Are you thinking about getting started as a social media virtual assistant? Or maybe you’ve got your service-based business up and running and you’re thinking about niching down with one of the most in-demand services out there by becoming a freelance social media manager…
In either case, here’s a review of Fully Booked VA’s Social Media for Virtual Assistants.
After hearing time and time again from our community of virtual assistants and freelancers in our membership group asking for a course like this, and after a couple of years of planning, FBVA team member Laura Nicholls put her experience, training, and know-how to put this course together.
Laura has been a member of the FBVA team since 2018. She got her start as a freelance writer and social media virtual assistant, and it opened up a whole world of possibilities for her!
In this post we asked one of our very first success stories (like literally days after taking the course!), Tori Belanger, to share her thoughts about Social Media for Virtual Assistants.
We’re also sharing some helpful, actionable tidbits that can help you with your social media presence TODAY!
Let’s hear all about it… Ready?
Tori’s story is so fun because she’s exactly who we wrote this course for. Aside from anyone looking to get started as a social media virtual assistant or provide freelance social media management (because this is one of the best ways to break in as a remote service provider!) we set out to create a resource that would allow any freelancer, at any stage, to feel confident about offering social media services.
Before we dive into Tori’s input on the course let me (Laura) share a minute about how I got started and why I loved writing this course.
Laura’s Freelance Social Media Management Story
In 2016 I found myself at the bottom, like way at the bottom.
After a successful career as a licensed therapist and even some time put in as a personal trainer, I found myself in a women’s shelter – stranded, scared, away from my family – with my six-month-old daughter in tow.
I’d lost everything – my home, all my belongings, clothing, my beloved pets, everything.
With about $200 in my pocket, I made my way back to my home state of California and started to put the pieces back together.
Fast forward about a year, and after telling fear to take a hike, I enrolled in 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success (now known as Freelance Writing Foundations).
Living in a trailer on a horse ranch rent-free in exchange for taking care of the horses, I started my business with a $300 refurbished laptop and a TV tray for a desk.
I took care of my daughter, worked the ranch and cleaned houses during the day, and worked my business at night while my baby slept.
I knew I had no way but up as a single mom, with no support, dedicated to creating an amazing life for my daughter!
It wasn’t long before I also took 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success (now known as Fully Booked Foundations) and began to scale my business to make that a reality.
And guess what? I totally did.
I started doing some writing for a fitness website that was formerly associated with Fully Booked VA – I have a background in fitness competition, so it was a great fit at the time.
Over time I took on more tasks with FBVA, and have been a very proud team member for several years now.
Fast forward seven years… I’ve been earning a full-time income with my business since 2018, supporting myself and my daughter completely, and we live a beautiful life together.
But let’s back up a minute…
Even though my jam was initially writing (it still is), I landed my first “official” client managing their Facebook presence.
How? I had some social media experience under my belt, so using what I’d learned in Fully Booked VA courses, I found one of the many business owners who don’t want to deal with their own social media and proceeded to knock it out of the park for them!
That first client brought me more clients (and so did the leads that are literally handed to students inside our freelancer and VA training program – that’s how I built my business!), and the rest is, as they say, history.
So, when I had the opportunity to create this course for Fully Booked VA, I was more than all in.
From my experiences with our community and seeing leads roll in looking for social media help, as well as my own experience with getting started this way… needless to say, I’m a huge believer in being a freelance social media manager.
I also have a heart for people, and always have! So if I could be a part of encouraging others and putting a resource like this in their hands, as I said – I was more than all in.
But, enough about me. Let’s hear about Tori!
Tori’s Story
Tori started her freelance journey back in May, 2019 with our course for new virtual assistants and freelancers. And, after deciding to specialize her services and become a freelance social media manager, she landed her first client before even finishing Social Media for Virtual Assistants.
With over 20 years of administrative experience, Tori put her existing skillset to work for herself and started out offering general admin support and email management. She quickly sccaled her business to working with eight clients and is building a team of her own!
Tori’s target market is private practice therapists and coaches, and she’s a great example of the power of niching down in your business to level up your game.
Why did Tori take Social Media for Virtual Assistants?
Like a lot of folks, Tori already had some experience with social media with her own profile (this is a big part of why this is such a great niche to get started with – pretty much everyone has some kind of experience!).
After getting lots of great feedback about how “pretty” and cohesive her Instagram feed was, Tori started paying more attention to her clients’ social media presences.
She very wisely started looking at the feeds of people she follows from a business/marketing perspective…
“When the Social Media for Virtual Assistants course came out I jumped on it! I wanted to brush up on my current skills and learn as much as I could so that I would feel more confident in adding this to my services.”
Tori saw an opportunity to level up her services to her existing clients and went for it!
What did Tori like most about the course?
For Tori, the format of the course and the “abundance of information shared” were the highlights of Social Media for Virtual Assistants.
The course covers the top six social media platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. These are the “biggies” when it comes to businesses using social media for marketing, which is pretty much everyone (or should be!) these days.
