How to become a Social Media Consultant like Renowned Neal Schaffer

Want to know the biggest mistakes businesses make and how you can assist? Most businesses don’t take advantage of social networking sites! Despite the fact that influencers seem to be working with businesses frequently--as it seems every other video is sponsored or endorsed--most businesses neglect to evaluate their social media effectiveness, which is one of the crucial steps in carrying out any digital marketing plan. Companies need to have an operational strategy before devoting time and resources to their online presence.

This is where you come in.

You can become a social media consultant and help businesses recognize the advantages of social media and help organizations develop, promote, and broaden their web presence and digital following.

As a social media consultant, you’ll run your own agency and take on clients that seemed distant in the past. 

So, where does Neal Schaffer come in? 

If you haven’t heard of Neal Schaffer, you must be new to the marketing world. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you all about him. What you need to know is that he built a social media consulting empire in the beginning stages of social networking development! 

Follow Neal Schaffer's journey to learn how a successful social media expert operates if you want to work in social media consulting but lack the passion or know where to begin. Later, we'll discuss how to establish your own social media consulting business and where to look for social media consulting prospects.

The CyberSpace of Neal Schaffer

Neal Schaffer is a recognized expert in assisting companies with their innovation of marketing and advertising through consultancy services, coaching, and assistance with the development and implementation of social media marketing strategies, and influencer marketing campaigns, for both startups and enterprises. Additionally, he is the author of three books on social media, including Maximize Your Social and The Business of Influence, which aim to inform readers on why and how every company could take advantage of digital marketing and its potential.

So how did he become this successful conglomerate and go on to build PDCA Social, his social media consultant agency? 

Believe it or not, social media was new when Neal began his business career. In fact, in a way, it wasn’t even his intention to become a social media consultant. He lacked a business plan, professional expertise, and knowledge of social media at the time.  However, he possessed two important skills: the ability to strategize and his skills in networking.

Now teaching platforms to prominent CEOs by serving as a guest lecturer around the world, beforehand, Neal was a small fish in a big pond.

Every story of success starts somewhere where there is a spark. Neal’s story is no different.

Follow along the story of Neal’s success and learn how you too can become a social media consultant like Neal Schaffer!

How Did He Do It?

Neal's success is not only due to his immersion in business at a young age, but also, striving forward despite lack of experience. His lack of familiarity did not hinder him from prompting towards his goals. In fact, he used what he knew and molded it to work towards his advantage in a new field.

As a newcomer to social media consulting, you can do the same.

Neal’s story begins early on when he first discovered his love for business. Because Neal’s father became an entrepreneur when Neal was growing up and went on to create Frank Schaffer Publications, Neal claims that till this day, he has an “entrepreneurial bug” within him due to his father. This bug is what drives him to work more everyday for all his clients and himself.

Growing up, Neal was fascinated with what he calls the “original social media”: art, especially art history. He even did internships at museums, one being the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The spark for marketing and creating content that motivated individuals began growing from here. But it was not until later, did Neal discover social media would become his career.

Onto his professional career, he started at ROHM as a first full-time foreign employee. It was a $2 billion company which he started at with just two years of experience in finance. He helped establish new logistical infrastructure for sales offices in Singapore and business planning for Chinese factories. He actually had language skills as he was fluent in Mandarin and also an understanding of Chinese culture and society because he grew up around many Asian Americans. The business had little name recognition, yet he managed to open three sales offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Dalian by establishing a brand presence in China. 

So why was his work at ROHM crucial to his development as a social media and online marketing consultant?

Two words: PDCA cycle.

The PDCA cycle, an iterative design management technique used by organizations for the control and continuous development of goods, was introduced to him at ROHM. It comprises planning, checking, and acting. Later in life, Neal would use this paradigm to create social media strategy.

Moreover, LinkedIn was an instrumental key in advancing Neal’s career. Through LinkedIn, he found a job at DataPad and decided to launch a blog. After that he became an active member of LinkedIn groups and responded to questions, connecting with his community. He utilized his business knowledge to build a network on LinkedIn and share knowledge that would help other people efficiently run their business. This was alongside networking in person in his local area of Orange County, California where he began to be known as the “LinkedIn expert.” Both of these online and off-line networking experiences fueled his blog and he began to see increase in web traffic.

During this time he also published his book alongside networking and lecturing in Orange County which all contributed to four separate companies wanting his advice on social media. 

Despite not being tech-savvy when it came to social networking platforms, Neal was highly skilled in business strategy. That is what he realized was missing. He came to the conclusion that strategy and training were what all of these businesses actually required. From this point forward, he developed PDCA Social and his trademark social media strategy consulting service.

An Inside Look On Neal Schaffer’s Perspective on Social Media

Neal has experience in marketing, B2B sales, and company development. Therefore he believes that considering social networking is where their consumers are now and it is more active than any other websites for product research in modern years, businesses must be reachable and accessible there.

According to Neal, there is no secret to succeeding on social media; it takes a lot of effort, knowledge, and connection. On Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest, it might occasionally mean being really engaged and responsive. It requires planning, monitoring, insights, execution, and patience.

