It is essential to find a sweet spot between the experience and skills.

Your charges can change from one client to the other. If one client can afford to pay you more then you can charge more money per hour or per project. Some times a client can lose interest in you once you reveal your price. If you are worried about this, then you can offer that client several tiers of services having different price tags.

A lot of people are intimidated by online marketing and think that it is a very hard thing to do. But it is really easy to do and I am blogging about it in this article. Before I start, I will assume that you are not one of those people who are looking for ‘get rich quick’ mantras. Also, let me tell you that this is not a magical silver bullet which doesn’t involve any work or time investment.

During my experiences as a blog writer, I realized that there are some things that you cannot avoid. Here are four cornerstones or pillars for building and marketing any business.

Relationships – You need to create strong relationships with your audience and this is important everywhere. Instead of hunting for the new customers, I would recommend you to create a valued environment which benefits the existing customers and readers. You should be able to keep them coming back for more. Your readers should spread the word for you and bring in more people to your blog.

Direct response copywriting –

You need to keep yourself updated with the latest social media trends or create them sometimes. Once you find a good topic to write on, sit back and come up with killer headlines. Then move through your story strategically for creating something that holds the attention of your readers. Follow the old-school copywriting advice for making a difference between a blog which fades in to oblivion and the one which flourishes successfully.

Content marketing – This is my ace – delivering great content is of utmost importance. You should deliver great content and it should be focussed in one direction. It is also recommended that you develop a strategy for this. One great way to do this is to offer some cash money to readers or come up with something else where the reader benefits.

Have something that is worth selling – Everyone out there is looking to sell something. This might be product, service, idea, download or even a worthy cause. The thing that you are selling needs to be worth the price. You should never forget that the attention of the reader is a very valuable commodity and it is also limited in supply. When you ask for dollars, pounds, yen or any valuables, you need to deliver on something which is worth the asking price.

I have given my four bits above and it is up to you to bring these four pillars together while blogging. Together, these four can do wonders but if you miss even one of them; you might not get the desired success.

It’s hardly been a month since Google’s+1 button was out and it is already common on major Websites. The +1 button is now more widespread than Tweet button. BrightEdge, who is an SEO platform enterprise developer studied about 10,000 sites out on Web sand found 33 percent placement for the Google +1 button in the past few days. The company says that +1 button is not on 4.4 percent sites up from 3.6 percent in the month of June. On the other hand, the Twitter plug ins are shown in just 3.4 percent of sites.

Both Twitter and Google are trailing behind Facebook whose ‘Like’ button is seen on 20 percent of sites front page. The chart shown below shows Twitter’s plug in button as Twitter Share but Jim Yu, the BrightEdge CEO calls it Twitter Tweet button.

‘Like’ button of Facebook turned up on about 50,000 sites a week after it was launched in last April. In just one month, the number rose to 100,000 sites. On the other hand, Twitter’s Tweet button came in August.

The study has also noted adoption for the links to Twitter feeds or Facebook Pages on the front pages. These links are more famous than the buttons. However, more than half or 51% of sites still don’t have a link for Twitter or Facebook on the front page.

I only recently put down a biography of David Ogilvy, and those of you that don’t know him, you should. He’s an interesting ad man who was far ahead of his time. My fascination with David Ogilvy goes back a long way and so I figured that for those of us that know about him and those that don’t, I’ll compile a list of quotable quotes that pertain to your business. The king of Madison Avenue may now be resting in peace, but here’s how his thoughts resonate through eternity and still ring true even today.

“The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.”
I’m sorry, but I had to open with this one. It’s my favorite, I still remember how this cracked me up when I first read it. Even in this digital age it is still apt for not just marketers, but also bloggers. Don’t talk down to your customers or readers; they are someone you should value and cherish. And if you can do this, it will take you a long way. And now, since we live in such serious times…

“The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”

Some of the best posts I’ve written on here have been a bit light-hearted and funny (or as funny as I could make it). It very often is the craziest and funniest things that resonate with your readers/customers. Don’t underestimate the power of humor.

“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.”
Another class quotation, and in essence this is something that Donald Trump also said in his autobiography whose name I don’t remember now. Of course, your expectations should be realistic as often as possible but that’s no reason to think small. Aim higher and try to do things you never thought you could, and who knows…you might surprise yourself with what you can get done.

“If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.”

All of the grammar Nazi’s can go take a long walk of a short pier. Sometimes, being grammatically correct is important, but the importance of communicating lies in getting the message across any way you have to. Write your blog posts or ads as if you were talking directly to the person in question. Even if it’s not the best English, it doesn’t matter. Always be relevant to your audience.

“If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. But don’t let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else.”

Truer words were never spoken. It is annoying and extremely heart-wrenching to see your idea or thought process being hijacked by someone else. The key to being relevant is to constantly offer unique content and information, perhaps put a different spin on things. Nothing good ever came by copying someone else’s work.