Let me ask you a simple question. Are you going to keep your current job for the rest of your life?
Well, I don’t think so and neither do you.
So how do you market yourself as a creative person?
Your reel? How many new TV commercials have you produced in the last year? Where do those spots run? Prime Time TV or YouTube?
Your book? When was the last time you produced a new print ad or brochure for your client?
Have you produced more content than creative in the past year?
Certainly anything digital is defining the ad industry’s more dynamic frontiers in this day and age. Your content needs to be out in the digital world.
We all know that the world is going completely digital. U.S. Online spending is projected to increase 20% in 2011 and to reach $8.3 Billion by the year 2015.
Social media is all abuzz.
Is your personal brand lighthouse shining brightly in the digital world there or are you not on the radar?
If a company Google’s you, what do they find?
I am pretty sure that the majority of creative people are on Facebook but do they tweet?
If you are a copywriter are you repurposing your voice in a blog?
I rarely see creative people who are robust on Linkedin, yet that is the social media platform that agency recruiting departments and headhunters use. Why not? Is Linkedin something just for account people?
Linkedin is key to helping you find your next job which you should be looking for to some degree every week while you are working.
This week, I read that nine out of ten employers recruit on social media. Unsurprisingly, Linkedin was the clear leader among social media recruiting sites.
So how is your Linkedin photo? I bet the photographer who has been calling you every month for the last six months would be more than happy to take a new photo of you. You wouldn’t shoot your next ad with your phone would you?
Turn your book into your Linkedin recommendations. Think about that for a bit.
Do a daily update on new work, campaigns, events, articles to keep you in front of your network.
Build your connections. Your goal should be to have at least 250 LinkedIn connections.
Don’t forget to use all your resources, post your blogs on your updates.
Remember that the worst time to time to find a job is when you are not working. The best time to find a job is when you are working.
I would be happy to Linkedin with you and share some other thoughts.
Hank Blank frequently speaks to AAF Chapters on Why Agencies Don’t Want New Business and to many organizations and companies on How to Rise Above the Crowd You can contact Hank at hank@hankblank.com or visit his site http://www.hankblank.com
You can connect with Hank on Linkedin
http://www.linkedin.com/in/hankblankcom
Follow his updates on twitter @hankblank
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/hankblank
Watch his video on YouTube on How to Rise Above the Crowd.
Hank Blank: Thoughts on Networking, New Business & Agency Searches 
Thanks for the solid encouragement, Hank! It’s a good reminder for some of us who forget to toot our own horn… until we’re in traffic.
Good article Hank. We’ve been discussing this very subject in a marketing class at UCLA over the last couple of weeks.
This is so true Hank. As a freelancer, I find that I need to keep all my social media accounts updated on a weekly basis. And linking them together is an important key. I recently was approached by a few companies through LinkedIn which was a nice surprise. It does pay off. Thanks for the reminder!
~ Maria
http://marialosch.com
Hank,
I really enjoyed your networking video. In it you said something that rang very true for me, and that was that we don’t know each other anymore. As a college student obsessed with the dream of breaking into the advertising industry, I have found networking to be a challenging and daunting task. I moved to California to network while finishing school, but how do you go about it when starting from scratch? How can I market myself as creative without any finished work and no social currency?
Good post, Hank! I appreciate your simple, down-to-basics approach to using social media as a networking tool. It can be daunting, so this is helpful. Thank you.
Very good post and a much-needed kick in the pants for me. I blog and tweet, but through fictional characters that I’ve created around an imaginary seafood restaurant -turned-ad-agency. It’s fun, but my readers are not largely people who hire freelance copywriters. I know I don’t utilize LinkedIn enough. I grew up in Minnesota when it was considered distasteful to brag about one’s achievements. That attitude worked fine when I had employers to do the bragging for me, but as a freelancer who can’t really afford to enter award shows, I think letting potential business contacts know what I’ve done and will be doing has got to be part of my plan going forward.
Great “nudge, nudge.” You, Hank, are a fire starter!