My Day As A Freelance Social Media/Admin Assistant

So I just spent the day working as a freelance social media and admin assistant and here’s what my day looked like:

Takeaways
1. Understanding the role of a freelance social media admin assistant.
2. Insights into the daily tasks and responsibilities involved.
3. Gaining practical experience in managing social media accounts.
4. Balancing administrative duties with creative content creation.
5. Importance of effective communication and time management.
6. Learning about client interactions and expectations.
7. Valuable tips for successfully navigating the freelance landscape.
8. Embracing challenges and opportunities for growth.

5:30 A.M. Wake Up And Check Social Media, Reply To Emails, And Create A To-Do List

5:30 a.m. Wake up and check social media, reply to emails and create a to-do list

When you first start working from home, your new freedom can feel overwhelming. There are no time clocks or commutes, how do you set up a schedule? It’s important to get up at roughly the same time every day so that your body knows when it should wake up, and it will make it easier for you to stick to a daily routine.

One of the first things I do in the morning is to check my email and social media accounts (I personally like drinking coffee while doing this). I reply to emails as soon as possible, then create a prioritized to-do list for the day based on what is due that day, what was postponed from yesterday, etc.

Having deadlines helps me focus on getting things done; procrastination is not an option!

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6:30 A.M. Make Breakfast (Today Its Eggs), Then Shower And Get Dressed For Work

Making sure you have a healthy breakfast in the morning helps set the tone for your day. I typically have eggs, toast, and fruit (or some combo thereof). When I get up especially early to work before the kids wake up, I also have time to make a smoothie. 

Then I shower and get dressed to get myself in work mode so that when my kids are awake, they know “Mama’s working now.” It’s too easy to fall into the trap of staying in PJs all day (believe me, as someone who works from home, it happens), but it’s important to not let yourself do that so that you’re able to separate your actual job from your home duties.

7:30 A.M. Check My Social Media Feed

Before starting work on any of my own projects, I check out what’s been happening on the company’s social media feed. This provides me with a good idea of which products and services are getting the most views and likes. Check the analytics to see what kind of content is getting the most engagement.

This will help you inform future posts, as well as give you an idea of where you can make improvements to your approach. Another reason why this is important is that it helps you stay up-to-date with industry trends or news so that you can create relevant content that aligns with recent events in your niche (for example, if a major competitor announced a new product). The information gleaned from this data will be useful for your weekly reports as well.

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8:00 A.M. Get Started On Writing For A Freelancing Blog, Then Start Researching Best Hashtags For The Posts

Make sure you are writing in the tone of voice that best represents your agency’s brand and personality.

In my case, I’m trying to write from a perspective that’s helpful and informative, but also fun and entertaining. Do you know what doesn’t do any of those things? Writing articles about freelancing careers because you think it might be something people want to read about.

I’ve been guilty of this exact thing before: writing content for an audience when I have no idea what their needs or wants actually are. It was futile, time-consuming, and most importantly, ineffective at connecting with the freelancers we were hoping to reach.

9:00 A.M. Break For Breakfast And More Coffee

Traditionally, breakfast has been considered the most important meal of the day since it provides your body with the necessary fuel for the day ahead. For those looking to lose weight, eating a non-processed and protein-rich breakfast can help you feel full longer and keep your appetite under control so that when you do eat lunch or dinner, you won’t overeat. 

Some examples of healthy breakfast choices include Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and whole-grain cereal, oatmeal, or granola. If you’re not a big fan of traditional breakfasts, opt for an egg white omelet with veggies instead. Just try not to eat too much in the morning because if you’re full when lunch rolls around, then that’s less food in your belly!

As far as beverages go, coffee is fine (caffeine helps get the creative juices flowing) but be sure not to overdo it on this either. Too much caffeine can cause jitters and make it difficult to focus.

9:30 A.M. Schedule Social Media Posts For The Day

You can use a social media scheduler to plan ahead, or you can write and schedule posts in real-time, setting reminders to tweet and post throughout the day. You may want to set 15-minute intervals on your calendar to stop and review your social accounts, depending on the activity level of your client’s page. 

