There’s a fun new info-aggregation website called Quora. It’s kid of addictive. It’s good for finding answers and experts, and for sharing your knowledge.
And sometimes, it’s good for finding clients.
If you have an area of expertise, the easiest way for you to get clients is to become known as the person who knows everything about that subject.
Right now, Quora is populating itself with content. LOTS of content. Anyone can ask a question on any subject, from superhero comic books to WordPress, from the ballast of nautical ships built before 1800 to what to feed a chinchilla.
There are few places where it is made so easy for you to show off your knowledge, and provide value to people who want to know what you know.
Shortly after I started using the site, I ran a search for WordPress-related questions. Since I design most of my websites using the WordPress CMS, I have some knowledge to share.
I answered a dozen questions, asked a couple more, and a few days later, I got a phone call out of the blue.
A complete stranger had found me on Quora. He has a WordPress website he needs redesigned, and he had been putting off the task of filtering through dozens of responses to his Craigslist ad.
“I like how you answered the questions on Quora,” he said. “You obviously know what you’re talking about. I’d like to just hire you, if that’s okay.”
Why, yes. That would be fine.
While I enjoy having a new client, I learned something much more valuable from this experience. If you can provide value to your prospective clients, right at the place they are looking for answers, they will hire you because YOU are the expert.
Think about your target market.
- What problems do they need to solve?
- What issues are they faced with?
- How can you solve their problems, and put your solution right where they will find it?
[…] have been several instances of people getting clients from sites like Quora, Yahoo! Answers and other major online […]