by Leo Wiles
24 May 2017
Quick question for you – I am not a huge fan of Facebook and haven’t installed FB messenger on my phone. Everyone around me uses it and a lot of my journo friends say it’s invaluable for them for finding people, case studies and has other features. Should I bite the bullet and download it? ZaraA year ago I would have pooh-poohed Facebook’s sidekick Messenger as an alternate communication channel for clients. But then people I had never met started contacting me asking to purchase my event images or book me for shoots through the app.
I remember when FB broke the app away from the main Facebook and pissed a lot of people off in the process, but before blindly refusing to download yet another app it is worth considering a lot of its useful features.
While the Yellow and White Pages phonebooks look like going the way of the Dodo, this instantaneous messaging service also offers over 1 billion monthly users and a quick location based search engine to track people down through their Facebook profile /page.
It can also be used as a stand-alone application without even having a Facebook account.
I get your Facebook malaise, but there are upsides to it, especially for business opportunities and transactions. Think real time conversations you can have an easy record of, the ability to share locations, photos, video, Dropbox files or news links.
But one of the best features is you can send / receive payments, Paypal-style – and this is great for business owners who have a policy of needing a deposit before starting a project. If you’re negotiating on FB Messenger, it’s an easy step to request this deposit.
Facebook owners with a business page can also respond via Messenger to anyone who comments on their page – although they can’t download your email address. One social media guru I follow says that the beauty of Messenger is that it’s a quick road to a sense of trust and intimacy, having gone through this platform and not LinkedIn.
I would be interested to hear whether or not fellow freelancers think LinkedIn or increasingly Messenger is a more important tool for contacts.
Listees – do you use Messenger? What do you think of it?
Hi Rachel & Leo,
Some good points in your blog post. A year ago I started using Facebook for work and adopted Messenger soon after. I am a regular user of Messenger for contacting people. I wouldn’t have believed it was so easy, if anyone told me. As you say, you keep a copy of your conversations for as long as you want. What it is ideal for, though, is group conversations. I’ve also found some people are more likely to respond to interview requests via messenger than using other modes – phone calls, texts. Maybe because they get a chance to check me out on social before they have to commit. I’ve also started using LinkedIn messenger in the same way I now use FB messenger.
Thanks for the feedback Jeanette. I haven’t tried it for setting up interviews but can certainly see the pros as it doesn’t have the same gatekeeper /payment required features as LinkedIn.