For Freelancers:

Exploring Social Networking to Find New Clients

2.24.10

Thank you all for being such a wonderful audience. It was a great pleasure.

Almost all of us there tonight are in the same tough situation. We lost our jobs and assignments, but we didn’t lose our skills and abilities. Right now, we’re all just waiting for clients to “get budget.” And they will.

The question is: When they’re given the OK to start spending money again, where will they go to find editors and writers? Try to think like them, and be there.

Many, many of them will go directly to LinkedIn, or their favorite business network, looking for people they might know, or people connected to their friends. Some corporate recruiters actually prefer the LinkedIn Profile page to a resume. If LinkedIn is one of your tools, make sure your name is plastered all over it. Even on other people’s pages, recommending them. It will increase your “luck.”

Just hang on – we’ll all be working again soon, and complaining about it.

Note: Please feel free to bust me on bad grammar and punctuation. I have said for many years, “Never trust a writer who doesn’t trust an editor.”

Thanks again folks,

Jon Byous

2.23.10

If you’re just starting off in Social Media and Networking, here are a few easy resources to get you started.

Mashable.com, the Social Media Guide, is a great place to start. You can read how other people are using Google Buzz, Twitter, blogs, and social networks to extend their network of connections and opportunities. This site is a deep mine of valuable resources. Consider following Mashable on Twitter just to get a sense of the news and tips coming out of Mashable daily.

Here’s a recent and relevant article on Mashable: 4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career.

TwitterCounter, powered by Twitter, helps you find active Tweeters in your area of interest. Here’s one of their Top 100 lists, most-influential-in-tech.

LauraRoeder is a social media livewire. She’s very insightful about how to bring in business with social media tools. Watch a few of her video blogs (vlogs) and you’ll jump to the next stage quickly.

LinkedIn is a very powerful business network. You may be surprised at how quickly you can join and contribute to communities of potential clients. Choose a group or community you’d actually like to freelance for. Learn about them, follow their questions and posts. Click on all the group’s contact lists you can, and see if you can find a “friend of a friend.” Maybe your friend would make an introduction.

But most of all, contribute to the group. Answer questions in your area. Post relevant resource links they can use. Make your name visible on LinkedIn, because people who see your name can click on it and see who you both know in common. It’s a very civilized business community built on trust, so you must be extra well-mannered here. Respect their rules, and you’re in the club.

Also, here are two people-finder sites. Before you approach a new business contact, you might want to learn more about them. Toss your own name in either site’s search engine and see what clients can learn about you:

pipl – The most comprehensive people search on the web

yasni – The world’s most popular people search engine

For all the book lovers among us, here is my favorite reference on the topic:

The Social Media Bible, Lon Safko & David K. Brake – at Amazon.com

As always, hope this helps. Have you found cool tools that work well? Tell us about ‘em.