Social Media for Virtual Assistants also takes a very intentional stroll through everything you’d need to know to get started offering social media services, including:
- Why social media is 100% necessary to the average business owner
- What it “looks like” to offer social media services, including the top eight most in-demand services
- A rundown of the top six social media platform from a business and marketing perspective, including their features, functions and who’s using them
- How to get started with a client, including assessing goals, gathering information and crafting a plan
- The ins and outs of actually doing the work as a social media virtual assistant or freelance social media manager (they’re really the same thing, by the way!)
- How to use social media in your own business
- And how to get your freelance social media business up and running as quickly as possible
We found that the “doing the work” part is what most folks want to know about when it comes to being a social media freelancer. As in, what does it actually look like to provide services?
For example, how do you know what kinds of content to post for businesses that will engage and build an audience?
Well, check it out…
There’s no “hard and fast” rule when it comes to putting together a content plan. Why? Because business’s audiences vary, as do their social media goals and overall messaging.
So while there is some trial and error involved, and time spent getting to know an audience and what resonates with them, there are some general guidelines that are a helpful place to start.
For example, there are different kinds of posts and they accomplish different things when it comes to building an audience!
Engagement Posts are posts that are designed to get people to interact – beyond just a “like” – by doing things like commenting, sharing, or clicking.
And, engagement is the name of the game when it comes to building an audience on social media!
A few examples of Engagement Posts are…
- Question posts
- Polls
- Personal stories
Here’s an example of an engagement post…
And then you have Promotional Posts – these are posts that share a business’s content (not a direct “hard sell” though). The more value-based these kinds of posts are (and the less “sales-y”) the better!
Some examples of Promotional Posts are…
- Blog posts
- Podcasts
- Opt-in content (free stuff)
Here’s an example of a promotional post (with a link to a really informative blog post!)…
There are also what’s called Entertainment/Trending Posts. These kinds of posts can be fun, entertaining stuff, “hot (interesting) topics,” etc.
Entertainment/Trending Posts could include things like…
- Seasonal topics, like the holidays for example
- Funny/interesting stuff
- Trending topics – i.e. what’s everyone talking about these days?
Here’s an example of a post like this…
By coming up with a balance of different types of posts that resonates with an audience (which you would know by staying on top of analytics, i.e. how people are reacting to your posts) you can help a business establish or grow their social media presence.
This is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to social media marketing and engagement, but it’s an important one!
Now back to Tori…
Tori also liked the personal stories sprinkled into the course that were designed to make the information more relatable and “make sense” from a real-world perspective.
And lastly, she loved the ton of resources in the course – 107 links to tools, how-to guides and courses for anyone looking to specialize in one of the many opportunities that social media offers.
“I really like the setup and how informative it was, as are all of the Fully Booked VA courses! I’m friends with several other VA’s and have already recommended it to them!”
How did Tori land her first social media client after finishing the course?
Literally within days of finishing Social Media for Virtual Assistants, Tori landed her first social media client! We’ll let her tell this story…
“The first client I picked up after taking the course is actually someone I know from a local women’s networking group I belong to. We have a private Facebook group so I decided to post there to feel things out.
“I let everyone know that I recently finished a course on social media management and would love to help anyone out that felt they needed it. I gave a brief description of what I could offer them and within minutes I had a DM from one of the ladies! She has already signed her contract and paid!”
Pretty awesome, right?
What are Tori’s plans for implementing what she’s learned in Social Media for Virtual Assistants?
Aside from leveling up her services with her existing clients – and landing some more as a freelance social media manager, Tori plans on putting what she’s learned into practice in her own business.
Not only is the information in Social Media for Virtual Assistants relevant to helping businesses, but it’s powerful for your own business too.
In the course, we cover how to use social media to market your own business, including using it as a way to demonstrate your skill and expertise to potential clients.
It sounds like this definitely resonated with Tori…
“I fully plan on giving my Facebook page and LinkedIn profiles a fresh update. I want to start paying more attention to those analytics so that I can work on growing my social media presence!”
Anything Tori would like to see different in the course?
We asked her – we really did! And, she didn’t have anything to offer in this department (we can’t say we’re heartbroken).
We are excited, though, about the value we’ve already seen this course bring to its enrollees. And, because social media is such a rapidly changing beast, we’re committed to keeping the information fresh and relevant.
Is being a freelance social media manager right for you?
Are you ready to learn more about how you can use social media in your own business? A great place to start is by taking a look at your current Facebook and/or LinkedIn profiles…
- Are they optimized for your freelance/VA business?
- Do they accurately reflect what you do and the kind of impression you want to give right away about you and your business?
- What kinds of content are you posting?
If you want to learn more about how you can make social media work for you, and how to become an in-demand freelance social media manager, then check out Social Media for Virtual Assistants. You can learn and market your business while you’re landing social media clients and earning income as a freelancer!
