How effective has social media been for your freelance business? How many active clients do you have that were a result of interaction in applications such as Twitter or Facebook? If you are like me, the answer is zero!
When I got the itch to start my own technology consulting business, I immersed myself into the social media/follow-your-passion craze that is all the rage. The problem was that, while I was spending hours twittering and talking to people, my business was making on average $50 month. That’s fantastic if I needed money to dine out once a month, but to support a one-income family, not good.
I do have clients that I talk to regularly on social media platforms, but it wasn’t until I actually met them at a Tweetup, or other type of get together, did I convert them – or anyone they knew – into a client. They didn’t trust me until they met me. They get hundreds or thousands of followers that incessantly beg for their attention or business. Do you blame them for not asking you for a proposal?
The point is, nothing trumps face-to-face contact with potential clients – ever. You may think yourself a trust agent while you are tweeting away, but you are just another follower. If you want to build trust and clients, aim to move away from the screen and into reality:
- Friend/follow only those people that are in your area, or in your target market. The more people you follow, the harder it is to interact with anyone meaningful.
- Find what events these people attend. Be polite and ask if you could tag along (sounds silly, but it works to build trust and expectancy).
- If they are putting on events, ask if you could volunteer to help them. You will get a whole lot more third-party introductions when you help those hosting the events.
- Learn how to sell yourself or your product. Having a great 30 second pitch will open the door to further communication down the road! (Your 30 second pitch should be practiced so much that it’s habit!).
- Be yourself (unless you are socially inept).
The point is to make yourself known and trusted. You can then use social media to stay in contact. Many clients contact me by word of mouth from people that I met at Tweetups or other events – some of which I don’t tweet to on a regular basis. In my experience, without face-to-face contact, social media can be a time pit. By using it as a means to network in person, your social media marketing campaign will be more effective and provide far better results than re-tweeting quotes that you like at 2 o’clock in the morning.
Some Other Social Media Related Articles You May Like
- Social Media Etiquette: 6 Important Lessons Learned from One Japanese Company’s Major Twitter Mistake (windmillnetworking.com)
- Three Ways to Act on Your Social Media Monitoring (futurelab.net)
