How to Use Twitter to Find Clients for Your Freelance Business

H

For many freelancers, using social media platforms to find leads is something of a foreign concept. However, social media – especially Twitter – is a great place to attract more clients and grow your business. Not sure how to use Twitter to promote your business? We’ve got you covered.

Twitter currently has upwards of 330 million users, making the platform the prime place to connect with other freelancers and find potential clients.

However, you may be wondering how exactly to take your social media account from something you occasionally browse through and use to chat with friends to a platform where you actively promote your business and find new clients.

These days, Twitter is largely used as a networking and marketing tool. However, there are still many businesses that are not using Twitter at all (or are using it the wrong way).

Merely tweeting blog posts, or just promoting your services or products doesn’t quite cut it.  You can share things about your services and promote your personal brand but you must get people to engage with you. Therefore you will need content, facts, or news that interest your network and audience.

Follow our tips below to see how you can make the most of  Twitter when it comes to client acquisition

  1. How to Use Twitter to Promote Your Business
  2. Tips and Strategies to Use Twitter to Find Clients
    1. Network with People
    2. Use Hashtags, Keywords & Twitter Search
    3. Join Twitter chats
    4. Attract High-Quality Followers
    5. Be Proactive

How to Use Twitter to Promote Your Business

First things first, you need to optimize your profile before you start connecting with others.

Your Twitter profile should include:

  • Your name (or your business name)
  • A professional, recent photo of yourself
  • A professional cover photo
  • A link to your website or portfolio
  • A concise bio that summarises who you are and what you do
Example Twitter profile and bio

Secondly, you should get into the habit of actually using Twitter. Use the platform to showcase your knowledge in your industry and really show your followers (and potential clients!) that you are an expert.

Many marketing professionals recommend following the 80/20 rule: sharing 80% of others’ content (by retweeting and sharing articles/things you find interesting and industry news) and 20% your own content (blog posts, sales tweets, etc.).

The 80/20 rule will help you build up your reputation as you will be sharing valuable posts from experts in your field. As a result, your audience will trust in your criteria and will interact and engage more with you. Ultimately:

  • They will visit your profile more often
  • You will get more likes on your tweets
  • More people will retweet your tweets and comment on them

This level of engagement is what your profile needs!


 Find new clients at freelancermap
Free profile 0 commission fees
Sign up for free!

Tips and Strategies to Use Twitter to Find Clients

1. Network with People

Twitter is a fantastic platform to find other freelancers and potential clients with whom you can network, as you can connect with anyone who has a Twitter profile (i.e. you don’t need to request them as a friend or connection before you can reach out to them!).

Follow people in your industry and connect with them by getting involved in Twitter chats and commenting on their Tweets.

For example, compliment them on their good work or start a conversation on a topic you’re both passionate about!

Building up these connections can be extremely valuable when you are looking for work in the future. 

Tip: As the conversation continues, feel free to go into their direct messages to build a stronger relationship. The other person will need to be your follower to do this but if you have been chatting for a while, this is probably the case.

2. Use Hashtags, Keywords & Twitter Search

Businesses will turn to Twitter in hopes of finding the right person to work on their project. 

Make use of this knowledge by using Twitter’s search features to find opportunities as they arise. 

It’s useful to note that competition will be high, so finding jobs that have been posted very recently will boost your chances of winning that pitch before the client is overwhelmed with messages!

If you are, for example, a web designer, use the search tool and enter ‘web designer needed’ or ‘web designer job’ to find potential jobs.

Likewise, using hashtags such as #WebDesignerRequired or #FreelanceWebDesigner can be effective ways of finding job opportunities on Twitter

Example Twitter search box hire UX designer

A great way to optimize this search is by using automated tools! One such tool for your Twitter hashtag research like hashtagify. It shows you a list of related hashtags related to your main keyword and also gives you a list of people who regularly tweet about the entered keyword.

Another way to set up trigger alerts is via IFTTT. The next time someone tweets about your niche, you’ll be alerted!

Besides the Twitter advanced search option to find potential clients, there are tools available to help you search for people based on keywords or locations. One of the most used is Followerwonk.

This Twitter search engine allows Twitter users to follow people or add them to Twitter lists based on location and the information displayed in their bio.

Tip: Don’t automate the whole contact process. Check the other person’s profile to assess if you’d like to work with that kind of business and reach out only then with a personal offer.

3. Join Twitter chats

Twitter chats are conversations around a hashtag or a topic where everybody can answer a list of questions created by the host of the Twitter chat. 

The good thing about Twitter chats is that everybody can talk with each other and it’s a great way of meeting potential new clients!

To find Twitter chats you could join in, you can search for #twitterchat or #chatblogs on Twitter.

For all things freelancing, we recommend you to check the Freelance Heroes chat. Here an example of one of their Twitter chats:

4. Attract High-Quality Followers

Getting a lot of followers on Twitter is relatively achievable for anyone – the real challenge, though? Finding followers on Twitter that are actually interested in you and your business.

To use Twitter to find clients, you want to attract followers that are interested in what you have to say and the services you offer.

The best way to do this is to make sure you are following influencers in your industry and engaging in their posts and conversations regularly. 

The more frequently your name appears in relevant discussions, the more likely people will click on your profile and follow you because they recognize you as an influencer in your niche as well.

Tip: Try and connect with at least 3 – 5 people each week. Set a goal, make a list of people to connect with and reach out via DM, a shared tweet, or simply by simply responding to one of their tweets with valuable insight.

4. Be Proactive

A great way to use Twitter to find clients is to be creative and find hidden opportunities. For example, in your searches, you may find someone asking a lot of questions about your field, or commenting that they could really use some help with something in particular.

While this isn’t explicitly a job vacancy, it is definitely an opportunity for you to open a dialogue and reach out to that person.

Even offering a suggestion, and maybe linking to your website with an offer to help them in the future can be a great first introduction to finding a genuine, long-term client.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to using Twitter to find clients is to be consistent, establish yourself as an authority in your niche, and to network with others in your industry.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to using Twitter to find clients is to be consistent, establish yourself as an authority in your niche, and to network with others in your industry.

Tips to use Twitter to find clients for your freelance business

Social media is an amazing tool to connect with people from all over the world, opening up opportunities you never would have even heard of before.

Take advantage of this and stay active and up-to-date with the trends and people that are online, and you’ll find more clients coming directly to you than ever before!

Yasmin Purnell

Yasmin Purnell is a content creator at freelancermap.com. She has a great deal of experience working as a freelance copywriter and has enjoyed the Digital Nomad lifestyle. She is in charge of bringing you amazing freelancing tips and experiences that will help you boost your freelance business.

By Yasmin Purnell

Recent Posts