#and you use that platform to repost pictures of gigs

[rainbenrry23]

🫠

[mythos-writes]

To Be So Lonely

Thomas Shelby x Reader

Plot: (Based on 'To Be So Lonely' by Harry Styles) Tommy and (Y/N) used to date when they were young, but when the business started to grow, he broke up with her. But after Grace leaves, they see each other again, making Tommy rethink his feelings…

This is for @runnning-outof-time Halfway to 2K celebration and I am so happy to take part in this. You have been so nice to me by interacting with my work. You, and others, have made me feel welcomed in the Peaky Blinders fan club.

Word Count: 1.1K

Warning: none really... just some angst at the end

Peaky Blinders Masterlist

I do not give permission for anyone to repost/ post my stories, with or without credit. Reblogs, comments, etc. are more than welcomed, but please DO NOT copy and paste my stories that you may like onto another platform.

"Don't blame me for falling, I was just a little boy"

“You want to what?” she yells, standing in the empty betting shop. 

“With everything that has happened, I’ve grown apart from you (Y/N),” Tommy confesses. 

“Have you really or do you just miss sticking your dick into any woman that throws themselves at you?” she defends, hoping to hit him where it hurts him. Tommy went to open his mouth to defend himself but she beat him to it. 

“I’ve heard the rumours, Thomas. You go in and out of the brothels, flirting with women at the bars. I thought that they were lying. But you know what, you can be lonely by yourself Thomas Shelby,” she spits before racing out of the shop, trying to keep the tears at bay. Tommy called after her but she could care less now. She was by his side since they were little and helped them when they started their little gig races and other things. When they got older their feelings started to grow for each other. Then the war came and many things changed. But (Y/N) still stood by him and helped Polly and Ada. 

‘If Tommy wanted to throw all that we’ve been through that's fine then’ she thinks while walking quickly through the crowd that was forming along the muddy Small Heath streets.

"I was away, And I'm just an arrogant son of a bitch who can't admit when he's sorry"

Years have passed since she last talked to Thomas. She would keep in contact with Polly but drifted away from the Shelby siblings. Polly kept her informed about what has been happening with everyone, from John, marrying Esme to Tommy’s relationship with Grace. For the first year or so, it was still hard not to have Tommy by her side, to do the plans they had set up. But to he did them with Grace. Watching their planned life unfold without her in the picture broke her heart.  

(Y/N) was walking back from the market, the streets of Birmingham never really changed. As she was moving through the busy streets, she passed the Garrison. She would stop in once in a while, just to see if anything had changed, but nothing never did. 

“Is that (Y/N)?” she hears someone asks. She turned her head to see three people she wouldn’t have thought she would see again. 

“Why hello Arthur, John… Thomas,” she says walking over to greet the brothers. 

“Haven’t seen you around lately, thinking you skipped town or something,” John jokes causing her to roll her eyes. 

“If I had the money I would have already done it,” she says with a smile. She observed the three and they all look grown up and mature, even if they didn’t act like they were. 

“I see the business has been doing well,” she comments, admiring their suits, clearly they had cost them a pretty penny to get.  

“Yeah, and you seem you’re doing well yourself,” Arthur says, gesturing to her clothes for the day. 

“Yeah for on my own, not too bad,” she says. She checks the sun seeing that it was getting lower. “Well, I have to get back home before the sun gets too low. It was good to see you three again, maybe I’ll have to stop by the Garrison sometime,” she says before making her way back down the road. The three boys watch her down the road. 

“Bloody hell, you missed out on that Tommy,” John says. Tommy just gives him a look before finishing his always-present cigarette. His gaze falling back onto (Y/N) fading figure.

"Don't call me, "Baby" again, You got your reasons"

That night, as (Y/N) was sitting in the front room reading her book in front of the fire, a knock broke the quietness. She was surprised to get a knock this late.

She grabbed the fire poker for some type of protection before going to the door. When she opened the door a little, she sees Tommy standing there. He was the last person she was expecting standing there. 

“Tommy?” she questions, opening the door wider.

“I uh… could I come in?” he asks, clearly uncomfortable that he had pushed himself to see her again. 

She moves to let him in. She was nervous to have her former lover wanted to visit after all these years of no contact. He saw what she was holding and let out a breathy laugh. She looks down at the iron rode she grabbed. 

