this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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Basically, I was going through a financial crisis when I got this client. I live in India and my client is from the USA. They are a company selling cookies and cupcakes. The elite kind. I make content for all their social media and also handles them. I am a graphic designer primarily and the social media handling job was a side gig that I picked on in the company. I’ve been doing it for two years now so learnt pretty much a lot about it. They make me post at least 20 stories every day and 4 posts including a reel. I create all the content and don’t take a leave. They pay me 800$ per month. I am charging the same for my other clients also but they require only 4 posts a week and few stories which is not a bother. Anyway my primary client is asking me to cut down my payment. I would rather let them go honestly. But they are not agreeing with me when I tell them that I am their cheapest option. It had me wondering if social media management is that cheap in the USA? Enlighten me.

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[–] palmshore@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Don’t sell on price. Sell on results. Did you increase their follower count, engagement/impressions? Those are all valid points to negotiate your compensation.

Use your current client as a case study to book more clients in that niche, and eventually fire them.

[–] OwnTutor@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

I would let them go. You are being seriously underpaid compared to NA based media managers. I have an in house media manager (two in fact) and they both make $80K a year plus benefits. I would be ashamed to only pay someone $800 a month.

[–] chabaz01@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Hire someone else to manage them, and other clients. You should focus on your outreach and ad campaigns so you can get more clients.

If they are too big of a hassle and take up too much time, drop them. Read buy back your time by Dan Martell.

[–] VibrantWebServices@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Rather pass that client to me 😅 I would deliver same quantity and go negotiation correctly

[–] bhabhiloverCR7@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

i think your negotiation skills are horrible, why would you take a difficult contract in the first place?? Also we're In a capitalist society and its a free market. If you don't do it someone else will plain and simple either negotiate or tell them to find another company.

And i still doubt someone would pay this less for that amount of work.

[–] consistentlyPUSHING@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Go away man

[–] Spiiterz@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

For the work you’re doing yes

In general, it depends on the brand and what results they would get

Your work is very replaceable so they’re likely trying to abuse that until they find someone desperate enough to stay and do it

[–] fediverser@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

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[–] Whole-Spiritual@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Go for higher end clients and deliver hardcore results.

Can you drive real leads that convert? If so, take some of the risk for some upside. 10% of sales isn’t unreasonable on top of base fees if you’re killing it. Negotiate recurring income from sales..

I charge a king’s ransom for our service. We obliterate any agency by comparison and we know it. Retainers start at $400K annualized and we reject anyone without excellent product market fit and sales metrics we can trust.

[–] CapableCoyoteeee@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

They’re taking advantage of you. You should be making 6x at least.

[–] nova9001@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Lmao, you are severely underpaid. You are pretty much doing the job of multiple people. $800 a month and they want to cut prices.

Just imagine a full time social media account manager making $60k/year with benefits. You are making & 9.6k/year with no benefits and doing way more work than them. They probably need 2 people to do what you are doing.

[–] m98789@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

I have an “out of the box” solution:

Raise your price!

When your contract is about to end, let them know the price has increased to level set with the market. Even at 50% higher, you are still under market, so you can comfortably charge higher. They don’t have any other options if they want the same level of effort.

Now you have two outcomes:

  1. They agree, and pay more
  2. They don’t agree to pay more

If (1), you win. You can distribute the work to another person on your team and continue to grow the business.

If (2), you still win because you can now confidently drop a client who has clearly been a productivity drag on you, limiting growth (at 20 stories and 4 posts a day there’s not much else one can do).

[–] myxyplyxy@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Let them go!!! You are very under paid

[–] 1millionbucks@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

People in this thread really think an Indian marketer is gonna make 80k. Why the hell would anyone go through the hassle of dealing with India if they were able to pay an American the same amount?

[–] Rich-Tooth-7750@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

You are clearly not updated regarding how much a potential Indian marketer makes here. An average IT/Tech engineer here earns $30k-$70k, I won't even mention about business owners, or pharmaceutical/automobile/real estate startups. I used to work as a graphic designer for an agency here, they were getting paid $1200 per client monthly retainer just as a contractor.

[–] achilleshightops@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Dm me your work, I will have a spot in January for a new business (with many locations opening over the next 5 years).

[–] akshaysolenk@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

20 stories and 4posts with reel for $800 is crazy dude. We are charging 1 reel a day for $520