6 Business Lessons from an Accomplished Six-Figure Social Media Strategist

I did not become a six-figure social media strategist in a year, or even five. I was a stay-at-home mom, a nanny, and a Dutch girl living in the US who reinvented her career at 40 with zero corporate experience.

I built my business in between school runs, summer beach days, and late-night client work, and it took me nine years to hit six figures as a freelancer.

Recently, I joined Jack Wilson on his It Pays to Write podcast to talk about how writing and AI shaped my journey. Earlier, Jack was a guest on my show, Strategy Talks, where we dove into how to write better and more authentic with AI for content success.

Between the two conversations, we connected the dots between storytelling, systems, and what it really looks like to grow into a six-figure social media strategist today.

Here are six business lessons from my own journey that you can apply right now.

Lesson 1: A six-figure social media strategist is built, not born

At 40, when my youngest started kindergarten, I had a choice. Go back to school for four years or build something practical, fast, and flexible.

I chose to build.

I had supported my husband through his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I had not gone beyond high school. When he brought me an online course on how to become a social media manager and said, “I think you can help me with my business,” that was my open door.

“Had no corporate experience, no business experience, which actually helped me jump start this business easy because I didn't know what I didn't know.”

I took the course in 2011, set up my Twitter account for the first time, and almost immediately started teaching local Myrtle Beach business owners everything I was learning. Within weeks, I was “the social media person” in town.

“I literally was the first social media manager in the town in the area of Myrtle Beach. So anybody who had any questions about social media or was anywhere curious would come to me.”

I started as a social media manager, became a community manager, then a social media strategist, and eventually layered on AI strategy for small businesses. The path was not tidy, but it was real.

And it took time.

“It took me nine years… to jump to that six figure income as a freelancer.”

The first lesson is simple and not very sexy. You do not become a six-figure social media strategist by picking the perfect niche and logo on day one.

You become one by starting where you are, doing the work in front of you, learning new skills as you go, and staying in the game long enough for all of that to compound.

Lesson 2: A six-figure social media strategist builds a business around life

For the first years of my business, my calendar revolved around four kids and a husband with a career.

My extended family was in Europe. I was the default parent for sick days, snow days, and everything in between.

During the school year, my workday looked like this:

• 7:30 am to 2:30 pm client work

• School drop off and pick up as non-negotiables

• Evenings reserved for family

Summer was a different kind of juggling act.

“I would get up at 5, work for like 3 hours, wake up the kids, go to the beach, put them in front of a movie at lunch, and then, you know, work some more and then work at night.”

Could I have grown faster without that life? Maybe. But I am proud that I built a six-figure business as a social media strategist without missing the moments that mattered most at home.

That is why I repeat this message every time I talk about growth.

“Everybody has a different journey. Just because you can do it faster doesn't mean you should and just because you can scale doesn't mean you should if it's not the right time for you or the right way to work.”

Then COVID hit. We moved to Vermont, two college kids moved back home, and suddenly everyone needed help online.

For a season, I said yes to everything.

“I was literally working 70-80 hours a week easy. I remember one night at like 11:00 I'm sitting crying because I had to learn Airtable.”

That season exploded my revenue and opened doors into bigger projects and corporate work. It also showed me exactly what I did not want long-term. As soon as I could, I pulled back to a sustainable rhythm again.

If you want to become a six-figure social media strategist, you have to answer some uncomfortable questions:

• How many hours can I actually work in this season?

• What am I unwilling to sacrifice, even for more money?

• What does “enough” look like to me, not to the algorithm?

You can absolutely hit six figures. You do not have to do it on someone else’s timeline.

Lesson 3: A six-figure social media strategist rides new waves early

When I started in 2011, social media for business was still new. People used Facebook mostly for personal updates. Hardly anyone was “doing Twitter for business.” There was no Meta Business Suite.

Video was rare.

“People weren't using social media for business just yet. So, I jumped in it at the right time.”

I was in the room when local business owners asked, “What is a Facebook page?” and “How do I tweet?” and “Can I actually get customers from this?”

My advantage was not that I was a genius. It was that I was willing to learn something early, put it into practice, and then teach it.

I am seeing the same pattern again with AI.

Recently I sat in the audience at a Vermont conference during a social media and AI panel.

Listening to the questions and the answers, I realized that my daily practice with AI tools had quietly pushed me ahead of the curve.

