From ©iStock.com/Stills
How friendly are you to your fellow freelancers?
Lately, I’ve noticed that there’s some bad social media advice about freelancer networking being given. The advice goes like this–you shouldn’t connect with other freelancers through social media. Instead, you should only connect with those companies that can hire you right away.
However, if you’re not including other freelancers in your social media contacts, I think that you’re making a serious mistake.
While I understand the sentiment behind the advice, I don’t think it’s based on sound reasoning. The thinking is that if you are using social media as a marketing tool, then you need to target your prospective clients only. Those who share this advice think that other connections won’t lead to paying work.
My own experience differs. My connections with other freelancers do lead to paying opportunities. Here’s why.
Freelancers Get Bigger
Many entrepreneurs start out small. They may be a one-person operation today, but what will they be tomorrow?
You don’t know for sure, and neither do I.
Today’s solo professional could be the founder of the next big corporation in five years, or he or she could go out of business entirely in the next year. No one knows what the future holds.
It’s much more practical to be friendly and kind to everyone who contacts you through social media than to try and predict each contact’s future.
Freelancers Move On
Even freelancers who quit freelancing can make good contacts for freelance writers.
Think about it. If they quit freelancing, where do they go? Most likely, they will go back to a traditional job in a company.
It never hurts to have an inside contact in a company. If you were on good terms with someone through social media when they were freelancing, you can continue that relationship when they become an employee.
Freelancing Skills Can Complement Each Other
There are many different types of freelancers with many different types of skills. As a writer, you have a skill that those in other freelancing fields don’t have.
Yet, sometimes a non-writing freelancer will connect with a client who wants writing along with whatever their specialty is. When that day comes, who will they turn to for help with the writing tasks? Not you if you never bothered to connect with them.
This is such an important point that I devoted an entire post to it over at DesignM.ag.
Freelancers Refer Work
Finally, the feast and famine cycle can work in your favor. If another freelancer hits the feast part of the cycle and needs someone to handle their overflow work, you are in a good position to be considered for that work if you are on good terms with that freelancer.
Also, freelancers refer work that they don’t take to other freelancers who they trust. If you’ve made enough freelancer connections, you may find yourself with more work than you can handle.
My Take
Even as I write this post, I’m working on a proposal for another freelancer–someone who I met about a year ago through social media. In fact, much of my work comes from such contacts.
In fact, when I became involved with social media one of the first things I did was seek out and connect with other freelancers.
Now, I have to put a cautionary note in here. I never form a social media relationship based solely on the expectation of getting work. Nor do I lead off a relationship by asking a brand-new contact for a gig (as someone did to me today).
Social media relationships are a lot like face-to-face relationships. If you wouldn’t do it in person, you shouldn’t do it in social media.
And remember, there are many benefits besides finding work to having a social media friendship with another freelancer.
What about you? Have your relationships with other freelancers helped your freelance writing business?
16 responses so far ↓
1 Matt Keegan // Jun 19, 2012 at
Laura, I enjoy connecting with freelancers. I’m sure that some freelancers think of other freelancers as a threat to their livelihood, but I prefer to look at such people as colleagues. You never know when a project will come up where you’ll need some help. Having a good business relationship with other people means that you can call on them to help out as needed.
2 Samantha Gluck // Jun 19, 2012 at
What a great topic, Laura. This covers a topic that comes so naturally to me (connecting with others on social media) that it never even crossed my mind that it needed discussing. I connect with many freelancers from all sorts of industries and niches through my various social media accounts. Why? The first reason is because I think it’s important to form lasting, strong personal connections with others in your field.
Think about it — physicians on social media don’t ignore other physicians and only try to connect with “potential patients”. As a matter of fact, I see them connecting with other doctors and health care professionals with a few from the patients category sprinkled in. They learn from one another, attend seminars together, exchange ideas about patient treatments with one another. They help one another build up his practice. A Texas-based orthopedic surgeon may get a patient referral from his cardiologist doc friend in Ohio who has a buddy in Texas with a cruciate ligament tear and vise versa.
The relationships I’ve formed with other freelancers have enriched me so much both professionally and personally. I don’t think my intense drive and passion would burn for long without them by my side. The other reason I connect with them is precisely what you’ve illustrated here — I need them to help me when I have too much work. I never go asking other freelancers if they have work for me. That’s just not how I operate. I know that if I outsource work to others, they’ll probably think of me should they need help from a writer/journalist with my skills.
I’m a medical writer (and a freakishly obsessed one at that). I know about business, I can write fairly compelling stories on various business topics — in fact, my journalistic career began that way at the Houston Chronicle. But my expertise in the field of finance and business is nowhere near my expertise level in medicine.
When I have business assignments from medical (or any other type of client), I want it done right and I want it done by someone I trust — who loves that niche. That isn’t me, folks. Business writing bores me to tears. I like reading it. Don’t like writing it.
So, to finally answer your question about whether my relationships with other freelancers have helped my freelance writing business…the answer is a resounding yes! I couldn’t do it without them. Thank you to all of my freelance friends.
3 Laura Spencer // Jun 19, 2012 at
Thanks Samantha,
Really great comment!
