Facebook group leads for freelancers, virtual assistants and marketers
Business owners turn to their Facebook groups for help they don't have time for: someone to answer email, keep social media going, run the ads or write the website copy. Those requests come up in groups for business owners far more than in groups for freelancers.
Where clients ask
- Small-business and entrepreneur groups, where owners ask for recommendations or for someone to take a task off their plate.
- Groups for online businesses, such as coaches, course creators and online store owners, who regularly hire assistants, writers and ad managers.
- Industry groups, such as real estate agents, therapists or contractors. If you specialize in one industry, its groups are where you're easiest to recommend.
- Local business networks, for marketing help with a local angle.
- Freelance job groups, where clients post work directly. The requests are clear, but every freelancer in the group reads them too.
How they ask
Virtual assistants
- "Looking for a VA for about 10 hours a week, mostly inbox and calendar."
- "Drowning in admin. Does anyone have an assistant they'd recommend?"
- "Need someone to answer customer messages and bookings while I'm on site."
Social media and ads
- "Who manages social media for small businesses around here?"
- "I need someone to run Facebook ads for my salon. Any recommendations?"
- "I can't keep up with posting on Instagram. Thinking of paying someone."
Copywriting and content
- "Anyone know a copywriter who can rewrite our About page?"
- "Need help writing product descriptions for about 40 items."
- "Looking for someone to write a monthly newsletter for our clinic."
"Drowning in admin" never says assistant, and "thinking of paying someone" never says social media manager. Those are the posts keyword alerts tend to miss.
A monitor for each service
Write one monitor for each service you'd answer differently. If you offer two services to the same clients and would reply the same way, one monitor can cover both.
- Find
- business owners looking for a virtual assistant, or for someone to handle email, scheduling, customer messages or other admin.
- Ignore
- virtual assistants advertising their availability, and full-time or in-office job ads.
- Find
- business owners looking for someone to manage their social media, create content, or run Facebook or Instagram ads.
- Ignore
- marketers and agencies promoting their own services.
- Find
- people looking for a copywriter or writer for website copy, product descriptions, emails or newsletters.
- Ignore
- writers advertising their services, and requests for unpaid or sample work.
A group watched by two active monitors uses two group slots. Writing a monitor covers wording, exclusions and when to split.
Standing out under a popular request
A request for a VA or a social media manager can collect dozens of "DM me!" comments. What gets a reply back:
- Following the poster's instructions. If they ask for rates in the comments, or for a message, do that, and nothing else.
- Answering the specifics. "For inbox and calendar at ten hours a week, I'd start by…" says more than a list of services.
- One relevant result, such as a client like theirs, rather than everything you do.
- Following the group's rules on links and self-promotion.
Seeing a request early gives you time for a considered reply instead of a rushed one. GroupSignal checks your groups while Chrome is open on your computer and signed in to Facebook, and brings matching posts to your inbox; the reply is always yours. For more on choosing groups, see how to find clients in Facebook groups, and for group rules, how to reply without getting removed.