Last week I mentioned on Twitter that I thought designers and crafters should be on LinkedIn. Almost everyone seemed to disagree with me. The overwhelming question was, “Why?” Why be on LinkedIn if you’re not looking for a job? Why have a LinkedIn profile if you’ve already got a website and a blog?
I knew I wanted to explain why, but I also knew I needed some help to do it right. I reached out to my friend, Meighan O’Toole, to see what she had to say about LinkedIn for creatives.
Meighan is a digital strategist who helps artists and makers find and develop their voice online. In her spare time she hosts What’s Your Story, an interview-style podcast dedicated to the professional and personal journeys of artists. She lives and works in Boston, MA, and comes over to my house sometimes to hang out and talk business with me.
Here’s Meighan on LinkedIn for the self-employed:
As a designer or craft industry professional I recommend having a LinkedIn profile and keeping it up to date, even if you’re not looking for a job. I’ve found that LinkedIn isn’t only about a job search. It’s about having a professional presence online with all of your experience in a single place, in a standard format that’s easily accessible for those interested in learning more about your work experience.
LinkedIn allows people to find you and connect with you on a professional level that Facebook, Twitter, or even a blog just isn’t built to do. A LinkedIn profile is a resume with areas not only for education and work history, but for side projects, volunteer work, blog posts, awards, professional organizations and more. Not to mention there’s a place for recommendations from friends, customers, and colleagues as well. Even if you’re not formally trained in what you’re doing now, it’s beneficial to show what sort of training or work experience you have that led to your current role.
It’s also worth saying, because LinkedIn is billed as a professional site there is a different feel and vibe on the site. There are no personal family pictures, no griping or snarkiness, no curated images of that beautiful coffee. It’s strictly a professional networking site — and people keep it professional. Keeping with that vein, LinkedIn is no longer just for the 9-5 professional set. Individuals from all industries are represented there.
Abby and I spoke with a few self-employed designers to ask how they use LinkedIn. Designer Anne Weil explained she keeps an updated LinkedIn profile “so I am able to reach out to connect with other bloggers and brands about collaborations and partnerships. It’s not about the resume per se, but about having a presence from the business side. It, along with the other profiles you have, create the full picture. You can be approached easily and professionally by whomever is interested and through whatever method they choose.”
Independent toy and product designer and CreativeLIVE instructor, Lauren Venell, sees another benefit as well. “I mostly use it for research–to see who can introduce me to someone I’d like to contact, or to see who else is interested in what I’m doing. I don’t have a premium account, so I can’t see exactly who’s viewing my profile, but this past month it included two journalists, two publishers, two designers and one person from the arts and crafts industry–all of which is useful info I can’t get from my web site analytics.”
When I mention LinkedIn to creatives they often say, “Ugh, who needs another social network?!” Fair point. Being on every single social media site takes away precious time you could devote to your work. The thing with LinkedIn is that you can keep your profile updated and rarely have to spend time there otherwise. I check in on mine every few weeks for notifications (I have turned off all emails from LinkedIn due to the ungodly amount they send – learn how to do that here), add important clips or freelance jobs and I always ask my clients to leave me a recommendation, but otherwise I don’t spend a lot of time there.
Having a LinkedIn profile just gives a presentation of what I offer professionally, and a way for people to get a holistic idea about who I am, verify what kind of experience I have, and learn about what services I can provide. It’s presented in a format that’s familiar and consistent from profile to profile making it easy to access and take in. That’s it!
LinkedIn is just a larger piece of the puzzle of who you are online. It gives people a very specific idea of you as a professional — whatever your specific work is. I personally believe if you’re running a business online it behooves you to have an up-to-date profile. It only takes a few minutes to set up and you never know when opportunity will knock, or how a connection can be made. Having a profile on LinkedIn ensures you catch those connections, it’s that simple.
Connect with Meighan on LinkedIn here.
And check out my LinkedIn profile here.
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How are you feeling about LinkedIn? How are you using it now (if at all)? Do you think it might be worthwhile to set up a profile?
I feel like you failed to address the main points I saw brought up on Twitter against using LinkedIn. This post was written with the assumption that creatives must be looking for more work with other people (all of the examples you gave were about this even if they weren’t looking for a new job) and that the people they want go network with are already on LinkedIn. I already know that most people in my industry aren’t on there, so I’m still not seeing an argument here for its usefulness for networking, and I’m also not seeing how it’s useful for people who aren’t searching for more work or more people to work with.
The site is only as useful as the people who use it. You’ve mentioned that you like to use it to research the people you write about, so I can see why you’d like more people to be on there, but it just doesn’t offer much for a lot of creatives.
