How much should I charge for social media services?

First organize the services you offer by creating lists of the type of accounts you will manage (example: facebook, twitter, linkedin) and the duties you will perform.  Next create service packages consisting of various services and prices (example: 1 month Facebook account management - $19.99).  Be creative and look at everything you do as a "Product".

The way I would price this out would be with an initial fee for the strategy work and then a retainer arrangement for the ongoing updates and maintenance. I would set it up this way because without the strategy in place how do you know how much content and maintenance the project will need?  I would also add in additional fees for the photography work and make sure you have the proper fees in place based on the licensing agreement for your images. And while you want to have a reasonable price, you still need to pay the bills. A standard way of figuring out your cost as a freelancer would be to figure out all of your monthly bills and determine what you need as an hourly rate to keep the lights on. Then adjust based on market rates and your experience. The initial maintenance will be heavier as content and process gets in place so I would have more hours upfront and taper off. I would place a caveat into the contract to review the ongoing retainer once the strategy has been put in place and the programs start to enter the market. So ultimately something like this: Initial social media strategy: Hourly rate x 40hrs = XXXX The 40 hours here is just a placeholder as I dont know the full scope of the project. Month 1 retainer: Hourly rate x 25hrs per week x 4 weeks= XXXX Month 2+ retainer: Hourly rate x 15hrs per week x 4 weeks = XXXX Again just placeholder hours but if you are creating a lot of content and there are a lot of conversations you need to manage, this might increase. Photography Images each = Hourly Rate X 2hrs You need to make sure you get paid for your photography work. Typically I charge about 2 hours. This would include time for taking the photo, retouching and resizing. You should also retain all rights to your images and ask for a copyright and your name mentioned as the photographer linking to your portfolio. If they want to own the images or remove your information, then charge more.

How much to charge for Social Media will depend on several things. 1. What are you doing? Designing a fan page? Creating a social advertising campaign? Being the customer support person for the company? 2. What are your costs? I like to create a spreadsheet in Excel that lists all of my expenses and then add the number of hours I plan on working to see what I need to make to pay my bills. 3. What is the average for your area? Many new business owners simply price based on the competition. This is not a good idea (see #2). At the same time you don't necessarily want to the be the most expensive, unless you have a history that can back it up. Use a website like http://GlassDoor.com to determine a price range  of other people with a similar type of job and then determine if it matches up with your income needs. You also have to consider your geographic location. Prices for things often vary by region, state and country.

Great question, As someone with their own social media service, and having worked at a pricing optimization software company (http://www.priceintelligently.com ) I think I am uniquely suited to answer this one. In short, I would not charge on an hourly basis, but focus hard on the needs of the client, develop meaningful KPI's and growth goals, then charge based on the value you are providing, and not your hourly wage. Don't fall into the trap of charging for hours! The truth is that companies typically have a much higher willingness to pay for services than you might think. I recommend you check out the Price intelligently blog if you want to get really deep into pricing strategy these guys are really on the cutting edge of this stuff, and will open your eyes to the power of pricing as a lever for growth and profits. http://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/ Hope this helps! Erik

Figure out how many hours it will take you and base your price on that. That way you can give them an accurate account of the work you are providing. You should pre-determine some KPIs so they can get an idea of the effectiveness of your efforts.

How Much Does Social Media Marketing Cost?http://www.contentfac.com/how-much-does-social-media-marketing-cost/ http://alexisgrant.com/2012/09/27/what-to-charge-for-social-media-work-as-a-freelancer-or-consultant/ http://www.webpagefx.com/Social-Media-Pricing.html