Hi,
I am considering joining Linkedin, I'm interested in getting the overall opinion of the network, has anyone been successful in attracting new clients through the site, has it been a constructive means of securing any freelance design jobs?
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One of my friends said his wife rec'd a couple inquiries and one actual job. So far I have 14,000+ "connections" and no idea why I'm bothering with it - I picked up more jobs off the political BBS where I occasionally hang (1 freebie - 1 paying job).
I think LInkedIn only works if you participate in their group forums.
Social Media in general is a virtual grab bag. The important this is that you're creating impressions. Our team has landed one nice job through LinkedIn and a bunch of inquiries. It's good to have a profile, it's even better to be active within groups!
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Thanks for all your views.
Thanks for what you have suggested JeffAtHuemor, I think I might join Linkedin and become active in some groups relating to design!
My 2 cents: I've found LinkedIn great for keeping in touch with an existing network - including old clients - which is invaluable.
I haven't found it useful for making new contacts or winning new business with previously unknown clients - but perhaps that reflects my approach more than LinkedIn's usefulness.
As @JeffAtHuemor says: It's good to have a profile. It costs you only the time it takes to set up - so you lose little, but stand to gain.
I don't find the groups all that useful as there is far too much noise - even in the more esoteric groups - and far too little community. I'd be fascinated to find out how others use, or have gained successes from, LinkedIn groups. Any advice?
The goal is to engage specific LinkedIn users in conversation, similar to how you would use Twitter to optimize impressions.
Kind of the same thing this forum provides, just on a much larger scale. As long as you're insightful, on topic, and helpful people tend to gravitate towards what you have to say.
The biggest thing with social media is to not over-extend yourself. While it never hurts to have some scattered profiles, it's impossible to maintain everything. My suggestion? Find 3 networks you really enjoy (This includes forums such as these) and focus on those networks. You'll gain more genuine interactions that way.
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That makes sense - thanks. I would guess that the real trick is in finding the groups and individuals that, with work, will become a community (or allow you to join an existing one).
"I don't find the groups all that useful as there is far too much noise - even in the more esoteric groups"
AGREED. for me the problem is there is no cost of entry. anyone can just show up and start blathering on about whatever. and there, there is some unspoken code of nicety. where here, if someone shows up and is just stupid or an asshole, they pretty much get beat down with rakes and torches!
for me, linkedin is kind of like exhibiting at a trade show. there are more people handing me their business card than looking at my booth.
ive basically stayed in touch with old clients rather than acquiring any new ones.
"there are more people handing me their business card than looking at my booth."
Sums it up nicely - and, as with trade show cards, the trick is building the relationship and keeping in touch so that when they need you, or you need them, the contact is there.
"ive basically stayed in touch with old clients rather than acquiring any new ones."
Bingo. You can waste a lot of time chasing ghosts. I'm very careful about how much time is spent "networking" (which quite frankly has not brought me very many actual jobs), chasing down deadbeat clients (get a deposit) and other general non-paying tomfoolery. One thing you have to consider is all the time you spend (or waste) with no paycheck involved detracts from the actual paying jobs. So if my choice is to play around on LinkedIn or learn a new software package in my down time - I'm going to learn the new software package because I KNOW that will pay off eventually.
This is great, but you better have a very diversified group of clients to work with. From personal experience, putting all your eggs in one basket, or very few can leave you high and dry if a client goes under.
I think the best strategy is to have a nice balance between old and new. You don't want to focus so much on 'chasing ghosts' that you then become neglectful to your current client base, however you also don't want to lose visibility and stop promoting yourself because you're consumed by your current client base.
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