How to find work when you hate social media
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The Power of Trust
Over the last week, I’ve been helping out a friend who is in financial trouble and doesn’t use social media.
He is well spoken and has multiple skills, mainly in creating content (he’s a very good writer) and has developed websites, although it’s not something he particularly enjoys. Over the years, he has created newsletters, written copy for social media and created Airtable databases to sort and manage data.
He’s also incredibly organised to the point where, for my birthday, he often cleans up my computer and puts everything into folders so that when I get it back, my files are much easier to find! In short, he’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to internet-related activity, but has relied mainly on word-of-mouth for work over the years.
Recently, however, it became apparent that word-of-mouth wasn’t going to deliver him the regular salary he needs and, as a result, I put a post on NextDoor enquiring if any of my neighbours might need help with the kind of services he can easily provide.
I’m a ‘Lead’ on NextDoor, having been active on the platform since it launched in the UK in 2016, after acquiring Streetwise. I’ve discovered all manner of goodness there - from a neighbour who loaned me a tent when I (stupidly) decided to attend a 3 day festival to another who made delicious peach jam picked off the tree in front of my house, which she shared with me. I’ve found plumbers, electricians, painters and even someone who made my curly eyebrows straighter and more shapely. Which is a very long way of going about saying that I’m known by my NextDoor community and trusted.
Even so, I was unprepared for the response I received enquiring whether anyone could help my friend out with some work. At least count, I had 15 responses, not all with offers of work but, amongst them, there were three that had immediate potential. A similar post on a startup group to which I have been active in the past, on WhatsApp, has yielded one enquiry that he is following up.
This the power of trust.
If you’re not on, or actively ignore social media, consider who within your own network, people trust whom might have a network you can tap into. NextDoor is one example - and may ultimately not turn out to be the best place to help my friend out of his current circumstance - but was an interesting experiment for me in seeing what kind of work was offered and the rate prospective customers were willing to pay (answer: mainly website building and not much).
Trust isn’t simple a result of having lots of followers either - it’s about having the right network - people who may become your customers. The post on NextDoor was, for me, about finding people where I live, which borders affluent Hampstead and Maida Vale. You may have friends that have strong relationships in other places.
Ultimately, I took the initiative when crafting the post about my friend’s situation, but you can be more proactive. If asking for help is scary, and I appreciate it can be, what can you ask for instead - a testimonial, a review, an offer to let them try out your product or service for free?
What can you do to help tap into someone else’s network without feeling like you are sacrificing your own self-esteem? How can build trust with those around you who might have a friend, a colleague or be part of a group that can put the word out about your business? In short, how can you piggyback the network of someone whom you trust and who trusts you, to grow your business?
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