All in all, social media consultancy is a vital career option and you could get started right away if you know the proper strategies to take on!

How to become a social media consultant

Research and Choose A Specialty

Different companies have various goals and methods when it comes to social media marketing and marketing in general. For instance, a pharmaceutical company is more interested in advertising drugs and health-related information than a bakery, which would rather advertise its sugary pastries and maybe a new flavor on their menu. As a result, each of them has diverse requirements, therefore you must do your research and decide which group of people you want to target. Making a specialization choice makes it much simpler to grow your clientele and get new prospects. It may be ideal for you to pursue an area in which you have professional expertise because you will already have a broad understanding of it.

Take Online Certification Courses

There is nothing shameful about taking online classes and returning back to learn more. There are several online courses you can take to hone your profession and improve your talents if you lack any consulting experience or would like to take a little social media training. Not only will you gain a certification that you can present to prospective customers, you could apply what you have learned in your online courses to different companies and brands in the future. You will be drawn to the task any customer will provide you with since you already have a notion of how to handle them if you take classes and put what you've learned into practical use. Moreover, taking courses builds up credibility.

Build Rapport 

Naturally, no one will hire you if you lack credibility. At the same time, how you establish that credibility is pretty difficult. If you're just getting started, you need to understand that when a company asks a marketing agency consultant for advice, they are entrusting them with the development of their brand. Therefore, if you want to attract customers, you must be at the top of your game. Establishing your own social media presence is the simplest way to increase your reputation. In this approach, you can demonstrate to potential customers that you already have a following and that you achieved it using certain strategies. 

Another excellent technique to demonstrate your expertise and increase attention to your other social media channels is through a website or blog. You may also begin locally by pitching your services as a social media coach to acquaintances, nearby businesses, or family members who want to expand their following. Create a profile you can show to high paying clients by volunteering first.

Develop Your Consulting Skills in Social Media

If you lack experience, you cannot hope to work as a social media consultant. You may start by enhancing your personal social media presence and helping out local companies, as well as family members or friends, in order to help you create a long and detailed profile of individuals you have assisted in boosting on social media. Additionally, you may advertise your services on Upwork or Fiverr.

Fiverr is a terrific place to get short-term jobs that can help you expand your portfolio by working as a marketing consultant online.

Study your audience's feedback

The best thing you can do when you first start out as a social media consultant is to learn from your audience and clients. The real experience of working with you and feeling your content is experienced by your audience and consumers. Since you are ultimately providing for them and they are giving you the following and traffic, always pay attention to them and listen to their demands.

Problems You May Encounter Beginning Your Social Media Consultancy Business:

It can be rough starting out on social media, especially when you feel like the platform is too saturated by creative individuals. You can feel like an imposter or not think you’re worthy enough. However, the reality is that social media is filled with people who are just borrowing from each other. Trends spread and people replicate them in their own unique way. You can find your footing in social media easily if you know the right tips and tricks and how to combat any problems that may come in your way.

Struggling with Gaining Clients

The first problem you may encounter is getting your first client and building your clientele. This is hard to do for any freelancing job but to start out small you can begin by working on your own social media marketing page and build a strategy based on the performance and analytics tools on the platform. Engage with your followers and post what they want to see, not what you think will be best because every platform has its own specific trends and audiences. 

Lack of Audience Compatibility  

Here, not being able to mesh with your audience may be a problem you incur. Remember these are real people and not just pictures and comments—they want a marketer who will vouch for them and be their voice! 

If you are targeting a specific audience and struggling in coming up with creative ideas based on their interests, check out influencers that are doing well and see how they’re engaging with their audience to inspire you. Understand who your audience is in what they want to see. You only want to curate posts that will be attractive and appealing to them. 

Having Trouble Finding Content Ideas

Furthermore, it can be difficult to come up with content ideas.You may be balancing between quality and quantity and struggle with it if there are limited resources to execute what you wish for your clients and yourself. 

Lack of Time Management Skills 

Time management plays a big role in this. You want to put a significant amount of time in researching hashtags, checking which time is the perfect moment to post, and being organized through social media management tools that allow you to schedule posts on multiple accounts and plan your feed. 

Not Getting Paid Enough

Another problem as you are starting out in the industry is getting paid for your work. Oftentimes with freelancing you might get paid late or you might not get paid enough but understand that this all depends on the size of the company and also, your own reputation and experience. As you grow more and more as a social media consultant, your demand will increase and thus, your pay grade.

Part-time and full-time Salary

According to Glassdoor, a Part-time Social Media Consultant in the United States earns an estimated $39,703 in total compensation annually, with an average income of $37,223. Due to the expansion of digital networks, there will likely be a rise in demand for marketing-related employment. On the other hand, according to ZipRecruiter, the average yearly salary for a social media consultant in the US is $52,453 as of November 16, 2022. Although ZipRecruiter reports yearly wages for social media consultants as high as $132,000 and as low as $16,500, the bulk of these salaries is now in the range of $29,500 to $62,500.