In the second of this weeks posts for Week 9 of The Twelve Week Challenge we’ll be looking at Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube & Flickr.
These are just a select few of the online communities available to help you make connections, network and market yourself. Knowing which to choose is often a key stumbling block…should you be on Facebook? Do you need a LinkedIn profile? How will YouTube help your business?
This week is all about launching yourself into the world of online social networking…
This Week’s Task: Part 2
- Decide which social networks fit best with your illustration business
- Set up your profiles & get connecting
This Week’s Advice
Many people get their knickers in a twist when it comes to social networking. They dive in with both feet, getting everything wrong and then loudly declare “This doesn’t work”. Or they don’t even bother trying, dismissing it as “Not for me” without stopping to figure out whether it could indeed be a valuable tool for their business.
It’s really very simple to decide whether:
- You should use online social networking for your illustration business
- Which communities you should join
Just ask yourself this: Where are my potential clients (Art Directors, Publishers) and or customers (purchasers of your prints, self published books, hand made merchandise etc.)?
This is where you need to be too.
As with part 1 of this weeks task, it is well worth customising your profile wherever you decide to join – you don’t want to get labelled a spammer. Remember that the whole point of participating on social media networks is to make connections, make friends and interact with your people.
While many people will tell you it’s not to sell, it is (let’s not kid ourselves that the vast majority of us are also part of these networks for personal branding and self promotional purposes).
What people mean by this however is that you will find it a waste of time joining the networks and simply out & out selling your services to people there. As with any successful relationship, you need to put in the time & effort to get to know people first and in many cases, selling then becomes a by-product of your relationships – but it’s not the primary motivator.
Why you need to get started on all of this NOW!
There’s a reason why we’re getting you to join these networks now and not right at the end of the challenge…
When the time comes that you have your website ready for launch or are about to send out your first promotional mailers, won’t it be beneficial to have already started making contacts, forging relationships and connecting with people interested in your illustration services?
That’s the reason why it’s worth getting started on this now…you need to be marketing yourself & your illustration business and making connections now, before you launch.
It’s really a win-win situation so before you dismiss social networking as something not relevant to you or your business, ask yourself where else you’ll be able to connect and build relationships with other illustrators and prospective clients halfway round the world?
Suggested Resources
- Article on WebWorkerDaily: How To Convert Your Facebook Superfans Into Brand Ambassadors
- Article by Lewis Howes: How To Rank Higher on LinkedIn In Your Niche
- Article on WebWorkerDaily: 34 Ways To Use YouTube for Business
- Article on Linked Intelligence: 100+ Smart Ways To Use LinkedIn
- ‘Tutorial Of The Week’ on Escape From Illustration Island: Using LinkedIn to Find New Contacts
- Mari Smith’s blog: Facebook Tips & Facebook for Business categories
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