“You really think that would have stopped someone trying to get in?” he questions, 

“If you didn’t see it coming it would,” she defends. (Y/N) ushered him into the drawing room. He sat down in one of the chairs. 

“Do you want anything at all?” she questions. He shakes his head before lighting a cigarette. He observes the room, seeing that not a lot has changed since he was last here all those years ago. 

“Don’t blame me for falling in love with you Tommy,” she states, breaking the silence that fell. 

“I wasn’t. Because I fell just as hard as you did,” he replies. “I was merely a little boy who couldn’t explain what those feelings were,” he continued. 

“And what are those feeling now?” she questions, still standing by the fireplace. Tommy stood up from his spot and walked over to her. 

“Well it seems that those feelings never left,” he states, standing in front of her. 

“But you broke it off with me,” she states, giving Tommy a pointed look. 

“If we are being honest here. I was scared of my feelings and with our business growing I didn’t want anything to happen to you,” he confesses. (Y/N) looks into Tommy’s eyes, to see if he was lying, but all she saw was the man she fell in love with. 

“I haven’t seen this side of Thomas Shelby in a very long time,” she says, playing with buttons on his shirt. He playfully rolled his eyes before wrapping his arm around her waist and brought her closer. 

“It was a lonely time without you my dear,” he says just above a whisper. (Y/N) smiles. 

“To be so lonely Tommy, we’ve been lonely together then,” she says before placing a kiss on his lips. He backs her against the door frame, taking dominance quickly. Her hands graze against his buzzed sides to the soft mop of dark hair on top. 

“Not so lonely anymore are we?” he asks, his breath coming out in heavy breaths. 

“No I don’t think we are,” she says with a cocky smile.

Be so lonely, To be so lonely

[thefanficmonster]

Filterless

Corpse Husband x Plus-sized Reader (Female)

Warnings: Body Image Insecurities, Low self-esteem, Swearing

Genre:  Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Feeling comfortable in her skin has hardly ever been the case for Y/N who’s been struggling with body image issues all her life. However, they only get worse when she sees the ‘type’ of girls her crush is into.

Requested by Anon. Hi darling! Thank you so much for your request (hits close to home 😅) I’m so sorry it has taken me so long to fulfill it and post it but here it finally is and if you’ve stuck around long enough to read it, I hope you enjoy! ALSO! - Never forget how beautiful and amazing you are. Never compare your beauty to someone else’s. We’re all beautiful people and we all shine so brightly and uniquely. No one deserves to be compared to anyone when we’re all so different yet so incredible. Love you and appreciate you with all my heart, Vy ❤

If I ever need my ego taken down a few notches - it never does, it’s barely even present, to be honest - all I have to do is go on Instagram. To be honest, regardless of how I’m feeling, opening that app is bound to make my mood plummet and come crashing into the ground so hard it drives a hole in it - probably in the form of a broken heart.

Being a content creator myself, I often get asked questions about my absence on that social platform specifically. I mean, the questions are based and rational I guess, considering I’m not a faceless YouTuber and yet my Instagram account is void of any photos. It’s not like I don’t post at all - I do! I post on my story often but it’s more often than not scenery I find pretty or a poster I’ve made for a movie/video game. Bottom line is: I barely ever allow a picture of me to make it online. The most my fans are ever gonna get of me is a selfie which is also a super rare occurrence because of how long it takes me to take and choose one I don’t hate.

Ok, but how am I supposed to find the motivation to post any sort of picture of myself when on my timeline I’m always faced with people worthy of posting pictures of themselves. People with such perfect bodies and beautiful faces. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous or envious of those people - good for them! They know what they’re working with and they’re working it well. I have nothing against them, in fact, I love seeing people proud of their bodies no matter their size, shape or weight. Those are my role-models: people who are proud of themselves, their bodies, their attributes and capabilities and don’t hesitate to show them off. Those are the people I look up to but, deep down inside I know I’ll never be like.

Insecure about my body, having been referred to as ‘chubby’ and ‘squishy’ all my life. Inappreciative of the stuff I do: starting from my job as a graphic designer leading towards my job on YouTube - nothing I do, professionally or otherwise, satisfies me. Nothing I do is enough in my eyes because I feel incapable of ever being able to do enough. I’ve been called lazy and a half-asser a few too many times to be able to brush it off as a meaningless insult. 

