February 12, 2025
How to promote and build your creative business without using social media

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Whichever social media platform you visit, you may have noticed a dearth of posts from your favorite creatives lately and more time-wasting chatter from random people. If so, it’s probably partly the fault of the algorithms, which seem to continually push towards more and more irrelevant content. But it is also absolutely undeniable that at least creatives are posting on social media.

It may just be a fluke, but it sounds like a landmark change to me. I first connected with Twitter in 2008, when I was working on a web design magazine, and the web development community had fully embraced it as their network of choice. The spirit of everyone who was there was friendly and creative, and it was a great place to be inspired by new work and ideas, not to mention make contacts (which often turned out to be proper friends in real life).

For illustrators, graphic designers, animators, and photographers, other platforms like Instagram have served a similar purpose. But the party couldn’t go on forever and almost two decades later, most of us are tired of it. And if we’re being honest, some of us are quietly letting our social accounts languish.

It’s not that we’ve formally canceled or given up on these platforms, and we probably never will. And we’ll still be posting something from time to time. But for most of us, it is no longer central to our working lives.

digital burnout

Recently, we delved deeper into the question: Is social media over for self-promotion? The short answer is: faster, yes. And the reasons are pretty well documented by now.

We are all tired of the constant pursuit of clicks, likes and other confirmations, which is terrible for our mental health. On a more practical level, we’re not getting the same kind of connectedness, and it becomes a vicious cycle as more of us socialize and stop interacting with each other. Plus, there are a lot of networks to keep up with these days, with the launch of Mastadon, Blue Sky, Threads, etc.

The most basic thing is that we are all facing digital burnout. And especially after the pandemic, getting things done in real life becomes what we have always needed. Not only psychologically, but career wise as well. Because while platforms like Twitter have fostered new connections for many years, we’ve learned that it’s actually word-of-mouth recommendations or networking opportunities that have yielded the best results.

In short, today we are asking what does social media mean from a work perspective? If it’s to continue feeling connected to the creative community, that’s fine (and we’d like you to keep doing that via our own Twitter; sorry, we can’t bring ourselves to say ‘X’ ). But if it’s to promote itself, then maybe it’s really time to put our efforts elsewhere.

then how can do Are you building your freelance creative business off of social media? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Get Networking IRL

First, and most obviously, you need to start going out in the real world. These days, you don’t have to live in London to meet fellow creative professionals. Wherever you live, there will certainly be fellow-kind people, even in rural areas; You may just have to put in some extra effort to find them and maybe form your own group.

Either way, aim to book at least two networking events a month and come with a smile and a desire to make new connections.

2. Email people!

Second, start contacting customers and potential customers directly. Yes, there was a time when posting something cool on social media would make people flock to you, but unless you’re incredibly talented or very lucky, that doesn’t work for most of us. Therefore, focus on alternative strategies. For example, send an email to existing customers, share news of something that could affect their business, and proactively offer solutions. It could be as little as asking them what they want to do about becoming the X of Twitter.

As far as potential clients go, find people you’d love to work for, write them a nice note explaining why you’re such a fan, and suggest ways you can make their business better and better. Can help you be more successful. Who wouldn’t want to receive such a message? Even if they aren’t interested right now, they may spread your name to others.

Is email being ignored? Maybe try sending a physical mailout. This is how we used to do things in the “old days”, and people still prefer to receive something physical and personal via the post.

3. Build Your Own Platform

Third, invest some time in building and developing your own proprietary platform, such as a website, newsletter or blog. Yes, it takes effort, but remember how much effort it is to post regularly on multiple social platforms. And there, you don’t even own your content or how it’s presented to others: platforms do and can block it, shadow-restrict it, or even remove it if they wish. Are.

In contrast, by creating your own platform, you have full control and ownership of your content, and your followers will always get to see everything you wanted. For more information, see our article on how to promote yourself through blogging

4. Optimize Your Website for Google

Fourth, don’t forget SEO. Google can drive massive amounts of traffic to your website or blog if you set it up correctly and add inspirational and useful posts on a regular basis. It’s not about keyword stuffing; It’s about making your content relevant to your audience and doing some technical things to ensure Google can access and rank it accordingly on its search pages, such as adding descriptive alt text to images.

This will attract more organic and relevant traffic than the chaos of social media, making it easier for potential customers to find you. Get started with this guide to SEO from UX Collective.

5. View Locally

Ultimately, it’s often easier to find work closer to home. Let friends and family know you’re available for work, and encourage them to spread the word. Visit your favorite local businesses and explain that you are available to help them. Often, you may find that you are the first designer/illustrator/photographer etc. that they approach, so you may be pushing against an open door.

6. Ask for Testimonials and Reviews

It doesn’t matter how much marketing spin you put on your website; The balancing act of really encouraging people to book your services is hearing from other customers how happy they are with you. So ask for testimonials and reviews from everyone you have worked for in the past and currently.

As long as they’re five-star, put them on your website and in your newsletter and maybe even put a small one in the footer of your emails. If they’re not, at least you’ll have the opportunity to get useful feedback on what to do better in the future. And the act of asking for testimonials often reminds past customers that you exist and prompts them to book you again!

All of these ideas may sound a bit basic and even boring. And we have to admit, many of them take some effort to put into practice, and you won’t get an instant endorphin hit of likes and comments from your social followers.

But when it comes to actually getting you customers who pay the bills, trust us: They’ll do a much better job. And at a time when rent, bills and food prices are rising, it will ultimately make you feel a lot better than fleeting but ultimately meaningless social media interactions of fun.

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