Why 39,000 Social Media Consultants Are Underpaid

Posted at 09:00AM • PermalinkNo Comments

I used to have no money, too. It wasn’t that long ago.

I’m 34 now, but when I was 28, back in 2006, I had, well, no money.

When I started my life as a social media consultant, back in 2006, I was charging $40 per hour. (I mean, seriously, even if you’re going to charge by the hour, $40 is a pretty dumb amount to charge.) 

A lot has changed in the last 6 years. Today, big agencies and consulting firms sell social media to big companies. There’s about 39,000 people going around calling themselves “social media consultants”, last time I checked.

And they’re all making minuscule salaries. We’re talking “pizza guy” wages, like $17 bucks an hour. Even their big agency counterparts are making, like, $32/hour. (That’s you, Mr. Six-Figure Social Media Guy).

The sad part is that they’re delivering some of the most timely, most revenue-driving information out there.

So, why are they barely able to make rent? It’s simple. They’re selling their time and their services, when they should be selling a blend of time, services, information and expertise.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to dive down into how all 39,000 social media consultants can escape from the per-hour billing trap, and reach out to help even more people, and make even more clients happy. Stay tuned.

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