How To Break Into The Design Community

This has been a thought bouncing around in my mind for a while being a newcomer to the design community. I’ve really been wondering just how to break into the design community and get myself in with the rest of the bloggers in this niche. Is the best way through posts, email, social media (twitter / facebook / “buzz” – LOL) or just wait for them to find me? I’m going to list the pro’s and con’s of each and see what everyone else thinks.

Posting

How could I break in by posting? Well, write amazing content and you are sure to be noticed. Nothing spreads around the internet faster than a great story so I could try to write the best articles I possible can and wait to be noticed. Now the pro’s to this are great articles on my blog (win / win), more readership due to great reading materials, a lot of google food, help from content thieves (double edged sword) and a bunch of others that I just can’t put my finger on at the moment. Now the only con’s I can come up with are content thieves who steel my google love, readers, inspiration, etc. So you can see how there is a definite downside to having great content.

Social Media

Social Media is like the playground at school. So much going on and people running all over the place that sometimes it’s hard to stop someone and say Hello. Plus there is also the thought of virtual rejection. Sending your message out to the black depths of the internet and getting no response in return. *single tear* But there is some major pro’s to social media. You are always plugged into the design news of the second, minute, hour, day, etc… You also see newcomers on the scene on twitter being twitted about for the first time and it makes you feel like not such a noob. Feels good right. You can also connect with bloggers / designers on an individual basis and build up quite a friendship. Sadly there are con’s to social media as well. You have to stay up with the it all the time. It’s just like real life, if you don’t feed something it dies. You also will get ignored from time to time which hurts, but hey, get over it already. Social Media seems like the way to go this day in age, but what will the future hold in online interactions?

Wait For Them

Eventually you will be found if you just keep at it and stay focused. Once you are discovered by one you are then spread around like hot cakes enjoying your 15 minutes of fame until you in the community forever. But waiting sucks. How long it takes one person drastically differs from how long someone else has to wait to be discovered, if at all. Only the lucky ones can break in to the design community while the rest of us cower outside the circle looking for our big break. The only pro’s I can see with this method are honing your skills at blogging / designer and growing your business by yourself. Don’t get me wrong, these are not bad things at all, they are great and very valuable skills to hone in life. Now the con’s on the other hand with this one are much greater, especially if you are inpatient. You might never be discovered this way and if that statement scares you, either get out of the blogging business or try another method. You have to be in it to win it.

So I lay this out there as a challenge to the design community. If you see someone new out there on the web, promote them, give them tips, pointers, helpful advice. Shoot them a note of encouragement. Invite them in. Invite me in. Leave comments that will help noobs like me make a difference in the community and promote what we do just the same as the big guys. I’ll leave it at that, hope you enjoyed the read, now feel free to harp if you must or leave praise, but write something that shows this all matters.