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Rachel Pedersen

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How Much Does a Social Media Manager Make ?

By Rachel Pedersen

INCOME CHEATSHEET FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS – AKA SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS CAN MAKE HOW MUCH?!

You’ve heard of Social Media Management but how much does a social media manager make ?

So….wondering if you can REALLY make a full-time income JUST by being a social media manager?

Really? Just by hanging out on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and #alltheplatforms?

(Okay, it involves a LITTLE more than that…but honestly, what job doesn’t involve some work?)

Well, I’m here to tell you that…

IT’S POSSIBLE. And I’m going to prove it!

Let’s say your monthly retainer is $500 per platform. (And if you’re in SMU and have access to all of our trainings in there – you DEFINITELY need to be charging that, at the very least!)

And say you secure 5 clients at 2 platforms each. That’s $5,000 per month.

(Worried about securing clients? We teach you exactly how to do it, with proven strategies and methods, in SMU too!)

Want to know the average monthly salary of a registered nurse?

$5,660.

Yup.

You would be one client away from bringing in more income than a NURSE.

????????????????????????????????

Okay, and now let’s add Facebook Ads to the equation!

Say you do Facebook Ads for a client starting at $1,000 per month. 

(If you’re part of SMU Elite, you DEFINITELY have the education to charge that much. I believe in you!)

Now you’re running Facebook Ads for your social media clients, which brings your monthly retainer for each of  them up to $2,000.

????Now you’re at $10,000 a month.????

Just for reference, the average monthly salary of a lawyer is $12,041.

You’re making almost as much as a lawyer. And odds are, they’re working twice as many hours as you are.

Comparing Social Media Managers To Other Industries

Just to compare – let’s have a look at some more average monthly salaries, shall we?

Secretary – $3,180

Journalist – $3,258

Accountant* – $4,178

Personal Trainer – $4,922

Makeup Artist – $5,080

Psychologist* – $6,102

Architect* – $8,117

Pharmacist* – $9,833

* All of the starred careers are the ones in which you’ll have to put in years and YEARS of expensive education before you can start earning a sustainable income.

And let’s have a look at what you can be earning monthly as a social media manager and/or Facebook Ads manager.

(All this assumes you’ve got a solid training foundation and a supportive community where you can ask for help whenever you need it – incidentally, both are found in SMU and SMU Elite! ????)

  1. Social media platforms – starting at $500/platform, and as you start to get more results and stack your wins up to as much as $750 or even more!
  2. FB Ads – starting at $1000/month – and as you start to get more results and stack your wins, $1500-$2500 per month!

Now think of your monthly income goal, and work backwards from there to reverse-engineer the amount of clients you’d need to secure at those rates.

BOOM. You’ve replaced (or more than replaced) your full-time income.

What does this mean as far as how much social media managers make?

As a social media manager, your income potential is virtually endless. 

As you secure more clients (and more income), and begin to max out your working hours, you can always bring on team members or freelancers to take on some of your workload.

????In fact, I reached a monthly income of $56,000, with just myself and ONE team member!????

Yes.

You read that correctly.

That’s OVER FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH.

(To be fair, I was working around the clock – but you can still bring in HALF that much working “normal” hours with a little bit of help. Not too shabby, right?)

As my good friend Bradley Gibb says, “Entrepreneurs don’t earn money. They create it.”

Entrepreneurs are the ONLY ones in the world who can actually go out and create more income, instead of knowing on January 1st exactly how much they’ll have earned by the end of the year.

Want to build an infinitely scalable business that you can run from your couch (in your PJs, if that’s what floats your boat)?

Sign up for our FREE program, Social Media United – joinsmu.com

Related posts:

How To Go Viral On Social Media

How To Create A Lead Magnet: Generate More Leads & Customers With Powerful Lead Magnets

FREELANCE CLIENT RED FLAGS: 10 SIGNS TO WALK AWAY (AND WHEN TO STAY)

Filed Under: General Social Media

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Rachel Pedersen. Founder of RBP Productions, The Viral Touch, & Sontero

Rachel Pedersen has scaled her businesses to 8-figure revenue, grown a fanbase of 3+ million followers, and reached over 100 million people annually (and ORGANICALLY) during a lazy year… She is currently co-writing a fantasy book with her husband, and she’s already spent way too much time perfecting the linguistic rules of her invented language and map!


themrspedersen

Helping freelancers & business owners to grow their business with social media
8figures in 8 years | Hay House Author
Free marketing resources 👇

Was I dramatic? yes. Am I going to backpedal now? Was I dramatic? yes. Am I going to backpedal now? absolutely not.

