Grow Your Poetry Brand on LinkedIn
According to LinkedIn expert Bianca J. Jackson, if you want to give yourself a $16,000 raise, get on LinkedIn. In the United States, the average person makes $59,000. The average LinkedIn user makes $75,000.
We at Poet Life Podcast sat down with Bianca to learn how poets can grow their brand on LinkedIn. Here’s what we learned.
Decision makers are on LinkedIn
Out of every 5 LinkedIn users, 4 have the ability to decide something. That could be anything from where to spend their budgets to influencing a hiring decision. The professionals on LinkedIn can write you a check, open a door, or at least connect you to someone who can.
Think about it. People spend so much time on social media, why wouldn’t we spend some of that time on LinkedIn to make something happen for our careers?
As the owner of an art gallery, Biance wishes artists would do two things:
Be on the platform and actually use it
Post their work
She even ended up hiring a graphic designer because he had a LinkedIn profile. However, he didn’t have any of his work on there, and she had to go find him on other social platforms to see his work. She could’ve made a faster decision if he had some of his portfolio on LinkedIn. Bianca says that if she wasn’t so insistent on hiring him, she may have never hired him because his portfolio wasn’t easily accessible.
Since then, she’s hired that graphic designer again and referred him to someone else. Now, that guy is designing a children’s book. All because he had a presence on LinkedIn.
There are people who want to hire artists, who may not know who you are but will hire you because you’re visible to them. You’re in the right place.
Bianca says to use the Blue Ocean Strategy, “You go where you’re needed, where there’s no competition. Right now, for artists, that LinkedIn. I went to LinkedIn to find an artist who was serious about their business. To me, you’re serious if you have a LinkedIn page.”
Take note of that: “You’re serious if you have a LinkedIn page.” That’s the key indicator to other professionals, that this is what you do professionally.
Take it from Bianca, “There are real CEOs, business owners, and bosses on LinkedIn who are like, ‘You know what, we want something different.’ And there’s not a lot of different on LinkedIn. A lot of creatives stay away from LinkedIn because they think it’s too square. Too stuffy. Too professional. But you have the opportunity to make it colorful, so come on and make it colorful.”
LinkedIn needs some color
LinkedIn culture is evolving, and it’s at a point where people crave more color. More human interaction. According to Bianca, the conversations on LinkedIn are changing. You never used to see social commentary or social justice articles. But they’re all over LinkedIn now.
She says, “On LinkedIn, we’re starting to care about everybody and not just certain types of people.”
That said, if you’ve got old footage or audio of you performing, as long as it appeals to the professional business owner, put that on your feature section where you can put media. If you’re concerned about posting pieces you cuss in or discuss a controversial topic, you can post a clean version or choose different pieces to share with your network. Think about what content you have that’s commercial, and share that on LinkedIn.
Besides, being commercial is how we can build the poetry industry, right?
You’re likely to have a stronger impact if you show people what you do, rather than simply tell them.
Some may be concerned about showcasing your poetic side on your personal LinkedIn account that has your resume and showcases your day job. Bianca says, “It’s possible to have one profile where you’re mixing your artistry with your 9-5.”
If you work in a company where this may be an issue, have a conversation with your boss and let them know what you’re doing on the side and see if they’re cool with you posting about that. If you have a good company culture, chances are, they will be perfectly fine with it, and they may even be interested. But if they’re not cool with it, then you can create a dedicated page for your art separate from your day job.
But at the very least, you should be on LinkedIn with your poetry. It gives you more of a chance at making this happen for yourself.
3 tips for getting started
Bianca shared quite a few tips and LinkedIn features for poets to know about to get started on the right foot.
1. Do your research
It’s important to keep up with the times, because “we have so much power and money sitting in our pockets.” While you’re researching, look for virtual ways people are still getting together during COVID and hosting events. There are virtual weddings, funerals, birthdays, showers, graduations, etc.
Do your homework and see what event could use you as a featured poet. That means you can hop on a live stream and have a potentially larger audience than a regular in-person event, and there’s now a recording of your performance. That can go a long way in someone else booking you for their event or recommending you for another.
2. Invest in yourself
Get yourself the equipment you need to be successful. Our world changed in such a short time, and everything is digital now. So there’s some tools you need to be effective online:
● Laptop
● Headphones
● Lights
● Microphone
● Backdrop
These things make it easier for you to be connected, visible, heard, and professional. Set that tone for yourself as much as you can, and others will see how serious you are about your craft.
3. Become familiar with LinkedIn features
LinkedIn has similar features to other social platforms: reactions, hashtags, tagging other users, going Live (although this has been locked down, and you have to apply to LinkedIn to use it), trending content, advertising, original articles, a feature section. The list goes on and on.
It’s important to familiarize yourself with these features so you use them correctly and in a way that will benefit you. For example, if you have performance videos, post them on the feature section of your profile. This allows visitors to get a sense of who you are and what content you produce.
Also, LinkedIn has a recommendation section at the bottom of your profile where others can write a recommendation for you for others to see.
If you are creating a company page, attach your page to relevant hashtags. If someone uses that hashtag and it starts trending, you get a notification asking if you want to comment on the post to join in the conversation. It’s a great way to get exposure on global trends.
LinkedIn also uses hashtags, so search poetry industry hashtags to research what’s currently out there. What are people talking about? What are the successful poets doing on their profile? Bianca even says it’s smart to model your profile after those successful ones.
She also recommends using a social media scheduler or posting early in the morning to avoid your employer seeing you post during the day about your art — if that’s a concern.
In conclusion, be a presence on LinkedIn
At the end of the day, you should still use the other social platforms. They still serve their purpose. Companies still want to see that you can create social engagement, which could come in handy for any influencer marketing they may be doing.
But with over 675 million people on LinkedIn around the world, there’s a lot of global buying power that has next to no visibility of professional poets. Remember that the users on LinkedIn have a different mindset. They’re looking for their next job, a new business, new clients and customers, new partnerships, or an introduction to the CEO. LinkedIn users are in business mode. On Facebook, they’re chilling out.
The question now is: Do you want to be popular or do you want to be booked?
If that all wasn’t enough, Bianca said everything we needed to hear in one fell swoop, “As an artist, aren’t you a professional? Start with that.”
And if even that wasn’t enough to convince you of LinkedIn’s value, the Poet Life Blog you’re enjoying right exists because of a LinkedIn connection!
Listen to the full episode to learn more about Bianca and more tips and tricks she has for being effective on LinkedIn.
Bianca J. Jackson is a storyteller and branding consultant based in Baltimore, MD. Her background in tech, digital marketing, and social impact has landed her and associated projects such awards and honors as a Pulitzer Prize, 40K+ followers on LinkedIn, and coveted speaking opportunities at events such as SXSW, Digital Summit Philadelphia, and Tech Inclusion NY. Her work has been featured in such publications as Forbes, Washington Post, and Tech Republic.
