Freelancing as told by #BufferChat
Every Wednesday night, Buffer moderates a live chat through Twitter. This Wednesday we discussed Finding Success with Freelancing.
With only seven questions this #bufferchat still sourced a lot of content.
The top 3 questions, according to most replies, were the following
• Q2: What are tips for expanding your network as a freelancer?
• Q3: Which social media platforms are best to be on to build your personal brand as a freelancer, and why?
• Q4: Where are great places to find freelance opportunities online?
Each of these questions deals directly with how social media can broaden and progress your career as a freelancer. I answered each of these three questions myself.
A reply from Tom Emmerson answering question 2 was one of my favorites, even though it was a different answer than mine. @TJ_Emmerson quoted Buffer’s question and said “#bufferchat LinkedIn connections, content marketing & offering free advice.” I replied to question 2 with, “use your community to your advantage. Dig deeper into local social media to truly understand various aspects #bufferchat.”
These two replies carry different meanings but are both helpful ways to expand your network as a freelancer. There is an underlying message to each though: social media! Many social media platforms help with networking through your career field, but social media also connects people of different careers. Carrying a wide networking foundation is an important asset to being successful as a freelancer, which brings us right back to question 1!
Question 1 said “What key skills can help you be a happy and successful freelancer?”
May people replied with “don’t focus on money” or “being passionate,” which is all true, but having a solid social media foundation can be a huge strength for a freelancer!
I replied to question 3 with:
@LinkedIn for business relationships, @facebook for general audience, and @twitter for representing personal brand #bufferchat
Freelancing is a very broad career and many different social media platforms can be very beneficial to being successful.
Question 4 had many similar replies, all along the lines of either Facebook or LinkedIn. Twitter was mentioned some. Opportunities from freelancing can come from anywhere, online or not, but social media seems to be the most popular way.
It was interesting to see the common theme of social media platforms emerge from each question whether or not it directly referred to it.
