How do I become a Digital Marketing Consultant?

To become an consultant in digital marketing, you don’t necessarily have to take a four-year business degree program. There are other ways to get the knowledge you need to become a self-made, digital marketing consultant.

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” — Wendy Piersall

If you really want to become a digital marketing expert, you need to start reading as much as you can about the subject. Don’t forget to look for blogs that are specifically about digital marketing.

The best internet marketing consultants have a strong knowledge base of the following skills:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social Media Marketing (SMM)
• Content Marketing Strategy
• Paid Marketing (Google Adwords, FB, Twitter, Linkedin)
• Youtube & Video Marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Email Marketing
• Web Analytics and Reporting

Once you have done your research and you understand the basics of digital marketing, it is time to take what you have learned and put it into action. When you are actually doing instead of just reading, you get to really see how things work, and what you still have left to learn.

One of the best ways to solidify yourself as a subject matter expert is to start blogging. Write about your specialty and other areas of online marketing. Share valuable experiences, tips, and tricks to grow readership and establish your expertise. Not only does this attract visitors to your website, it helps enrich relevant content to boost your ranking on search engines.

Some important tips for blogging:

• Make sure your blog is SEO focused
• Research and include keywords and related terms for services you want to rank for
• Stay away from too much self-promotion
• Always write with your target audience in mind. Keep posts relevant and useful

Someone brilliant once said, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Building a strong network is vital to getting the word out about your business.

Tips for building a strong network:

• Who do you know? Contact your immediate network — friends, family, bosses, former colleagues — and ask them for referrals or to share your website.
• Reach out to industry experts, build relationships with influencers and bloggers via LinkedIn, and ask them for some advice or feedback. This is a great way to make connections and build relationships within the industry.
• If you don’t have any experience, offer your services for free in exchange for testimonials until you build your portfolio. Start with companies you know. Not only does it build your portfolio, but also your confidence as well.
• Attend business networking events and seminars to broaden your connections and meet potential clients in person.

You’ve defined your niche, improved your skills, and created a fantastic website. It’s time to find clients. Aside from reaching out to your network and referrals from others, here are some great places to find freelance digital marketing work:

1. With FlexJobs, you can access hand-screened remote, part-time, freelance, and flexible jobs. They also offer a money-back guarantee on your first month, making this one a no brainer.
2. Freelancer allows you to compete with other freelancers in contests to prove your skills. If you’re competitive and confident in your expertise, it’s a great way to showcase your abilities and attract more clients.
3. Guru attracts freelancers from around the world, all with various skills. As a freelance digital marketer, you can find various jobs suitable for your skill sets and experience level.
4. Simply Hired curates thousands of freelance jobs and constantly updates them. Just browse until you find some leads and then create an account if you want to move forward.

In addition to working directly with clients, another great way to source yourself as a consultant and get experience, is to join a consulting agency that gives you client work.

When looking for an agency, you will want to consider their client base, the pay structure, and if they provide training or promote skill building initiatives. Agencies that invest in the ongoing training and progression of their consultants have not only the best consultant, but also the best client retention.

Once you have effectively applied these tricks, no one can pull you back into your successful digital marketing career. The fact that digital marketing is one of the most in demand jobs today means the need for skilled digital marketers isn’t going away anytime soon.