Today, I’ve got a great post for you from fellow freelancer Nathan all about finding freelance clients on Twitter. His personal story is a great reminder that clients can be found anywhere…

Have you ever wondered how you can make money off Twitter as a freelance writer? Well, you should think of using Twitter to find leads if you haven’t done so in the past.

With over 330 million active users, Twitter is a great place to connect with potential clients and other freelancers like yourself. 

In this article, I’ll be sharing the steps I took to earn my first $100 on Twitter as a freelance writer.

Ready? Let’s go.

1. Optimize your profile

Your Twitter profile is one of the first things people check when they come across your tweets on their timeline. 

Before I started using Twitter to find clients, my bio was a mess. I didn’t specify what I did. Neither did I have an image or header that shows that I am a freelancer. Even if potential clients came across my former profile, they’ll not know that I could help them.

So I had to change it.

Here is how to make your Twitter profile work for you:

• Use a clear username. Your username should be as clear and easy to remember as much as possible. If you already own a website, it would help to use the same name for your Twitter account too. This will help you keep your branding consistent across the board. 
• Have a good profile picture and cover photo. Your profile picture should be a recent photo, showing your face clearly. You could also use a logo if you have one. Your cover photo too should be an extension of your work, showing potential clients that you’re a professional.
• A bio with a clear message. Your bio should contain what you do, and how you can help your potential clients simply and clearly.
• Link to website/portfolio. Placing a link to your portfolio will let people take you seriously and also showcase some of your best work.

2. Follow your ideal clients

After optimizing your profile, you’ll need to follow your ideal clients. This is important so that you can interact with their tweets. And if you are fortunate, some of them might even follow you back.

That’s what I did.

I had a list of companies I wanted to work with, so I followed them on Twitter. Aside from following the company accounts, I also followed the people responsible for hiring at these companies. 

After following these accounts, I usually left genuine comments on their tweets. This helps you get on their radar nicely and not come across as spammy.

3. Reach out in the DMs

Once you and your ideal clients have had a couple of interactions on the timeline, you can now reach out to them in the DMs.

This works because these leads have been warmed up and are no longer cold.

In the DMs, make it clear what you do and how you can help them. Even if they do not need your services at the moment, they might be able to refer you to others in their network.

4. Watch what you tweet

If you want to get leads from your Twitter account, you’ll need to treat it as a business – because that is what it is.

Before getting serious with Twitter, most of my tweets were about football bants and memes. A potential clients coming across this kind of content on your timeline would likely not know how you can help them.

So instead of tweeting about anything under the sun, you’ll need to tweet about subjects that position you as an authority in your niche.

As a freelance writer, I occasionally made Twitter trends about how to write better. Those trends got a lot of engagement and brought me new followers who are interested about writing. 

However, watching what you tweet does not mean that become a bot. You’ll still need to tweet about other things that you find interesting, like hobbies and food. But it would be better if you balance these kind of tweet out with content that your ideal clients would find helpful.

5. Follow your idea client’s retweets

Do you know you can see tweets from accounts you don’t even follow on your timeline? Yes you can. And that was how I saw the tweet that landed me my $100 gig.

One of my ideal clients retweeted a tweet from someone in their network in need of a copywriter. 

I saw the tweet and immediately reached out to this person in the DMs. We started talking and he asked me to write his website copy for him. 

Even though I had not written web copy before (I mostly wrote blog posts) I agreed with him to write the copy on-spec. 

He loved the web copy I wrote and paid me $100.

Other ways you can find leads on Twitter

1. Join Twitter chats

There are many Twitter chats happening online every week.  These chats bring together people interested in a certain topic. Any one can join the chat, including you.

You can make potential clients notice you by leaving intelligent answers on the questions that people are asking on these chats. 

2. Create Twitter lists

You can easily create a list of people you want to reach out to every day or week on Twitter. This list allows you to focus on only tweets from accounts you choose without interference from tweets on you normal timeline.

To add a Twitter account to your list, click on the “options” icon at the top right corner of their tweet. Or go their profile and click the “three dots” option menu.

This way it is easier to interact with your ideal customers and generate leads faster.

3. Use the search menu

The search option is a great tool you can use to find clients for your business. It works best when you use the “advanced search” option available only on desktops.

You can use the advanced search option to find complete phrases that potential clients might use in their tweets. For example, if you’re a freelance writer, you can make a search for any tweet containing the phrase “need a freelance writer”. You can then sort the search result by how recently those tweet were made.

Over to you

You have now learned how to make your first $100 from Twitter, including how I made mine. What ways have you been using to make money from Twitter as a freelancer?

About Nathan: 

Nathan Ojaokomo is a freelance content and copywriter. He helps SaaS
brands and small business owners create content that helps builds trust
and generates sales. You can find him on Twitter here or contact him on
his website here.