You’re right that I do use LinkedIn as a source when I’m researching people in the process of writing a story. I think I’m not the only one who uses LinkedIn, among many other sites, in that way.
If you find that the people in your industry that you’d like to connect with aren’t there, you’re probably right that you don’t need to be either. I find it to be useful to be there, but it is not for everyone for sure. You’re certainly welcome to disagree with me and Meighan.
I just took a look on LinkedIn to see if there might be some knitwear designers there and there are! Here’s my search results: https://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/p?type=all&keywords=knitwear&orig=FSUGG&rsid=3485738521425571944507&pageKey=voltron_federated_search_internal_jsp&search=Search&openFacets=N,G,CC&f_I=111
Hi Andi, thanks for reading the post and for your thoughts. I really believe if you feel like your community is not on there — don’t join. But my feeling, and I think I did convey it in this post, is that if you are open to connections and opportunities for yourself and/or your business why not have a profile there? I disagree with your point that “This post was written with the assumption that creatives must be looking for more work with other people (all of the examples you gave were about this even if they weren’t looking for a new job)” I address within the first 2 paragraphs that it’s not just about looking for work. Its a way to share your professional life as well as side projects, volunteer opps, and more. It’s also a way to stay connected and learn about what is happening within spaces you may not see via the other sites we visit and our blogs. It’s simply not about just looking for a job. I also demonstrated that with the 2 examples I gave: ways to use the site that don’t imply looking for work. You need to be true to you, and what feels right. But I think, and it’s why I agreed to write this post, that it can be very beneficial for some people. Look, I get it. If you don’t feel like anyone within your industry is on there — of course, why would you join? That is just not my experience, and I wanted to share that.
It’s interesting you assume that I don’t have a profile. I do have a LinkedIn profile from a previous career, so I do have some experience with it, and that’s why I’m comfortable saying it’s not useful. I wouldn’t recommend it as good use of time for other people in my field. The only time I’ve been contacted through it has been about my old work that’s listed on my resume, not my current work.
I should say a previous point in my career. I do have an up-to-date profile that includes the work I’m doing now.
I apologize for assuming, I should have just referred to you having no use for it. I was more referring to your overall argument ie: no use to be on it/no use to use it. As I am sure you know, sometimes it’s hard to convey a thought 100% accurately in a comment.
We have both had experiences on there, I have had many experiences and interactions that have been beneficial for me and my career, you haven’t. I am also in a different field, just as many people within Abby’s community are. Your experience is that it doesn’t work for *you.* I am sure people will read your comments, and take that into consideration as well. Thanks for taking a minute to share it!
So you are basically saying that LinkedIn is a online CV?
Exactly.
I’ve been reading your blog for awhile and find many of the posts to be interesting and insightful, so I’m not just here as a hater. However, I find this post and many of your tweets on the subject do not acknowledge the full reason why many people are resistant to joining linkedin. If so many crafters are against it, there must be a reason, right? I find their constant emails of “X wants you to join linkedin!” with no way to make them stop without joining the site aggressive and incredibly irritating. I have made connections with collaborators and customers through facebook, instagram, twitter, ravelry, and my own website. I feel that you did not make a strong case for what linkedin could provide that those other social media networks don’t.
also, as someone who has a full-time job in addition to a small craft business I prefer to keep those worlds distinct from each other. I am not aware if linkedin allows you to have separate identities on their site but that would be another reason why I wouldn’t want to join. I already am on linkedin for my day job (which believe me, was not my idea) and I wouldn’t want those contacts to see a resume with craft publications on it.
I think that’s totally fine. LinkedIn is not for everyone. If you’d rather not be there for your craft business, by all means skip it. I was hoping to express with Meighan that it’s not hard to create a profile and that your profile can be one piece of a larger professional puzzle. If that’s not a piece you’d like to have, that’s no problem.
I followed this on Twitter as well. I had been dodging LinkedIn for awhile but recently hired a career coach to help me transition from my current career (law) to something else. She said no matter what I wanted to do it was imperative to join. I was hesitant to combine my day and night jobs but am willing to see how it goes.
That’s interesting that a career coach feels that no matter what career path you choose you should be on LinkedIn. I would like to hear more from a career coach about the reason behind that. It seems that the majority of crafters feel very strongly that LinkedIn is not only totally useless, but even invasive. I don’t feel that way, but I am clearly in the minority.
