Hi, this is Anne with Graphic Design How To, and today I want to talk to you about Behance.
Behance is an online portfolio site that Adobe gives everyone for free if they want it.
You need an Adobe ID, but those are also free.
So, do you need a Behance portfolio?
I think the answer is yes.
And here are a few really good reasons, in my opinion, that you need to get your own
Behance portfolio website.
Number one: Networking.
Behance is just a big graphic design Facebook.
You can follow people.
You can like their projects.
You can even start a conversation with an artist about their project.
So, it's a really great way to connect with the art community in your city and throughout
the world.
So I really recommend it for the networking opportunities.
Number two: Freelance and exposure.
The amount of exposure you can get with Behance will probably far outweigh the amount you
can get with your own personal website, unless you're really famous or something.
If you take the time to really market every Behance project you put up, you can get lots
of views and interaction from other members of the community.
And I really recommend doing this because it will open up freelance opportunities for
you.
Personally, I decided to really, you know, write a marketing plan for every project.
And maybe I can do a video later about that.
But I started getting a lot of views.
And the reason I wanted views is because I was looking for a job at that time, and I
wanted employers to go to my site and say, 'Oh, wow, she's got a lot of views on these
projects.
She must know what she's doing,' or something.
You know, really, your work should carry you.
But I just thought it wouldn't hurt to get some views on these projects.
So I tried, and I ended up getting a lot... what I consider to be a lot, you know.. anywhere
from a few hundred to 1000 views per project.
And the really funny thing that started happening...companies started reaching out to me for freelance.
And I thought it was just a strange coincidence at first, but I really think it had something
to do with the amount of views and interaction that I had on my projects.
It turns out that Behance really does have an algorithm.
It's really similar to Google's ranking algorithm.
The more interaction you have with your projects, the higher you will float in the Behance search.
So if somebody's searching for infographics and your name is at the top, that's really
great exposure for your projects.
They'll see them.
They might reach out to you for freelance.
So I really recommend Behance for the exposure and the freelance opportunities.
As far as freelance goes, I probably got reached out to maybe seven or eight times over
the course of a year.
So not a ton, but three of those actually became clients,
so it was really successful for me.
Those jobs I would not have gotten without Behance.
Number three is the statistics in Behance.
They are really great.
They will show you how your products are doing month over month.
And you can see how many views and clicks and that kind of thing.
And what this has helped me with, is really deciding which projects are really popular
and people are liking, and which maybe I should just take off my site completely.
But sometimes it might just be a problem with a project.
For example, your thumbnail isn't too great and so people aren't even clicking to get
in there.
You can just fix that thumbnail, and you'll have views.
So really, those three things are the big three for me...for the reasons I like to have
a Behance and why I think every designer should have a Behance, even if you have your own
portfolio website, like YourName.com.
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Thanks!!!
This is Anne for Graphic Design How To.