Posted by Today, social media is impacting businesses than ever before, and the freelancing world is not exempted. If you consider how helpful a social media account can be for promoting your freelancing services, you’ll never want to miss out. What better way to connect with the rest of the world, so word about what you do can spread and attract more clients to you? We shall be looking at the roles social media can play in freelancing success.
Flaunt your skills to a bigger audience
Earlier, freelancers could attract their clients only through their profiles on freelancing sites. But now there are better opportunities to show the world what you can do and how good your work is. You probably must have seen some stunning animations on a freelancer’s social media status. At the end of the short video, a caption says, “Joey created this.” If you find the work is an exception, you can quickly connect with Joey and benefit from his services.
Online platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube make it incredibly easy to show the whole world how good you are at what you do.
Connect with like-minded people
Since the online community is also made up of freelancers like you, there are chances that you will find people from the same field. You may perhaps get a message on your Facebook page where a fan is declaring his or her interest in working with you so you can both get better. With social media, it is easier to get wind of emerging trends within your niche. As you make more freelancer friends and join in their group conversations, you position yourself on a higher plane of clarity about emerging business trends. The information you get on these platforms helps you to restrategize your work so you can become more efficient and enjoy better patronage.
Build better relationships with clients
Connecting your clients via your social media page gives your business a lot of potentials. First, it helps you secure the loyalty of the clients, especially when they were satisfied with your previous jobs. Secondly, you can begin to understand your clients’ needs better as you keep engaging them on social media. Third, interacting with clients on social media ensures that you stay fresh in their minds. Whenever there is a job available for you, you can be sure it will come your way. Social media tends to remove lots of formality from the process of wooing a client. The benefit of this is that it creates a less tense environment where both clients and freelancers can work together based on mutual trust. Trust built this way often leads to better work relationships.
Enjoy faster and easy recommendation
You may find that some of your clients are social media influencers. This is a massive advantage to your business as a freelancer. You know how this works. Mr. X, who has million-plus followers, comments on your good job via social media and shares the comments on his status. Of course, a good number of Mr. X’s friends get interested and boom. You are flooded with lots of potential clients. How massive will your client base be when you have more such clients recommending your services on social media platforms?
Expand your horizon
As a freelancer, you may want to grow from a solo worker to a freelance hub. To expand your capacities, you need to recruit freelancers and increase your client base. Both of these can be achieved through social media. Since much of freelance business rely heavily on working remotely, you should find recruiting talents much easier. Where you think you need to train your recruits, social media groups make it incredibly easy to train your workforce. Essential videos, voice notes, and demonstration tools available on many social media group platforms are equipping people with skills with similar results as live presentations.
Things to consider before you start your social media campaign
What social media platforms will you use?
Social media platforms are unique. LinkedIn differs from Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Whatsapp, etc. The social media platforms you decide to use should match your goals and suit your line of work. LinkedIn can be more appropriate if professionally acquired certificates majorly drive the quality of your services. For instance, if you want to promote your website development services, you will need to be extra creative to do so on Instagram than on Facebook. You may combine from two social media platforms up to the number you can manage. Having three different social media accounts will be nice.
Will you need to use a timesheet app to track the time spent on social media?
Social media will require a part of your time. As a freelancer, you know time is of great importance. Dedicating a fixed amount of time to boost your social media presence is a good idea. Timenotes app will help you allocate time to your social media activities. This will make you stay focused, so you don’t waste more time on social media than necessary. It is advisable to plan your tasks and activities by using an online timesheet app. This way, you can stay organized and get important tasks completed by maximizing your time.
Do you need a little help?
Using a social media account to gain support differs from using it for just socializing. There are certain functions you need to understand so you can maximize the use of these platforms. As you begin to use these platforms, take time to learn how to make them work better for you. Some online tutorials and guides can equip you with relevant social media marketing skills. If you are not cut out for learning social media marketing, you can hire professionals to help you in this regard.
How to use social media to secure your success as a freelancer?
Post samples of your work
Once in a while, be sure to post samples of your great works on your platforms. You may make it weekly or as frequent as your schedule can allow. Once you have varied works and a good number of them, your potential clients are more likely to find some that will attract them. You should also consider seeking the permission of your clients before using an excerpt from their work for marketing. This will help you avoid breaching terms of the contract.
Follow your clients as well
Rather than just wooing clients to follow your page, follow them, too. This suggests you value them more. You also get more opportunities to connect with them than when the following is one-sided. When your clients make essential comments on posts that you value, like or comment on them, too. The posts may not necessarily touch your business, but it might be an opportunity to sell your services nonetheless
Stay active
Don’t leave your social media accounts unattended for more than 24 hours. It is easy to tell when the owner of an account often doesn’t have enough time to attend it. If you have issues with time, you can find a trusted and competent friend to help you manage your social media account. You may also delegate some of your tasks to give your time to attend to your clients via social media.
Conclusion
Social media marketing is improving every kind of business. Your success at freelancing can be guaranteed when you manage your social media marketing effectively.Â
As a freelancer, in what ways have you benefitted from social media lately? We’ll be glad to have your comments in the comments box.
Author’s BIO: Lori Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer who has experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of business. If you are interested in an entrepreneur or lifestyle, you can find her on Twitter & LinkedIn. She has good experience and knowledge in the field. Â