Social media is a crucial marketing tool for DJs. It’s an accessible and practically free method for promoting yourself and your DJing. It’s also an incredible time suck – if you’ve found yourself distracted for hours at work going down a social click-hole (who hasn’t), then you’ll know that social media sites are both a boon and a bane.
You’ve probably already got a Facebook account. You may even have an Instagram page and a Twitter profile. Should you bother adding LinkedIn, which is yet another social media profile to handle? If you’re a casual DJ, or someone who gigs on occasion, maybe not – it’s better to focus your efforts on Facebook and Instagram. But if you’re a mobile or wedding DJ who does events and functions, you’ll want to look into the niche, professional world of LinkedIn.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a platform specifically for growing and engaging with your professional network. It’s the largest business-oriented social media site in the world. Think of it as Facebook for business pros.
Individuals use it as an online resume of sorts, whether for job hunting or simply to publish their accomplishments and work experience. At the same time, companies use it as a global “job board” – LinkedIn continues to grow in popularity as a tool for vetting candidates and hires.
Since its purpose is to connect business pros with each other, the inherent tone on LinkedIn is more professional than casual. You’ll find a lot of entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and employees on it.
Apart from just connecting with other mobile and pro DJs, this gives you a unique opportunity to gain visibility in the corporate / professional functions and events sphere, which is a space that tends to get lumped in with travel photos, rants and cat pics on other social media sites.
LinkedIn profiles also rank high on Google searches – if someone googles your name, LinkedIn shows up as one of the top results. This alone could be reason enough to create a profile, even if only for your DJ brand’s SEO ranking.
Here are some tips to get started building your LinkedIn profile…
1. Put the “pro” in profile
An incomplete, messy profile is one of the most glaring mistakes you can make on LinkedIn, yet it’s also one of the most common. Since people are already juggling Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, their LinkedIn profiles fall by the wayside and get neglected. That means if you want to stand out, all you need to do is to complete your profile and make it look decent.
Do this: Use a profile photo that shows you more as a DJ professional, and not a professional party animal – that means skipping photos of you doing keg stands and jelly vodka shots (those are for your college Facebook friends). It doesn’t have to be an over-the-top studio portrait eiher: a picture that has you looking decent and looking straight at the camera in a well-lit space is a good start.
You can also upload an image for your profile header – this is a good spot to add an impressive photo of one of your event set-ups, your DJ studio, or you in action.
2. Link up with other DJs and join DJ groups
LinkedIn is about creating a professional network, so connecting with other pro DJs is an obvious requirement. Just like Facebook, you can search for DJs who you know, or if you connect your Facebook account to it, you can add people who are already in your Facebook network.
Also, LinkedIn has special interest groups that you can join. There are a couple of mobile DJ groups that you can check out, as well as region / city-specific ones. Granted, they’re not as active as the groups that are found on Facebook, but it’s still one way for you to network and engage with other like-minded professional DJs.
Do this: Start off by joining groups that your LinkedIn connections have already joined. To find out which groups, scroll to the bottom of their profiles and look for the “Interests” box. Click on it, and then click on “Groups” to see which ones they’ve already joined, and join whatever is relevant to you.
3. Connect with folk and companies in the industry you service
Apart from linking up with other DJs, you’ll also want to connect with other industry people. Are you a wedding DJ? Connect with wedding vendors and suppliers, and join groups that they’re in (you can scroll to the bottom to find out which groups they’re a part of). Do you have a full-service sound and lights rental business? Link up with event organisers and wedding planners to start growing your visibility and network in those spaces.
Do this: Do a LinkedIn search of companies in the industries that you service or would like to service (ie the wedding and events management industries). Follow these companies, check out their posts, and engage with them by liking and commenting on their status posts. Since LinkedIn isn’t as crowded or cramped as Facebook or Instagram, it’s easier to get noticed when you’re active.
Finally…
While LinkedIn may be perceived as that stuffy second-cousin who doesn’t talk about anything but stock indices and falconry during family gatherings, it doesn’t mean that you should avoid it if you’re a mobile DJ. As we’ve just learned, there are networking advantages to having a properly filled-out LinkedIn account, and it also gives you more visibility (and credibility) when someone googles you.
If you’re a DJ looking to get more corporate functions or event bookings, crafting a profile and building a network on LinkedIn is a smart move that lets you potentially network with and target decision-makers and professionals in an industry, even if you haven’t met them yet (it’s perfectly acceptable to “link up” with folk you’ve just met, or even haven’t met, on LinkedIn).
Do you use LinkedIn? Why or why not? Any tips you’d like to share with our readers? Share them below.
Joey Santos
