Building A Career via Social Media
There seems to be next to nothing that cannot be done through social media. Whether you’re an aspiring chef, content creator, graphic artist, real estate agent, model, a philanthropist, or even a writer like me, there’s ample opportunity and space on various social media platforms for you to build your career and make your mark in the virtual world.
Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn or Instagram – all existing social media platforms have that one thing in common and it is social interaction. Let’s face it, no career could or would exist without social interaction, so its important to recognize first-off how you can use that to your advantage and build a career around and with it.
At the initial stages, pick out which platforms you’d like to have a presence on and then lay out the benefits that would suit your career path the most from each of these platform. It isn’t necessary to be on every single social media platform; and mind you that would take a lot of screen time and dedication. A few of them can be linked to one another so when one of the accounts are updated, the same information is updated on the linked platforms. This way, you won’t be spending too much time going to each of these platforms and have to upload multiple posts every time.
I wouldn’t recommend crowd-funding so it’s important to be able to self-fund the career you want to create and build. Invest in some good hours to create your brand. Your brand is what will represent you on social media. Come up with a good name, a logo that stands out and most of all aim to create an online presence that represents the work you do. Understand that you need to create a virtual experience that would make viewers want to come back to your profile. This may mean you’d need to hire someone to take professional photographs, a graphic designer to create posts or even a content writer or social media manager but it’s up to you to decide how much you want to invest.
I believe it’s important to create a virtual lifestyle that others would aspire to have and by this I mean, to create a profile that is also aesthetic pleasing and also keep your interaction with others online humble and friendly. A cluttered profile with a lot of jargon and hazardous behaviour online would only keep others from not wanting to come back to your profile let alone interact with you. Keep things simple, easy to access and visually pleasing to the eye. Create meaningful posts that would inspire others. Be the voice that spreads goodwill, support and positivity. And most of all, be you. Authenticity is very rare on social media nowadays so enough with the fake posts and comments.
Life on social media is not all hearts and roses; it can be pretty cut throat and competitive. Everyone that has access to internet and a mobile phone has the ability to create a presence online and careers are rapidly being built as we speak. You may think there may be not much to define and make you stand apart from others alike but as said, if you continue to be authentic and create meaningful visually appealing content online, you will create a community that will keep coming back to you.
Good luck!