How to promote yourself as an emerging creative

Unlike many other industries, success in the creative field often goes beyond just delivering great work. Whether you’re building a career in design, illustration, animation, writing, strategy or any other creative role, how you present and promote your work online can make all the difference in securing new opportunities. It’s about finding the right strategies that work for you.

What do we mean by self-promotion?

Self-promotion can be made up of a mix of both large and small efforts – from keeping your LinkedIn updated, to posting a TikTok selling your skills to future employers. This guide will walk you through the essentials: laying the foundation, getting yourself out there, before taking self-promotion to the next level – if and when you’re ready!

Putting yourself and your work out there can feel daunting – especially if self-promotion doesn’t come naturally. But here’s the good news: you don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room or a LinkedIn influencer to build your online and offline presence. It’s about making yourself discoverable in ways that feel authentic to you.

1. Find your ‘why’

Before you start promoting yourself, it’s important to understand what you’re aiming for. What do you want your self-promotion to achieve? Common goals include:

Your ‘why’ helps shape your approach. For example, if your goal is to find work, your focus might be on LinkedIn and updating your CV and portfolio. If you’re looking to build a community, using Instagram or establishing a Substack or newsletter might be better suited. Clarifying your purpose will help guide your self-promotion efforts and keep you focused.

2. Be prepared for employers reaching out

A CV and PDF portfolio may seem like unlikely promotion tools, but according to experts, the importance of these two documents can’t be underestimated. This is especially true if your ‘why’ is looking for new work, so if this is you’re current mission, make sure your CV and portfolio are updated and ready to send!

A strong CV and portfolio combo will always be the first thing employers look at. The advice here is to:

Whether you're presenting everything on a site, putting together a PDF, or making a video, Human After All's Jess Bashford recommends leaning into the format you're most comfortable with. For more tips, see our guides on creating a great CV and making a PDF portfolio.

3. Build your online presence

Before you start sharing yourself and your work more widely, make sure your online presence reflects you in the best light. The goal here isn’t to be everywhere all at once, but to ensure that when someone looks you up, they find the right things.

Why does online presence matter?

Your digital footprint can be the first impression people get of you. According to Joe Russell, co-founder of the agency Land of Plenty, during the hiring process, he’ll rarely meet someone based on a portfolio alone, but will instead do his research to see if the candidate has an online presence elsewhere.

Research yourself online

The first step here is to simply Google yourself. Does the search bring up useful links? And if not, consider how the results could be better. 

Set up your online presence

Next it’s time to clean up or build the key elements of your online presence. For creatives, these are usually:

Consider personal and professional socials

It’s worth considering how much you want your personal and professional identity to crossover online. For example, some creatives use one Instagram account for both personal and professional uses, while others prefer keeping them separate, installing privacy settings on their personal pages.

Case Study: Jacob Stratfold

Your socials and website should “communicate your essence”

Creative producer Jacob Stratfold’s journey shows how an authentic online presence can boost visibility to employers. Early on, having designed a minimalistic website, a university lecturer shared some tough feedback: “This is shit Jacob, because I know you and you’re a bright colourful person, and this doesn’t show that.” From then on, Jacob changed his approach and made sure his Instagram and website reflected his true personality.

Jacob cites consistent posting on his socials as leading to landing a job at OK COOL. His advice? “Having a public Instagram and website that communicates your essence means that when your name is mentioned, people have an easy-to-access resource to see exactly what you are about.”

Jacob has made sure that his website and social presence reflects his work and personality

4. Reach out, share and connect

The next step is getting yourself and your work out there! This doesn’t have to mean going viral or attending every networking event; instead it’s about helping the right people find you. This is a good time to return to your ‘why’ and consider where you’ll find the right contacts. For example, you might want to:

Get active on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is so widely used that it is often seen as a professional ‘must-have’, so we recommend updating your profile and making the most of it. It’s also an invaluable platform for researching companies and jobs, discovering professional communities and people working in specific roles.

Send thoughtful connection requests and engage with posts that interest you and feel relevant to your work. Remember to seek out existing contacts who might be on LinkedIn – people you’ve worked with, or met at an event. When it comes to adding contacts, including a personal message can make all the difference.

Once you feel confident on there, LinkedIn is an impactful space to share your own professional news – from a project you worked on to an updated website.

