You’re on Facebook. I’m on Facebook. Everybody is.
So it stands to reason that your potential clients are probably on Facebook too.
Which means Facebook must be a great place to find new freelance blogging clients, right?
Except… well, how many people do you know who’ve found a high-paying freelance blogging client via Facebook?
I don’t know many. And when I Googled “how to find blogging jobs on Facebook”, all I got was a big list of generic jobseeking tips.
The few people I have seen successfully working Facebook for clients, though, they’ve got it all figured out. I’ve found a couple of good gigs through FB myself, too. So I’ve gathered together some of the tactics that worked for me, along with tips from other bloggers who’ve hunted down freelance gigs through Facebook.
Ready? Here we go…
Join Relevant Facebook Communities
Whether they’re “Groups”, “Pages”, or unofficial “Communities”, Facebook has plenty of places where freelance writers and bloggers gather to chat and swap job leads.
I’ve found more than one client through small private Facebook groups as well as big public ones, so don’t feel that you have to join the biggest communities–their relevance to your ideal gig is more important than their size.
Facebook for Freelancers is a popular Facebook Page that’s frequently updated with freelance blogging and writing job ad links from all over the internet. By “Liking” the page, you’ll be able to get new leads in your Facebook News Feed instead of having to go out hunting for them. Not all the gigs they list pay as much as those in the Ultimate List of Better-Paid Blogging Gigs, but this is a good way to save yourself some time and effort seeking out job ads.
Spend a bit of time each week visiting the Facebook communities you’ve joined, and feel free to un-join any that don’t seem useful to you after a couple of weeks. You don’t need to spend ages in there; just check in for half an hour, or an hour if you’re having fun.
Once you join in a few conversations, you’ll start to get friend requests from other community members. What to do about that is up to you: don’t feel obliged to accept every request you get.
Be Accessible [But Not Too Accessible]
Sometimes people just pop up on my Facebook with an inbox message asking me to work with them. Usually they contact me via the Be a Freelance Blogger Facebook Page, but every once in a while I get a message to my personal profile, too.
If you want potential clients to be able to contact you through Facebook, here are 3 steps to take:
- Go to your Facebook, then click on the Settings link (it’s usually in the top right corner) and select Privacy Settings. Facebook changes its privacy setup often, but right now what you get is a Privacy Settings and Tools page. There, you can change your settings to let people search for you on Facebook and to let other search engines index your Facebook timeline updates. Choose the settings you’re comfortable with; mine are wide open, but don’t feel you have to do the same to find clients! There are lots of ways to network without making your every move on Facebook public.
- Look up to the top right corner again, and you’ll see a little icon of a padlock with some lines coming out if its side. Click that to access the Privacy Shortcuts menu, and the second option within that is “Who can contact me?”–click that and check that your settings are the way you want them. Choose who can send you a friend request, and choose between two levels of filtering for your Facebook inbox.
- If you’re worried about getting unwanted attention because you’ve loosened up your Facebook privacy settings, remember that you can choose to block a Facebook user from contacting you or seeing any of your updates. Right now, you do that via this page. [While you’re there, you can also block annoying apps and app invites–win!]
Your personal privacy is one of the reasons this next tip’s worth considering:
Create a Facebook Page
You might think your personal Facebook profile is plenty–after all, you can say on there that you’re a freelance blogger.
But taking an hour or two to set up a good Facebook Page for your blogging business is well worth your time. Check out some of the things you can do with it:
- Separate work and non-work Facebook contacts. That way you can post business-related updates to your page without annoying your personal friends, and post your personal stuff to your normal profile without showing it all to your clients.
- Create another way for people to find you via search engines–your Facebook Page might even rank higher in search results than your own website.
- Use a custom header image for your business page that’s different to your personal profile’s header image. That means you can promote your business in your header image and include a call to action there, without looking like a dork to your personal contacts.
- Use a profile picture for your business page that’s different to your personal profile picture. So that snap of you laughing like a gibbon on vacation can stay on your personal profile, while you use your business page to display the image you want your clients to have of you.
- Like other Facebook Pages as your page, which means you can keep your favourite business-related pages separate from the other pages you like. As a bonus, the pages you Like as your business might Like you back!
- Offer to promote your posts for clients by posting status updates on your profile or your business page, or both. If you’ve got a lot of friends and followers, your potential clients may be more inclined to hire you if social media promotion is part of your proposal.
At first, your official Facebook Page may not have many Likes. To be honest, Likes are a vanity thing and not a true indicator of how good a Facebook Page is, but if you want to get more Likes to boost your confidence then ask your friends if they’d mind Liking your page. They can always unlike it again later on, when you’ve picked up more genuine followers. π
Of course, for that to work, you need willing assistants, so…
Have Awesome Facebook Friends
And by awesome, I mean the kind who refer clients to you without you even asking them to. [Lisa Baker and Jim Bessey, I’m looking at you!]
