DEAR READERS,

In this issue of Freelancing.hk-News, we will present an analysis of social media usage of Hong Kong internet users along with the most suitable social media platforms for freelancers and business owners in the territory. At the end of this article, you will also read our professional recommendations for freelancers and business owners residing in Hong Kong.

In addition, we will explain how one can better select the right service provider in the newly created subcategories for consultants: Business, strategy, risk management and others. Moreover, we will discuss the success formula of bestselling author Alan Weiss, with which you will get one percent better every day.

Later on, our guest article will show you how to gain new customers with concept improvement by hiring a business consultant, and of course, our popular freelancer joke at the end is about a graphic designer who makes a very personal contribution to demography and thus makes a fat turnover.

I wish you a lot of fun reading and of course, as always, good business!

Johannes Hummel

Whether you are a freelancer or a business owner, it is always good to use different methods when seeking clients or freelancers. One method for this is social media. Therefore, in this article, we are going to show you how to use this method and how important social media is in our country.

Social media has become an inevitable part of our personal and business lives. According to Statista.com, in 2017, daily social media usage of global internet users amounted to 135 minutes per day, up from 126 daily minutes in the previous year. So overall people spend over two hours per day of their lives on social media. Knowing its huge impact on users has lead to more and more professionals joining these platforms.

As it is a time-consuming process and there are many social media platforms, it is hard to know which one you should be using as a freelancer and a business owner. So, which social media platform should you choose?

The Freelancing.hk team has researched the most suitable social media platforms in Hong Kong:

1) Facebook with 75%
2) WhatsApp with 74%
3) Youtube with 73%
4) Instagram with 45%
5) Facebook Messenger with 45%
6) WeChat with 44% (owned by Tencent)
7) Google+ with 32%
8) Line with 27%
9) Skype with 23%
10) Twitter with 19%
11) Sina Weibo 18%
12) LinkedIn with 16%
(Source: SCMP, Statista)

Although Facebook, WhatsApp and Youtube seem to be the most used by Hong Kong citizens, Facebook and LinkedIn are the social media platforms which most freelancers and their clients utilise (for B2B) according to the Payoneer’s report. Because of this, the Freelancing.hk team suggest that you might active on both Facebook and LinkedIn professionally.

If you do not know how to use social media for your marketing tasks, here are some suggestions for you.


Suggestions specifically for freelancers

1) Groups: There are various groups created for specific type of person on many social media platforms. One of these groups are the ones which are created only for freelancers. In these groups, there are not only freelancers but also clients who are looking for contractors. Try to become a member of these groups which will increase your chances of finding a client and connecting with other freelancers.

2) Create content: You have to use your social media page effectively and professionally. Sometimes being part of groups is not enough to find clients. Therefore, you have to show your experience by creating content and sharing it on your page as a freelancer. As you should be careful when creating your content, here are some of our top tips. Your content should always answer the questions below:

a) What kind of content will you share?
b) How often will you share content?
c) What will be your target segment for each piece of content?
d) How will you share your content?

3) Invest in advertisements: Although many people see advertising on social media as redundant, it is the easiest way to reach your target group. You can increase your number of clients by directing them to a page where they can get information about your services or you can wait for the right freelancer to apply for your job advertisement. You can also track the results and tailor the next advertisement you post accordingly.

4) Review your clients’ and competitors’ accounts: One of the reasons that you are on social media is that both your clients and your competitors are actively using these platforms. Therefore, it is paramount that you consider both your clients’ and your competitors’ business accounts when creating your social media marketing plan. It is a crucial indicator to know what kind of shares your competitors receive and what kind of posts your clients prefer. This way, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors while offering products and services to meet your clients’ expectations.


Suggestions for specifically for business owners

1) Set your social media goals and objectives: Try to follow the SMART framework while setting your goals and objectives for social media. Be specific, measurable, assignable, relevant and time-based.

2) Learn from your competitors: What do your competitors do? Learn from what others have done successfully thus far. Evaluate your competitor´s strengths and weaknesses relative to your own. A competitor analysis can give you insights about what is working and what is not working for similar businesses.

3) Decide which platforms are right for you: You can use the data above to decide about the right platform for your business but keep in mind that, these statistics are just an overview. It’s important to understand how to reach your specific audience. In order to reach your specific audience, you have to know your audience better than anyone.

