Finding Work With Social Media
Did you try out any of the avenues I mentioned last month? Elance, Linkedin, thecreato.rs, and Simply Hired offer many opportunities for finding work, but why stop there?
Plenty of work is right in front of you in the form of social network contacts. This month I want to break down the different ways you can and SHOULD get engaged on the major social media platforms.
Conquering Facebook:
Do you have a Facebook? Chance are you do since 175 million people log into Facebook every day. Just having a Facebook is not enough, in order to use it effectively you must pour into it frequently. Posting photos from your trip to Canada is great, but posting content related to your field of work is even better. Show others in your contact list that you can talk the talk and walk the walk when it comes to your work. By doing this it increases the confidence others have in your skill set and they may coming looking to you to create them a poster or film for their company.
You should also not be afraid to advertise yourself to the public. You just have to know how to do it correctly. When you post a status update saying you are looking for work don’t sound desperate. You should sound confident in yourself wither you have 8 projects going on or just 1. Backing up your words with some type of visual is also important when posting on Facebook. Are you wanting to find more weddings to film for the summer time? Follow up your words with a demo reel of your best wedding work, or an example of a wedding you did last summer.
You should also be aware of your audiences’ limit for your Facebook post. You don’t want to overload people to the point that they ignore your post all together because you sound like a broken record.
Finding work on Facebook doesn’t stop at status updates. Every freelancer; big or small should have their own Facebook page. Wither this goes under a company or personal name is all up to you, all that matters is that you have a page for clients to add that isn’t just your personal page.
Here is an example of my page:
Lastly…are you aware of the classified pages on Facebook? A lot of users have gone out of their way to create groups similar to Craigslist where people can sale items as well as their skills. Just go to Facebook and do a search for your county, city, state, etc… and chances are you will find a classified page for you to advertise yourself on.
Maximizing Twitter:
I will be honest…when I first signed up for Twitter I didn’t get it. 140 character limit, no groups, no photo albums, etc… This all changed when I started to discover what other professionals were using their Twitters for. The first thing you should do after signing up for Twitter is start following job feeds in your industry. This is a fast and effective way to get real time updates on any job openings no matter where you are. Also following other professionals and companies related to your field, and retweeting their post will show that you have a similar interests which means other followers of said person or company may start following you as well.
Linking it all together:
The last recommendation I have is to take all of your social networks and connect them into one. How do you do this? Each platform has a way to connect other platforms in their settings. If you go into your settings on Twitter you will find an option that allows you to connect your Facebook account. So now every time you update your Twitter with new content, that same content will show up on your Facebook. Connecting Facebook to Twitter is only the tip of the ice berg. Every videographer should have a Youtube and/or a Vimeo account. You can then take this account and link it to your other social networks. That way when you post a new video, an update will go out to your Twitter, Facebook, etc.… This makes life much easier, and eliminates any need to copy and paste your videos.
When used correctly social media is a beast in online marketing for your work. With it being so readily available and free, there is no reason not to plug yourself in. Get out there and use it!
-Travis
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