How to Make Best Out of Facebook? A Tutorial for Freelancers

Facebook was started as a purely social networking website but now has evolved into a serious social cum business networking platform. With more than 800 million users worldwide there are few other platforms which can match Facebook’s reach. If you are a freelancer this is the ideal place for you to promote yourself, find freelancing assignment and connect with people from your industry. Whether you are a freelancer writer, web designer or a legal expert you can cash in on the immense popularity of Facebook.

You need to however keep in mind that you are a part of a huge crowd and have to present yourself remarkably. For this, one of the major thing is an attractive, informative and engaging profile and an advanced marketing strategy to promote yourself. In this article, we shall discuss some tips and tricks which you should make use of to gain maximum advantage out of Facebook.

It’s all in a profile

An attractive profile is the most important thing when it comes to Facebook and you need to give a proper thought while creating one. There isn’t too much customization option     that the platform offers but you can use your creativity to make an attractive profile.

• Business Profile – To start with, it is advisable that you have a separate professional Facebook account unless you want some of your old pals post some nasty comments or pictures! You should have some of your close confidants to give it an informal look.
• Profile Pic – A Facebook profile pic is usually 200x200px although you can go for vertical 200x600px image. Don’t be extremely professional with the picture as a little bit of informality counts better. You can also use some of your artwork if you wish to.
• Info Tab – Most of your profile visitors will judge you based on your info tab so compose a descriptive yet crisp one. Most visitors don’t read your profile, they scan through and thus you need to be brief. Don’t leave any blank and make sure there are no typos as they are quite embarrassing!
• Don’t Mess Up – Avoid use of apps in your profile as they tend to harm the professional look. If you do use apps, make sure they are light and you are sure about their privacy setting. Avoid religious and political views in your professional profile as you might offend a potential client.
• Videos and Photos – You can shoot an engaging video about yourself to boost up your profile. Make sure the video is of high quality and the audio has high clarity. Create your albums with care and have a mix and match of personal and professional pictures. Using pictures from conferences and workshops you attended adds value to your profile. If you are an artist or a designer, you may use snapshots of some of your artwork.

Create a Fan Page

A Facebook fan page is an effective and versatile tool to promote yourself to prospective clients. Both Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups enable you to widen your network activity more than just communication with friends. You can yourself build a fan page for yourself and connect with people around some common interest, cause or hobby! A page would be an ideal place to start with considering the fact that you aren’t as popular to have a group about yourself.

Don’t make a half-hearted attempt into making a fan page as it won’t attract any fans and might dent your image as a freelancer. It would be wise if you learn the best practices to create a page before you start creating one. Here are a few tips which you should keep in mind while creating a fan page for yourself.

• Use FBML – One of the best apps to create a fan page is using a Static FBML App. With this app you can design an attractive intro tab your visitors will land on by default. You can be a bit more descriptive about the services you offer and the USPs you possess. But make sure your ‘info’ is informative and not boring!
• Like Me – More the number of ‘Likes’ better it is for you. Use a bold “Like me!” message on the welcome tab of your fan page. It should be eye-catching and clear as it will attract more hits and better promotion.
• Get Vanity URL – If you have 25 likes to your page you can have a URL which has your name instead of like long and messy address assigned to your page. You can get your friends to like your page and take the count to 25! This serves better both in terms of branding as well as search engine optimization.
• SEO is Key – When you are creating a fan page keep search engine optimization in consideration. Use keywords and key phrases which perspective clients might look while searching for the kind of services that you offer.
• Track With Google Analytics – To see the performance of your fan page you need to track your fan page and the best tool for this is Google Analytics. Though Facebook Insights shows you the statistics relating to your fan page it isn’t as good as Analytics.

Start Networking…

If you thought having a Facebook profile would boost your freelancing career, you couldn’t have been more wrong as it is very important for you to network to connect with people and take active part in discussion.

• Join Groups – There are various groups which relate to your field of work and interest in Facebook and you can connect with clients and other Freelancers in these groups.  On many occasions clients post their work in these groups and you can easily get hold of assignments from these groups. The discussions in such groups also give you an idea about the latest trends in the market relating to your field of work.
• Promote Yourself – You need to be known to more people beyond your personal network and you can use options such as ‘suggest to friends’, ‘share’ and ‘Like’ buttons and get yourself promoted virally. You cannot imagine the power these promotional techniques have. If you are willing to spend some money, you can also use ‘pay-per-click’ ads to promote your freelancing services.
• Search Jobs – To find jobs let people know that you are looking for assignments and projects. You can use your profile status or the fan page for this purpose. You can also use the Facebook search and search for relevant term. Narrow down the results to people, pages, groups, posts, events, etc. to meet your requirements. You can also use apps which are meant for job hunters.
• Make Use of ‘@’ – The status update is a nice place to promote yourself and team members among the audience. You can use the name tagging tool or simply type ‘@’ before you start typing a name. The names appearing in your post would be linked to their respective profiles and serve as a promotional technique.

These simple things can turn Facebook into the most powerful platform to seek work and connect with clients. The best part is you don’t spend a single dime in using this platform! What more can you ask for?

This post is shared by Justin Spencer, Marketing Professional at MarkupBox.com, a specialized PSD to HTML Conversion Company, backed with years of experience and diligent professionals. We also offer software implementation service like PSD to WordPress , PSD to Magento, PSD to Joomla and PSD to Drupal and much more.