Ever wondered how to turn scrolling through Instagram into a full-time job? You and me both, my friend. As a creator, one of our responsibilities is staying connected online. You can’t maintain a brand without maintaining an online presence, especially in the midst of a pandemic. However, it can be hard to turn online followers into meaningful friendships or connections for future jobs. What a lot of people don’t realize is that connections on social media offer potential. Your followers don’t just boost your profile, they can be used to show businesses or other employers that you offer something of value as an employee. These are my thoughts on how to network on social media.
Be Bold
I have spent more time than I would care to admit reaching out to strangers on the internet. I’ll admit that I don’t have a large following on Instagram, and I’m not even active on Twitter. I haven’t opened Facebook in months. Given that, it may sound strange that I’m writing an article about networking on social media. But hear me out: with more and more social media users wondering how they can maintain their health on social media, there are just as many wondering how they can use their profiles to show off their skills.
Here’s the thing: companies want young, tech-savvy individuals such as yourself to work for them. They need you. None of those old corporate farts can make heads or tails of a Twitter feed, so that’s where you come in. If you have created your online presence into something you’re proud of, you can and absolutely should reach out to someone and let them know that. If your job search isn’t going as well as you thought it would (hello, me), then ask yourself if you’re really using your network. Being bold by taking the first step with reaching out to someone could be the difference between staying unemployed and landing a job you’re actually excited about.
Connect and Collaborate
EVERYONE, and I mean everyone has received some sort of message on Instagram from a bot or “business” or what have asking to collab with them. Ignore those. You don’t want to collab with someone who leaves a comment on a picture of you eating a taco. However, you do want to collaborate with other folks who are doing similar things to what you’re doing. Do you want to make your living on OnlyFans? You sure can. Reach out to an influencer with a large following whose pictures you like. This is another way to be bold. What’s the worst thing that could happen? They could say no and then you both move on with your life. That’s it. On the other hand, what if you reach out to them and they say yes they absolutely do want to collab with you? You never know until you try. At the very least you will get some helpful tips from a successful creator.
Try Something New
This one is tricky because there’s a balance to it. You don’t want to stray too far from your brand. That might throw people off and cause people to become uninterested in your content. But, if you post too much of the same thing then people will get bored. Perhaps you picked up a new hobby during quarantine, or found out about a cool new way to enjoy your morning coffee on TikTok, whatever it is, don’t be afraid to share that with your followers! By showing people that you’re willing to try new things, you’re showing off your ability to adapt to situations that are in flux. That’s a good thing. People, especially people looking to hire you, want to see that you can switch up your skill-set. Get creative, babes. It could pay off!
Paris Hilton may have convinced us that social media is for showing off your selfies, and she’s not wrong. If you want to spend your time online doing that, I’m all for it. I’ll probably even follow you. However, social media can offer us really valuable skills that can take us far in life. These are tips that I’ve used to network on social media, and more often than not they have proved to be successful. Let us know what you think of these tips in the comments!
Featured photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