If you use a scheduling tool like HootSuite or Buffer, you may only need to check in once or twice a day (unless they have other features that require daily maintenance).

In order to have an active social presence (or “be more active than normal”), you should be tweeting at least three times per hour during peak Twitter hours and posting at least once during peak Facebook hours on each account that supports a business page.

Twitter is best used for disseminating information quickly (and for some reason, people are happy about that!). So this is where you would share links from blog posts, YouTube videos, events, etc. The more entertaining the link is, the better it will perform…unless it’s controversial or offensive in some way. 

And unless it’s an informative link from someone else’s blog post or suchlike that doesn’t directly benefit your client (in which case they probably won’t mind if it gets retweeted). Twitter users love retweets! So make sure you retweet with abandon if your client allows it. This can increase their visibility with other Twitter users who appreciate that kind of sharing – even if they don’t know your client personally!

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10:30 A.M Take Care Of All Client Admin Work, Like Replying To Emails, Invoicing, And Bookkeeping

Take care of all client admin work, like replying to emails, invoicing, and bookkeeping—I do it all from my laptop. I use waveapps to invoice my clients weekly (some of them are hourly, so it’s essential that I track my billable hours). This lets me create an invoice in 60 seconds and send it over to them all online. 

Like many freelancers, I’m also self-employed and own my own business (my tax person loves me!), which means I also have to do all that fun stuff like keep track of how much money is coming in and out and make quarterly tax payments!

When you’re doing your own work as a freelancer or entrepreneur there are a lot of things you can’t (and shouldn’t!) handle on your own. If you take the time to find resources that will be helpful for the things you don’t have time for or aren’t great at doing yourself, then you’ll save yourself some sanity.

12 P.M Email Clients Back With Any Questions Or Updates They Need On Projects, Then Break For Lunch

• Set aside blocks of time to check and respond to emails only twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Try not to check your email more than this (unless you’re waiting for something specific) so you aren’t constantly distracted by new messages coming in.

• When you check your email, take 30 minutes or so to quickly scan through everything and reply immediately to any that require a simple answer or action on your part (only do what needs to be done at that moment). Then move on with your day don’t keep checking back!

• If an email requires further research or information before you can respond, set a reminder for yourself later in the day when you can work on it (for example, “call a client about logo design option X”), but don’t let it eat up all of your time now.

• If you need to share files with someone via email, use Google Drive instead of attaching documents directly from Word/Excel it makes life much easier for both of you!

• Make sure all correspondence is documented via email so there are no miscommunications down the line if either party forgets what was said or agreed upon during a phone conversation!

1 P.M Schedule Social Media Posts (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin)

Most people use social media for personal reasons, but it is also a great way to share what your business does and promote sales. It can be difficult to keep up with regularly posting to social media platforms, so I recommend scheduling posts in advance.

In order to be consistent with your posting, it is important to schedule posts ahead of time. An easy way to do this is by using a social media management tool like Hootsuite or Buffer. These tools allow you to schedule posts for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all at once and are free for one user.

If your business has more than one person managing the social media accounts, these tools also have paid versions that will allow multiple users access. In addition to scheduling posts in advance, these tools also allow you to determine when the best times are for engagement on each platform so you can optimize the visibility of your posts by scheduling them accordingly.

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2 P.M Write Some More Blog Posts

• I spend a few minutes researching some article ideas
• I start by reading the latest posts on popular blogs like Medium and Lifehacker basically any blog that is frequented by my target audience.
• I spend a while coming up with additional story ideas.
• In order to engage new followers, you have to write about topics people care about.
• The posts also need to be entertaining and easy to read, or else no one will read them or worse, they’ll unsubscribe from your page!

I’m not a writer, but the more articles you write for other blogs, the better your writing skills become.

3 P.M Brainstorm Social Media Promotions For Upcoming Launch Of Client’s New Product Launch

Social media promotions are a great way to build buzz around something new! Social media is a powerful tool that can help you reach your target audience and get them excited about what’s coming.

