Knowing this, have you considered putting your writing skills to work by offering social media services?

Businesses everywhere are jumping into the world of social media, but tons of them just don’t have the time or know-how. While they may not always advertise their need for a social media manager or content creator on LinkedIn or Craigslist, you can easily identify five businesses in your city that are doing a poor job with social media. (Of course, you’re not limited to local clients when it comes to social media, but they’re a great first option.)

How to find social media clients

Start with your existing clients, the ones who already know your work as a writer. Simply shoot them a message letting them know that you are now offering social media services and ask whether they know anyone who needs this kind of support—or if they need it themselves. If your clients are willing to contact their networks, craft an email to make it easy for them. Add an incentive by offering a free hour of work in exchange for each referral.

To land new clients, reach out to some of your favorite local restaurants, retailers or bars. Just like you might pitch an editor by leading with a compliment on their recent work, you can do the same when you contact a business you already enjoy.

I’ve been able to land a few new clients by gently pointing out an easy way to improve their social media, like claiming their Facebook vanity URL, beefing up their Facebook About page, or adding milestones to their history. Including tips like these in your pitch shows that you know your stuff and adds value for the business—you’re helping them out before they’ve even hired you.

Finding ongoing work with your new clients

Signing a new social media client opens the door to the possibility of taking over additional writing-based tasks. Maybe you could launch or contribute to their blog, or write and distribute their monthly newsletter. Perhaps they need some canned response emails, press releases or updated website copy.

When you begin new relationships with businesses that constantly need content marketing, you set yourself up for steady gigs that don’t require pitching an editor or scouring a job board. And that’s a nice place to be.

How to price your social media services

Approach pricing for this work in the same way you do your writing services. You may want to offer an hourly rate to start out, but eventually I’d recommend moving to a monthly retainer package. This is basically your hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours you anticipate spending on work for the client.

Webpage FX has a detailed rate sheet for their social media services to give you an idea of what you might want to charge. Of course, you might want to start out with a lower rate to land that first social media client, but you’ll be able to raise it as you gain experience and client testimonials. The Write Life founder Alexis Grant also offers resources to help you build your social media business.

Keep in mind that you will average at least one hour per day (sometimes three to four hours), every day, creating content and responding to customer messages, so be sure to add some cushion to your rate. Social media never sleeps, and extra tasks occasionally creep in, so reevaluate the project scope periodically.

“It’s not ready.”

“I’m too busy.”

“No one will care anyway.”

“I don’t have a big enough email list.”

Hurdling these self-imposed obstacles is challenging, but it’s the only way to share your work with the world. I learned this lesson the hard way, but hopefully my story can inspire you to take action.

Opportunity knocking

When The Write Life launched on July 15, 2013, I received an email explaining that I was featured in the free ebook download given to each new subscriber to The Write Life newsletter. While I was excited that my advice for aspiring entrepreneurial writers was going to be shared with The Write Life community, I was also disappointed — in myself.

A missed chance

A few months before, I had finished writing the content for my first eguide, How to Become a Freelance Writer in 30 Days. However, on this fateful Monday, all 84 pages were still sitting on a Word document on my computer.

All I had left to do was to finish formatting the eguide, convert it into a PDF, and upload it to my e-junkie account. Yet I hadn’t pulled the trigger.

I’ll never know how many potential eguide buyers I missed out on that day because I’d failed to ship my book. And if The Write Life hadn’t launched that day, who knows when I would have received the kick-in-the-pants that I needed to buckle down?

Passing it on

Let this post be your kick in the pants. Dedicate 30 minutes or more of uninterrupted time to your big project every single day. Block it off in your calendar just like you would a meeting or a hot date. Make it a priority to share your knowledge with those who will benefit from it.

Creating, marketing and selling your first digital product isn’t a self-indulgent endeavor. If you can help shorten someone’s learning curve so they can reach their goals more efficiently, you should. Empowering others is a beautiful thing.

Have you ever missed a big opportunity like this one? What big projects are you working on? Share in the comments below!