The age-old advice to tell all your friends and family you need new clients is still valid. But even if your aunts and old school friends don’t turn up any leads for you, your new friends are worth their weight in cake.
Those friends you choose to make within the Facebook communities you visit are much more likely than your childhood friends to send business your way.
That’s because these new friends are in the right social circles to hear about available blogging and writing jobs. Once they’ve come to know and like you, they’ll be happy to suggest you to their own friends and contacts if they hear about a job that’s a good fit for you.
Facebook isn’t your highway to instant cash, but it isn’t a waste of time, either. Like everything in life, online or offline, it is what you make it.
Make it work for you.
Images: HTSABO, Sean MacEntee
Anthony Dejolde says
Invaluable and practical post, Sophie!
I particularly like the section on–‘Separate work and non-work Facebook contacts.’
I think it’s one of the wisest, if not the wisest moves we can do on Facebook.
Another one is–‘Set up custom tabs that lead visitors straight to your portfolio, your blog or your βHire Meβ page.’
Facebook teems with people, whether prospective clients or not, they might lead you to legitimate high paying gigs.:)
I like hanging around here. I always bring home tips I can use in my freelance blogging business.
Thanks.
Anthony Dejolde says
Sorry for the error. I stand to be corrected.
I just have to fix this=> I think itβs one of the wisest, if not the wisest move we can do on Facebook.
Thanks.
Sophie Lizard says
Glad you found it useful, Anthony! Let me know how your Facebook client-fishing trip goes. π
Anthony Dejolde says
I went fishing right away… my explore mode is now ON and I’m pleasantly surprised by some of the gigs that were in my radar!
Sophie Lizard says
Excellent – keep me updated!
Anthony Dejolde says
Sure. I will. π
Lisa says
I referred a client to you? Haha! I have no memory of this. I guess that’s proof of how genuine it was — I just talk about you cuz you’re AWESOME. π
Sophie Lizard says
π I can’t even remember who it was, but yep, a one-off client a few months ago told me you’d pointed her my way via Facebook.
Sanjay Sett says
@Sophie: This is the best education for me, ever since my teacher taught me about the vowels and consonants. I owe you a chocolate. π
Sophie Lizard says
Thanks, Sanjay.
Angie says
Ooh, thank you for the information on setting up custom tabs! I like having my links front and center, instead of buried on the About tab. π
Sophie Lizard says
Yep, stuff like that is what makes a Facebook Page worthwhile…
Bree says
How do you recommend people with a blog and a writer’s business handle this? I already created a FB page for my blog and am not sure I want to handle creating an entirely new page for me as a freelancer.
Savannah says
Sophie, I hadn’t thought of using Facebook to find clients. I did find a client through LinkedIn. I love how easy it is for me to learn more about a company through LinkedIn. Definitely going to add Facebook to the mix now!
Sophie Lizard says
Go for it, Savannah!
Sophie Lizard says
You can combine the two if your blog’s on a topic that appeals to your ideal client. So changing your page name to something like “Geek My Life with Bree Brouwer” would be fine if your aim is to write for geek, culture and lifestyle blogs; then you add a big “Hire Me to Write for You” custom tab to your page and link it to the most appropriate page on your business website. A little rebranding to mix your personal brand as freelancer into your blog’s brand is all it takes.
Sophie Lizard says
P.S. I haven’t done this yet with my blog’s Facebook page! I’ve got custom tabs set up to link people over to my blog and free downloads instead, because right now I’m more interested in getting those out to people who need them than in finding new clients.
Bree says
Genius! π
ataur says
Thanks this site blogger for your helping post. Really great article post for new blogger. I was very happy to have found this site.
Sophie Lizard says
You’re welcome!
Hermine says
Hey Sophie,
I really like this idea – so far, my focus has been mainly on Twitter because I find it much easier to connect with others there and I kind of like the fast pace of it a bit more.
Putting together a faceboook page for my business is something that is definitely on my radar for the near future however. I can’t say I ever really thought of FB as being a place where potential clients hang out, but I can see how this could work if you started hanging out in the right groups.
Sophie Lizard says
There are 1.1 billion people on Facebook–at least one of them must be in need of a freelance blogger like you! FB groups are just the easiest way to connect with people who can make the introductions.
Kerri Chalk says
I’ve been considering creating a Facebook page for my freelance work for a while, reading this reaffirms my initial thought and I’m going to set one up today. Great point on you get from it what you put in, so true! Thanks again for another super post.
Sophie Lizard says
Great! Let me know when it’s up so I can take a look.
Deirdre Jones says
Absolutely awesome advice/tips for getting clients through Facebook. Like you, I’ve only been able to find generic information on the subject. Thanks!
