Monday, 14 December 2015
The importance of social media
The use of social media within your online presence is a good way to showcase and promote yourself due to that way that we live in a world dominated by the desire of want to know what people are doing and thinking with us a society glued to our phones to see what the instant news is within social groups. We are a nation of gossip hungry people and all this so found within our social media networks easily and instantly. Therefore the use of these free platforms allow us to really promote what we are doing either in everyday life or within a brand successful due to the way that they are widely used every minute of the day and night. As a result build up views for your product and helping build up a support system for yourself as a designer. Its also key to know that you need to have a professional clean online profile in all area so that people are able to build up a positive image of you as a person and therefore want to follow you/support you or higher you as you give a professional and therefore reliable feeling about you that people will respect and therefore help you go further in the industry as nobody want to work with someone that is going to be problematic, therefore by keeping a clean professional profile it can advance you. The use of an online presence also gives a customer or employee a first image of what your personality is like, therefore you need to keep it professional as first impressions really stick so are everything.
What platforms have I chosen to use
Why am I only sticking to three different platforms?
At the moment I am only doing to use the three different platforms stated above as due to that way that I am still studying the majority of my work is going to be uni based with me experimenting my style to find what as a designer I specialise in and therefore posting these on social media showcases my work yes, but it could also be confusing to my audience due to inconsistencies within my work as I am still a developing designer. By only using 3 different networks I am catering for a number of different people (as some may not have certain social media accounts or may use one less than the other) making me able to show my work to different people in different markets (as some ages and customer type may only use one area of social media) but at the same time by using only three allows me to hold back a little so that I have time to develop myself as a designer with a certain constant style therefore when this happens I will be able to send a clear message of my brand identity to the followers I have already obtained and the new clients that will approach my work and then I would feel more ready to go full power with my promotion on social media, then I would both improve and add more social media /online presence as I will be able to clearly showcase my brand identity as a consistent designer and not one that is still trying to find her footing.
Conclusion
In conclusion I have created a online presence as you will see in the following pages, these samples are my original but current profiles but with my development as a designer they will adapt and change to be able to showcase my development and hit my target market directly (something that may also change due to that way in which I am still a developing in my style and individuality as a designer) overall I feel the use of social media is so important to me to easily display my work due to the wide use of the networks mixed with the way that I am still a student so do not have the backing and finance to really promote my work, making the use of it so important to help me build up a support system as a developing artist so I can gain peoples interests and comments to aid me direct my work and therefore be as successful as possible in this competitive industry as they are able to express their likes and desires to me leading me on the right path needed to make myself saleable and the most current I can be with my style of work and speciality.
How can I improve my profile?
My portfolio at the moment is a very basic version of what you can do with the power of LinkedIn and therefore there are a lot of different thing that I can improve upon from the little pieces to the bigger issues that I need to address to make my profile reach more people within the professional industry. Below are some of them that I have created an action plan to help my portfolio within the future:
· build up my experience – as I have stated before my experience element is lacking therefore what I need to do is add to this section, therefore the way that I can go this is by gaining some internships with companies that work in print which is my chosen area of the market. Therefore the action plan is to apply to different companies to see if I could gain some experience under within the summer holidays where I will have time to commit to them. This in turn would help me develop more knowledge and understanding about the industry which is useful to hold as it will aid to my skills to make me as good as possible within what I do.
· add my connections – I need to be very focused and forward on adding to my connections to build up a network of expertise that can help me within my development as a designer, therefore the action plan is to look at different people that appeal to me and that I identify with in my area of the market (both deign based and also on the more business side) and add them to my connection list if they allow me to do, resulting me in the build up of a collection of people that can help me develop.
· follow more people –again I need to add more contacts to the people that I follow as these will showcase the area that I identify with while giving me some feedback/documents that can aid me build myself as a professional designer. The plan is to look into different groups that I feel will be beneficial to me and follow what they are doing to see if it can help me or if it effects me in any way, resulting in me moving forward in the industry where others may struggle as the people that you follow can be very insightful to the industry I am going into.
Promotion of LinkedIn
For the promotion of my LinkedIn profile it is harder to figure out due to the way that you want to appeal to the right people and not just everyone. The way that the profile is for the use of professionals and people within the industry the way to promote it is not just as simple as leaving a comment on someone’s page. Here are some of the things that I am going to do to promote my profile:
· Social media – the use of social media may not be the most professional promotional technique for me to advertise my LinkedIn on but it is a way that it could work as everyone does use it. Professional people may look for people on professional websites such as this one but they do also own a twitter and facebook therefore if I tailor/manipulate my social media to hit these professional people they may see me/ identify with me and therefore make it a point to go look at my LinkedIn page when they have more time on their hands (as social media is a quick and easy more visual platform where lined in is more document like so takes longer to look at) therefore I need to really make sure all my profiles are clean and clear to send a consistent positive brand identity to them and also cleverly use the programs especially twitter due to the way in which hash tags work to link people to target these individual that I want to view me as a professional designer. It may be a long process but hopeful this will allow me to make contact with them and open up communication with me and also the industry
.