I have had a LinkedIn profile for a really long time and only recently updated it and actually tried to be a little more active. I am not actively looking for a job but I am interested in having a professional platform where people can view what I have done and possibly contact me with collaboration ideas or other projects. Just because you aren’t looking for a job doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there looking for you!
Plus you’re right, it doesn’t require much work to keep a profile active and then if you do need it, you have it! Basically, I don’t see the downside to it. I like that it isn’t a social platform that requires you to go and comment, you can be a passive participant. I go on once or twice a week and just look at my suggested connections (I’ve seen you pop up!) and just see if there’s anything going on.
I can understand people not wanting to get started with another social network, but it definitely isn’t something to be afraid of!
Rebecca,
That is exactly how I feel. You just never know how an opportunity can develop, and what’s the downside? Like you said, none. What I really enjoy about LinkedIn is that I can check in once a week or every couple of weeks without that terror of social media breathing down my neck of having to be so active in there. Thanks for your experience, I think it’s so smart to have an open mind about what these sites can offer.
I’ve had a LinkedIn profile for a few years now and while I really do agree with it in theory, I can honestly say it has done nothing for my career. As far as I can see, no-one has looked at my profile other than friends, no-one has got in touch with me and they send me emails about vacancies for jobs I am supremely underqualified for. I try to keep my profile updated but don’t feel I want to ‘connect’ with people I have nothing in common with, so perhaps I am not using the facility to my advantage. I’ll keep it up as I think having a business presence is a worthwhile thing, but I am disappointed in the results so far. I think as a creative, this is possibly not the right marketplace for my wares – I make most of my money from commissions and I don’t think anyone requiring a painting or a piece of knitting is going to trawl through LinkedIn to find an artist somehow!
Hi Caroline,
Have you connected with people within your industry? I know for me that LinkedIn became a much more interesting place the few times I visit it now once I connected with artists, art directors, art writers, etc. I found articles that helped broaden my horizon (and ones that I just found shareable and interesting, learned of new publications, as well as what my contemporaries were up to within the community. I’d need to know more about exactly what your goals are before I offered advice on what you might be doing there to make it worth your while. My experience has been that LinkedIn is more than just about jobs for me. Would love to hear what you are looking for specifically.
Hi Meigs,
I’m a bit vague to be honest – I’ve just jacked in the day job in order to go freelance as an artist/knitter/crafter. I think perhaps I was hoping LinkedIn would lead to commissioned work. I haven’t really pursued it with any energy before, but now maybe I should. For the time being I am ticking over with a long standing commission plus other private work, but there is always the fear of what happens if those avenues dry up. I find LinkedIn a bit difficult to navigate – possibly because I haven’t made the effort!
Caroline,
I find that the hardest thing is navigating a new platform, but once you use it it becomes more natural. I would suggest you share your work, get involved with groups or others postings, search out people within your industry. As with anything, it takes time and energy. Good luck with your new endeavor, it is so exciting to leave a job for your own gig!
So how does one “connect” with people on LinkedIn? I have had a profile for a few years now – for my “day job”, not knitting – and it’s done nothing for me. I did join a professional editing group and found it a total waste of time. I hate LI almost as much as Facebook but see it as a professional necessity for many careers… knitting not being one of them.
It is interesting to hear how it works for other creatives, but I feel strongly that the knitting and crochet community is so Ravelry-centric, LI doesn’t offer us anything. It’s true of course that many knitters aren’t on Ravelry, but I imagine knitting professionals absolutely are, and that (and Twitter) are where networking happens. The fact that some designers may also have LI profiles doesn’t really constitute a draw for me.
One other point: I may be looking at this wrong but I feel like LI is not structured in a way that necessarily works for people with portfolio careers, which makes me reluctant to add more of my knitting-related experience to my profile. If I were ready to renounce all interest in non-yarny editing work, fine. But I know many of the people I’ve worked with in the past thought my knitting web shop, design work etc were a bit peculiar, to put it mildly. When I imagine a potential client or employer in, say, the finance industry seeing knitting all over my CV… that would not make me stand out in the right way.
Woollythinker (I like your handle!)
I think you have some really valid points. I really believe not every platform is for everyone. I firmly believe that you need to pay attention to what works for you. I also love that you bring up the portfolio aspect. I think they are really working to figure out better ways for people to display their “work” what ever that is — but LI is definitely not there for the visual artists. To answer your question about connecting the way in which I work is I connect with people I have worked with in some capacity or networked with – artists I have covered or their work I enjoy, gallery owners I have worked with or responded with, industry people I either admire their work, worked with, engaged with on social. It takes work, it’s not easy to build a community for sure.