(this is in my personal life not business hahahaha only laughing because it's a point of awareness now)
when i say something mildly concerning and they go when i say something mildly concerning and they go darker, i’m like oh good you’re my people.
A few people noticed I wasn’t wearing my wedding r A few people noticed I wasn’t wearing my wedding ring in some recent videos, and whenever that happens, it tends to bring out a whole wave of theories.

Sometimes it’s the ring.

Sometimes it’s because I haven’t posted Poul in a minute.

Sometimes the internet just really loves a potential storyline. 

But real life is usually a lot less dramatic than people imagine.

There are a lot of parts of my life I share online, and there are also parts I protect a little more carefully.

My marriage is one of the most precious things in my life, so I don’t always feel the need to showcase it for the internet in order for it to be real.

That said, I do understand why people notice little things!

So here’s the very unexciting truth.

I love my ring. I really do. But I’ve lost enough weight since Poul gave it to me that it falls off, and when I’m working with my hands, with the horses, with the dog, or doing anything where it could slip or catch, I take it off. That’s it.

I have an irrational fear of degloving. 

So I take it off except for fancy events.

And since we’re here, I’ll say this too.

Poul is one of the most consistent people I have ever known. Steady, thoughtful, grounded, deeply talented, and the kind of person who does not need an audience to be extraordinary. Some of the best parts of our life happen off camera anyway.

So no, I do not post every moment.
And no, I do not always wear my ring while working.

But I am very loved, very grateful, and very glad I married him fast. ❤️

#marriedlife #realmarriage #relationshipchat #husbandappreciation #lovestory
This should make your next week of IG stories much This should make your next week of IG stories much easier (and I’ve tested them all!). Comment ’STORY’ to get the full 5 days of stories PDF for free 💪
High paying clients are not rare. They’re just al High paying clients are not rare.

They’re just allergic to chaos.

Most freelancers are operating with what I call the hope pipeline.

Post something.
Pray someone sees it.
Pitch in the DMs.
Get ghosted.

Repeat.

That is not a pipeline.
That’s emotional cardio.

If you want higher paying clients, the question is simpler than people think:

Do you have one place that reliably produces leads every week?

Or are you hoping social media magically delivers them.

There are really only three sources that consistently work:

Facebook groups
LinkedIn opportunities
Magnetic content

But the trick is not where people look.

It’s how you show up.

Example.

Someone posts in a Facebook group:

“Looking for someone who can help with this.”

Most freelancers reply with the same thing.

“I can help.”

Which translates to:
“I have no proof but please choose me.”

Instead:

“I helped a client get this result. Happy to share what we did if it helps.”

Now you look like evidence.

LinkedIn works the same way.

Most people apply like job seekers.

The winners show up like partners.

They ask:

What outcome are they actually hiring for?

Not what title they posted.

And content?

Content is the quiet funnel most people ignore.

One platform.
One clear promise.
Micro case studies.
Useful breakdowns.

People don’t buy portfolios.

They buy confidence.

Clients are not paying for hours.

They’re paying for clarity.

Build a weekly pipeline and something interesting happens.

Your price stops being a debate.

Because the right people already decided you’re the obvious choice.

#freelancing #onlinebusiness #clientacquisition #contentmarketing #businessgrowth
Before I had kids, I had a lot of very confident p Before I had kids, I had a lot of very confident parenting theories. 😂

You know the kind.

My kids will never eat processed food.
They’ll always sleep on schedule.
They’ll always behave in public.
I’ll always be calm, patient, and prepared.

And then… I actually had kids.

And what I realized pretty quickly is that parenting isn’t about perfectly executing a set of ideals. It’s about learning the actual humans in front of you.

Some days we eat really well.
Some days dinner is whatever gets everyone fed and back to peaceful again.
Some days routines work beautifully.
Some days everyone is tired and we give each other a little grace.

My goal now isn’t perfection.

My goal is balance.

To love my kids well. ❤️
To understand who they are.
To equip them with what they need to grow into strong, kind, capable humans.

That means teaching them.
Listening to them.
Protecting them.
And sometimes letting the standards breathe a little when life calls for it.

Turns out the most important part of parenting wasn’t the rules I imagined beforehand.

It was the relationship.

And that part matters a whole lot more than perfect everyhing.

#momlife #parentingjourney #raisingkids #motherhoodmoments #parentingrealities
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