Make social posts for local businesses

02Fit and tradeoffs

There are two ways to deliver this service. On the DIY route you write, design and check the pack yourself, so the skills below apply to you. With supported delivery, EYF would make an agreed deliverable under your brand while you still find the buyer, collect approved photos and facts, confirm permissions and get the approver’s sign-off. A dedicated pack service is on hold and EYF delivery is paused, so this plan is written for DIY.

This suits someone who likes turning a vague idea into clear words and a simple layout. You can work off camera and avoid account passwords entirely by delivering files for the business to post. Careful fact-checking matters more than decorating every graphic.

Skip it if you cannot reliably check details or dislike chasing missing information. A buyer may send poor photos, change an offer after approving it, or ask for many revisions. Writing captions is also different from running a social-media strategy, so make that boundary visible in your offer.

03How it works

1. Pick a narrow deliverable. Start with a three-post pack rather than monthly account management. Set the formats, number of captions, timing and included revision round.
2. Collect an approved brief. Ask what the business wants someone to understand or do. Confirm brand assets, product details, opening times and any claims to avoid.
3. Plan the messages. Give each post one job, and share the text outline before polishing graphics.
4. Build a consistent pack. Use a small palette, repeatable spacing and readable type. Leave out premium assets unless their cost and use rights are agreed.
5. Find a buyer with the right problem. A business with old posts may simply not care about social media. Ask whether preparing or designing posts is actually slowing them down, and show your practice sample without promising reach.
6. Get approval and hand off. Deliver numbered files, editable access if agreed, captions and an asset-rights note. The buyer approves every fact before posting.

04Get Customers

Start with an owner who has something specific to explain: a changed ordering process, a new product, or an answer customers keep asking for. A tidy pack earns its fee when it saves that owner work.

Choose your delivery route first

For DIY, make the starter pack, open the exported PNGs on a phone, and practise one factual correction in both a graphic and its caption. Have that labelled pack ready to show before you offer paid work. Generic social-post delivery from EYF is on hold and EYF delivery is paused; the delivery page shows its current status.

Shape the offer in the buyer’s words

Practice example: Juniper Bread. Group-order inquiries keep missing two details: the requested date and the approximate group size. The three-post pack tells customers what to include and what happens next.

“I can make three matching graphics and captions explaining what to include in a group-order inquiry. You approve the facts and post the files yourself.”

Before quoting, you need: the one message the pack explains, the approved facts, the photos and logo you may use, the sizes and formats, and who approves the wording. Posting, photography, ads and account management are separate work.

Three routes to a first buyer

A local group that allows offers. In a Facebook or Nextdoor group for the area where you actually live or work, check the rules first, then reply only where commercial responses are welcome and the request fits:

“I make small sets of graphics and captions from a business’s approved details. Here’s my practice pack so you can see the approach. Which details do customers miss most often?”

A warm introduction. Ask someone you know whether they would like to pass on a note, rather than asking for their contacts:

“I’m making clear, simple posts that explain business updates. If you know an owner who keeps answering the same customer question, would you be happy to forward my practice pack? No pressure either way.”

A relevant personal message. Use something the business has genuinely said or shown, sent through the contact route the owner lists for business:

“You mentioned group orders recently. How do you usually tell people what to include in an inquiry? I’ve made a practice pack showing how I’d explain it, if you’d like to see it.”

Never send a copied list of messages or use a business’s branding without permission. If your sample isn’t ready yet, you can still ask about the need, as long as you don’t promise a pack you can’t deliver.

A complete example conversation

This fictional teaching case uses Nora at Juniper Bread and seller Avery. Its fee and dates illustrate an agreement; they are not an EYF price, a market rate or a real result.

Avery: You mentioned group orders recently. How do you tell people what to include when they ask?

Nora: We don't explain it well. Messages often just say “can you do an order?”

Avery: I can make three graphics and captions explaining it. Which details do you need, and how should people contact you?

Nora: Their requested date and approximate number of people. They open our business profile and tap Message. We reply to discuss options and confirm availability; a message isn't a reservation.

Avery: Shall I use original text and shapes, or do you have photos you want included? Who approves the wording and designs? Would you like the editable file as well as the PNGs?

Nora: Use original text and shapes without photos or a logo. I approve everything. Include the editable file, please.

Avery: Great. Each post will include the details and Message route, so it works on its own. I'll send the wording and full job terms for you to confirm before designing.

You now know the message, contact route, design choice, approver and editable-file choice.

Handling replies

• Interested: “Which details should people send, where should they send them, and who approves the wording?” Record the answers using the content brief guide.
• Price question: “Once I’ve seen your photos and details, I’ll quote three graphics, matching captions, the agreed files and one revision. Photography and posting aren’t included.” Base the amount on how long your practice pack took, including messages, checks and corrections, and agree it in writing before starting.
• Asks for guaranteed sales or followers: “I can make sure the information is accurate and easy to read. I can’t promise sales or followers.”
• Already has someone, or not interested: “Thanks for letting me know, I’ll leave it there.” Then stop.
• Missing facts or permissions: “I need the approved details before I write that part. We can pause it, or agree a smaller pack using what’s confirmed.”
• Not now: “Would it be alright to check back later?” Only return if they say yes.

