This podcast is 1 minute 58 seconds long.

Marketing through social is a gold mine, especially if what you do lends itself to the medium (visual arts like graphic design, drawing/comics, photography, video production, etc). It’s free, the reach is incredible, the insights are enlightening. And it’s free. (Did I mention that?)

And here’s a bonus: each person that interacts with your social posts is a potential client or customer.

Now I don’t mean that you should be “selling” every person that likes or retweets or comments on your posts; that would be exhausting as well as not a good use of your time. Not to mention that it can fall into the “creepy” category.

But you should also not ignore the fact that this is a rich source for potential client and commissions. Some of this will happen organically with the content you post, basically like a fish jumping into the back of your boat. That’s awesome. But you should also be more proactive with your tactics to fill your boat more consistently.

Here’s what to do to be more proactive without crossing into being pushy:

Take note of who interacts with your posts.

Unless you’re in a situation where you always get hundreds upon hundreds of likes and shares and comments on every post you make (which would be a good problem to have), take the time to look at the profiles of everyone who takes the time to do those things.

This doesn’t have to be an in-depth anthropological study of their social media habits, but take a few minutes to see what other things they’ve liked and what their interests are, what they do for a living (if they’ve shared that), and who else they follow.

See who they are following, and look a the suggestions that Twitter/LinkedIn/Instagram/whatever make for others to follow. This can be a rich and fertile ground for finding the people you need to connect with when pitching your work.

I’ve done this with other voice actors and casting directors. When I look at one on Twitter, I get suggestions of other casting directors to follow, ones that I never knew existed.

Make a list of who interacts with your posts.

Just about every social media platform has the ability to make lists or people. Do this so it’s easy to once a week jump in and see what they’ve been posting about. (I do this for voice actors and for casting directors and other professionals in the voiceover industry.)

And follow these people back. Maybe they are artists or freelancers as well, or maybe they just have content you like. You never know when there will be an intersection of need and opportunity, where you may be able to connect them with work or a resource, or vice versa.

Every now and then, ask them if they have need of your services.

This is where we draw the line between marketing and sales, and this is where people get weird about making the transition from one to the other. But remember: marketing is passive, sales is active. One is not better than the other, and both are needed.

Marketing would be letting all of your posts just sit out there in the hopes that someone will eventually need your service, and when they do, hoping that you will be top of mind.

Sales is having all of your posts and activity out there so that you are top of mind, and every now and then sending a quick message asking, “Hey, do you ever need [INSERT SERVICE HERE]?”

Here’s the kicker: it doesn’t matter if they say yes or no.

To use a sports analogy, the greatest hockey player of all time (arguably), Wayne Gretsky, had a saying:

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Simple, but profound, right?

If you never ask, the answer is almost definitely “no”. If you do, it still may be “no”, but it also may be “yes”.

Value First

Now, in our role as creatives that need to where the sales hat, we can’t use social as a medium for always asking. Social media is a value-first medium, and we need to pack it full of value before making the ask.

Here are easy ways to offer up value first, before making your ask:

• Your content (posting the stuff you are working on)

• Sharing others’ content (specifically sharing the content of the person you want to connect with)

• Making thoughtful comments on their posts

• Sending business their way

All easy stuff, right?

When to make the ask

The simple answer: when the time is right.

What does that mean? It’s different for everyone. This is where you need to have a “feel” for when the time is right to slide into their DMs and ask if they need your services.

Now, the longer you wait and the more value you build, the more likely your prospect will respond positively. However, wait too long and maybe someone else makes the ask before you and books the next gig. (All is not lost, there will be others, I assure you, so don’t let your anxiety get the better of you.)

Can you jump in right away? Sure. Is it creepy? Not at all. You are simply asking this question of them (go ahead and copy and paste this):

“Hi [NAME]…I was wondering if you ever used [SERVICE] and were looking for new [SERVICE PROVIDER]? Thanks!”

So, in my case it would be, “Hi Sheila, I was wondering if you ever used voice over and were looking for voice talent to work with. Thanks!”

It’s really that easy. They say yes or no, or don’t respond. Then you begin your prospecting process (see Minute 04, I included some downloadable resources for this very thing).

A note here: If you are going to start your prospecting process with them, I would recommend that you move the conversation to email and out of social. Social, for the most part, is really supposed to be more friendly and casual, and pushing aggressively via their Twitter DMs can be seen as annoying if you are hitting them up every week and not providing any value.