A few years ago, like many others, I was thinking about leaving Facebook completely. That now seems crazy, as Facebook is one of the best places to be as a freelancer. With the combination of Facebook groups, Facebook pages, Facebook Live and being able to target your perfect audience, using Facebook to build your freelance business is a no brainier.

Let’s look at some of the new ways to boost your freelance business through Facebook.

Facebook pages

Facebook Pages has added lots of lovely new stuff recently, including a header image that doesn’t get overlapped with the logo (at last), and a section for including your products and services. Now is a good time to revisit your page and check all the details. Set up an automated response if you regularly get messages through your page. Edit your button to go to your mailing, list, services page or to a video you’ve recorded. You can even link it up to book an appointment. Did you know you can also link up your Instagram profile now? This means that if you boost a post or create an ad through your page, it will also promote it on Instagram within that price.

Facebook Canvas

Facebook recently introduced a new way to create a Facebook ad that works as a mini website. Facebook Canvas lets you create a mini stream of content, including videos and images. It loads up to 10x faster than a web page on mobile, so it’s a great way to create a landing page for your services that convert better. You can find it in the publishing tools section of your page, and create it with several sections. This is ideal for launching a course, sharing the highlights of what you offer or a preview of the items you sell. If you want to see some clever brand examples, peek here.

Facebook Live

Live streaming continues to be a hot trend in 2016, and from a time-poor freelancer point of view it’s the perfect way to create quick and easy content. People respond well to video, because they get to know you as a freelancer. Facebook will be adding two people Live sessions and waiting rooms soon, I can’t wait to try out live interviews in the group! If you haven’t tried it yet, I’m challenging you to do one video this week on a topic you love. You can then download it afterwards and share it to your YouTube channel – instant content.

Facebook Profile

This isn’t anything new, but it’s something I see often. Make sure your profile lists your business, and ideally links to your page. So often, I’ll click on someone’s profile and their occupation will just be listed as ‘freelance’ or ‘self-employed’. That’s a prime opportunity wasted!

Facebook Groups

I’m sure you’ve seen a hundred posts in your Facebook feed now about how groups are the key to building a six figure business (SNORE, can we drop the obsession with six figure launches please, especially when they don’t mention the thousands they’ve spent on ads….). But communities are great for building your business – and not just for finding clients. I get so much inspiration from my group, and I know it helps with accountability, finding solutions to tricky client issues and building lots of relationships with other freelancers.

(Are you a part of the Freelance Lifestylers community? Jump on the mailing list and you’ll get the link!)

Are you using Facebook to its full potential to boost your freelance business?