How I Use Twitter to Find Work From Home Jobs (and how you can too!)

It’s no secret that social media is a great way to network. Done well, you can make the right connections to keep you supplied with plenty of job leads and referrals (should you need them). While LinkedIn may not be social media in the true sense of the term, it is the social platform most people think of when they want to network for business purposes.

LinkedIn is great for connecting with people you already know. It helps you stay in touch with those you’ve worked with in the past and remind them that, “Hey, I’m here if you need anything!.”

But when it comes to making new contacts, LinkedIn makes it, well, difficult. You can “invite” them to your network but then you would have to fib that you know the person you’re trying to cold-call on in the LinkedIn world. This will probably turn that person off from connecting with you before you get a chance to say a proper hello.

You could send an InMail (the equivalent of a Facebook message but on LinkedIn) but, surprise, you have to upgrade to a paid account.

So, while there are 396 million LinkedIn users, connecting with them is not easy unless, that is, you already know them. But, fear not! There is an unspoken hero of the social media job search that allows you to instantly say hello to a person, brand or business with no previous connections.

You’re probably already an active user. You probably check it every day. And you probably never realized just how powerful it is in helping you find work from home jobs.   

I’m talking about Twitter! Yes, the hashtag-friendly platform known for #MondayMotivation and #RuinaNovelwithSocial Media is actually a smorgasbord of (legitimate) money-making opportunities. But, you’ve got to know where and how to look for them.

To do this the right way, you’ve got to do three things:

1. Follow the Right People
2. Tweet About the Right Things
3. Leverage the Power of the Hashtag

Of the last 20 freelance clients I’ve worked with, 4 of them came from Twitter. That’s 20 percent — not too bad for a few strategically placed hashtags and a couple of quick follows! Many freelancers leverage social media to get clients, but if you’re not a freelancer, fear not!

You can apply these same techniques to be in-the-know when it comes to remote jobs and increase your chances of landing a home-based job without having to submit your work from home resume to hundreds of openings.

Follow the Right People

There are 974 million Twitter accounts. You don’t have to follow them all to increase your chances of finding work from home jobs. Instead, concentrate your efforts on those accounts known for tweeting about #workfromhome jobs.

You’ll find a lot of bloggers in the work from home arena who are actively tweeting legitimate home-based job leads on a daily basis. If you’re not already, you should be following:

• @RealWaystoEarn
• @Holly_Hanna
• @WAHMRevolution
• @DHBW_Fans
• @AshleeWrites (that’s me!)

That’s just a small sampling of some of the work from home bloggers out there who tweet at least one remote job lead a day. Chances are, if there’s a legitimate home-based job out there, one of these amazing bloggers is sharing it with their followers. Follow them and your feed will soon be filled with plenty of opportunities to earn a living from home.

There’s also a number of companies that readily share their home-based job opportunities via Twitter. Some of the more popular ones are:

• @WAHCloudSource
• @AriseWorkfrHome
• @LiveOps
• @iSS_World
• @SutherlandHires

Again, this is just a drop in the bucket of all the companies out there that may be tweeting about work from home jobs at any given time, but the ones listed here routinely share their home-based jobs.

There are a number of websites that are part job board & part blog that tweet work from home jobs. These may include their direct clients that advertise with them or simply a lead they caught wind of. Either way, they are also worth following so you can be the first to know when they’ve got a new home-based job up:

• @SymmetryatWork 
• @RatRaceRebels
• @RemoteJobsOpps
• @VirtualVocations
• @flexjobs

You’ll find, the more accounts you follow, like the 15 listed here, the more work from home jobs available to you on a daily basis.

Create a Twitter List

I suggest creating a Twitter List with these accounts, and ones like them, on it. With a Twitter List, you can view that list’s timeline and see only tweets from the accounts on that list.

So, if you make a list called Work From Home Jobs, anytime you view that list, you’ll see nothing but those tweets in your feed. Neat, huh? If you’d like, you can just subscribe to my Work from Home Job Leads list which contains all of these accounts (and more!) and instantly gain access to tons of legitimate job openings!

Tweet About the Right Things

What you tweet about can make all the difference in how you’re received on social media. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good GIF and laugh so hard sometimes I cry over memes, but if you make the commitment to use social media to find a job, you’re gonna have to be more mindful of what you share.

This doesn’t mean you have to share only business-related stuff. It does mean, however, that you should put some extra thought into what goes into your tweets.

Adopt the 20% Rule

To make it easy, try to adopt the 20% rule. What’s the 20% rule? Tweet five times a day with each of those tweet’s accomplishing something specific. (1 out of 5 is 20%, hence the 20% rule).

Tweet 1: Industry News

Depending on whether you’re a web developer, customer service pro, or marketing guru this could be anything from the latest happenings of an influencer in your industry to a big development in the field. It’s a good idea to create a Google Alert with some industry-related keywords so you always have plenty of material to choose from.

Tweet 2: Retweet

You’ve got to share the love!  As you catch up on Twitter, find a tweet that really sticks out to you for whatever reason — was it funny, inspirational, thought provoking? If you find a tweet that you like, share it with others in a retweet.

Tweet 3: Something Motivational

Whether it’s a quote or a feel-good story, people love motivational tweets! Quotelicious is a good source of Twitter-friendly tweets with an easy-share button built right in.

Tweet 4: Something just for Fun

Head on over to All Top or Popurls and find something to share. Every so often, people appreciate it when something insanely funny or odd news makes it way through their feed.

Tweet 5: A self-serving Tweet

Don’t be afraid to use Twitter (sparingly!) to promote yourself. If you’re a freelancer, share examples of your work. If you’re looking for a job, ask for help! If you maintain a personal blog or portfolio of work, share links to your latest stuff. You never know who your tweet will show up in front of and, with the power of a retweet, your information could find its way in front of millions! (When’s the last time a job application worked that hard for you?)

If this sounds a bit overwhelming, I understand. Staying on top of social media can be a challenge. Consider using an automation tool, like Buffer or Hootsuite, for help. They both have free options and make it easy to keep your Twitter queue filled with fun and relevant tweets to help your job search.

Leverage the Power of the Hashtag

I can’t stress enough how useful (and powerful) hashtags are! The way to find stuff and be found on Twitter is by using search-friendly hashtags. Seriously, incorporated the right way, hashtags can do a lot of the work for you!

For me, a few strategically placed #freelance and #writer into my 140-character allotment has brought me my fair share of clients. How?

When companies, business, and brands are looking for something (or someone) in particular, they will do a search. And, nine times out of ten, they will search for a particular hashtag. So, if you’re tweeting the rights things (as mentioned above) and incorporating the right hashtags, you stand a pretty good chance of coming up in the search results.

Similarly, when you’re looking for something, like work from home jobs, you can perform a Twitter search and find everyone who’s tweeting about them:

If you need hashtag help, head on over to Hashtagify.me It’s great to find trending terms, related hashtags, and the top influencers using those terms.

It’s no secret that I love Twitter. I get lost in what’s trending and all the happenings of businesses and brands 140 characters at a time. And while Twitter can definitely be a timesuck, it’s also a valuable source of legitimate home-based jobs. Done the right way, you can incorporate a Twitter strategy that  helps you find and land a work from home job that’s right for you!

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