Being a Minneapolis native, I was spoiled with constant opportunities to network with individuals in advertising, design and other creative fields. When I came to Arkansas I had to learn to seek them out.
I network because I’ve found that through sharing with people in the industry, you get a good gauge of your level of work, are among the first to know about new job opportunities, you can feed off of one another’s ideas and you get your name out there with people that could share your work in their network.
When coming to Arkansas where there is no advertising, design or creative community I found I had to rely more on social networking to connect.
1. Blogging. Although I never had been one for blogging initially, I have found that through this blog I have made a number of connections when a post inspired debate, discussion of work or simply having them look at my personal site after reading my blog. I’ve been able to receive a lot of feedback that has inspired me to revisit my portfolio and refresh my personal brand.
2. Twitter. I’ve always been one too much prefer a face-to-face conversation to 140 characters of exchange. Yet, I’ve found that through sharing the things that I like, I’ve made connections with like-minded people that has progressed to longer conversation and collaboration over messaging and emails.
3. Linked In. Many have a profile; but, few see the value in it. I’ve found that it has been useful in two distinct ways. One, it allows for me to bookmark the people in my profession that I made a valuable connection with. Two, through using your few free emails to target individuals in your industry asking for feedback, I’ve found I’ve fostered strong connections and received great constructive criticism on my work.
Although this is by no means the only ways to connect, and not the only ways I’ve tried, I’ve found that through blogging, twitter and linked in I’ve achieved the best networking results so far. Yet my biggest piece of advice is, if you currently live in a hub of advertising and design use those networks to meet people, you’ll be glad you did.