Message new contacts

Use email or DMs strategically: This can look like sending a short message to someone whose work you admire, potential clients or collaborators. Remember to keep it brief, include a friendly introduction (compliments go far!) and be specific if you have a request. Once connected, you could even ask if someone is willing to look at and critique your portfolio.

Essential Resource: F*ck Being Humble

Have no shame in showing off your brilliance

We can’t talk about self-promotion without recommending the work of Stefanie Sword Williams and her platform, F*ck Being Humble. Since 2018, Stefanie has been changing the perception of self-promotion as “showing off” or just being an extroverts’ game, to something that everyone can and should do.

Through her book, courses, social platforms, public speaking and other brilliant initiatives, she covers topics including: understanding your purpose, networking, self-worth, taking risks and emotional resilience – all to build up your confidence with self-promotion. Discover more via her website and book.

Some of the messaging on Fuck Being Humble’s Instagram page, which shares great self-promotion tips

Attend events

We can’t overemphasise the importance of making in-person connections and how helpful this can be. Landor's Nick Mehta stresses the importance of “seeking guidance from experienced practitioners across the industry,” and whether it’s a peer or a potential employer, meeting face-to-face is often more memorable than online.

When it comes finding events to attend, we recommend:

You don’t have to attend everything – it might be one or two well-chosen events, and then committing to chatting to one new connection. Then, when you’ve met someone great, remember to follow up, whether on LinkedIn, email or Instagram.

Share and interact on social media

By now you’ve likely chosen the social platforms you’re comfortable using professionally. LinkedIn is a great start, but for many, platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Behance will also be useful. 

Share what’s right for you: We know it can be intimidating – but you never know what might come of it! We recommend posting work that:

If your work is less visual, e.g. you work with words or have a production role, there are always ways of sharing. Writers and journalists might want to post screenshots of published work, or snippets of writing using interesting typefaces and colours.

Make the most of what you’re comfortable with: Are you ok with being in front of the camera? You could talk your followers through your process. Prefer letting your work do the talking? You could share behind-the-scenes shots as well as finished images. And remember that sharing things that inspire you can also be a great way to communicate your taste and opinions.

Think quality over quantity

Sharing on social media shouldn’t be about getting the most ‘Likes’ or views. Reaching a couple of relevant contacts working in the right industry can be far more impactful than thousands of people you don’t know. The same goes with posting: Share what feels right, rather than feeling you have to feed the algorithm.

Case Study: Shania Janine

Reach out to create your own opportunities

As a multidiciplinary creative, Shania Janine’s journey shows the value of stepping out of your comfort zone and making new contacts. Using well-considered messages, reaching out directly to companies she admired has often resulted in paid work.

On LinkedIn, she contacted a start-up that led to a meeting, then a job offer the following month. On Instagram, she DM’d the Migration Museum about volunteering, which led to paid work. Over email, she reached out to the team at Creative Lives in Progress – again leading to freelance work.

Her boldest move? During a mentoring call with a creative director, Shania prepared ahead of time, so that she could pitch some of her ideas. As a result, she was soon invited to join a project for Remitly, and now some of her work is featured on the London Underground.

What’s more is that all of this was before she graduated from university. Shania’s advice is to “Take control. Make an opportunity out of an opportunity. Do more than what’s asked.”

Shania's work on display across the London Underground, off the back of pitching ideas during a mentoring call

Be kind to yourself

We know that social media often comes hand-in-hand with self-comparison, and equating worth with engagement. Some tips to help you manage this are to: 

5. Ten ways to take it further

For many creatives, the first four steps in this guide will be enough. For others, they will want to take it to the next level. Below are more ideas on stepping up your self-promotion game.

One watch-out here is to remember to be selective about what you put your time into, to avoid burning out. Focusing on one or two of these efforts could make all the difference.

Get strategic on social media

Even though we’ve said social posting on social shouldn’t just be about big numbers, naturally you might ask yourself: How can I make my content perform better? Making the most of all the functionalities available on platforms like TikTok and Instagram can all help others discover you – from creating more video content, to better use of music, hashtags, tagging or mentions.

Something to bear in mind is that consistency has an impact – long breaks will reduce engagement; interacting with other people’s content helps; and if you’re posting videos, grabbing attention in the first few seconds counts for a lot.

To take your posts further, consider doing research to see what posts perform well elsewhere, or read platforms dedicated to social news and insights, such as Digiday.