“I feel like it's come full circle in 2025. This is what's happening with AI.”

That is lesson three. A six-figure social media strategist is not always the person who knows the most in theory.

It is the person who is willing to:

• Notice when a wave is forming

• Get in the water earlier than feels comfortable

• Learn by doing

• Turn around and explain what they are doing in plain language

You do not have to predict every trend. You do need to be curious and brave enough to paddle into a few of them before they look safe.

Lesson 4: Writing and AI keep a six-figure social media strategist in demand

If you stripped my business down to one core skill, it would not be “posting on social media.”

It would be writing.

From the beginning, I wrote:

• Educational blogs answering questions my clients asked in workshops

• Local posts connecting businesses to each other and to events

• Email marketing copy

• Social media captions for a wide range of industries

Early on, I read Marcus Sheridan’s “They Ask, You Answer” and decided to do just that. Every question a small business owner asked me in a workshop or consult became potential content.

• “How do I start a Facebook page?”

• “How do I add an admin?”

• “What do I even tweet once I am on Twitter?”

I wrote the answers, step by step, with screenshots. Over time, those blogs drove organic traffic and gave me a content bank to repurpose for social media.

On the podcast, Jack and I talked a lot about writing and how it has come back to center stage in marketing. Jack has written millions of words in his career as a freelancer and marketer, and now teaches people how to use AI as a writing superpower on It Pays to Write. At one point he reminded listeners:

“You don't need a big audience to get opportunities from writing online.”

He is right. Writing is how I have landed long term clients, speaking gigs, collaborations, and brand deals long before my audience was “big.”

Now, I pair that foundational writing skill with AI.

English is my second language. I am fluent, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel the gap in nuance between how I think and how I type.

“If I put it in AI and just say like, am I missing any words? How would you make this better? Then it just sounds just a little bit better without taking my voice out of it.”

Here is one very practical example from my life as a six-figure social media strategist:

• I record my weekly video podcast, Strategy Talks, live

• The episode streams to YouTube

• I grab the YouTube transcript with an extension

• I paste it into a custom GPT I trained on my writing

• I ask it to draft a blog in my voice, include real quotes, and use a focus keyword

• Then I edit, tweak the headline, add images in Canva, and embed the video and audio

The last time I did this, I created and uploaded nine blog posts in under three hours.

AI does not replace my experience. It accelerates my workflow. It lets me act like the six-figure social media strategist I am, instead of a burned out strategist chained to a keyboard.

If you want to grow faster, learn to write clearly and use AI as your collaborator, not your crutch.

Lesson 5: Strategy first: how a six-figure social media strategist works with clients

When I first started, clients would sign a retainer and then the guessing game would begin. I would click around their outdated website, chase them for photos, and try to piece together a brand voice from thin air.

Now, my retainers do not start until we complete a strategy project.

Here is what that looks like inside my six-figure social media strategist business:

1. Discovery and recording We do a 90 minute discovery call. I record it. I ask about goals, offers, audience, timelines, constraints, team members, and budget.

2. Competitors, keywords, and avatars I do a competitor analysis and keyword research. I am not a pure SEO agency, but I know enough to be dangerous and helpful. We refine their audience and ideal customer profile.

3. Voice of the customer I ask for reviews, testimonials, sometimes even customer interviews or support transcripts. I want to know what actual customers say, in their own words.

4. Audit of existing assets Old blogs, YouTube videos, email sequences, even half drafted ideas can often be updated and reused instead of starting from zero.

5. Channel and format recommendations I am very clear about this with clients now. If you are not willing to commit to at least one long form format, I cannot do my best work for you.

   I usually ask:

   • Are you willing to host a podcast?

   • Or be on video regularly?

   • Or commit to blogging?

   If the answer is no to all three, then my role becomes limited to distribution, not strategy.

6. Content themes and calendar Once I know the channels, we build themes and a content calendar together. I like monthly themes, especially for newer teams. For example:

   • January: renewal

   • February: love (clients, tools, team, vendors)

   • July: freedom or summer safety, depending on the business

This is what turns social media “posting” into social media strategy. We are not chasing trends. We are aligning what they sell with what their audience actually needs, across formats and seasons.

For writers and new strategists, I always recommend starting with themes. When “February is about love,” it is much easier to brainstorm:

• Clients we love

• Vendors we love

• Tools we love

• Team members we love

Instead of staring at an empty content calendar and a blinking cursor.

