Which social media sites and apps are a hit can change rather quickly, but there are opportunities to connect with potential clients on all of them. Follow these tips in order to attract new clients on any social media website.

Spread Your Wings

Don’t stick to just one or two social media pages. It’s important to branch out in order to reach as many potential clients as possible. Simply updating some social media profiles once per week is fine. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, here are some social media websites you should consider:

• LinkedIn – If you haven’t yet opened a LinkedIn profile, it’s time to do so. This is a professional site, so make sure that your posts on this site are polished and professional in tone.
  

  As The Muse reported, your insights will show up on your profile, which can be impressive to your professional contacts and potential recruiters as well.

• Pinterest – Not only can you make photo pin boards of all the place you want to go, you can also make boards that are relevant to the type of writing you wish to do. To use Pinterest, simply download the Pinterest add-on to your browser.Then, any time you are on a website that has content relevant to you or audience, you can click on the Pinterest icon to add your desire picture to one of your Pinterest boards.
• Google+ – While Google can’t quite hit a homerun with its attempts for social networking, this site seems to be enduring, and you can easily post short, professional posts about what’s going on in your career. To post on Google+, simply go to your profile.There will be a blank area in the middle of the screen that asks, “What’s new with you?” You can click the options beneath to share text, photos, links, videos, events, or polls with your followers. It is very easy to use, but be sure to keep posts succinct since it’s a social media platform like Facebook where shorter posts are generally welcomed by followers.
• Tumblr – As a hybrid between a blog website and a social media platform, Tumblr allows you to write longer posts that will help showcase your talents to potential clients. To write a Tumblr post, simply log in at the Tumblr website.Much like Google+, it then presents you with the opportunity to click on icons to get your post started. You can chose to share text, photos, quotes, links, chats, audio, or video. Since Tumblr is considered to be a blog platform, long posts are welcome and accepted there.

Be Informative Yet Succinct in Your Profile

Be sure to fill out your social media profile. When a potential client clicks on your social media page, they should be able to read about you.

Fill out the About sections with a brief, professional, and interesting biography of yourself. Your profile shouldn’t come off as if you were trying to peddle your services.

Instead, the profile should inform followers of who you are and what your interests are.

Create Original Posts

Many social media users simply re-post and share the posts that others create. The creators of the shared posts usually appreciate this, and it’s a nice touch.

However, potential clients may assess your profile to see the types of original content that you are consistently creating.

A page that’s full of simply sharing the originality and creativity of others isn’t likely to make someone want to work with you.

Keep Politics Off Social Media

If you want to rant and rave about the politicians you hate the most, it’s better to call up a sympathetic friend than post them to Facebook.

If you must post that stuff to social media, have a separate account that isn’t under the name you use for publishing your work. You will likely work with clients of all political persuasions, and even those who share your beliefs may be turned off by angry rants.

Finally, keep in mind that the eyes of your potential clients could be on any public post you made. One of the best ways to attract new clients on social media may simply be to filter your posts carefully, and only share things that are of value to your followers.

When in doubt, look at the pages you most enjoy, and find inspiration to create your own posts from the types of content you enjoy.

Do you have any tips and tricks for how to get clients via social media? Please share in the comments section below.

The post How to Attract New Clients on Social Media appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

One aspect of social media that isn’t always apparent, however, is the fact that social media can help you find exactly the information you need for an assignment.

Save time and find unique content when you use social media as a research tool before you start writing your next article.

Utilize Handy #Hashtags

Hashtags were created for the purpose of helping people find things related to a specific topic quickly and easily.

They’re an essential tool to start your research on social media. Hashtags are used on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by individuals for a variety of reasons. They’re used by businesses to connect with customers.

If you are seeking breaking news, personal opinions, or information about what’s trending on a topic, simply enter the hashtag into the search portal of the social media website, and you should be able to instantly receive results on your exact topic of choice.

Ask (and Promote) Open Questions

If you have an author or writer “fan” page on Facebook, you may choose to ask an open question for more informal research.

For example, if you’ve been given an assignment that simply asks you to solicit opinions on a photo or a hot topic, create a post that showcases the topic at hand and asks an engaging question. Pay to promote the post to your intended target audience, and you should receive valuable feedback.

You could also do the same thing with a promoted Tweet, or a meme photo of the question on Instagram. As Entrepreneur reported, using social media to gather opinions is a rather inexpensive way to gather valuable research and development data.

Gather Information About a Subject

It’s so common for human resources professionals to look up applicants on social media that Time published an article to help job seekers avoid social media pitfalls that could cost them a job.

However, many people are still quite careless with what they publicly post on social media networks. If you need to do a little research to get background information on someone for an article, it’s perfectly acceptable to search social media for the person’s public posts.

When you’re using social media to look up someone’s personal accounts, though, keep these crucial things in mind:

• Don’t ever mislead someone by sending a friend request if you’re simply trying to get information on them. You could then be granted access to friends-only posts that you should not ethically share. Only quote public posts in articles.
• Do state who you are and your position as a writer when sending private messages to strangers to gather information. In many cases, people will appreciate that you are forthright and will answer questions.

When it’s time to research your next project, take the time to gather data on social media before relying on other sources.

Oftentimes, you can get straight to the original source of a post, such as a celebrity’s PR statement on their official pages, and you may also be able to more easily navigate search engines when you know more precise information about what is trending and timely with right now.

Ultimately, social media is a tool that you can use to take your research and writing to the next level.

Do you have any social media research tips? Please share in the comments section below.

The post How to Use Social Media as a Research Tool for Your Writing appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.