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It's time, you've got all of your ducks in a row and are ready to head out on the search for a social media manager. Here is all of my advice to help make sure you find your unicorn. So teacher authors, go ahead and reheat that cup of coffee, because I'm your host, Cassandra Foster. And we're about to get schooled in socials. Welcome back to Sullivan socials. We've talked a lot this month about social media management, when you should hire out or continue DIY steps you want to take before you decide to hire a social media manager, or even begin the hiring process. And today, I want to wrap it up with all of my final advice for going out and hiring a social media manager to support your teacher business. First, there's a few things I want to make sure you consider when you are on the hunt for a social media manager. The first thing is their experience and results. So find out what kind of background they have, how long they've been a social media manager, and see if they have any results that they can share with you. Now there are definitely lots of great social media managers out there that are just getting started and might not have as much proof to show you as others. But being able to at least see some testimonials. And maybe some results of growth of accounts can be helpful when you're making your decision on who you really want to bring into your business. Also consider their country and timezone. So if you hire someone in a different country, the invoicing can sometimes be a little harder or might require more fees. If they're in a different timezone. That could be hard if you're looking to have someone who's available for the times that you're also working. These things are definitely not deal breakers. I work with a lot of people in different time zones. I've also worked with people in different countries before, but it's just something that you want to think about, and have kind of in the back of your mind as you begin to look for those potential hires. Something else you might want to consider is what niche or niches does that social media manager typically work with. There are some social media managers that just work with teacher printers like myself, or work in the educational field. But there are other social media managers that work in a variety of niches. So it could be helpful to inquire about what niches they typically work in. Now, this isn't to say that you have to be weary of hiring someone outside of the educational niche, quick story for you. I actually still work with a wedding florist, even though I've narrowed down my services to just serve teacher printers. She was someone I connected with early on in my social media manager journey. And we've had a great relationship. So she continues to be my client. And I'm helping her get results and get clients even though my background is definitely not in the wedding industry. When she first came to me, I was honest about my background. So you want to be looking for that when you are talking to someone who is a potential hire, that they're honest with you about who they've worked with and what their work background has been. But what I did make sure to do since I didn't have any experience in the wedding industry or with florists was I made sure to ask her really specific questions about her business, her goals, the demographic of people she worked with. And I made it clear that I'd be willing to do my own research to learn more about the wedding and florist industries to ensure that we were creating effective content. And because of those things, we're still working together all of these years later. So don't run for the hills. If someone you enquire with doesn't have a background in education. What you want to make sure of is that they ask you in depth questions about your business, your goals, your resources, and are willing to do their own research to better understand the educational world. Finally, when you are talking with potential hires, pay attention to their communication style, though they will be taking social media off of your plate to have effective social media content, they will need to communicate with you about what else is happening in your business, the results they're getting, what they're changing or keeping the same with your strategy. So just take note of how they communicate. And if you think that style would work for you long term if you hire them. The next thing I want to make sure we talk about before you head out and hire your social media manager are red flags. There are three red flags that I want to bring to your attention that might get you thinking as you are interviewing and inquiring with different social media managers. The first thing that I feel like is a red flag when it comes to the social media management industry is if that person guarantees you results by a specific date. Now I'm not saying that they don't Give you some sort of goal to work towards, but that they guarantee those results. So example, they guarantee you that you will grow 10,000 followers in the next three months. And they're probably asking a premium price because of that guarantee. There are so many factors that can affect your progress towards your social media goals, even with a picture perfect strategy. They cannot control the economy, they cannot control world events. I mean, if World War Three broke out two months into your working together, it's likely you're probably not reaching those 10,000 followers they promised you because people's focus is going to be elsewhere. So to me, it just really isn't ethical to make those types of promises. And often, I hear of people who enter into contracts with social media managers who guarantee them certain social media success being scanned