The internet is taking the world by storm. Everyone you can possibly know has been on it at one point, and if you break it down to the basics…everyone has been involved in what I would call “The Social Media Revolution“. Much like the Industrial Revolution, and all those other life changing events in history, social media has influenced many people, celebrities, and even companies.

In this sense, web designers and developers, graphic designers, and artists are pretty much spamming everything they have to get that presence online in the social media market.

Why should you join?

What is Social Media?

Twitter – Facebook – Myspace

What do they have in common? You’ve heard of them.

Social Media has been called the newest trend or revolution that has been influencing many people in the world. Whether you’re a teenager, a web designer, a CEO of a company, or even a parent, social media helps connect people from all over the world. Social sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter has been around for a long time. Some people were reluctant in signing up because of time issues, or mainly because they think it’s a waste of time.

It wasn’t until later in the times when more people started to use social media for more than what it was made for. Of the many uses, the most viral at the moment is marketing.

Social Marketing

Marketing – the commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or service.

Now, before you say that you’re not a company or you’re not selling something, in actuality you are: Yourself. I’m not saying, selling your physical self, but marketing yourself in a way to be known to other people. As a freelancer (whether design related or not) this is perfect since you can market yourself as a designer or developer to other people and perhaps you can make some connection with people that may need your service. Otherwise, other people simply use it as a popularity tool in some sort to make themselves more known in the world.

Personally, I’ve experienced a liking to the social media world. Being surrounded by constant news, articles, and people that all enjoy a certain subject makes me more aware of the trends that are going on and even learn a lot about my profession. Everyone has work to do, people have jobs, or people spend time with their family.

Where’s the time where you can research, experiment, or find resources?

What if you don’t know how to do something?

Social Media sites has all the news for you. People in their spare time would share what they find on the internet with their users. This is really helpful for me because I can get all the great design and coding news without putting effort into it. All I have to do is go on twitter, and I’m greeted with many tweets that are related to my field. In addition, I can even shout out something, and surely enough, people will answer. (Very sensitive thing to say because it also depends on who you follow or who follows you)

How do I start?

You start by signing up to social media sites or follow blogs. You need to be captivated into talking with other people whether by messaging them or commenting. It does not hurt you to ask a real professional on what suggestions they may have for solving a problem you may have. Start small. Don’t sign up to 5 different sites thinking you can get something big out of it. My suggestion is to start with Twitter. It probably is one of the best tools to use out there for contacting other people and getting resources. You can follow the same steps that I did with my twitter.

1. Sign up for an account. – http://twitter.com

2. Follow people that have interesting things to share. Search for what you want to know, or what you want to learn.

3. Follow your friends if they have one, have them follow you. Follow other people online.

4. It’s okay to follow a lot of people but not have a lot of followers. The purpose at the moment is to gather resources to be inspired and learn more about your field.

5. Once you feel like you’re ready, start “tweeting“. Give compliments to people’s articles, Retweet other people’s tweets. They’ll notice your nice gesture and even reply back or better yet, follow you back.

6. Golden rule applies. Treat others how you want to be treated. Don’t ignore people’s mention. If they took the time to mention you, mention them back. Have fun with it, have a conversation. DM some people with questions, and you’ll get answers. However, don’t be annoying and start spamming everything. People are turned off if you twitter unnecessary things.

And don’t just follow people, and re-tweet their stuff like a brain-dead person. Actually go to that link, read the article if it interests you. I only re-tweet things that interests me and something that I really recommend to other people. For example, if there was a Wordpress Plugin that I really like and I used it, then I’m going to recommend that to everyone.

Step 2

Rinse and repeat with other sites. Honestly the best way to be involved in social media is to twitter and maybe also facebook. Facebook seems more personal, in that it connects you with friends and families. Nevertheless it does help you market yourself as sometimes your friend will look up to your for advice, or a friend of that friend will need some service. Dedicate some time to just catch up with people, and don’t forget to dedicate time to actually reply to messages you may have gotten.

Blogging

I’ll keep this section short as I do want to make a post specifically for blogging. However, for now, I do want to promote the use of blogs. Blogging is probably the most trendy thing that’s happening now. Everyone blogs about everything whether it’s about design, art, tech stuff, beauty, etc.. Blogs will make a more personal touch with your audience or viewers. In addition, the information in blogs can be more useful than if you just went out and bought a book, and plus it’s free.

Find some specialty blogs that you’re interested in and participate. You’ll learn a lot and eventually will meet and network with people.

Statistics

You might have seen this video on youtube before, but I do want to share it to you. The statistics is pretty crazy in terms of how they compare it to the rest of the world.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my post and experience with social media. I’ve been promoting myself and this blog for the past week, and I do enjoy the results that I get from working hard with sharing links, reading more about the design world, talking to people on twitter, and commenting on other blogs. I learn a lot, at the same time I get my stuff promoted. Whether I convinced you to join or not is not what this post is about. It’s more of making you aware of how powerful it can be and how useful it can be to better yourself.

Any comments or experiences you want to share? Any tips you want to give to other people? Comment below, or even twitter your feedback @creativele