For many companies, social media is now forming a major part of customer acquisition strategies and maintaining the public profile of a company. Whatever size the company is (startup, small business, medium sized business or large corporation), social media is necessary for companies to engage with customers and grow as a brand. 

A professional social network consultant can help you find ways of representing your company through social media in a positive and authentic way so; you can build up your business’s credibility and establish yourself as an expert. The consultant can help you determine how to best showcase your business and immediately link to customers and prospects quickly.

When done right, hiring social network consultants can help you better understand your current customer needs, increase your company’s visibility and generate leads. There are specific recommendations we can give you to make sure when looking for social network consultants for hire, you do it right.

• Expertise in communication. The hired consultant should have the tools available to pitch the message accurately and the skills necessary to create, pitch and deliver your company communications to the right communities and customers.
• Portfolios are key. Look for consultants that have done this type of work for clients in your industry or a similar industry. Make sure in your search for a social network consultant for hire client testimonials, portfolio and consultant feedback make up a large portion of your assessment of potential consultants.
• Influence is critical. The consultant you hire should be able to talk the talk when it comes to communicating your messages. For example if you are looking for a social network consultant to hire for a Twitter campaign, they should have a satisfactory number of followers on Twitter and a quick scan of their tweets should reveal their expertise and knowledge of the field. However, you need to take the numbers they have with a pinch of salt as there are ways of manipulating the number of followings and incorrectly increasing that number which displays an inaccurate view of the consultant’s social media expertise.

Almost every day a major retailer, bank, travel company etc. posts job requirements for a social network consultant for hire, and keep asking for help with social networking (or social media) strategies. Sometimes these companies want pure advice / strategy; sometimes they want some operational muscle too to actually help them deliver e.g. choosing a platform, managing communities and so on.

In some cases they've already decided to 'do a social network' and need help with what they have; other times they're thinking of doing it but aren't sure it's the right thing to be doing. 

So here's an open invitation to pitch yourself, by replying to this and posting relevant links etc, if you think you could help out, and how.