I think that this issue arises because some people don’t realize:
a) That relationships are at the core of good marketing
b) That online relationships are just as “real” as offline relationships
Plus, there are still those who think that social media is a waste of time.
Your example of physicians connecting with other physicians is very relevant to the freelancing world. It’s important to remember that not all freelancers work in the same field.
Also, you can learn so much from other freelancers (as you pointed out).
It will be interesting to see what other freelancers say.
4 Laura Spencer // Jun 19, 2012 at
Matt–Great attitude! I share your perspective. I view other freelancers as colleagues and not as a threat.
5 Candace Nicholson // Jun 20, 2012 at
I think networking with other freelancers is crucial to survival if you dare to go this crazy freelancing route. And I say that as someone who’s often labeled as a loner. 🙂
Social media has helped me connect with freelancers of all backgrounds and their advice has been invaluable as I grow my business. From website hacks to dealing with non-paying clients, the freelancer writers I’ve met have been nothing but generous.
I do my best to pay it forward as well. And I haven’t requested any work or job leads from my freelancing co-horts. I have offered to be a sub-contractor for one freelancer who may need a hand every now and again, but that’s it. I’m surprised that some consider it acceptable to just approach you out of the blue like that, but maybe it’s worked for him or her in that past.
As for other types of freelancers, I do have friends who are designers, but not writers. So we help each other out in that respect. He designs a new icon for me or tells me how to fix a coding problem, and I write him an occasional press release or connect him to a few media outlets contacts I have. As long as no one feels they’re being taken advantage of, I think it works well.
6 Laura Spencer // Jun 20, 2012 at
Candace, You make an excellent point. Paying it forward is just good business. Plus, as you point out some freelancers do refer work.
As for as being approached out of the blue, there’s a right way and a wrong way to make a cold “call.” Not everyone knows the difference. 🙂
7 Mavis Barry // Jun 21, 2012 at
I have mixed feelings about connecting with other writers. On one hand, some of those connections have paved the way towards bill-paying gigs. On the other hand, I’ve seen these connections go horribly south – ending in ugliness and hard feelings. If I had to fall on one side of the fence or the other, I would say that overall, connecting with other writers is a good thing. If nothing else, it does remind me that there are other humans out there doing the same thing as me. As well, some of my connections have been good about being my “go to” when I need to vent (or to celebrate for that matter.)
8 Laura Spencer // Jun 21, 2012 at
Mavis Barry–Good comments. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky with the connections that I’ve made. But, I also have to say that I’m careful. I review the person’s profile and look at what they’ve posted online. If they seem silly or unprofessional, I don’t make the connection even if they are another writer. Maybe that’s made a difference for me?
9 Ronda Bowen // Jun 21, 2012 at
I am always very open to connecting with other freelancers. As a writer, graphic designers and web designers compliment what I do very well. However, I don’t limit myself to connecting with freelancers in other fields. Other writer freelancers are also very valuable assets. In fact, some of my biggest clients have come from freelancers who also write. Not all of us have the same skills or interests. Also, it’s always good to cast your net wide when it comes to finding new markets. Other freelancers are likely to have heard of a new market or agency to try out. All in all, I haven’t had a bad experience yet.
10 Laura Spencer // Jun 21, 2012 at
Ronda Bowen, I’ve experienced the same thing. Writers do refer work to other writers. I’ve also gotten work through other writers. Even they didn’t refer work, it’s good to interact with colleagues in a similar field.
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13 Jennifer Mattern // Aug 14, 2014 at
Good topic Laura. I’m with you on the importance of networking with other freelancers. Building visibility and a reputation among colleagues can be just as important as directly reaching prospects. And while it’s not always about landing new gigs, referrals are a great thing. The more you give, the more you tend to get. So it pays, literally, to have a strong network of colleagues you can trust. Social networks simply make it easier for us to get to know each other and stay connected.
14 Laura Spencer // Aug 14, 2014 at
Hi Jennifer,
Just saw your comment here.
I agree. There’s really no excuse for not networking online. And writing is a field where there are a lot of informal networks (as well as formal networks) that you can join.
This is a good thing though. You can be physically located in the middle of nowhere and still have a strong network of writing colleagues to support your career.
15 Tomas Fransson // Aug 14, 2014 at
Hi Laura! Good points! 🙂
Just throwing in some supporting statistics I stumbled upon:
* 81% of freelancers refer work to fellow freelancers
* 52% team up on projects, do paid work for other freelancers, or hire fellow freelancers
* 37% trade or barter services with other freelancers
The stats are included in Freelancers Union’s 2014 survey “How to Live the Freelance Life — Lessons from 1,000 Independents.” Download the full report from this page:
https://www.freelancersunion.org/blog/2014/07/02/independents-united-81-freelancers-refer-work-each-other/
16 Laura Spencer // Aug 14, 2014 at
Tomas,
Wow! I had no idea that the actual number was so high. After thinking about my own experiences, I’m not surprised though.
I think a key point is to build a relationship before one approaches another freelancer about work. Nothing’s more annoying than having someone you’ve never heard of suddenly beg to be hired (especially when you don’t need anyone).
One thing to remember is that freelancing is very fluid. Someone who is a freelancer today may be a hiring manager tomorrow. (I’ve seen it happen.)