Give them all your money! Kidding, kidding. But really, a lot of times when you have a friend starting a business or pursuing a big dream, it seems like the best way to support them is to buy their product or service. But there are so many other ways to elevate their work! Being in creative industries ourselves, we tend to have a lot of friends also doing creative work, and we could all be supporting each other in a myriad of simple, but effective ways. More effective that throwing up a “girls support girls” quote on International Women’s Day, though that’s fun too.
A few supportive friends of mine are what inspired me to write this post. I thought of all these little things they do, automatically, just to support me in my work, and how I need to pay it forward more and help them and others out in this way as well. It’s as simple as engaging on Instagram, as you’ll see!
5 Easy Ways To Support Your Creative Friends
1. Comment their Instagrams. Anyone who is trying to build an Instagram following knows that engagement is key. With impossible-to-keep-up-with algorithms and users with a 5 second attention span, it’s a pretty tough place to build yourself up. A lot of creatives also don’t have large marketing budgets (if at all), especially when just starting out, so they rely a lot on organic growth. By commenting and engaging with their Instagram content, you’re helping their work get seen. It’s easy, free, and super helpful for a creative promoting their goods or services, even if you don’t need them yourself!
2. Share their posts and accomplishments. Another way to engage with them on social media is to share their posts, whether to your own Instagram Story or on your personal Facebook. A lot of times we take the really, really cool things our friends are doing for granted because we’re so close to them–we know they’re awesome, but does everyone else?! Next time they share something unique they’ve done, share it with your own community and spread the love.
3. Schedule an idea sesh with them. A big struggle for those of us in creative communities is finding advice and insight from those outside their own circles. For example, Facebook groups can be so helpful for a freelancer in need of business tools, but it might not provide the most unique perspective. A simple conversation with friends you support that are outside your industry can be really insightful and eye-opening for them and their work. You will likely have tons of ideas for them that they’ve never even considered, simply because you’re not *so* close to the situation. It gets them outside of their head and helps them see how their work is received by different audiences, and what questions they have.
4. Tell them when you think of them and/or their product/service. Personally, I’ve been trying to get better at letting my friends know when I think of them and/or what they do. Isn’t it nice when someone you know says, “this totally made me think of you”? It means someone took what could easily have been a passing thought, and made a point to voice it. Not only will it make your friend smile, it could actually be beneficial to their business if it offers feedback in some way.
5. Try to understand their needs so you can help them down the road. We all have a lot going on in our personal lives and careers, so sometimes we go a long time without catching up with friends. If you know the type of work they do and what they’re trying to achieve, you can be of help if the opportunity comes up–rather than forgetting about it until they reach out with a major problem.
There’s so much talk about freelancers and small business owners helping each other on blogs like ours and on Instagram. I just hope we move beyond just talk and into tangible ways to make a difference!
Jhunelle J ♦ www.simplylocal.life says
I love this, as many friends are guilty of wanting everything free or think if there’s no money involved they can’t support in other ways. #3 especially has worked out best for me in my opinion.