A six-figure social media strategist business is not built on random posts. It is built on repeatable strategy, client by client.

Lesson 6: Becoming a six-figure social media strategist in your own way

If you look at my LinkedIn today, you will see:

• A weekly live show that has been running for years

• Short form vertical videos

• Newsletter content

• A focus on women founders and small business owners

• A lot of orange glasses

From the outside, it can look intentional from day one. It was not.

I came to LinkedIn because I was frustrated with Twitter and did not love the aesthetics of Instagram for myself. I started experimenting with LinkedIn Live, then newsletters, then short form video. When LinkedIn began promoting vertical video heavily, I leaned in and created series like

“Mistakes to avoid when hiring a freelancer” and “Social media strategy mistakes.”

There was a stretch where I had weeks with over a million impressions. That visibility led directly to opportunities:

• Paid webinars

• Speaking engagements

• Brand collaborations

• Free tools and merch

• New clients

All from consistently showing up as myself, with my expertise and my stories.

Along the way, I also made a choice to speak directly to women founders, even though I still work with men.

“If I say I'm woman-centered, I still work with men. You know, I still have coaching clients that are men. Most of my clients are female. And I think that's okay to say.”

Niching my message did not limit my opportunities. It increased my resonance with the people I most wanted to serve.

If you want to become a six-figure social media strategist in your own way, here is what I would suggest:

• Decide who you really want to help, not just who you think you can land.

• Talk to them directly in your content.

• Share your real stories, not just tips.

• Use writing and AI to keep your engine sustainable.

• Remember that your life constraints are part of your strategy, not something to be ashamed of.

The path is not linear. It is yours.

Where you go from here as a six-figure social media strategist in the making

Here is the encouragement I want to leave you with.

You are not late.

Yes, AI is everywhere. Yes, there is more content being published this year than ever before. But there is still so much room for thoughtful, human-focused marketers who understand people and know how to use tools well.

Start small and start specific:

• Choose one core offer where you can deliver real results.

• Choose one long form channel and one social platform you can maintain.

• Use AI to help you research, outline, draft, and repurpose, but keep your stories and your perspective at the center.

• Treat every client like a test case. Learn from what works and what does not.

• Build your business around your life, not the other way around.

If you want to hear more of the conversation behind these lessons, listen to my episode of It Pays to Write with Jack Wilson.

Then listen to the Strategy Talks episode where he joined me to talk about writing better and more authentic with AI. Together they form a mini masterclass in using writing and AI to build a modern marketing business.

You can become a six-figure social media strategist. You just have to start acting like one in the days, weeks, and months you have right now.

10 smart AI prompts to use after reading this

Here are 10 prompts your audience can plug into their favorite AI tool to get help implementing what we covered:

• “You are an experienced six-figure social media strategist. Help me map out a simple 6 month plan to grow my one person marketing business to consistent $8k months.”

• “Act as a six-figure social media strategist and content manager. I work with [describe your niche]. Suggest 5 monthly content themes and 3 post ideas under each theme.”

• “You are a six-figure social media strategist who uses AI daily. Here is a podcast transcript. Turn it into a blog in my voice, include at least 3 direct quotes, and add H2 headers: [paste transcript].”

• “Act as a marketing strategist. I can only work 15 hours a week around my kids. Design a service and pricing structure that could realistically lead to a six-figure social media strategist income over time.”

• “You are an empathetic social media strategist. Ask me 10 questions to help me choose a focused audience I want to serve, like Dorien focuses on women founders.”

• “You are a six-figure social media strategist who loves agile marketing. Help me set up a two week ‘sprint’ to sell my first social media strategy project before offering a retainer.”

• “Analyze these 10 LinkedIn posts of mine and tell me why the top 3 performed best. Then write 5 new hooks inspired by those patterns. Here are the posts: [paste or describe].”

• “You are a six-figure social media strategist and AI writing coach. Turn this messy brain dump into a clear LinkedIn post with a strong hook, one story, and one lesson: [paste text].”

• “Act as my content repurposing assistant. I host a podcast. Create a step by step workflow to turn each episode into a blog, 3 LinkedIn posts, and 2 short videos, similar to Dorien’s process.”

• “You are a six-figure social media strategist and proposal writer. Draft a one page offer for a ‘Strategy First’ package that includes discovery, audit, and recommendations before any social media management.”