I'm interested in a career in marketing and would like to focus on one area first, so I'm going through a good book on Facebook Advertising. In order to practice I need money to buy ads and a product to promote, and keep doing it so I can hone my skills. How do I find a client who will let me do their Facebook marketing when I'm a beginner and learning on their dime?
And what is a professional way to say "I'm just starting out" to set realistic expectations?
Or how can I find an experienced Marketing Consultant(s) who will teach me how to do it so I can learn on real world clients under their supervision? I would do their work for free as an intern so I can learn.
I'm only interested in focusing on Facebook ads for now. I don't want to get involved in Adwords, Twitter ads, Pinterest ads yet etc, I want to focus on FB until I can master it.
Thanks for any response.
You have a few options here.
1. Find marketing consultants or local marketing agencies that are looking for interns through local job boards and through LinkedIn.
2. If you already have LinkedIn, pull off a list of email addresses for your contacts and then write them all an email explaining pretty much exactly what you have explained above. Ask them if they need help or if they know anybody that needs help and let them know you will do some work for free to gain experience.
3. Sign up as a freelancer on all the freelance sites. Though you might be worried you don't have enough experience, you still have more knowledge than the average person on the street because you're investing your time in learning.
You can charge a lower rate than other freelancers in attempts to win business and to reflect your own experience.
4. Do you have a website yet? If so start writing posts about Facebook Advertising. Write about the things you are learning, your tips, the obstacles you are facing.
Now, you have posts to promote. Eventually, perhaps, you have a blog you can monetize.
Also, when you sign up for hosting for your website, some hosting companies will give you coupons to spend on services like Facebook Advertising or Google. So, if you have a website, go check your cpanel as there may be some Facebook Advertising coupons in there for you to get started.
5. If you have any related experience, start by winning business in this area first and then gradually sell in Facebook Advertising as an additional service. For example, if you are already comfortable with organic Facebook Marketing, look to win business in this area first and then weave in your Facebook Advertising service at a later date.
Good luck!
Facebook is a tool that changes constantly but one that, if used correctly, can be leveraged to achieve great success and revenue. It gives you the ability to start with a low budget and build from there.
That being said, the time, effort and money (plus opportunity cost) you spend trying to figure it out will grow.
One of the resources I found to be the most valuable one if you have the time to learn and test things out was through Amy Porterfield (amyporterfield.com). Even her podcast and blog is amazing and her Facebook and Link Building courses are worth every cent.
Where are you located? If you want to move to Santa Monica and work three blocks from beach. I'm always on the lookout to hire quality people to manage Facebook advertising for our clients. It's a great way to learn very quickly.
Scott shared some great tips that I completely agree with!
From my personal experience, starting out as a Facebook advertising freelancer was tough, especially at the beginning. However, I already had a few assets that really helped me out.
First, I invested a ton of time into learning as much as I can about social media and Facebook marketing and advertising. That allowed me to get a two-months long unpaid internship at a social media agency, where I learned more about Facebook marketing and advertising with real clients.
Then, I was able to get a 1-year-long traineeship at a travel agency, where I learned even more about online marketing and received much more experience managing Facebook ad campaigns.
During that time, I also started a personal blog where I began writing about social media, marketing, and especially Facebook advertising. I'd say this was the most crucial one into advancing my career.
I suggest you to google an article called "8 Steps to Getting What You Want… Without Formal Credentials" on Tim Ferriss blog - it's absolutely brilliant and I used it to guide my own effort.
In short, you really must earn someone's trust before you ask something. You can do that by creating useful and valuable content first and using that as a proof that you know the subject. You can then take it and show it to a potential customer and suggest to implement everything for free, but for a testimonial and case study.
If it goes successful, do it with another person, and another, and another. Find clients on Upwork or contact them directly, or ask your friends for referrals. Complete a couple projects and then start asking for money. It's a long process but it is definitely achievable.
I hope that helps!
Adomas Baltagalvis
The great thing is there are a lot of people and businesses looking for people who can deliver results with Facebook Ads.
What I would suggest like you are doing is learn as much as possible but then there comes a point where you need to start taking ACTION! I would start with people who you know and within your community and just be honest with them and say "I have started Facebook Ads and am looking for guinea pigs to get results for" wave all fees and get them to just pay for the ads (would suggest around $100/£100 to begin) Get them some results and start to build from there. As then you can begin to charge them and even if not if you have done good work you can then get testimonials and grow from there.
