How To Market Yourself On Social Media, According To TC's Creative Director
'Put your work into this world, and do not question it, because if it has come from an honest place, it doesn’t need to be questioned.'
Welcome to the Collective World Careers Newsletter. Collective World is a one-of-a-kind creative network powered by the minds and voices behind The Thought & Expression Company. We’re so glad you’re here.
Today, we’re talking to Creative Director Bianca Sparacino about creating and sharing work online—and how best to navigate social media as an artist.
As a Creative Director at Thought Catalog, you use social platforms in a lot of ways to connect with your audience. Has this given you any unique insights into how social media can play a crucial role in a writer’s career?
I see social media as a form of connective tissue between worlds that never would have been as easily breached prior to its inception. When I think about the role it plays in a writer’s career, I simply just think about access, and the ability it has provided so many authours to put their work into the world and have it create community within that. When you find community within your work, when you connect with those who feel engaged within it, who feel seen within it — that is the beauty of sharing art. That is the heartbeat of any career.
Do you have any tips for first-time writers marketing and sharing their work on social?
Just trust what comes. Trust in what you channel, and what you felt inspired to create.
Social media makes numbers out of human beings, it colourizes the sharing of art in a very different way, because it adds a level of perception to it that can affect the way the author perceives the work itself. When you start to look at your work through the eyes of others, or through the lens of numerics, you water it down into a more malleable and easily digestible version of itself. It becomes less you, less about channeling what you’re trying to express, and more about catering to these external forms of validation.
Try your best to preserve your intention when it comes to art. Put your work into this world, and do not question it, because if it has come from an honest place, it doesn’t need to be questioned.
What are some tools you use as a creative director and recommend for writers? For example, Photoshop, Canva, etc.
Honestly, I believe that most people in the creative field know about all of the apps, and all of the digital tools one could use to bring their vision to life. So, instead of giving a laundry list of apps most already have on their phone or desktop, I will say this — please stay curious in non-digital realms, too.
A really beautiful experience is a tool. An inspiring book is a tool. Obsessing over getting the font for your cover right, and pawing through a thousand pages of typefaces, is a tool. Give yourself permission to find inspiration in places you wouldn’t normally look, and I promise, you will shade in this deeper layer of creativity that will only ever add to your art and make it more dynamic. Your curiosity is your greatest instrument.
How important is your branding on social media profiles? For instance, optimizing bios, cohesive aesthetics, etc.
I think it is incredibly important, because in my eyes, cohesion is really just an extension of intention. If you have done the work to deeply think about the art you are creating, if you have lived the experiences, and distilled them into words, or images, or melody, there is a level of care there that should be extended out into the way you share it with the world. I have always believed that to write, or to create, is to organize an entire Universe. When people experience your work, they are also being pulled into that space. Creating harmony there, within all aspects, is special. Social media is just another extension of that.
For more from Bianca, check out her work on Instagram and Shop Catalog.
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