and ghosted. So just be a little weary of anyone who guarantees you a certain type of success by a certain date. Red flag number two, they don't ask you questions about yourself or your business. When you inquire about their services. Maybe they only talk about their services and what they offer any good social media managers should ask you some basic questions about yourself and your business before they suggest any of their packages to you. Asking these questions means they are invested in getting you into a container that truly fits your needs versus a container that just brings in the most money, and Red flag number three, they are willing to show you all of their clients content and data when you ask for examples and results. So it is completely possible that they have gotten permission from their clients to share all that information. But this should make you a little weary, especially if privacy and confidentiality is important to you, which I know is important to a lot of us. Even with having a few lines in my contract about being able to use client content and data as examples. Whenever someone asks, I always let them know that I just need to double check with my client to make sure I can share that information. Even though I am creating the content. It's not for my business. And I shouldn't be the one deciding if random strangers I'm trying to get to hire me get to see it. So just be mindful of how much information a potential hire shares with you about their other clients. You can even ask them about their privacy and confidentiality practices, so you can get a better insight on their practices as a social media manager. There is so much pressure this time of the year to buy more stuff from Black Friday sales to Christmas ads. But I don't want you to buy more stuff, I want you to get the right things you need to uplevel your business in this season. So that's why I've opened up my mini social media consults schedule for the next three months. So that we can make resources that are going to get stuck in your downloads and courses that are going to go immediately to your desktop graveyard, like thing of the past. Instead, you're going to get my brain and your business for a focus 30 minutes so that you can make sure you have a solid plan moving forward. And you know what your social media will help you reach your business goals. This is not a one size fits all solution. Instead, you're going to get targeted advice that is focused on you and your business. And for Black Friday. And until these spots sell out, you're going to be able to get it for $47 which is the lowest price point these mini consults have ever been. We're talking transformational advice that will make your social media work harder for you for less than a night out. This isn't stuff. It's the thing you need to get clarity and move forward with your social media marketing. You can grab your discounted spot right now in the show notes. But hurry, because once these spots that I've opened up for the next three months are gone, this price point will be gone too. I can't wait to make 2020 for the year that your social media marketing helps you reach all of your big business goals.
Okay, you know what to consider you know what to look out for. But where do you actually start looking for social media managers to hire. One of the easiest ways to start the process is to ask your friends and business connections in this niche. If they have a social media manager they would recommend it's very likely that they either work with a social media manager or have made connections with one in the past that they could pass along their information to you. Plus, if it is someone they work with personally and they recommend them to you. That's a great green flag to start out with. If that doesn't yield you results you You can go with to Facebook groups, there are a lot of TPT specific Facebook groups where you can post positions you're looking to hire, and service providers can post their openings. My favorite group like this is TPT, virtual assistant finder, which I'll link in the shownotes for you. Even though the name implies virtual assistants, the community there is made up of teacher authors and service providers from all kinds of niches including social media management, so it's a great place to start. You can even go ahead and inquire about social media managers and other TPG groups you are a part of that might not be specifically for hiring right? Maybe someone you haven't made a connection with yet knows of a social media manager or works with a social media manager. Again, if you can find someone that's really willing to refer a person to you, that's a potential green flag to get started with. Finally, you can always check platforms such as LinkedIn Fiverr, or even search Instagram to help you find someone. So there you have it, all of my final tips for going out and hiring your social media manager unicorn. If you're someone who is thinking about hiring out social media marketing, I highly recommend that you take a listen to all three episodes in this series. They're episodes 3637 and 38. This will give you a clearer picture of if hiring out is right for you and how to do it so that you can have a great social media management experience. Now, I really love that TPT virtual assistants finders group, so if you're a part of that group, I'd love to connect with you. Leave a podcast review and let me know you're part of that community. Alright, cool coffee friends. Thanks so much for listening. If you're loving getting schooled in socials, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Also, I would love it if you left a review so that other teacher authors like you can start getting schooled in socials too. All right, I'll see you in the next episode.