Unless you’ve been living on top of a remote mountainside, you probably can’t have failed to notice that the phenomenon of ‘social media’ is now huge in today’s world. Sharing content on Facebook and coming up with clever ‘hashtags’ on Twitter is now a staple way of getting noticed in the world, and that’s not just talking about communication on a casual basis either. Social media for business purposes is used extremely widely, and when you think of the amount of clients or contacts a single tweet can reach, it’s hardly surprising. Freelancers will find that social media is a powerful tool to make use of, so here are a few tips and tricks for such self-employed people to try out…
Don’t Just Use LinkedIn
Don’t mishear us; we’re not saying that you shouldn’t use LinkedIn. It is, after all, a dedicated social media site for ‘businesspeople’, but you should still be using platforms like Facebook and Twitter as well. Posts using these two resources gain enormous exposure, so can do wonders for boosting your business profile, and also bring about new opportunities to interact with more prospective clients.
Go Where Your Clients Are
Following on from the above point, you should be taking notice of what sites your prospective clients are using. For example, if you notice that people in the engineering industry – your usual area of work – are using Twitter, then get onboard too. If you see that something more unconventional like Google Plus is getting used, give it a go. It’s all about maximising your personal connections.
Be Balanced with Your Posts
What do we mean by this? Well, by all means post plenty of stuff about your business and your industry. Keep it brief, snappy and interesting, but you do want to be seen by others as an authority in your area, after all. However, don’t forget to show your personal side on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t go overboard relating day-to-day routines, but do lighten the tone on these less formal sites.
Be Constantly Active
This is perhaps most especially important on Twitter, where the sharing is fast and furious, but you should really be maintaining a regular and active presence on any social media site. Once a day is your bare minimum in terms of new posts, although you can perhaps get away with less on LinkedIn. On this site, focus on updates that showcase your abilities, though do so as often as possible!
Network Consistently
Spend as much time as possible acquiring new ‘friends’ on Facebook, followers on Twitter and connections on LinkedIn. Be sure to not only identify those who are immediately relevant to you, but also parties who are relevant to them as well. This way, your circles will be as broad as they possibly can be, and your name will spread that much further (not to mention faster).
Hopefully, you’ll have found some of these tips helpful. There’s a lot more that could be said, so perhaps we’ll return to the topic at some point in the future too. In the meantime, be sure to contact the ICS team if you have a need for a dedicated contractor accountant. We can assist with numerous administrative burdens and the like, so call 0800 195 3750 and we’ll be happy to help.