· Keep on commenting on professional pages –by leaving an array of different comment frequently on different professional individuals pages (blogs, social media ect) hopeful they will open up communication with me by replying to my comments. By doing this it will build up some kind of recognizing so that if they are doing something and need help they will think of me and therefore get in contact by looking at my social media or finding me on my LinkedIn and therefore promoting me as I am building up a contacts that recognize what I do and that can communicate with me, which can lead to different opportunities being presented to me allowing me to gain experience and move forward as a designer.
· build up portfolio and online presence – by keeping all of my profiles linked up it may by chance direct people to my LinkedIn profile, by doing trade shows and handing out my business card with me LinkedIn address on it can leave the professional person able to visit my page at their own convenience or even if they place it in pile for future need at least they have got it for future opportunities. Sending the company emails as well with a link on it could also help act as a electronic business card but easier as they are able to just press a link and not type in the address. All in all anyway you are able to get people to look at your profile is good no matter what weird way you do it.
Conclusion
In conclusion the use of this platform is really key to present yourself as a professional in the industry with the use of key words important to build up a trend for my page to help me gain views. I do really like this networks easy and clear way of showcasing my details but I will have to make sure that I keep it up to date which may be harder due to the way that unlike social media it is not something that I use in everyday life and is not a network you do have to post things on regularly like twitter. Therefore I need to make it a point to check this profile once a week to reply to any messages I may have and so forth, but overall I think it is a really good site for the use of promoting yourself in a professional manor to the industry.
What I like about Linedin
There are several reasons why I like this professional platform and some reasons why the moment that I do not like the platform here are some bellow:
· like it because it is clear – one of the reasons that I do really like about this platform is that the profiles are all set out in this really clear way that makes it easily readable and useable to gain a great deal of knowledge about individuals on a professional level, you are able to see their development within the industry and see the elements that they have that lead them to the role they are in today meaning that you can look at yourself in comparison to see what you can do to reach their level, therefore manipulate their road to success to help develop myself further in the industry. It is clear in the way that it is all sectioned and headed so that you always know what you are reading about with the use of the key words making it understandable about what they are focused on, overall making it clear to see and to use on a professional aspect.
· like it because it is good opportunity to connect with people in the industry – this as I have mentioned before allows you to build up a professional network of people that are already in the same market as yourself that will overall help me develop and move forward while showcasing what I can do, therefore it can really open doors for me in my career as I need different opportunities to be able to succeed in the market and networking is a way in which these present themselves (due to open communications and knowledge of what is going on is presented through talk on platforms such as this one)
· One of the things that I am unsure of so do not like about the use of LinkedIn is nothing to do with the network but it’s with me as a designer myself. Due to the way that I am still studying I feel that I am a designer that is still developing so feel that I am not refined enough to be placing myself on this professional website that people do use to gain jobs on as a professional that has already succeeded in the industry and have a strong identity where I am still someone that is trying to figure out mine, but I could feel this way forever as due to my nature of being a perfectionist I feel that I will never be good enough to present myself professionally. Therefore by doing it know I have something that I van build upon when I develop and at least have a presence so that when I feel ready I already have the different elements needed and the knowledge how to use it. Also you never know what will present itself to you (job interview or opportunity) that could change everything for the positive so I know its important to just do it even if I feel I’m not ready as its always a starting point to put your foot into an industry that is so hard to get into.
For the promotion of my LinkedIn
For the promotion of my LinkedIn profile it is harder to figure out due to the way that you want to appeal to the right people and not just everyone. The way that the profile is for the use of professionals and people within the industry the way to promote it is not just as simple as leaving a comment on someone’s page. Here are some of the things that I am going to do to promote my profile:
· Social media – the use of social media may not be the most professional promotional technique for me to advertise my LinkedIn on but it is a way that it could work as everyone does use it. Professional people may look for people on professional websites such as this one but they do also own a twitter and facebook therefore if I tailor/manipulate my social media to hit these professional people they may see me/ identify with me and therefore make it a point to go look at my LinkedIn page when they have more time on their hands (as social media is a quick and easy more visual platform where lined in is more document like so takes longer to look at) therefore I need to really make sure all my profiles are clean and clear to send a consistent positive brand identity to them and also cleverly use the programs especially twitter due to the way in which hash tags work to link people to target these individual that I want to view me as a professional designer. It may be a long process but hopeful this will allow me to make contact with them and open up communication with me and also the industry.
· Keep on commenting on professional pages –by leaving an array of different comment frequently on different professional individuals pages (blogs, social media ect) hopeful they will open up communication with me by replying to my comments. By doing this it will build up some kind of recognising so that if they are doing something and need help they will think of me and therefore get in contact by looking at my social media or finding me on my LinkedIn and therefore promoting me as I am building up a contact that recognised what I do and that can communicate with me, which can lead to different opportunities being presented to me allowing me to gain experience and move forward as a designer.
· build up portfolio and online presence – by keeping all of my profiles linked up it may by chance direct people to my LinkedIn profile, by doing trade shows and handing out my business card with me LinkedIn address on it can leave the professional person able to visit my page at their own convenience or even if they place it in pile for future need at least they have got it for future opportunities. Sending the company emails as well with a link on it could also help act as an electronic business card but easier as they are able to just press a link and not type in the address. All in all anyway you are able to get people to look at your profile is good no matter what weird way you do it.
In conclusion what I really need to do for the whole of this section of online presence is to keep on working on these platforms in a number of different ways, to overall state my brand identity.
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