With these problems I’ve had with myself and my own perception of who I am and the work I do, I’ve never had the time for romance or romantic relationships. I second-guess the intentions of everyone who ever shows any interest in me because in my mind I’m nothing special and I have nothing to offer - nothing attractive or likable at least. That being said, I haven’t even been one to make heart eyes at others either. I busy myself with my job and some side-gigs, brushing off any relationship questions with the excuse that I’m ‘just too busy to be in a relationship’ which is technically true.

Having spent twenty plus years with that mindset, one can imagine how surprised I was when I found myself catching feelings for someone. And that someone just couldn’t be any other than the biggest YouTube sensation at the moment - Corpse Husband.

I’m close friends with Poki - her and I were roommates at one point too - so her inviting me to play Among Us with them wasn’t so strange. One or two games, I thought, nothing unusual there, just friendly curtesy. I wasn’t expecting to warm up to the group of famous streamers nor did I expect them to welcome me among them so easily, mostly because my channel is so small and practically invisible to the YouTube algorithm. But soon enough, I became a permanent member of the team, making friends with every single one of those YouTubers I practically thought of a celebrities.

This journey of branching out to other content creators has proven itself to be surprisingly pleasant and has packed my book of friendships to the brim. All of that came unexpectedly, along with a wave of new subs and a higher view count. However, as I mentioned, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. I came to finally understand what my high school friends were talking about when they were head over heels for a boy - the butterflies in the stomach whenever he speaks your name; the importance of the laugh you share with him, how special and different it is; how cool it is to be impostors with him - ok they never said that, obviously, but it’s what I have as a substitute to the ‘when the two of you make eye-contact’ bullshit since Corpse and I have never seen each other in person. That is, of course, because of him being a faceless YouTuber and me being a self-conscious and insecure girl.

We do talk all the time though - texting, calling, chilling on Discord, you name it. Our conversations range from deeply philosophical to ones that might mislead someone into thinking we’re high. There’s no topic we haven’t touched upon and yet we still manage to find something new to talk about. We have plenty of similarities but we also never seem to run out of differences we slowly come across as we keep getting to know each other better and better. 

And somewhere along that journey I ended up catching feelings.

Human nature of wanting to connect with other people, I curse you for what you’ve done to me.

You might think I’m being overdramatic about the whole ordeal and that this is just a normal, natural occurrence many people experience in their life - some even daily. Well, not only am I far from used to it, but it’s also taking a toll of a different kind on me.

It’s like a constant slap to the face. 

That slap turned into a punch when Corpse and I started following each other on Instagram and I started getting daily reminders of how out of my depth I am with this crush on him. In over my head, especially when you look at all those girls whose pics and videos he reposts on his story. Imagine how that makes me feel, what that does to me - puts me back into the ‘Constantly not good enough‘ basket, the one I’ve been fighting to get out of all my life. In the past and in different contexts I could easily say that it was all just my mind hating me intensely but now - now that I know for a fact I’m not good enough and don’t fit Corpse’s criteria - it hurts ten times as much. I’m not one to do shit for someone’s attention or to attract someone’s eyes, but it really hurts my feelings. Often times, it also leads me to doing dumb things and making rash decisions. 

Like the one I made two days ago.

Imagine me cringing and shaking my head at my own stupidity as I admit this: I, in a frenzy, ordered a whole e-girl getup with overnight delivery. 

Wait, hold up, it gets worse. 

I received it yesterday and spent the whole day regretting that decision, but then, in my most insecure hours - which was somewhere around midnight - I equipped the get-up, took a picture and posted it on my Instagram page. First full body pic I’ve ever posted on there. First pic I’ve posted there of any kind. There to stay, not to be gone in twenty four hours. First pic, and it’s not even of me. It’s of who I want to be in order to fit someone’s criteria. And that fucking stings.

As you might imagine, I’ve spent today’s day regretting that decision as well. Recently my mood’s been nothing but regretting rash decisions that have surfaced under the influence of my ridiculous, constantly-present insecurities. And I would’ve probably gotten over it rather quickly had I not received a message from Corpse that read:

“Didn’t think of you with an e-girl aesthetic“

I didn’t open the message, I peeped at it as it was a notification on my lock screen. It’s still there, an unread notification. It’s been two hours since I received it and I cannot think of a single thing to say in response to that. 

Truth is, I’m afraid. I’m afraid of so many things right now.

