LinkedIn: My 7 Best Tips for Optimizing Your Page
Read the first part of this blog here: Unlocking the Power of LinkedIn for Artists: 5 Reasons Artists Must Be on LinkedIn
The Working Artist advises artists to optimize their LinkedIn page by strategically building a professional profile and actively engaging with the platform. This involves ensuring a clear profile picture, a compelling headline and summary, and detailing creative achievements like exhibitions and awards in the "Experience" section. Artists should consistently share new work and insights, participate in discussions, and join art-related groups to expand their network. Leveraging features like the "Projects" section helps artists showcase their creative and professional identity, fostering connections with art-world professionals and potential clients.
Essential Strategies You Can Do in a Week
1. Decide if LinkedIn is Right for You
You work cannot and should not appeal to “everybody” or “rich people.” This is why I always stress the importance of identifying
your audience.
You must dig deeper and you need to be honest with yourself. This isn’t the space here to discuss how you identify your audience because I’ve spoken about it in previous posts.
But consider your work and the conversations around your work. Would it make sense for you to be on LinkedIn? Are you looking to connect with professionals?
Professionals can mean art-world professionals, such as curators.
Professionals can mean people who work in the corporate world but have an interest in art and/or the conversations that your art participates in, such as the environment for example.
Professionals can mean people who work in public art or higher education or interior design or…there are all kinds of professionals…
There’s a lot of opportunity on LinkedIn if you know who you’re speaking to and what your work is speaking about.
So, your first step is to decide whether it’s worth investing the energy to LinkedIn. It’s not for everyone. If you want to give it a try, keep reading:
2. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile:
Just as you’d prepare your creative work for exhibition, your LinkedIn profile should be an unique reflection of your creative and professional identity. Think of it as a portfolio and a CV.
Start with great profile picture, one where we can see your face and you’re not hiding behind glasses and a hat looking like a hoodlum.
And pay attention to your background image too. Use this space to showcase your work.
Next, craft a headline and summary that encapsulate your creative vision with your skills and your ambitions.
Don’t forget to dig out your CV to include your exhibitions, awards, and educational background in the “Experience” section.
What should artists post on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn allows posting like every other platform. Use it to share new work, give insights into your processes, your inspirations. Announce your victories.
This means posting images, videos, or words that narrate the stories behind you and your art. The things that inform your work.
Consistency is key, so they say. So, if you’re going to make this investment, you owe it to your work to maintain a regular posting schedule.
This is how you keep your audience engaged, attract new people, and tickle the algorithm’s fancy.
How should artists engage on LinkedIn?
Artists should engage on LinkedIn by understanding it's not just for self-promotion. Like all social media platforms, LinkedIn thrives on interaction and community building, not just broadcasting your own work.
Engage with your fellow LinkedIn connections by participating in discussions, sharing interesting content, and commenting on their posts too.
Building relationships to expand your network is essential. In fact, that’s what it’s all about.
Why should artists join LinkedIn groups?
You know how much I believe in art communities. They exist on-line as well as off. And LinkedIn offers an array of groups related to art, design, and other creative industries. Join them!
At the end of this tutorial I’m going to challenge you to start taking the steps one by one. When you get to this step, you’ll research groups for artists and join at least one. You can do it! There’s real gold here!
How can artists leverage LinkedIn's unique features?
Artists can leverage LinkedIn's unique features because they are powerful tools for career development. LinkedIn offers various functionalities, such as portfolio sections, recommendations, and skill endorsements, which can significantly benefit artists.
The “Projects” section on your profile for example, allows you to highlight specific artwork or creative projects, offering a showcase opportunity. I once got a new client just hours after updating my Projects section. And he said that he contacted me after having just seen my Projects section!
And do make the effort to request recommendations from artist friends, from mentors, or even clients to add credibility and build trust. These things matter.
If you can return the favor by giving recommendations to them, even better!
In fact, I recently invested the time to give several recommendations to artists whose work had touched me, and it absolutely made my day to give praise to others for no apparent reason. Try it!
7. Promote Your Art Store or Website:
Be sure to include links to your website or online art store if you have one. Do this in the “Contact Info” section and within your posts. This is how you encourage your connections to explore your work and buy it.
Just don’t try to sell, sell, sell all the time. Social Media always works best if you give, give, give. And then sell.
After you’ve read this list, I challenge you to tackle one tip each day. Take it in baby steps so you create a thoughtful and compelling presence. It’ll make all the difference.
While it may not be the conventional choice for artists, I know from personal experience that artists can achieve real results on LinkedIn.
Always,
Crista
PS. Are you an artist with a big vision? Do you want real support in making it happen? I’m closing the doors on The Working Artist Vision Quest soon. Visit this page and book a free call with me. Let’s talk about your vision!
Written by Crista Cloutier, artist mentor + founder of The Working Artist. (learn more about Crista here)