
You hear the marketing gurus talking about this all the time.
“Use Facebook to promote your business.” That’s most likely why you started a Facebook page promoting your writing services. And if you invited everyone you know to ‘like’ the page, you probably have a few hundred likes already.
But…you’re not getting any writing inquiries.
There’s little engagement on your page. The occasional likes and comments might bring a smile to your face, but bring in zero clients.
You start to wonder if Facebook is even worth your time.
It’s true: you can use Facebook to get decent or even lucrative blogging gigs. But don’t spend all your marketing efforts on growing your Facebook Page.
Facebook Groups are where all the action is.
Put yourself in your potential client’s shoes. If you were a business owner looking for ways to grow your business, where would you hang out on Facebook? Not on some random freelancer’s Facebook page, that’s for sure.
You’d join Facebook Groups dedicated to helping business owners.
Because that’s where you’ll get all the juicy details: real experiences, practical tips, and lessons from other entrepreneurs.
As a freelance blogger looking for clients, you need to be part of the Facebook Groups action.
So, how can you do it?
Step 1: Scout Facebook Groups where potential clients hang out
First, look at the list of Facebook Groups you currently belong to. Most likely, you’re already part of a group for bloggers. Your fellow bloggers’ networks can be a great resource for checking out other Facebook Groups. For example, I discovered a great startup group suggested by Facebook based on my friend’s list.
Other things to consider when joining the group:
- The number of members
- How active the members are
- The types of members
Keep in mind, however, that the number of members and the frequency of posts are not the only indicators of a Facebook Group’s success. It’s important to look at the conversations, too.
Do they talk about real business issues? Do you have something to say about these issues?
If a group is closed and there’s no way you could check out the posts, you can always ask your Facebook friends who are already members of the group you want to join.
If you can’t find quality groups based on your friends’ lists, you can explore them on your own.
On the left side of your Facebook’s home page, click “Find New Groups” and type in keywords. For example, if you’d like to work with startups, simply type “startup”. Facebook will provide you a list of groups with this word in their name. You’ll also see if any of your friends are already members.
Step 2: Join the groups you’ve chosen
If you feel that you’ve found the right group, go ahead and join. Simply click “Join Group”.
For closed groups, you’ll need to wait for the admin to approve your request. Some groups have multiple admins. If your current Facebook friend is already on the group, they will be able to approve your request to join when they see the notification.
Step 3: Introduce yourself
Once you’re in, you need to make the best first impression.
First, read the guidelines for the group. Each group has different rules, so you need to check what types of posts and links you’re allowed to add to the group. Often, you’ll see the guidelines pinned at the top of the group’s page. If not, you can check it out under “Files”.
Pay attention to the types of posts that are popular and garner a lot of comments. When you’ve got a feel for the vibe of the group, go ahead and introduce yourself.
In your introduction, make sure to thank the admin for accepting your request to join (if it’s a closed group). Tell the members of the group why you joined and the things that you want to learn from them. Your introduction should not sound like a promotion!
Think of a Facebook Group as a virtual party. Make small talk. Be polite.
Step 4: Be helpful
Again, don’t promote your own content or services yet. You need to establish rapport and credibility first. There are many ways to make yourself useful in a Facebook group:
- Share latest news and trends about the industry. That’s why it’s crucial to figure out the types of posts that the group cares about — you’ll know which one would get the most response.
- Post a great video about content marketing. TED Talks is a great resource for high quality and inspiring videos. Marie Forleo’s YouTube channel is also a goldmine for marketing tips that will appeal to a wide variety of businesses owners.
- Share posts that provide solutions to the most common problems experienced by the members of the group.
Step 5: Ask questions.
When you’re confident that you’ve established a rapport and helped some members of the group, you can start furthering your agenda. Still, you need to be subtle.
Here’s the exact post I used for a startup Facebook Group:
Hi [name of Facebook Group]! I’ve been reading the posts here for the past couple of weeks, and it’s a pleasure to get to know passionate entrepreneurs. I was wondering, when you guys need a writer, where do you turn to? Do you have an in-house writer, or do you outsource it? Thanks! Good morning!
See what I did there? I didn’t say: “I’m a freelance blogger and looking for clients.” Instead, I asked a question that I’m really curious about.
At first I was discouraged. The first few people who commented on the post shared that they mostly do the writing in-house. So, I was surprised when I got private messages asking about my rates.
As it turns out, most businesses badly need excellent writers!
This one post resulted in five writing inquiries, an in-person meeting, and Skype calls that lead to consistent blogging gigs.
This all happened in a span of one week!
During this time, I was just starting out as a full-time freelance blogger. You can imagine how excited I was to get an influx of inquiries about my rates and writing services.
Facebook is still an effective marketing tool for business owners and freelancers alike. The key is to know where to spend your time.
This week, find a couple of Facebook Groups you believe can benefit from your expertise as a writer and a marketer.
Implement the five steps above. Tweak the process a bit if necessary. Most of all, provide value.
As a professional and experienced blogger, your mind is already a bank of content marketing ideas. It’s time to turn these ideas into high-paying and consistent blogging gigs.