I’m afraid of becoming that girl in the photo, cause I’m most definitely not her.

I’m afraid of letting Corpse down by admitting I’m not her.

I’m afraid of what my own mind has made me do because it hates me so much and I’m terrified of what it might do in the future.

I’m afraid and stranded on things to do.

You can’t be her forever, you know. Being her won’t make your insecurities go away, it’ll only make them worse. Haven’t you learned that by now?

I sigh, frustrated and irritated with myself as I grab my phone and tap on the notification, finally deciding to face the music and allow my instincts to carry me through the interaction. Improvisation, that’s one of the few things I’m good at. Let’s hope it doesn’t fail me.

I’m just about to type out my response - not sure what it’s gonna say - when I give the message Corpse has sent me a second glance.  I furrow my brows, finding there’s more to it than that peep through the notification let me see.

“Didn’t think of you with an e-girl aesthetic. You’re personality is so bright and colorful, I could’ve never imagined you were into the darks and blacks“

Because I’m not

I fail to realize until the message has been sent that my thoughts are exactly what I typed out and sent.

And honestly, I’m glad. It feels like I’ve spoken my truth, like I’ve lifted a huge boulder off my chest.

With that rare confidence in mind I go on and delete the picture.

In its spot, I post a picture I just now took - a mirror selfie in my homey get-up consisting of hot pink sweatpants and an oversized blue tee, my hair in a messy bun, my face free of make-up.

I caption it: ‘Oops, had the e-girl filter on for the last one. This is filterless me tho so...Hi 🥴’

A lot better, I’m surprised to hear my inner voice say. I hope I don’t get used to all this kindness on my brain’s part, probably won’t last, but damn if I don’t milk every second of it.

Just then, I receive a new message from non other than Corpse.

“Now that’s the girl I see when I think of you. She’s super cute 😉“

My, oh my, who would’ve guessed Corpse has a game like that - and by that I mean the ability to make me blush so intensely with only a text message.

Now ain’t that better than being someone else, Y/N?

It sure is, it sure is.

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[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

'SighSwoon' merges self-care tips with hilarious memes on Instagram

Scrolling through @SighSwoon on Instagram is the equivalent of picking up a mysterious book at a thrift shop and falling into words that both enlighten and entertain.  

Gabi Abrao, a 24-year-old Los Angeles native, is the mind behind one of Instagram's shiniest hidden gems. SighSwoon showcases self-reflective memes and guides on how to feel things, whether it's simple pleasures or a broken heart. It’s a treasure trove of content tailored for millennials navigating creative lives. 

Sighswoon began in the summer of 2016, Abrao tells Mashable over email. Heartbreak and the desire to make some changes drove her toward the internet as a medium for creating and connecting with others, mainly through memes. With an ever-growing follower count of 62.3K, she's connected with a lot of people.

“When I share a realization online and see that thousands of people are going through the same thing, it makes me feel less alone, less hard on myself. I want people to feel this way too — understood, empowered,” Abrao explains. 

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Reminder that we’re all multi-faceted human beings and inner movements and conditions are subject to change constantly. There is no fixed condition. The more you do and the more you experience, the more understanding you will gain about your many facets and when they show up for you. There is so much to you - your capabilities, your moods, your modes. Being in one mode doesn’t make you in fixed opposition to the the other. There is no forever, there is no never. Fixation is an illusion. Change and shape-shifting is nature. After you understand your modes, you may get close to managing them. The gift of this will be synchronicity and balance. ** (Reposting myself from last October because this theme keeps showing up for me time and time again. Love this truth too much. Happy shapeshifting.)

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Apr 7, 2019 at 6:20pm PDT

The artist uses her platform to offer a plethora of self-care tips, from how to sunbathe ("a secluded location where you can get as naked as possible") to the best ways to "shapeshift," a visualization practice for when you're uncentered. Reading her is kind of like speaking to a caring physician who knows exactly what ails you and then gives you the perfect prescription, free of charge. 