If nobody replies

If the channel suits a follow-up, send one a few days later: “Just checking whether clearer group-order information would be useful right now. No worries if not.” Then stop. Look at what to change for the next owner: a better-matched business, a sharper observation, a clearer sample or a narrower offer. Change one thing and try someone new.

Agree a small paid pilot

Begin with this one three-post job. Avery sends the graphic text and captions from the table above, plus the full agreement for the same fictional case:

Hi Nora, the wording for all three posts is attached, using your requested date, approximate number of people and Message route. I'll make three square graphics, 1080 × 1080 pixels, with those words and the matching captions. As you chose, I'll use original text and shapes, with no photos or logo. You'll receive three PNGs, the caption document and the editable design file. Photography, posting, ads and replying to customers are not included.

The fee is USD90, paid by bank transfer by Monday 12 October 2026 once you've confirmed this agreement and the attached wording; I'll start designing when it arrives. I'll send the designs on Wednesday 14 October. Please send everyone's feedback together in one message by Thursday 15 October. One round of changes to these three posts is included; I'll send the checked final files on Friday 16 October. More posts or a different offer needs a separate quote. If payment or feedback arrives late, we'll agree new dates.

Nora replies: “Confirmed. The wording and Message route are right, text and shapes only is fine, and I agree to the USD90 fee and those dates. I've sent the transfer.” Avery sees the payment arrive on Monday 12 October and starts designing. For your own job, estimate your writing, design, checks and correction time before choosing a fee.

Keep the answers together using the client brief guide. Here nothing is missing: the wording, contact route, design choice, approver and files are settled, so there is no need to ask Nora about them again. In a future job where something genuinely is missing, ask for that item alone: “The photo you sent is too blurry to use at full size. Do you have the original file? If not, I can use text and shapes for that post instead.”

Your client pays you directly. Optional EYF production would be a separate arrangement when available.

Deliver, revise and get acceptance

On Wednesday, Avery sends the designs with a handoff note:

The three designs are attached: post01-inquiry-v1.png, post02-details-v1.png and post03-confirmation-v1.png, with the caption document and the editable design file. Each graphic is about group orders, includes the requested date, approximate number of people and Message route, and says we confirm availability, so it works on its own. Everything uses original text and shapes. Please send all feedback together by Thursday 15 October.

On Thursday, Nora asks for one change: make “date + approx. people.” larger on the second post. That fits the included round. Avery updates it, saves it as post02-details-v2.png, reopens every file on a phone and compares each caption with its graphic again. On Friday, Avery sends the final files and asks: “Do these final files match the scope we agreed?” Nora replies, “Yes, approved,” and Avery saves that reply with the final versions.

Get permission for proof and discuss the next job

Nora paid before design started, so approval closes this job. If your own agreement has payment due on delivery, ask for it alongside the approval question, as your agreement says, and keep a note of the approval and a separate note of when the money arrived. If a payment is late, send a polite reminder that refers to your agreement. Only describe a job as paid client work once you have actually been paid for it.

Then ask a separate question: “May I show these three posts in my portfolio and name Juniper Bread?” Permission to use a client’s material in their own posts does not answer that. If the owner is happy, ask whether they would like to introduce you to another business with information to explain.

For repeat work, ask what actually changes: a seasonal menu, opening hours or a group-order rule. Agree the new facts, number of posts, fee, input and review dates, and how to pause. The client sends the approved changes each time. Three old designs alone do not make a useful monthly service.

You can approach another suitable owner with your labelled sample. After the first useful project, try another buyer route rather than relying on one group or contact.

Your next step

Run the phone and correction checks on your practice pack and fix one thing. Then note one real customer question a local business keeps answering, choose a route from above, and write your opening in your own words.

05What buyers need

A plausible buyer needs consistent, accurate material they can use without rewriting it. Useful questions are: “Which questions do customers repeat?”, “Which photos can we use?” and “Who approves a price or promotion?” Their answers are better evidence for your offer than a general claim that every business needs posts.

Upwork lists social-media-related skills in its marketplace research. That signal covers much broader work than a small content pack and does not validate this particular offer. Canva’s licence terms matter whenever its content appears in client work; the safest practice pack uses your own text and simple original shapes.

In your first conversation, name what is excluded: scheduling, replying to comments, paid advertising and sales guarantees. If the business needs those, agree a separate scope rather than quietly absorbing them.

06Common questions

Do I need access to the business’s account?

Not for a file-delivery content pack. The owner reviews and posts the files themselves. Keep account management out of the offer unless you explicitly agree it.

Can I start with a free design tool?

Yes, a basic original pack can use free tools. Check the licence for each asset and template you use: a free tool does not make every image, font or template in it free for every client use.

How should I price the pack?

Estimate your time for briefing, writing, design, revisions and handoff, then discuss a fixed scope. This plan does not claim a reviewed market rate or a predictable number of buyers.

What if the buyer asks for unlimited changes?

Agree the approval process before work starts. Include a specific revision round and explain how extra work will be scoped, so nobody meets a new rule at delivery.

Can AI write the captions?

It can help with a first draft, but you are responsible for checking facts, tone and rights. Never invent an offer, customer quote or business result to fill a layout.