Building a successful career as a designer involves more than simply having design talent. If you’re a freelancer, you’ll need to get exposure to the right audience to land clients. For those who aren’t self-employed, getting exposure could be essential for landing your dream job.
There are many different ways you could go about getting exposure for your design portfolio, and in this article, we’ll cover some of the most effective and practical options. You’ll be able to start putting these tips into practice quickly and see a good return for the time and effort you invest.
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1. Be Active On Social Media
The best way to get your design work in front of more people is to take advantage of popular social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Whether you’re trying to reach potential clients or build industry connections with other designers and hiring managers, those people are using social networks.
It’s not enough to simply have a profile. You need to regularly post quality content people will engage with and share. Post images of your design projects, the stories behind them, tips & suggestions, and possibly other related industry news articles from reputable sources.
Being active with social media takes time and effort, and you can’t be everywhere at once. It’s best to focus on one platform at a time. You’ll get better results by putting your energy and attention into one platform. If you spread yourself thin by trying to be active at too many social networks at once, you’re unlikely to have a real impact with any of them.
2. Be Active at Design Community Websites
Several community-oriented websites and niche social networks exist specifically for designers, including Dribbble, Behance, and others. These sites can be ideal for showcasing your work and connecting with other professionals in the industry.
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You can share examples of recent projects through your profiles on these sites. You can also link your profiles to your own portfolio site, leading to more potential clients contacting you.
The nice thing about community websites is they don’t require as much of your time as major social networks. You won’t need to be active every day.
3. Build Your Network
Your professional network will be your most valuable asset for career development. Building an extensive and robust network should be a priority. Social media and design community websites can help build your network, but there are many other approaches you can use as well, including:
- Attend local networking events (like chamber of commerce meetups)
- Attend conferences and conventions
- Lead a seminar or workshop (local or online)
- Meet with contacts and potential contacts face-to-face (it’s more personal than email)
There’s no shortage of ways to connect with other professionals when it comes to building your network.
Growing your network is a long-term process, so don’t expect your first efforts to result in new clients instantly. However, it’s one of the best things you can do for your career if you have a long-term focus.
4. Start a Blog
Hopefully, you already have a portfolio website to showcase your work. Adding a blog to your site is ideal for getting more visitors and increasing exposure for your portfolio.
Blogging is also a natural fit if you’re active on social media. You’ll need content to share through your social profiles. Your blog posts provide you with quality content to share while also driving traffic back to your site.
Getting search engine traffic to your portfolio website can be a major challenge. Having a blog on the site drastically increases your chances of showing up on the first page of Google search results. Each blog post you publish could rank for many different keywords and phrases that people are searching for. The more content you have on the site, the more chances you’ll have to rank in search engines like Google.
5. Write for Other Blogs
Writing for other blogs (as well as other websites and even printed publications like magazines and newspapers) is also an excellent option. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of design blogs out there, and they all need new content regularly. Many blogs accept article submissions by outside writers. With a bit of effort, you can easily find some outstanding opportunities.
When your articles are published, you’ll benefit from exposure to that blog’s audience. It’s a very effective way to build name recognition and gain exposure in the industry.
Aside from design blogs, you could also write for other types of blogs that your ideal clients would read. For example, you could write an article for a small business blog and provide tips for effective business card design. The content will demonstrate your knowledge on the topic, and you’ll be reaching small business owners who might fit into your target audience as potential clients.
The articles you write for other websites and blogs should include a link back to your portfolio site so interested readers can find and contact you easily. Typically, the link will be in a brief author bio, but you may also be able to get links to your site within the body of the article (it depends on the publication and their policies).
Every article you write has the potential to serve as a long-term advertisement for you. The article may be online for years to come, and visitors can arrive at the page any time. If you’re writing for a high-traffic website or those that tend to rank well in Google searches, your article may generate a lot of exposure over a long period.
6. Offer Free Resources
Everyone loves a good freebie. Creating and offering free downloadable resources is a practical and realistic way to get people talking about you and sharing a link to your site.
There are countless possibilities for free resources you could create. If your primary goal is to use the freebie to help with landing new clients, the best approach is to think about the types of resources your ideal client would use and love. Also consider the specific services you offer and how you could use a free resource to demonstrate your capabilities.
For example, you could design templates for Instagram carousels. Businesses and entrepreneurs who use Instagram but don’t have your design skills would love to get a professionally designed template that could improve the look of their carousels. You could also offer your services for customizing the templates or creating other unique carousel designs (and other social media images) for interested clients. Your free resource could lead to a lot of traffic and some new clients.
Looking for a great place to share your free resources? Millions of visitors arrive at Vecteezy each month looking for vectors, illustrations, photos, and videos. Many of our active contributors have connected with clients as a result of the resources they’ve shared on our platform, leading to custom projects. Contributors also get paid based on the number of times their free resources are downloaded.
7. Incentivize Referrals
Word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful ways to grow any business. When your clients recommend you to their friends and colleagues, you’ll spend less time looking for clients and more time doing work that generates income.
The more clients you’ve worked with, the more people there are to promote your services for you. When you’re first getting started, it isn’t easy to get momentum with word-of-mouth advertising and referrals. One of the best ways to get the ball rolling is to incentivize it with a referral bonus. You could offer a cash bonus, a gift card, or credit toward future services when someone refers a friend or contact who becomes a paying client.
Your referral program doesn’t need to be limited to past clients. You can also tell friends, family, and other people you know about the referral program and offer them cash or a gift card as a bonus if they refer you to someone who becomes a client.
8. Use a Newsletter
An email newsletter is an ideal way to stay in touch with your clients, past clients, and others interested in your business. You don’t need to dedicate countless hours to it, but you could send an email to your list once a month or periodically as needed. By getting in your subscribers’ inbox, you’ll keep your name at the top of their minds. If they need the services of a designer, or if they talk to someone else who needs a designer, you may be the first person that comes to mind.
Your newsletter could also be useful for helping out with some of the other suggestions that we’ve covered in this article. You could use the newsletter to:
- Promote articles you’ve written (for your blog or other sites)
- Get more exposure for any free resources you create
- Remind subscribers about your referral program
- Gain followers for your social media profiles
If you experience a dry spell when you need clients, you could email your list to mention your availability (and even offer a limited-time discount if you want to create more interest).
Thankfully, setting up an email newsletter is very easy and inexpensive. Free plans are available from companies like Mailchimp (up to 2,000 subscribers) and MailerLite (up to 1,000 subscribers). Both make it easy to add a simple opt-in form to your website or blog so visitors can subscribe.
9. Be Proactive
There are many ways to show your services and portfolio to people. Sometimes the best option is to be proactive and find the people who need what you have to offer.
You can reach out to people and businesses who would benefit from your services and tell them what you can do for them. Calling, emailing, or using social media are all options.
Cold leads won’t convert to paying clients at the same rate as people who came to you by word-of-mouth, but you can proactively reach out whenever you need or want to. You don’t have to wait for clients to come to you.
Chances are, the people you’re contacting have also received similar calls or messages from other designers. You’ll need to work on your pitch and provide a convincing reason why they should care about what you offer. You might want to include impressive results that you’ve gotten with other recent clients or some other approach that gets their attention.
Conclusion
The tips provided in this article are intended to help you get more exposure for your design portfolio. Follow the action steps we’ve outlined and you’ll start to see more interest in your work, and ultimately, more clients.
Lead photo by maxskyohm27626627.