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Three years ago, following a mildly devastating heartbreak, I dragged my mattress and box spring to the very center of the room and said, “I am a lush, self-sustaining island“. I slept in the center of the room for three days. That weekend, I took myself to a local playhouse. A 20-seat theater, the space was tiny and intimate. I arrived alone in a long black dress and proceeded to watch a stubborn man fall in love with an alien. The play was incredible, surprising, I cried. Once home, I felt ready for the luxury of leaning on a wall and shoved my bed back up against it. . . Later, ready for guests and no longer isolating, I thought of myself as a castle in the desert. “Grand for itself, wise for itself,” I wrote in a poem. In this new form, I was rejecting the need for outside validation, especially that of romantic partners. I imagined myself made of stone that remained cool, even at the highest noon. I imagined myself as an abundant whimsical structure in an environment lacking of. Sturdy and welcoming and independent. “Grand when you arrive, grand when you leave,“ I added to the poem. . . In a meditation class in high school, our teacher told us to pick our place. My teacher, who did past life regression on dogs, said, “Pick a place to be in. Just sit there and listen. Make room for visits from animals, insects, spirits.“ I settled for a giant warm boulder in the sun, next to a free-flowing river, surrounded by woods. A buffalo visited me that day, my eyes closed in a classroom. When things are neutral, when things are good, when things are great, I am the boulder in the sun by the river. Or I am laying on it. . . The house cat reminds me to stretch my body and take time in the sun. The house cat makes me not feel guilty for napping too long or staring at the traffic outside. The house cat reminds me to give myself permission to relax and take it slow.

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on May 2, 2019 at 7:19pm PDT

With so much to do and see online today, it can be difficult to slow your scroll and ask yourself how you're feeling. Abrao's hyper-aware content offers a mirror with which followers can take a nice, long look at themselves. The focus falls on subjects like self-worth, illusions, success, and creativity. She utilizes extensive captions to explain specific ideas in depth — or even just to describe a sunset.  

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me drinking the sunset on a hill overlooking the city. it’s incredible how some of the most impactful events occur in line with some of the most devastating. sometimes intensity is just intensity. i am living my dreams and aching simultaneously, and i’d be a fool to think this could ever be any other way. dual, shifting, unbelievably fair. i am so happy to still be here. when things feel gigantic, and the imagination builds tall tales to match the sensation, we can always return to water and sunshine.

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Mar 26, 2019 at 3:50pm PDT

“As a teenager, I used to do street art wheat paste posters around the city that said ‘sigh swoon sigh’ on them," Abrao says of her page’s unusual name. "It was a mini poem I made up and attached meaning to, and sharing it like that was a reason to run around and be bad. Years later, the phrase would come back around and feel like the most fitting title for what my page has become.”

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My Higher Self just whispered this to me and I was floored. May we recognize crossfire. May we recognize deliberate, aimed fire. May we protect ourselves first before engaging in any perceived battle.

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Mar 13, 2019 at 9:36pm PDT

The Sighswoon feed is aesthetically pleasing, everything kissed with a tint of beige. It's light and welcoming, which is exactly the way Abrao wanted it. She blames her fascination with the hue on her time spent at the beach: “I was renting a bed and a balcony in a living room for $500/month. The building’s stucco was beige, the cheap '90s carpet was beige, and the sand was beige. I think I just wanted to match everything.” 

SEE ALSO: I don't know who needs to hear this, but these memes are good

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tbt to the longest but purest #vintage #meme wrote this a year ago

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Feb 5, 2019 at 1:40am PST

“The cyborg in me recognizes the cyborg in you,” reads her bio, just above a link to her online store where she sells merch that features the saying on totes and sweatshirts. “It’s a claim to embracing the digital age,” Abrao explains, “the very human-meets-technology existence we all participate in, and are still wearily adapting to.” She admits that while it’s meant to be humorous, she also means it with her “whole heart." 

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my beloved cream crewnecks are now available! i got one sample made for photos are I absolutely adore it. sizes run a little big and on the “men’s” side of sizing. sweaters are made-to-order and will ship within two weeks. link in bio 🏹🏹 p.s. totes are still available in the shop and any orders made today before midnight will ship on thursday morning along with every order placed this past week. love a cozy cyborg

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Jan 29, 2019 at 1:41pm PST

With just about three years of memeing under her (beige) belt, Abrao has figured out the formula for making a solid one.

“A good meme is funny, relatable, insightful, and healing. In that order. You should laugh, then feel connected to the creator or others who understand it, then experience some introspect, then leave with a healed feeling from those three processes,” she muses. Her delivery method varies as she utilizes many different meme formats. 

