How to Reclaim Self Marketing and Make it Yours
Photo by Karolina Grabowska
As I'm sure many of you are, I'm a quiet observer in many of Reddit's freelance and freelance writing groups. It is a joy to partake in what has turned out to be the least problematic social media platform of our time -if you can forget it started charging third parties for access to user data, which is VERY problematic- and it's also a cesspool of industry trends and opinions on those trends.
If you want to read more about how Reddit fits into the wider trend of centralized platforms slowly dissolving, here's a thought-provoking article by Justin Cox on Substack covering that.
I never thought I would say this, but Reddit can be inspiring. Thought-provoking. Creativity-inducing. As someone touched on with the dawn of Threads, it's not that anything new is happening - in fact, the era of shiny new social media platforms is most certainly long gone.
Rather, it's having another platform where we can interact with other people - using our words- rather than posting aesthetically pleasing pictures and receiving adoring reactions.
You know, one that isn't Twitter.
Last week, I stumbled across a Reddit post in the r/freelancewriting community that posed this question:
Do I need a website?
Great question. That's what I want to talk about today. That, and marketing yourself.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should
I was born right after the dawn of the Internet, so I don't know if building a website has always seemed accessible. My educated guess? No. Based on my limited knowledge of life before the Internet and life in the early years of the Internet, making a website has become easier the longer we've lived with computers, the Internet, and an increasing amount of hosting options.
I think the real question isn't, "Do I need a website?" but, "Everyone else has a website. Does that mean I should get one?"
The answers on this Reddit thread answered this question in a variety of ways. Many seasoned freelancers said they'd never had a need for a website- they'd always landed clients through referral networks or LinkedIn. Others said they built a simple website, and while it wasn't the main driver of clients, it didn't hurt to have.
An underrepresented demographic in the answers was Gen Z/ Gen alpha. While many people never build websites because they had a consistent stream of clients before they got around to it, I predict we're going to see a new generation of professionals not building websites because they seem ... dated.
40% of organic search traffic comes from social media platforms, and that's only projected to increase. Many young professionals may ditch having a website entirely, although the value of search engines is still high.
My should I or shouldn't I takeaways about website building were these:
Do it if it feels right for you
It can't hurt
Don't do it just to leave it high and dry
Be prepared to put some work in or pay someone, speaking from experience building websites (including my own!)
Utilize other means of getting your work out there if you aren't using a website
The importance of self-marketing
My takeaway from this thread, but also from my life experiences, is that no matter how you get clients- website or no- it's vital to market yourself.
Ick! I don't even like to say that.
I firmly believe in the separation of business and self AND I firmly believe we're the best creative directors of our own brands and businesses.
Two paradoxical truths existing together is becoming a theme in this newsletter.
Let me break it down.
I believe that people cannot be brands or businesses. Frankly put, personal branding is a lie. People are not meant to be commodified-brands are. People are three dimensional. Brands are two-dimensional.
I hold that truth with the knowledge that a business thrives when it abandons soulless, regurgitated copy, lead magnets that treat people like emails to collect, and promises that are too big and too simple. I know this is not a popular opinion.
A business thrives when it injects the "why" back into what it's selling. The humanity. That can be done without becoming your brand.
I would be lying if I said that wasn't a tricky tightrope to walk. Why do you think the words "marketing yourself" make me want to curl up in a ball?
It feels like a prescription to sell the soul.
In conversation with fellow entrepreneurs and friends recently, I've realized it doesn't have to be. As the head of my own business, I get to choose what marketing myself looks like.
If my marketing efforts feel meaningful to me- and light me up -then I think I'm doing something right.
For me, that looked like building a website. It was so much fun! I got wrapped up in this amazing creative process.For others, building a website may not be their way of self-marketing.
Either way, no one will know what you have to offer if you don't tell them(over and over and over again).
Promoting your talents is not a bad thing
This often gets lost in conversations around marketing. We talk about icky marketing practices and how exhausting marketing can be and how necessary it is, but we often don't discuss the shame that can be wrapped up in self-promotion.
Considered a necessary tool to survive in any creative industry, many people, and especially women, feel awkward around putting themselves out there, day after day.
Self-promotion is absolutely gendered. Girls learn what an attribute it is to be quiet, nice, and polite from a young age, while boys learn that it's good to be assertive and speak up.
So I want to repeat: sharing your talent with the world is not bad.
Speaking for myself as a creative, it's difficult to feel like I'm putting any good out in the world at times. Many in my industry self-promote without the experience or knowledge to back it up.
Many put out content with every intention of selling the promise of a lifestyle they can't deliver on. I have no way to convince people that I'm not like that-really-aside from continuing to show up as myself.
From me to you, someone in the world can benefit from what you have to offer. Just keep showing up as yourself.
Until next week, check out my website, my work, and follow me on LinkedIn! More importantly, have a lovely week.
