Your online marketing present is something we all know is important for a freelancer’s success but isn’t it time to invest more in becoming more social? Isn’t it time we become more interactive outside of social media? Well in this post we’ll outline a few tips to help boost your network of contacts, from friends to potential clients. So, let’s jump right in.
Building contacts and meeting new people is something that freelancers can easily forget to do correctly. It’s a common mistake to think that a website is all you need in order to find work or for the masses to flock in their thousands. Unfortunately Tweeting a few times a day about your amazing skills isn’t going to cut it either. Before social media, freelancers networked a lot. Now? The successful freelancers network on both social media and at events. So how can you do the same?
Business cards
Going to random events even within your industry and handing out business cards to people you’ve only met for 10 – 15 minutes isn’t going to make a dent to your freelancing revenues. Instead it’s time you started investing time and effort into local regular meet-ups. It’s a great way to meet different people and make new friends and learn from people within your industry! But this isn’t a “how to make friends” blog post, you’re here to make money, fill your books and get clients. With the people you establish good relationships with at local met-ups, you’re more likely to get more work and recommendations then social media alone.
Having contacts is a powerful thing and utilising this and asking them to pass your details onto people that they know might benefit from your services is even better. Word of mouth is the strongest marketing technique as social approval can turn deciding clients into paying clients.
Networking
MeetUp is probably the biggest meet up site with hundreds of events all around the globe. Great for finding specific groups and it’s also searchable using a postcode. We did a search for our local area and found 47, decent! Once you’ve found a group to join or an event it’s time to attend. Be yourself, don’t seem desperate, and don’t talk about yourself. Ask questions sound interesting and make sure you engage with what others have to say.
Take a friend if you’re feeling a little nervous, but there isn’t anything to be nervous about. People that attend will take similar areas of interest and it’s great when you drop a topic and everyone understands what you’re on about.
For more information, the page we’ve linked to below is specially for freelancers. It’s good that they’ve dedicated a section completely for freelancers.
Have you attended any local meet-ups in your area yet? If so how did it go?