We’ll let you in on a secret, New York Gal! Potential employers, partners, or clients look at far more than your resume. As young professionals who have spent time on the job hunt recently, we can vouch for this! Marketing yourself goes beyond past experiences and education level. Nowadays, most online applications ask for social media and portfolio links. Do you list hairstyling as your expertise? Prove it! People will want to see photos, videos, and testimonials.
Chances are you already have personal accounts on some of the below platforms. Now is the time to take a step back, identify your niche, and elevate your accounts to fit that unique persona! Whether you’re contemplating a career change, seeking to gain more clients, or want to reach a larger audience, consider the following tools for successfully marketing yourself.
Instagram is the best visual representation of yourself. If your account is “public” it should include attractive and good quality photos. It’s advantageous to have a theme, i.e. fashion, travel, landscapes, or lifestyle photos, all in similar filters.
Avoid quotes, promos, or any kind of graphics that would break up the aesthetic. Keep it photo or video-based so that the mosaic is visually appealing, compliments your style, and aligns with your personality. It’s as easy as removing the unrelated posts and creating content with the same filter moving forward.
Facebook works best when it’s used as a platform to communicate and interact with others. This is the place to include those graphics, inspirational quotes, events, or thoughts, but they should be relevant to your personal branding.
It’s also important to respond to other posts, share, like, and comment. This is the first step to engaging in a community and building a strong network. Facebook profiles should include logos, appropriate photos, websites, links to other relevant material, as well as testimonials and reviews. We also know that sometimes heated conversations can take place, but we highly recommend removing any contentious material that could distract from your brand.
Consider this your virtual “living” resume. Similar to your paper resume, your LinkedIn profile should include past positions alongside brief descriptions. Take advantage of the additional dashboard features and add any relevant skills, endorsements, and interests. Don’t forget you are marketing yourself!
We’ve all seen some interesting profile photos, but a safe bet is to stick to a high-resolution professional headshot. We also suggest becoming active on LinkedIn’s feed, posting information about your work accomplishments, those of your company, or good quality content that will speak to like-minded professionals. It may initially feel boastful, but this is the place to self-promote so don’t think twice!
TikTok
This isn’t relevant for everyone, but if you’re in the film or creative industry, having a TikTok is an easy way to showcase a specific skill. With just one app, creators can showcase videos that attract and connect with audiences around the world in less than 60 seconds. This is an opportunity to unveil fun and informative original content about yourself and your brand. We’re also here to tell you that this has the greatest risk to reward ratio as the newcomer!
See also: Influencer Culture Prevails: The New Viral Creators Emerging During Quarantine
Blogs
Blogs can be viewed as an extensive writing sample. Even if it’s a personal blog or an irrelevant topic, it should demonstrate your personality and writing style. This is when your passion should shine through.
Share stories, tips, or information that will inspire and educate your readers. Future employers, partners, or clients will want to see that excitement and dedication!
Pinterest may look like a mood board, but it can be a powerful marketing tool. If you have original content already, i.e. blogs, videos, recipes, etc, most of the work is done! We suggest creating a business account with a strong description and keywords that will set the right tone. Then it’s just a matter of creating a pin: the header image, a brief description, and a link to the original content.
The repinning feature is an easy way to gain recognition with a specific audience. Personally, we saw a lot of engagement and don’t think Pinterest is one to ignore! It can increase brand exposure, reinforce your expertise, and cause a compelling ripple effect throughout the community.
Write for Another Source
One of the best ways to validate your professional expertise is to submit a relevant article or guest post to a magazine, newspaper, or blog. For example, a hairstylist could write a review piece about a new salon product and a video producer could write an article about why short-form movies are the future.
Sourcing tools like Haro and JustReachOut help connect journalists with the experts providing background information. Even a well-thought-out quote can support your brand and increase your credibility. Trust us, it’s a nice feeling to know others are seeking out your expertise.
Portfolio
Last but not least, when you’ve successfully accumulated a visual board or published articles, creating a portfolio is a smart way to assemble everything together. It can be as simple as screenshotting the digital posts into a Word document.
We recommend making sure that the words are legible, lined up correctly and each page has a header similar to the one in your resume for consistency. Then convert into a pdf and insert it into a Google Doc. That way you have your work ready to go and can attach or link to it without breaking a sweat!
Keeping Up with the Times
Marketing yourself changes with the times, and we have to admit, it’s not always easy keeping up! In 2020, social media, blogs, and guest posts can be a fantastic way to successfully market yourself. Instead of just listing your accomplishments, think of these as tools to show off your work.
It’s important to stay true to yourself, but follow a niche and stay consistent with the theme and style across all channels. Done correctly, these platforms offer an opportunity to be authentic, unique, and stand out amongst your peers or other candidates. Though it may seem arduous initially, we know it pays off!