4) Know your audience: Identify your audience by asking questions like:

a) Which age groups do you reach?
b) What are their common values?
c) What are their common pain points?
d) What are the solutions?
e) Which type of content works best?

You can increase or decrease the number of questions you would like to answer. The point here is to reach your target group by asking specific questions about them.

5) Create a calendar: Plan your social media activities monthly for solid results. Create strategies in order to get better results with less time and effort.

Due to the rising demand for consultant freelancers, we have decided to split the existing freelancer category ‘Consultant’ into the following four individual sub-areas: Consultant-Business, Consultant-Strategy, Consultant-Risk Management and Consultant-[Other]. We feel that this way, it will be easier for you to find a suitable expert.

Freelancers in the sub-category “Consultant-Business” cover all consulting subjects including business strategy, business planning, business management, coaching, process improvement, process management information systems and process redesign.

Freelancers in the sub-category “Consultant-Strategy” help companies to achieve the best possible market position and help them to secure it long term at the same time. They analyse business operations and projects, understand corporate goals and objectives, conduct extensive market research, and implement strategic solutions programs and practices.

Freelancers in the sub-category “Consultant-Risk Management” identify, assess and prioritise the risks. Following on from this is a coordinated and economical application of resources to minimise, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events in order to maximise the relation of opportunities.

Freelancers in the sub-category “Consultant-[Other]” do not just determine a specific consulting approach but also cover several areas at the same time, for example, strategy, restructuring and process consulting.

With the introduction of these four new categories, we now have 25 different service categories at Freelancing.hk, ranging from accountants to copywriters.

Defining goals and successfully implementing them is usually easier said than done. One of the reasons for this is that the goals have not been well documented or concretely formulated. Lack of discipline can also be an important factor in the implementation of the planned goals.

The bestselling author Alan Weiss proposes the 'One-Percent-Rule'. With this '1 percent approach' one aims to be better every day by just one percent. Purely mathematically the ability of one´s own will double itself every 70 days. Imagine you could build up such a clear advantage in your business. You probably ask yourself how to do something like this: You must be open to learning, and use every opportunity to experience something new. This can be done in different ways, for example, an article in a trade magazine, a tip from a colleague, an important note in a blog or newly acquired skills from a seminar. The possibilities are practically endless, you simply have to be attentive and take every opportunity to learn something new or innovative and try it out.

In addition to your actual subject area, there are many other areas where you can improve further. Just think about how you could better negotiate agreements with your customers, how you could make presentations more successful and how you could stay motivated every day despite setbacks and stress. Or how to optimally prepare for customer meetings, how to develop your leadership skills, and how to improve your innovation skills. The list can be continued indefinitely.

The 'one per cent approach' helps you to continuously improve and stay one step ahead of the competition. This can also lead to innovative product and sales ideas. For example, freelancer Amor Daouadi offers his customers a discount of 10 percent if they pay the total amount at the beginning of the project, and he guarantees professional and high-quality consulting work. This way he achieves a completion rate of 75 percent. This method is particularly successful with large companies, as many department heads and managers know that their project could no longer be overturned by any cost savings.

Registered service providers can introduce themselves with a short article in this Freelancing.hk-News. In this issue, we present you a freelancer in the Business Consultant category.
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I got to know my client, a financial services provider specialising in cost management, through the Freelancing Group. My task was to develop a concept for winning new customers.

Financial services are usually abstract and in need of explanation. For a better understanding, I developed a key visual (pictographic symbols) with the appropriate advertising message. This enabled my client to achieve an appointment agreement rate of over 27 per cent.

My customer was very satisfied with the advertising statement that I developed. My customer knew that a traditional light bulb delivers only 5 per cent as light and the remaining 95 per cent disappears as heat. Your costs similarly behaves like this statement which is underpinned by the pictogram symbol of a modern energy-saving lamp.

After developing the key visuals and creating a striking corporate design, we launched a two-stage direct mailing that was supported by advertisements in trade journals. The web design was also appropriately revised. The high success rate made my customers feel confident. I am pleased that I was able to find this customer through the Freelancing Group.
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A graphic designer asks his gallery owner whether customers have already been interested in his graphic series. 'I have very good and very bad news' says the gallery owner. 'A customer asked me yesterday whether your graphics would gain value after your death. Of course I encouraged the customer and he immediately bought all your 18 graphics.'

Graphic designer was very happy and he wanted to throw a party until he heard the bad news: The buyer was his general practitioner.