The first step in doing social media arbitrage is to set up your own accounts on all of the social sites so you can keep an eye on what is going on. If you have a working knowledge of how each platform works, you will be less liable to being scammed. Also, dummy accounts can be useful for test driving potential workers.

The second step is the set up a dedicated email address that is not associated with your name or brand to use when purchasing services (this keeps confidentiality intact for both you and your clients.)

The third step is to look at some of the services that are offered out there on the web, and figure out what kinds of packages you should offer your own clients. There are a variety of job boards which both offer specific services for a set price or where you can post your jobs and receive bids on the work.

The fourth step is to determine a time frame for delivery to your own clients that builds in a grace period for quality control. You are relinquishing some measure of control when you outsource, and when you are starting out you should in fact purchase a few services for yourself before putting your trust in a third party.

After all, your client assumes you are providing the services yourself, and you never want to deliver something that is sub-par for fear of damaging your reputation as a professional social media manager.

The fifth step is doing the actual QC check and delivering a report to your client. If you do each step properly, your clients will be happy and will never know you aren’t personally performing all of the work yourself.