In short; it can only be achieved by building stronger relationships.
You can have the largest network around, but if you are not engaging in conversation, little fruit will be borne out of your efforts.
Social media can expand your freelance network exponentially and yield opportunities that you’d never find elsewhere. But just like knocking on doors in the traditional way, it takes investment, hard work, and time.
Perhaps the most obvious advantage of social media is connection building. As a freelancer or a small business, you are your brand, and like any social marketing campaign, it’s not about racking up followers or flooding the space with links. It’s all about the conversation, that will generate ultimately pitches and then business.
In each type of social media where you participate, you should have a core group of friends who you talk to regularly. The primary way to get to know others through social media is to respond to their comments with questions.
It does require consistent effort and ability to monitor and focus on which methods are giving you the biggest feedback.
Social media offers small businesses the chance to compete with large ones online; but your must be prepared to invest that most precious of resources..time.
Some of our clients have acquired business via Twitter, and others through LinkedIn.
How have you managed to use social media to generate business? We would love to get your experiences to share with our customers.