I really appreciate you weighing in and offering your own experience.
Ah, by “portfolio career” I really meant people who work a variety of different “jobs” rather than one full-time endeavour – but the visual aspect too, definitely. 🙂
Oh yes! So true! I have a pretty varied career as well. They do have all these “sections” that you can add on to your profile — but I think they really leave one wanting. I’d love to see side projects, a visual portfolio, trade shows, and more. 🙂
I have not tapped into Linkedin, but I do think it will be helpful for me. I want to work with homeschoolers, bringing art into litereacy.
I was wondering, if I post an article on Linkedin, can it just be a copy of one of my blog posts, or does it have to be unique to Linkedin?
Thanks, Abby, I just discovered your podcast about a month ago, and enjoy it so much!
Lucy
You can hook up your LinkedIn page with your blog’s feed so that every blog posts is automatically posted there. I don’t think I would take the time to create original content for LinkedIn, but auto-posting your blog posts there is a good idea.
Hi Lucy,
Abby is right – you can auto-post to LinkedIn, and you can also cut and paste and post there. LinkedIn know has a blogging dashboard for you to post natively within their platform. that gives a pretty succinct walkthrough. Good luck!
Hi Abby,
Thanks! I had pretty much given up on LinkedIn, because I wasn’t sure if it was worthwhile, but I have decided to give it another chance! I obviously wasn’t using it right before either, I didn’t even realise you could search (!). I do however wonder, how do you connect to people if you don’t already know them? Is it bad manners to pretend that you already know them just to connect?
Kathleen
Hey Kathleen,
I would connect with your inner circle and work colleagues first and foremost. Then I would start to reach out to people within your online community that are there, “follow” some industry insiders and brands you enjoy. I would also encourage you to like and engage with content. As with building any community on social media, it takes time and energy. I think what is really important is to think of LI as a professional arena and you are there to learn more about the industry you are in, how you can learn best practices and better ways to market yourself, etc. It really is what you put into it. Good luck!
Aha so I definitely was using it wrong! I’ve already had a good response to just people I knew from previous jobs, school etc – but I will now go on and start ‘following’ brands… Thank you very much Meigs!
I have placed my profile on Linked In years ago. It’s still there. Does not help me even an ounce to be there. I looked for work there, and found buyers there are the same as anywhere else. You could pick up a phone and call them. Linked In keeps people apart unless you qualify as a worker in the same field or someone knows you. I have contacted people whom I thought could provide me with supplies that I needed. It was a fruitless endeavor and a waste of time. Each person lists themselves in order to be seen and not to help others. Your profile just “sits” there and that’s it.
The one and only good thing about it is if someone googles your name and the profile shows up in Linked In. That proves you are a real professional. And that is why I keep my profile there. I stored away all my hopes and dreams and settled into that reality.
Hi Laura,
As with any social platform you have to spend time and energy to create a community. You’re right it’s not for anyone. I get that for sure. LinkedIn allows you to connect with anyone on there if they are: a Colleague, Classmate, you’ve done business together, Friend, or Other.
I had a LinkedIn profile a long time ago just for my professional experience and I found it to be annoying because former co-workers would see that I had a new job and pester me to help them get a job there. If I use it now, it’s because there are groups for different professions which are like a message board for discussions. But I haven’t used it for that purpose in a long time either. I would like to suggest that Facebook can be used by a business to network and find more customers (who likely will come from connecting with friends and family) and on a business FB page, you control the content that goes out. I realize it’s slightly different, but the Houston Modern Quilt Guild has a FB page and they only have basic meeting information (like a LinkedIn profile would have) and still get significant traffic. On the other hand, why not bring some of our crafting experience in to the professional world? Thanks for sharing this and starting an interesting discussion! (By the way, I don’t use Twitter anymore and don’t ever plan to, but that’s my own choice.)
Hi Anna,
I think FB can be so valuable. Thanks for sharing that example.
Great article! I agree with you that you can connect with likeminded people and find new ways to communicate. I like it although I am not “active” on it, just happen to come across a new connection or endorsement. I also like to endorse others.
I do have people check out my profile but I find it weird that 2 E&Y auditors viewed my profile. Why are they checking out on a handmade freelancer?
You didn’t say they simply should be on there you said you thought anyone without a LinkedIn profile was hiding something – pretty different. You didn’t portray your side of the twitter thing accurately here.
I was being snarky. I do think if you’re running a business you should be on LinkedIn, no matter what kind of business it is. Clearly most people in craft don’t agree with me, but I do look there when I’m looking at a business that’s new to me.