People are usually in one of two camps when it comes to social media: love it or hate it. In my personal life I enjoy scrolling through social media as a passive consumer, but actively creating social media posts stresses me out. However, it’s an important part of finding work and *building your brand* as you’ve probably heard it called. Here’s what I’ve learned about social media as a freelancer:
1. It’s important to start on the right foot
Social media is all about finding a following. As of this post, I’m still in the process of getting my freelancing site out there. I’ve gotten a few leads through the form on my Contact page, but if I don’t build an audience, then no one will be able to hire me. It’s hard to get started, which is why some people don’t start at all. I decided to start slowly, with a blog and an Instagram account, and I’m leveraging my various niches as a freelancer to try generating traffic. Just know that followers don’t come overnight, websites and social media accounts take a lot of work and consistency in order to gain any traction, and even then nothing is guaranteed.
2. Find the platform(s) that work for you
There are so many social media platforms, with new ones popping up all the time. I recommend testing a few out until you find the one(s) that work best for you and the services you offer as a freelancer. For me, my work is very individual. I don’t have a team of people working for or with me, and so collaborative platforms like Facebook don’t mesh well with my chosen approach. Similarly, my work is overwhelmingly text-based, which doesn’t lend itself well to visual platforms. That being said, as a bullet journaler I have a lot of pictures of various spreads I use which fit with the platform very well. I’ll be branching into Pinterest soon, to see if that can generate any traffic for me.
3. Do your research
Even beyond testing out different social media platforms, try to determine what works for your brand and why. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. If you were your client, where would you turn to find services similar to you? For example, the reason that I will be trying to establish myself on Pinterest is because I see a lot of content similar to mine on the site. Same with Instagram, there’s a huge community that I can leverage for my site as long as I use the right keywords and reach the right audience. Similarly, do keyword research! Look for posts that are similar to yours but that have a lot of views, and see how those creators have tagged their posts. That will give you key insights into how your audience is searching for their content, which will then help you make yourself easier to find among the massive amounts of content that is uploaded daily.
The Short Version
The best way to approach social media as a freelancer is trial and error and research. You’re going to try stuff that won’t work, but don’t let that dissuade you! Just take your content, and move to the next platform. Or you can blanket your efforts and see what sticks. Wherever you decide to focus your efforts, try to maintain a consistent schedule of posts so that your audience keeps coming back for more. It’s a slow and steady process rather than a sprint, but it’s necessary in today’s online culture.
What do you think? What social media platforms do you use? Any you love? Any you hate? Let me know in the comments!
-Katy
Author Rescue 