List One Unprofessional and One Professional Example for Internet/social Media

Hello, information technology’south me. The person you’ve been waiting for – the one with the opportunity. In fact, I may have just sent you an email, a DM, a tweet, a text. Maybe all four. You probably didn’t answer. Delight avoid this and other social media networking behaviors that will peg you equally being unprofessional.

I’ve cast people for influencer campaigns, commercials, Telly shows and live events for the past 5 years. And every bit a producer and natural connector, I often find other talent equally well: stylists, photographers, writers, videographers. In the last month, I’ve scouted talent for no fewer than 4 major projects — paying anywhere from credit-just (Sorry!) to $v,000/day (Oh, hiii!). And let’s not forget that I often refer people to this very platform, ClearVoice, which proactively seeks to promote creatives, and which exists to match freelancers with paying clients.

For one brand alone, I’ve contacted 80 individuals. Fewer than 20 have responded. I recruit on a dozen Facebook groups, send people DMs on Instagram, post on Twitter, and have even been known to text consummate strangers if I’m on a borderline. The response rate for every platform and form of outreach is equally dismal.

This is part of the job, and I’ve gotten used to it. Humans are much more prone to use Facebook for bitter arguments and rants these days than to answer an acquaintance’southward DM inviting them to meet a customer.

Ranting won’t help your social media networking.

Just here’due south the thing: If you’re but on social media to rant, argue or savor the latest memes, why are yous attempting to keep professional pages up, or stay in professional person groups? No thing how well a page or Instagram feed is put together, it tin just get you on a company’s radar. At some signal, actual communication between you lot and the potential client is necessary. And honestly, eighty% of people are failing at some connection betoken.

I typically attempt to continue these columns positive and proactive. But on this topic, I have quite a long list of
simply do nots.

Note that these are non but my personal pet peeves. Brands are increasingly in the addiction of keeping potential talent and partners under a microscope via social media lately. They engage people similar me to identify and rails talent, sometimes for weeks, completely incognito. And whatsoever one of these behaviors can earn you lot a red flag or a “Laissez passer / Non Recommended” verdict.

Networking is everything to condign a successful full-time freelancer. But have you committed whatsoever of these networking no-nos? #freelancing #writerslife @lenatic @TiceWrites
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x social media networking no-nos for professionals:

i. The bot follow

Practice non
follow a person on Instagram or Twitter and then, when they send y’all a personalized message inquiring whether y’all might be interested in a specific opportunity, fail to respond to them any. Hi stranger,
you lot
followed
me!  Ignoring my greeting makes me call up that a robot or an offshored VA you lot’re paying $three an hour is behind the wheel of your business relationship.

2. Playing hooky

If you’ve got an out-of-office message claiming that yous’re sick, on a business organisation retreat, or out for serious personal reasons,
do not
post publicly viewable images and status updates from the beach/a bar/a Starbucks. Yep, I know people get to Starbucks when they’re sick. And, I know that piece of work-life balance is very important. Simply I don’t want to see evidence of you living your best life when I’m on deadline and you haven’t signed and returned our deal memo.

3. Out of boondocks — and out of line

Practise nonRSVP “Yes” to events if the event is in New York and you are
definitely going to exist in Scotland. Iii weeks agone I hosted an influencer luncheon and 1 of my attendees “got his calendar dates transposed” (i.e., didn’t wait at his calendar) and never bothered to update me.

Was his decision any different than the 25 media acquaintances who didn’t answer their invite, told me they had something better to practise (in one case, literally getting her hair styled), or directly-upward told me that my event was non of interest? No! Just a person who RSVPs “Yes” and and so posts from Scotland is illustrating via Instagram Stories: “Hi, I believe I am not beholden to normal grownup behavior. I committed to you, but I had no intention of post-obit through.” Talent, y’all better be sure the client
cannot actually live without you lot
before stunting like that on the person who controls the upkeep.

4. Asking not-request — for what?

Do not
respond “What about me?” on a post that’south recruiting for an opportunity if you are going to ignore the original poster’due south reply. This week I had a onetime magazine staff editor “What about me?” on a thread and then non reply to my on-thread annotate, nor to a DM, and nor to an email. Judge what? In the time information technology took her to not reply, some other person without staff editor credentials, but with a professional demeanor and prompt follow-through, got a 3-calendar month retainer.