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ok fine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Feb 5, 2019 at 10:30am PST

Occasionally, Abrao will post pictures of herself wearing interesting outfits made of neutral textiles and glowy silks. These portraits provide a face to the name (as well as maintaining her color-coded image). They also fuel fan encounters at her part-time book store gig: "A few times I have rung up a book, handed it to the person across the counter, and they’re just staring at me, and they say 'You make memes right?'"

View this post on Instagram

Years ago, I read a passage by an unknown source that said - “When you have an amazing day, take note of what you were wearing, what you ate, who you were with, what you did. Do the same with bad days.” This shirt is my absolute favorite of mine, and I’ve only had good days in it.

A post shared by GABI + MEMES (@sighswoon) on Apr 17, 2019 at 5:11pm PDT

Abrao just wants to help everyone chill out. "I aim for my page to be accessible, empowering, and soothing," she says. And she wants to keep it up for as long as possible. 

"I wish to continue my studies of the invisible and unseen — documenting my findings through paintings, writings, videos, memes, and other art forms," she says. Her end goal is literally out of this world: "I will operate a carousel in the desert some day, and I hope to re-spawn on another planet in my next life." 

In the midst of all the noise that is Instagram in 2019, Sighswoon provides a light-filled digital oasis, a faraway page that's easy to get lost on. Be careful, though. You might just walk away feeling refreshed and renewed. And with an affinity for beige. 

WATCH: Nickelodeon releases official SpongeBob meme figures

[shirlleycoyle]

‘Frankenstein’s Monster:’ Images of Sexual Abuse Are Fueling Algorithmic Porn

Content warning: This article includes firsthand accounts of sexual abuse.

A collection of thousands of photographs of naked women that is being used to create machine learning-generated porn includes images from porn production companies that have been accused of lying to and coercing women to have sex on camera. 

The dataset, which is circulating in deepfake porn creation communities online, includes images scraped from Czech Casting, a porn production company in the Czech Republic that police have accused of human trafficking and rape, as well as still images from videos produced by Girls Do Porn, which was ordered to pay almost $13 million to 22 women who appeared in its videos, and whose founder is currently a fugitive on the FBI's most wanted list. 

Much like thispersondoesnotexist.com, which uses a machine learning algorithm and thousands of pictures of human faces to produce photorealistic images of people who don't exist, the dataset is being used to generate photorealistic images of nude women who aren’t real and don't look exactly like any one person. One person using the dataset is creating what he describes as "a Harem of millions of actresses" that can be inserted into deepfake porn, while another is using the dataset to create what he describes as "porn generated entirely by AI."

Motherboard has downloaded and viewed the dataset containing images from Czech Casting and Girls Do Porn, as well as several others being used to create machine learning-generated porn. 

The people who anonymously use these datasets say that since the final algorithmically-generated images they create technically aren't of real people, they don't harm anyone. In fact, they argue that their creations are a step towards a future where porn will not require human porn performers at all. But legal experts, technologists, and women who are included in the datasets described these creations as uniquely dehumanizing.

Motherboard has written extensively about how deepfakes and internet platforms' inability to sufficently curtail the spread of nonconsensual pornography upends the lives of and continually traumatizes women. This new form of machine learning-generated porn and the datasets it relies on introduces a new form of abuse, where the worst moments of some women's lives, captured on camera, are preserved, decontextualized, and spread online in service of creating porn whose makers claim to feature people who don't actually exist.

Honza Červenka, a lawyer at McAllister Olivarius law firm who specializes in revenge porn and technology, is originally from the Czech Republic and has been following the case of Czech Casting, which is owned by Netlook, the country’s largest porn company. He told Motherboard that the idea that images are less harmful because they're run through an algorithm and "anonymized" is a red herring. 

"It's mad science really, and completely and utterly re-victimizing to the victims of the Czech Casting perpetrators," he said. 

"It feels unfair, it feels like my freedom is being taken away," Jane, a woman who said she was coerced into shooting a scene for Czech Casting, told Motherboard.

The casting couch trap

Jane, who asked to remain pseudonymous to speak about a traumatizing incident, remembers her hands shaking as she read over a contract for Czech Casting. She was there to support her friend, who needed money for rent. They'd answered an advertisement for a modeling gig, and decided to go together. They'd both just turned 18. They didn't know what kind of modeling it was; the ad was vague about details. Someone picked them up at a metro stop and took them to a house on the outskirts of Prague.