How do you use Facebook to market your blogging services? Share your experience, failures, or successes in the comments.
This is a brilliant post! Very insightful.
My only problem is that I don’t know which groups to target. I will have to brainstorm that more.
However, I will say that I once landed a client via Facebook by chance. I really like your tip about not directly marketing your services since I would tell people the same thing. The post that got me a client was something I posted in a writing group about how to find private clients. My client saw it and thought, “She’s looking for private clients. I should contact her!” But the thing is that I didn’t blatantly say, “I’m open for business! Contact me if you need a writer.” I wasn’t even expecting a contact out of it.
Thanks for all the other tips!
Hi Alicia, glad you found this post brilliant! 🙂
Honestly, I like Facebook Groups better than LinkedIn Groups. In my experience, FB groups have more active members and are very generous with information. Hope you find the right group if ever you’re going to give this a try. 🙂
I agree with Facebook groups having more active members. Although LinkedIn provides a more ‘serious’ or more ‘business’ feel, it seems like Facebook groups are brewing more solid trust among its members. What do you think?
That’s true! I think LinkedIn Groups do provide a more “serious” vibe compared to FB Groups.
I could see how Facebook Groups can inspire trust among its members, as most of the members are also friends in real life. At least that’s how it is for me.
In the Philippines, FB Groups are very active. I guess it also depends on your location or industry. Personally, I haven’t found any group on LinkedIn yet where I could really participate.
Thanks for your insight, Dyan!
I have been thinking of experimenting with facebook this has given me some ideas to get started.
Glad it has given you ideas, Aisha! Feel free to tweak or add more steps depending on the groups you join. 🙂
I have tried these tips on LinkedIn with some success. Time is short for promoting myself on social media, but your post has some great suggestions, so – I will give one or two groups on FB a try.
Question for Alicia or anyone else for that matter. I blatantly ask if a reader needs my help. Why do others take the tact of suggestion over a CTA? Perhaps I am doing things wrong.
Thanks,
Thanks, Alan! Yes, please do give a few groups a try. 🙂 Let us know how it goes.
Wonderful strategy Irene!
To be honest I’ve never considered Facebook as being of much use when it comes to my business. However after reading your post I’m definitely inspired to have a closer look at Facebook groups. You’ve set the steps out so well and have given some very good advice.
I’ll give it a go!
Thanks
Edward
Thanks, Edward! 🙂 Let me know how it goes.
I really love the subtle yet leading question about needing writers! While your post has obviously been developed specifically for Facebook, I can definitely see how it can also be tweaked for other social media sites, particularly LinkedIn.
Keep up the good work Irene!
Thanks, Daryl! 🙂 That’s what I was going for. haha Very subtle. Yes, this can definitely be tweaked for any online groups.
MakeALivingWriting.com posted a LinkedIn-specific piece with the exact same take earlier this month, http://www.makealivingwriting.com/lazy-linkedin-strategy-led-shy-writer-great-freelance-clients/. I prefer Facebook myself, primarily because the clients in my target fields (behavioral health especially) are more active there. But LI is definitely superior for tracking down the names of individual employees at specific companies!
Do you have a work plan for managing your social media groups? It can be easy to get indefinitely stuck in the lurking/research stage, or let the real purpose of the whole thing slip from one’s mind in a pile of interesting-but-not-too-relevant postings. Much as I hate the traditional cold-calling approach, I do have to admit that its quick-results-oriented, easily measurable nature is a temptation–especially when you’re in a but-I-need-more-work-NOW situation!
(Which is probably why nearly every how-to-find-work class I’ve encountered, whether geared toward freelancers or nine-to-five job hunters, starts by acknowledging that some 80% of jobs are ultimately found through networking–then spends 95% of its actual instruction on the art of cold calling, ad searching, and resume updating.)
Great question, Katherine! 🙂 I just usually stick with one or two FB groups. I also control the specific notifications I will receive from Groups. I’d rather manually check the new posts rather than getting a notification every time there’s an activity in the group. That way I can set aside a specific time of the week to check on the new posts. I sometimes schedule posts ahead of time in Groups using Hootsuite. So, for example, I would spend 30 minutes at the start of each week scheduling these posts.
I guess it’s all about identifying which group or person you should spend time with. 🙂
I hadn’t thought about using facebook in that way. I’ve never been a big fan of social media, so I’ve let a lot of its special features slip under my radar (I’m a bad bad blogger!). I’ll have to start brushing up on it.
Have you had any luck with this approach but for different types of writing? I specialize in press releases and other business materials, and am wondering if this would be an effective way to reach those kinds of clients too?
Thanks Irene!
I had a sneaking suspicion that even though it’s not doing much in my life socially anymore (like it was in my college days!) Facebook would have a huge impact on my business. I realized after reading your posts, it’s going to come largely from interacting in and engaging with other members of Facebook groups!
I’m starting locally and joining a few that are reserved for bloggers in my state – then I’m going to branch out to more niche based Facebook groups. Thanks for the fab advice
xoxox Lisa
http://www.thedriftingdesk.com