I’ve seen all professional person types and levels do this, and it seems a little like to waving at someone and and then when they say “Hello,” the waver turns all large-eyed and runs away. It is mannerly beliefs… in a shy iv-year-old.

five. The not-exit — a dramatic enactment

Practice non
loudly and repeatedly denote your intentions to quit a sure social media platform as though information technology‘s a self-care act. Information technology’southward really merely thirsty. A comic personality I know turned her Facebook departure into a ten-deed melodrama. It was
exactlylike this video. And then, 12 weeks afterwards, she repeats the same thing on Twitter. I’m non really post-obit her on Twitter, so the way I know this is, she was screenshotting every dramatic Twitter goodbye and posting the screenshot on Instagram where I do (correction,
did!) follow her.

Seriously, that behavior is needy at the level of… She might as well exist posting lingerie shots on her Insta-Stories. And she was! Simply since I’m not looking at her as a lingerie model, nor am I interested in hiring social influencers who are loudly quitting all platforms, it doesn’t exit us much room to discuss paid piece of work.

That’s not social media networking, it’south wallowing in ego.

6. The sketchy rep

And i for the questionable “talent managers” who accept cropped up in the influencer era: If y’all’re supposed to be the responsible political party repping for your creative talent and interfacing with brands, don’t instead be a sketchy bit who can’t provide bones analytics and case studies. For a client last week, I dealt with several so-called influencer management companies. Each was asking for upwards of a thousand dollars a post for their influencers. But when I, on behalf of a make, asked bones questions about mail Insights and FCC-canonical tagging protocols, the and then-called managers all went radio silent. No response.

I deal with actual talent agencies like Ii 12 and WME on the regular. As well with reputable platforms similar Fohr for fashion influencers and ClearVoice for writing talent. Judge what: They reply verified brand clients’ queries. Even when something’south not pleasant to talk about, they still reply. It’s what separates the professionals from the rest.

vii. “Too expert to follow back”

Practice not
add together your handle to a “followback thread” on a professional networking group — especially a modest and friendly professional networking group — and then non follow people back. If you don’t want to do follow-for-follow on social media in general, that’southward a personal preference. But if you are voluntarily dropping your details on a mutual follow thread, sorry, but what makes yous so special as to exist exempt from reciprocity etiquette? Hint: nothing! You’re wasting people’due south goodwill and their time with this silliness.

8. The repeat unfollow-follow

On the same note,
do not
unfollow someone y’all know from a professional social media networking group and and so come back and follow them two months afterward — at least non expecting a refollow. This behavior is either bizarrely forgetful or emotionally unstable, and yes, people definitely run into you! Even when I’ve got a couple hundred new people cycling into my consciousness and social media in a given month, I yet notice the unexplained returns and detect them super weird.

9. The sloppy repost

Here’s one for my branded content social media marketing colleagues: If you’re going to borrow people’s gorgeous, painstakingly styled and vivid Instagram or Tumblr posts for a repost, for the love of sanity
practise not repost without proper credit. It is a copyright violation. Tag them properly or don’t utilise the photo. Posting with credit and tag is cross-promotion, and hopefully a path to a collaboration that pays. Reposting with the wrong tag is somewhere in the middle, but also it’s sloppy and can be remedied in nearly 30 seconds. Why do nosotros not have that 30 seconds for content creators?

10. The exercise-every bit-I-say, not-equally-I-practice

A concluding
do nonfor everyone:
Do notbluster on professional person groups against sure behaviors that you’re blatantly guilty of yourself. There are probably research studies that explore why people who are the guiltiest of a certain beliefs are the nearly likely to publicly mutter virtually it, but TBH nobody cares about the weird subliminal motivations. Information technology was quite disconcerting to meet a freelance writer lecturing a Facebook group of colleagues about what she perceived as over-ambitious followups, when she herself had followed up with me two times on a referred gig merely a calendar week prior. That beingness said, when she got the gig, it was somehow no surprise to me that she sent a spammy unpersonalized email to request a quote — and did not respond to my direct question.

There are some people who inherently believe that their time is more valuable than everyone else’s. But is information technology more than valuable than that of the people who are spoon-feeding yous information and opportunities?  That’southward a tough argument to brand.

In decision… Don’t get yourself ghosted for good.

Admittedly, I’g i of the people who really would quit social media if we didn’t have a dozen daily professional motivations to be on it. I’1000 not proverb “Please do not!” in society to be a jerk. I’m doing it because I’m swamped, and I accept 20 spots to fill this week. Today, you might be on my client’s target listing. But tomorrow, in that location will be some other hundred names to take your place. So if you’re spending your days and nights and weekends on Facebook follow-threads and ideating clever IG Stories and what-not, yous might every bit well follow some bones protocols so you don’t get
THIS Treatment
on everyone’s listing.

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