For example:

• Create an Instagram story about a new product announcement, email campaign, or promotional giveaway
• Post behind the scenes photos of the product being made, or of your team getting ready for launch
• Use ad campaigns to promote your content on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram

4 P.M Working Out Of The House Gets Lonely Sometimes

While you may love being able to wear your pajamas to work and not having a boss breathing over your shoulder, working from home can get lonely sometimes. Making the effort to meet up with other freelancers can be a great way to stay motivated, bounce ideas off of each other, and even find new clients.

I call my work spouse Duane because he is my work spouse. He has been helping me refine my pitch for the past few weeks. We meet up every couple of days at our local Starbucks so that we can each squeeze in an hour or two of work before we head home and make dinner for our dogs (don’t judge us).

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Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, I was reminded that it’s a surprisingly fun job being a freelance social media or admin assistant. But let me also remind you that most of these fun parts don’t come easily. They come with hard work, dedication, and great communication. And above all, don’t give ever give up on your dreams. It took me years to achieve success, but it was worth it in the end.

Further Reading

Here are some additional resources that you might find helpful:

Social Media Manager Checklist: Explore a comprehensive checklist to ensure effective social media management and engagement.

How to Become a Freelance Administrative Assistant Without Experience: Learn valuable insights and tips for becoming a freelance administrative assistant even without prior experience.

The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Freelance Social Media Manager: Dive into an ultimate guide that covers everything you need to know about starting a freelance career as a social media manager.

People Also Ask

What Is A Freelance Social Media Or Admin Assistant?

A freelance social media or admin assistant is someone who has administrative, marketing, and/or social media skills and offers those services to businesses in exchange for payment. A lot of people take on freelance work to make extra income, but it’s also a great way to get your foot in the door when you’re looking to break into a new industry.

How Do I Become A Freelance Social Media Or Admin Assistant?

There’s no one right way to become a freelance social media or admin assistant, but there are some common steps that most freelancers take: -Make sure you have the right skills. Social media assistants mostly need to have experience with writing, content creation, project management, and/or marketing. 

Admin assistants usually need an understanding of graphic design and office tools (like Microsoft Office). You can learn these skills by going back to school, taking classes online, or studying on your own. -Network within the industry. 

Look for companies that may be hiring if you want to go straight from school into the workforce, or look for people who are already doing what you want to do and reach out to them. -Get started with maintaining your own blog about something related to social media or administration.

What Does A Freelance Social Media Or Admin Assistant Do?

Admin assistants typically work in an office setting and assist their managers. As a freelance admin assistant, you will be working remotely, but your responsibilities are similar to those of a regular admin assistant.

What Are The Education Requirements For This Role?

You typically need at least some college-level coursework to become a freelance social media or admin assistant. Most jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree, but some employers have more specific education requirements.

How Much Money Can I Make As A Freelance Social Media Or Admin Assistant?

If you’re just starting out, you should expect to be paid about $11.50 an hour for a full-time position, and about $10 an hour for a part-time position. If you have a ton of experience, you could make up to $50 an hour.

Experience counts for a lot here the more experience you have with social media and/or digital marketing, the more valuable you are to your client. So if you’re just starting out, it’s important to try to get some experience under your belt so that you’re ready to jump into this kind of work as soon as possible.

The level of responsibility required differs too. A senior or executive assistant will probably be in charge of helping with projects or tasks on behalf of the team they support. They’ll also probably help manage their bosses’ workloads, create and distribute schedules, and keep track of meetings and reports (among other things).

On the other hand, someone with less responsibility might have more simple tasks like answering emails or scheduling meetings.*

There are tons of opportunities for freelancers in this industry—you can apply to gigs on sites like Upwork and LinkedIn.

What Skills Do You Have That Improve Your Productivity?

The more skilled you become with social media or being an admin assistant, the more money you will make. At the beginning of my career, I was making $5/hour as a social media or admin assistant. 

Now I’m making over $10/hour because I have acquired many new skills like using Photoshop and doing Excel spreadsheets. If you’re just starting out, try to learn one new skill each month, and soon enough you’ll be making more money.