5 Social Media Lessons for Freelancers

This week I celebrated LinkedIndependence Day.

Let’s face it: Writing on social media is TOUGH. Even if you’re a professional writer.

I can confidently write books and posts for others yet second-guess my own LinkedIn content pretty much every day.

Now, I recognize that many people here are not on LinkedIn and don’t want to be. That’s alright. The lessons I’ve learned over there can apply for most social media sites where you might be working to grow your platform.

I first signed up for LinkedIn back in 2017-ish but only as a sales tool for the B2B sales job I had. Basically, we used it to lurk, identify prospects, and reach out to them if we didn’t have their email. I hardly ever booked meetings with it, though.

Then in 2023, I decided to get more serious about LinkedIn and developed what I thought was a great strategy for posting. (It wasn’t.)

Instead, it was a mess, bouncing around between a tip on writing, a link to my blog, and a series of “Thankful Thursday” posts giving shout-outs to people not remotely in my industry.

Right before I got serious about LinkedIn, I lost 20% of my income stream—and the other primary pipeline was starting to dry up. I saw other ghostwriters and editors in a similar (or worse) situation as a result of the same event and saw their panicked posts on LinkedIn of “If you’ve ever thought of writing a book, I’m available!” None of which went viral, of course.

So I took a course to get better at LinkedIn from March to June (Justin Welsh’s, to be exact), and while I don’t use everything I learned, it pushed me in the right direction.

The course made me realize there was a better way: Show up, connect with people you like, provide value to your prospects. And eventually, the work starts coming your way in a more organic fashion without desperate posts and salesy DMs.

It was the weekend before July 4th last year when I finally decided I'd post every weekday and actively network with others in publishing.

My goals:
+Find like-minded people to follow
+Learn from those ahead of me
+Share what I know/learn

The outcomes/lessons:

1. Post Every Day and Engage on 1 Platform

Doing so took me from around 500 people in my network and basically 0 followers to nearly 2500 followers.

I know that doesn’t sound huge and believe me, I know people who have grown much faster. Previous experience with social told me that not even 25 people cared what I had to say, much less 2500, so I’ll take it.

When you pick one place to hang out and be consistent with posting and engaging, growth happens. I probably never grew in those other places because I didn’t stick it out, but also because I wasn’t remotely consistent.

You’ll be tempted to post on every platform. Don’t. Stick with one. Be consistent.

I tried for a while to also post on Insta but nothing was happening and, frankly, that’s not where my ICP hangs out. So I recently dropped it and am doubling down more on LinkedIn.

2. Don't Compare Your Growth to Others.

This might possibly be the most difficult to follow on social media because by its very nature, it wants you to look at how others are doing. (Or supposedly doing.)

Remember this: They have their path. You have yours.

Instead, learn from the people who are growing faster and bigger than you. Let their best practices become your best practices—if it makes sense for your goals. You can leverage their growth strategy without the toxic envy.

I’ve “copied” strategies from others to see what fits. Not all of it has worked with my style or personality. So I use what feels natural and drop what doesn’t work. And most importantly—I celebrate their wins.

3. Virality Isn’t Everything

At least, that’s what I’ve learned from those who’ve gone viral. My highest engagement on a post barely topped 250 (total of reactions, comments, reposts). Going viral gives you a great dose of dopamine, but the real question is whether or not it translates into meeting your goals, aka, WORK.

To be honest, I'm not overrun with work or requests like some of the gurus claim they are (who knows if that’s true). But posting regularly has helped me get referrals, appointments, and new publishing partnerships. Ultimately, I wouldn’t have some of the work I now have if I hadn’t been serious about posting.

Which is so much better than the vanity of virality.

4. Social Media Doesn’t Have to Be Toxic.

My wife quit Instagram a couple years ago because of how toxic her niche had become. But then she switched careers in 2022 and decided to carefully wade back into the waters of Insta. This time around, it’s been far more positive for her as she’s connected with positive thinkers in her niche.

Social media is often blamed for exacerbating the divides in our culture and amplifying negative voices—but that’s because it reflects human behavior. And so much of our thinking is negative.

Social can be positive when you use your content to attract the right people and repel the wrong people.

5. It’s Impossible to NOT Improve When You Engage.

Since getting serious about social media, I've learned how to be better at what I do. From becoming a better writer by picking up tips from others, implementing systems, raising my rates (which I discovered were FAR too low), and gaining direction on ideas.

One of the biggest outcomes from the past year was finally honing in on my X Factor, what sets me apart from others in my field. I don’t see my fellow ghostwriters or editors as competitors because they have their X Factor and I have mine. I’ve now embraced it as my North Star, leading me to the right opportunities.

In short: Consistency, Connection, Conversation.

And if you’re still struggling with developing a solid social media content strategy (especially for LinkedIn), then book a free 20-minute Q&A and let’s chat about it.

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