Raising your profile might be something that you are struggling with. You may think that you need a whole PR team to achieve it, but you can do it yourself. I had the pleasure of talking to Flora Jamieson, stain glass artist and wild swimmer, about how she raised her profile. 
Flora runs a successful business from a rural town location in Dorset. Between juggling motherhood and building her business she has managed to supply clients all over the country and Ireland. Flora believes that she was partly able to achieve this due to platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.
You can listen to the amazing tips that she shares for raising your profile, and how not being everywhere, might be the best social media advise you ever receive.
Download and listen:
Building your social media presence
Raising your profile at the beginning might feel overwhelming and you don’t know where to start. Flora talks about where you are happy as well as where your ideal clients hang out. This is a great way to prevent overwhelm, as if you enjoy something you are more likely to do more of it. Find the platforms that you enjoy too. It might be Instagram and Pinterest, rather than Facebook and Snapchat.
Next think about the types of things you would be happy sharing, and the reasons you would like to share them. (We’ll talk about the types of content that work for Flora shortly).
Look at your competitors and people that you admire. What draws you to them? What do they share? And when do they share it?
If there is a particular magazine that you want to be featured in start following it. Then find out who the freelance journalists are that work for those publications and follow them. Next start to interact with their content. Leave comments that are valuable. Remember that social media is social! Think about it like the biggest party you have ever been to, and work out who would be great to hang out with. Then make friends with them.
People are pretty good at realising if someone isn’t being honest. We are more likely to help someone along that we like, or whose work we admire.
It might be a slow burn at the beginning, and you don’t need huge numbers of followers to get press. You need followers who are interacting with your content and enjoying being part of what you are creating. I’ve received press when my numbers were in the 100’s, so I know you can get it too.
What content to publish on Instagram
Flora talked about the types of content that she publishes on Instagram and the ways that people interact with it. This can help to raise your profile, as people like a mixture of content. Here is a list of some of the things that she does. Think about how you could make them work for you as well.
- Portraits of you working. Use your self timer on your phone if there is no-one around to help you.
- Behind the scenes. You can show how you have put something together. Whether it is a stain glass window, or a new packaging prototype.
- Your daily life. Much of what draws us to social media is the connection to the person behind the brand. Only share what you are happy to share. You can get creative with angles if you want to hide junior’s face for example.
- Tips and shortcuts. Share ways that you do things, that someone else might find useful.
- Book club. You might have a side project like Flora’s Wild Swimming Book. Or you have been inspired by some great books, and this could become a weekly share and inspire post.
Think about what you would like to share and how it can inspire your new clients, or journalist as well. Flora mentioned that she used particular hashtags that journalists used when searching for new contributors. This might be something that you would like to do as well. This article talks about the ways that journalists are being trained to search and use Hashtags. It might help you to work out ways of connecting with them too.
There are some great tips and exercises in this free worksheet to help you get started raising your own profile.
If you are thinking about getting funding for your project. Back Her Business have joined up with Crowdfunder to give you the chance to get match funding! Find Out More!
These other articles can help you raise your profile too.
Making a successful career as an illustrator