Sophie Lizard says
No problem! Once I realised there wasn’t much information available about this specific topic, I knew it’d be worth writing about. Glad you found it useful. π
himanshu says
Thanks dude for providing us with knowledge about how facebook helps a bloggers a lot.
Sophie Lizard says
My pleasure.
Tony Nguyen says
I am so glad I have read this post because finding a freelance jobs on facebook seems new to me, and those facebook page that you introduce sounds so interesting. Also, thanks for sharing the neccessary steps that we have to undertake.
Sophie Lizard says
You’re welcome, Tony–let me know how you get on!
Wendy Strain says
These are great tips. I have gained clients through Facebook, but I could always improve. For example, finally getting around to those custom tabs. Thanks for the custom tabs help!
Sophie Lizard says
No prob, Wendy! I’d love to hear the ways you’ve found clients on Facebook–are there any tips you can share with us that I didn’t already mention?
Edson Hale says
On Facebook you must also show your prowess by sharing your published contents and particularly try to paste the link on timeline of people who can refer you to good companies apart from directly messaging the link to most powerful bloggers like the Sophie Lizard
joshua logan says
i didn’t know this could be done, getting job through Facebook. I thought linkedn was for job hunting. Great information. Would try out these ideas.
Lauren Tharp, BAFB Community Helper says
Hey, Joshua!
I’ve gotten a couple of gigs through Facebook myself. (Far more than LinkedIn!).
There are also jobs to be found on job boards: http://beafreelanceblogger.com/job-board-mistakes/
And even Twitter! http://alexisgrant.com/2009/06/08/twitter-for-writers/ (Alexis Grant is a Twitter “power user” who has gotten a ton of clients via the magic of Tweeting).
Best of luck out there and thanks for commenting!
Farrell Conejos says
Hey Sophie,
Thanks for sharing this tips on how to actively find a freelance job on Facebook. Well, it never really crossed my mind to find any job on Facebook since all I thought of it is that it’s just a mere Social Media site were you can communicate and socialize with your friends or other people. I usually go to Craiglist or some online working ad sites to find a freelance job. Well, it goes to show that Social Media has expanded bigger than expected from it and it’s becoming a more of promotional platform. Nevertheless, it’s good to have an information like this. Thanks again.
Lauren Tharp, BAFB Community Helper says
Glad you found the article helpful, Farrell!
Yes, Facebook has certainly come a long way. As has Twitter. And even Google+!
Keep an open mind and keep trying. π
Thanks for commenting.
Andrew Blackman says
Great article. I’ve joined/liked those Facebook groups and pages you recommend. To be honest I’m more or less dormant on Facebook – I have a page for each of my books as well as my personal profile, but never seem to find time to go on and post updates. Blogging and tweeting take up most of my ‘spare’ time. I’d be interested in a similar article on Google Plus – I’ve heard it’s great, but haven’t investigated it in any detail.
Lauren Tharp, BAFB Community Helper says
Hey, Andrew!
One of my personal beliefs is to use the social media network that works best for YOU. If you join one and don’t use it…it’s useless. :\
You’re definitely great on Twitter. (That’s how I know you!)
That said, I’ve personally had some good luck getting gigs via Facebook. π
And your Google+ idea is great. I’d love to see that too! I finally gave in and got on G+ last month and it’s been pretty intuitive so far (very similar to Facebook), but I’d love to get more of an “inside scoop” on some of the features that might not be as obvious right off the bat.
Thanks for commenting!
Amit | Digital Creative Network says
Sophie this is a nice post with good collection of very useful tips about “How to use Facebook for your writing/ Freelance Blogging career?”
I liked the last part very much where you have suggested to “Have Awesome Facebook friends”.
I am sure that this will definitely help those who are more worried about how they can reach clients on Facebook. Some of my friends keep asking me that they are only getting writers as friends but How they can reach out clients to send friend request.
Though I always use to tell them that their is no such fixed thing as client and friend because my friend may someday hire me or outsource some job to me and in that case he/she will be my client but I think you have explained it very well and in a simple way that –
“these new friends are in the right social circles to hear about available blogging and writing jobs. Once theyβve come to know and like you, theyβll be happy to suggest you to their own friends and contacts if they hear about a job thatβs a good fit for you.”
I am going to share this post on my Facebook wall, so that my friends can get the simplified version of what I often answer them… hahaha π
Thanks for this post, please keep posting.
Lauren Tharp, BAFB Community Helper says
Thanks for commenting, Amit! And for sharing this article on your Facebook wall (how appropriate!).
You never know what “friend” might turn into a client–or refer a client to you. Stay friendly and don’t burn any bridges. Even if it doesn’t pan out…who doesn’t want more friends? π
lyuba says
I am looking for a group of freelancers not a page. It will be a great help if you share a link.
Also I am the type that has no friends and finding fb friends is hard for me(except bots). So cool tips but not all of us can have awesome friends. Or any friends. π