Case Study: Lánre Adeleye

Promote your work to get noticed

Brand designer Lánre Adeleye’s career shows how consistently sharing your work can lead to unexpected opportunities. Without a formal design education, he relied on posting his design timelapses and projects online, telling anyone who would listen that he made websites. This is how he landed his first paid gig.

That first job led to much bigger things. By continuing to share his work, bigger names took notice, and Lánre soon got the opportunity to create concept web designs for Sony Music, build a digital showcase for We Don’t Settle, and land his first 'proper' job at 17.

Lánre’s advice: “Keep promoting your work – it’s the best way to get noticed.”

Lánre's recent art direction work

Start a Substack or newsletter

Want to make sure the right people definitely see the new work you’re sharing? Consider selectively emailing your contacts, or creating a Substack profile or newsletter. You may want to commit to sending something regularly (e.g. every one to six months) or simply send an update when you have something new to share.

For newsletters, your contacts can start with people you know. You can set this up on a platform like Mailchimp, or create a mass-email with your contacts on BCC (blind carbon copy; meaning they can’t all see each others’ email addresses). We recommend asking for consent or simply sending a link once you have a newsletter platform set up, so that people can subscribe themselves.

Send some nice post

As with emailing your contacts, sending something lovely in the post can also help grab people’s attention, and create a closer connection with work. This can range from a card, to an invite to a fanzine or poster. We know that this can be costly, so we recommend being selective, and to ensure you have specific names and addresses available to avoid it getting lost.

Make and share work you love

It might sound obvious, but the more work you make, the more you’ll have to share! Making work you want to do more of is key to attracting the right connections and potential employers. So start thinking about something you’d love to be sharing; see how you could bring that to life – even on the smallest scale. 

You might also want to consider a collaborative creative project here, too. Is there someone you’ve been meaning to work with that you can propose something to?

Join or build a community or collective

Being part of a creative community builds strength in numbers. Joining the right group can be a great way to meet people, and creating one can be even more fruitful. 

If you know like-minded creatives who would be open to starting a collective, why not try it out? This may start off as a regular get-together or a simple Instagram page. Bear in mind that this will require dedicated effort, but having a community that uplifts and celebrates each other can be truly powerful.

Host an event

As part of building a community, you might want to consider hosting an event that brings everyone together and helps you get to know one another and share common experiences.

Start a social series or podcast

No small undertaking, starting a social series or podcast requires a lot of thought, planning and production. But if the kind of community you want to build would suit shareable conversations, this might be an exciting consideration. Just be realistic about what you can achieve – consider a defined number of posts or episodes to keep it manageable.

Reach out for press

If you have a body of work or specific project you want to get more eyes on, consider reaching out to appropriate magazines or online platforms for a feature. Research platforms that feel most relevant, and look into the kinds of articles or posts they share – where would your work fit in?

Magazines often have guidelines on how to submit your work (e.g. See Creative Boom’s), so get researching and ensure your email is as specific as possible in its request. If it doesn’t result in a feature, it can become good practice in pitching yourself, could result in a new contact, or be a chance to get feedback.

Apply for awards and funding

It’s worth having good knowledge of the awards schemes and funding programmes relevant to your stage and line of work – in case the right occasion or project becomes a chance to apply. 

Applications can take time and energy (and beware of any that ask for money!), but the reward can also be great. We don’t just mean the money or a prize here, but also the opportunity for feedback, networking, mentoring, or being shortlisted and the exposure this brings.

Put yourself forward for public speaking

If you are happy to talk to a crowd, or want to challenge yourself – you can also consider opportunities for public speaking. As mentioned, creating your own event is one approach – but there might be existing events you can put yourself forward for. It’s also worth considering opportunities within creative events – from publicly introducing yourself and asking a question during a Q&A, to seizing the chance to share what you’re working on.

Find what works for you

Remember that self-promotion looks different for everyone. Some will thrive on regular posting on social media, while others may prefer one-on-one networking. The key is to be intentional: find what feels right and aligns with your goals.

We've shared lots of tips, but why not start by picking the top three that you feel comfortable with and making them a habit. Self-promo isn't about doing everything all at once.

Start small, build confidence, and remember: promoting yourself is about making sure the right people find and appreciate the amazing work you do! Ready to take the first step?

We’d like to thank our Company Partners, Landor, Land of Plenty and Human After All for contributing their time, insight and advice to this guide.

Stickers designed by Matthew Kam.