Self-Promotion for Creatives

Author: Mahmud Bezalel

As of the first quarter of 2021, Facebook reported approximately 2.85 billion users worldwide. Instagram reported around 1.074 billion users, Twitter had approximately 353 million monthly active users, LinkedIn reported around 740 million members worldwide and Snapchat had 256 million daily active users, in the fourth quarter of 2020. 

All statistics are provided by Statista. What does this prove? 

The visibility of businesses and brands can easily be bolstered using Social Media platforms. This means that neophyte creatives do not necessarily need high capital or pay for ads before getting the word out about their brand. 

This is where self-promotion comes in. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Self-Promotion is simply the act of furthering one’s growth, advancement, or prosperity: the promotion of oneself, usually without external help.

More often than not, creatives, especially those just starting cite the fact that they are not well-known as a reason for not being at the peak of their niche. In the pidgin parlance, it is usually said that “ if them nur ginger you, ginger yourself.” What does this mean? If external validation is not forthcoming, you should never be found wanting internal validation.

People recognize what they can see; what has been shown to them. How can big clients come to you if they don’t know of your existence?  You have to make sure you’re out there. Put yourself out there.

A graphic designer’s social media pages should not be devoid of samples of their works. A fashion designer’s social media pages should not lack a display of their previous works. A web developer’s social media pages should be home to completed projects and whatnot. 

Self-promotion is as simple as that. 

Any football enthusiast should be familiar with Bleacher Report; and their Facebook and Twitter pages. However, what most people don’t know is that a Nigerian does some of their major designs (name withheld. That’s the take-home assignment).

Provided this dude did not hype himself on his Twitter page, Bleacher Report may never have known about him. As a matter of fact, if he did not post his achievements, we wouldn’t have known that he is the brain behind those designs. He didn’t have to pay for ads to make this known, all he did was Self-Promotion. 

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of success comes from 20% of efforts. This principle hints at the fact that a person might not need too much self-promotion before potential clients get to know about the brand. Just a little dose of self-promotion might cure the ailment of brand anonymity.  

Who knows? 80% of your brand success could come from 20% of self-promotion. 

Promote yourself today. A simple story to end this with. If Joseph had not interpreted the dreams of his fellow prisoners who later became high-ranking officials in Pharaoh’s government, his story would have ended in prison and not gotten to Pharaoh. His interpretation of those dudes’ dreams is equivalent to self-promotion. If Joseph can do it, we all can. 

P.S. Some might say Joseph’s story would have gotten to Pharaoh nonetheless, but we leave the argument of Determinism vs. free Will to the psychologists. Light chuckle!