In this episode we talk about how using social media for designers. Social media can be powerful for landing new clients, building your brand, and making career-defining connections. It doesn’t need to be daunting, as we break down some of the best ways to get started, and get traction on your social platforms.
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Show Notes for This Episode:
[1.00] The possibilities using social media as a designer are endless
[2.15] A look at Ian’s prolific following on Instagram
[3.50] The importance of understanding how your audience will vary on different platforms
[6.00] Do the returns of social media justify the time?
[8.00] We all have different backgrounds in social
[10.00] How Ian lands big projects via Instagram
[12.00] Portfolio websites aren’t as important as they used to be, now social media exists
[13.00] Appearing natively where people’s attention is
[14.00] Posting natively on your Facebook feed vs linking out somewhere else
[16.15] Understand a platform’s users, and use this to dictate which platforms you use for your business
[17.40] Should you put only your best work out there?
[18.15] Put out the kind of work you want to be hired for
[18.40] The importance of showing your process shots on social
[19.45] If you have multiple things happening in your life (which we all do) do you share all of these on social?
[20.45] The importance of humanising yourself
[22.35] People hire people they trust
[23.40] How to share your personality more on social
[24.55] How Tom pretty much defined Ian’s social career ? (humble brag!)
[26.00] How we all start off awkward when putting ourselves out there
[27.20] You naturally become more comfortable by simply doing it!
[28.45] Ian is starting to see benefits from starting on new platforms (even though it starts slowly!)
[29.15] It’s all about if the RIGHT person sees your content on social
[31.15] The power of influencer marketing
[33.00] Imagine all of your social profiles going away
[35.00] Why should you allocate your time to social? (what are the key benefits?)
[37.00] The importance of speed and patience
[39.00] The importance of documenting what you’re doing, rather than aspiring to be perfect
[40.00] Don’t be afraid to be rough in your work, people love following the process
[41.00] Putting out content becomes addictive
[42.30] The struggling of knowing what to post on various platforms, and how to juggle it all
[44.00] Don’t worry about perfect content strategy on all platforms, just get started
[45.00] Start establishing a body of work online
[47.00] Start looking for reoccurring themes in your audience’s comments
[48.15] Everything really comes down to just starting
[49.00] Quick fire tips for improving your social content as a designer
[56.00] Don’t give up, you need to play the long game with your social strategy
[56.50] You can’t shortcut social media
[59.00] Some closing thoughts about social
“A must for every creative freelancer (or those aspiring to freelance). Thank you for being so… honest! Such a wealth of information from people I admire who have ‘been there and done that’. Listening to the podcast every week feels like I’m among friends. Can’t wait for more episodes!” – AG_GD
This was awesome. I’ve found all the possible social media options to be somewhat overwhelming. I’ve recently taken on a position as creative director for a new magazine and have begun to dive in deeply, lol. I found this episode to be very helpful and cleared up a few confusions for me as well as gave me a couple of ideas. Thanks!
I’ve bookmarked your podcast and listen to it while I do my workout. ;) It’s made that hour just so much more fun!
Hey Robin, thanks so much for getting in touch and for your great feedback. We’re happy to hear that you’ve found this useful for tackling your social media strategy. Great to hear that is also making your workout more enjoyable. ?
Hey Guys! A bit late to listening to this one… just listening to the taking the credit part, where you don’t like to be like ‘hey I made this’ I too don’t like to do this but whats worse is working as an in-house designer for not a design company and other ‘marketing people’ taking credit for your work… thoughts on this? Another topic for the ‘why being a designer sucks’ podcast perhaps :)
Hey Di
It’s never too late ?. We’re happy to hear that you’re catching up with the Honest Designers Show. We can totally relate to this and it’s never a great feeling when someone else takes credit for your work. I will run this past our hosts and see if they can cover this topic in more detail in a future episode. Thanks ?
Hey Travis,
This font has been hand drawn by Ian Barnard especially for the Honest Designers logo, so isn’t available to be purchased just yet I am afraid!
It is however high in demand, so we will definitely let Ian know how much you like it and if it does become available for you to pick up, you guys will be the first to know :)
What script font is that it the honest designers logo or is it custom made? It’s killer!
Funny coincidence: Like Lisa, I’m not very comfortable on social media etc., but because Ian was being very convincing on the importance of consistency, I paused the audio and made the effort to post something (anything!) on my Instagram about my latest font. So I did: I posted the letter Z with the anchor points showing (something I’ve always enjoyed seeing in other posts). Then I came back to the podcast, only to hear about the anchor points tip. I started laughing out loud. Anyway, thank you so much for the podcast and the valuable tips. I’ll do my best to follow every single one of them.
Hey Milena,
Great minds think alike! We are so happy that you felt inspired to do this and great choice in what to post too :D thanks so much for tuning in and we really hope that you’ll enjoy listening :)