They say the average person spends 142 minutes a day using social media so it’s fair to say that social media is a powerful tool for businesses worldwide. It enables you to connect and engage with your audience and sell your services all at the same time. Whether you’re using social media for business or pleasure, we have compiled the best ways to ensure you are spending your time on social media wisely. Whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, there are some great ways to engage your audience, sell your services and showcase your expertise within your industry. Set up a Facebook page If you are struggling with where to start, begin by setting up a page to present yourself as a freelancer. Facebook is a good one to start with. It is one of the most commonly used social media platforms so it is a great way to let people know you are ready to take on work. It can be a personal page with added information about your services, or a specific page to advertise your freelance skills. Either option is a great way to begin networking and meeting people in your industry. Make the most of LinkedIn LinkedIn is often a forgotten social media platform, even though it is specifically designed for business it is often overlooked as a traditional form of social media. But LinkedIn can be a powerful platform to really sell yourself and your experience to potential clients or recruiters. A huge 94% of recruiters will use LinkedIn to find a suitable candidate for the job. So we’d definitely recommend keeping an active and up to date LinkedIn profile. You should use LinkedIn as a blank canvas to establish your audience, share your stories, meet new people and publish quality content. Network with industry professionals It can always be a little intimidating connecting and interacting with new people on social media with the fear of rejection. Reaching out to fellow freelancers, businesses and people within the industry can help grow your freelance career. Doing your research around the types of people you are interacting with and their interests will give you the boost you need to target them with interesting and creative content. Reaching out to these new people through social media can be a great way to establish a professional reputation and ensure that everyone is talking about you and your services. This is something that will definitely stand out in the eyes of a recruiter. Always remember to build your reputation around real-world experiences as this is a great way to prove your knowledge and expertise within your field. Create engaging content Moving on to content. Content is the main thing that will get people engaging with you. You have to remember that there are millions of freelancers out there looking for work, so what do you do different or better than the rest? Use this as your selling point and be creative with it! We often see translators and transcribers posting about the latest industry news within their fields of expertise which is a great way to engage with other translators or transcribers, however, this may not be an effective way to engage with potential clients who don’t work in the translation industry. Try researching and getting to know your followers or connections and post about how your services can improve or help within their sectors. Entice them with their interests and highlight how your services can be beneficial to them. Get creative Everyone is using social media in the same ways so be creative with your content, write posts in different languages, use graphics or videos to make posts engaging and interactive. Make your content relevant and informative but fun too! Always think about what makes you stand out as a freelancer stand out and work with that. You have to remember that there are millions of freelancers out there looking for work, so what do you do different or better than the rest? Use this as your selling point and be creative with it! Don’t forget to hashtag! Hashtags! They are a really easy tool to use on social media for people all over the world to discover your content. Someone who is out looking look for a translator would potentially use hashtag searches to narrow down what they are looking for. For example, use #Translation #Transcription #Languages and others consistently to help boost your engagement. It is also good to include post related hashtags that refer people back to specific content on your page. These could include things like #Spanish #French #Medical #Legal. Hashtags are a great way of incorporating your expertise and knowledge into your posts. Ultimately the best way to use social media is through trial and error, see what works for you, experiment with different platforms and utilise the free pages and groups. As long as you are consistently being active, building relationships and trust, social media is a great way of shouting about what you do.