(In an interview with Czech bodybuilder Antonin Hodan posted to YouTube, a male performer in Czech Casting videos named Alekos Begaltsis admitted that the women who show up for shoots sometimes don't know what they're in for because of deceptive advertising. 

"The girls get here through agencies as well with the help of private agents or through friends, anyone can recommend," Begaltsis said. "We can't control every piece of information in the advertising. It can happen that a girl gets here thinking she'll do an underwear photoshoot. Which sucks because we are powerless in these situations. We are trying to push them to write the truth [in the ads]. Unfortunately it's not always the case. But once she gets here, we inform her about everything.")

Once at the studio, a woman at the reception desk took Jane's ID. 

"We sat in a waiting room and got up to leave two or three times, but someone would always come up and tell us to stay, to not be afraid," she said. "We were scared to leave so we stayed." 

A woman called them one by one into a room with a white sofa where the filming would take place, and handed them a contract saying the videos wouldn't be accessible to anyone in the Czech Republic. This part of the arrangement is similar to the lie Girls Do Porn told women about how their videos were only going to be distributed to "collectors" in New Zealand. In reality, Girls Do Porn videos were published and sold in the U.S. and promoted on Pornhub. 

Czech Casting does indeed block users trying to access it from the Czech Republic, Motherboard confirmed by trying to access the site using a virtual private network. But people within the country can also easily circumvent the block using a VPN, which is free and easy to set up. Additionally, as women who accused Czech Casting of wrongdoing have said, their families and friends quickly discovered their videos, which were reposted to popular free tube sites, where sometimes their real names were doxed. 

"Weeks later I started getting messages…These were mostly from men saying how beautiful I was and if they could have sex with me," Jane said. "I got so many of these messages and keep getting them. I even changed my Facebook name because of this."

After she signed the contract, a man came in and asked her if she was a virgin. She said that she felt like she had no way out, and that she couldn't leave without her ID. 

"After I said yes, he took the camera and told me to get naked," Jane said. "I was told they were going to film something soft. . .I was scared to speak out."

Jane said they put the money into her hands as she was leaving. She wasn't given a copy of the contract she signed, or any proof that she'd been there at all.

"My friend found the room we were in on a porn site," Jane said. "I realised this was a massive fuck-up. I kept thinking we should have left even if it means not having our IDs on us."

In another Czech Casting video, a woman, who Motherboard was able to confirm is included in the dataset, starts crying while having sex and asks the man to stop. The man stops, and the camera zooms in to show that she is bleeding. He hands her a towel and tells her to clean up the blood.

Jane's story about Czech Casting isn't unique. Multiple women have accused Czech Casting of coercing them into having sex on camera. Czech police have charged nine people involved with Netlook, the company behind Czech Casting, of human trafficking and rape. Daisy Lee, a woman who went on to a career in porn after her Czech Casting scene and who is now friendly with Begaltsis, said the site has ruined lives. 

"I was 18 and didn't know what I was getting myself into. Most girls do not. The majority of them stay, but some leave. It ruins many lives," Lee told Motherboard.

In a statement published in July by the adult entertainment news site Xbiz, Netlook denied the accusations and said it is cooperating with the police. Netlook did not respond to Motherboard's request for comment. 

GeneratedPorn

In September, four years after Jane shot her scene for Czech Casting, a PhD student opened a new forum to show off his latest personal AI project: algorithmically-generated porn.

The person making these videos goes by the username "GeneratedPorn," and named the r/GeneratedPorn subreddit to post about the technology (we'll refer to this user as "GP" in this story). He said he started the project because he wanted to improve his machine learning skills. Like some of the earliest deepfakes that were posted online in 2017, what he shared were glitchy, spasming facsimiles of the images they're trained on: thousands of porn videos and images. Unlike much deepfake porn, the images GP is producing wouldn't fool anyone into thinking they are real porn. The final result barely looks human, let alone like a specific person. 

Do you have experience with “casting couch” producers, or knowledge of how non-consensual porn spreads online? We’d love to hear from you. Contact Samantha Cole securely on the messaging app Signal at +6469261726, direct message on Twitter, or by email: samantha.cole@vice.com

But much like early deepfakes, they're rapidly improving in realism. GP has posted several experiments in the past few weeks featuring increasingly accurate naked human bodies, and even some slightly animated images, showing that convincing "porn generated entirely by AI" is not impossible.

"This all started as a quest for me to learn how all of this cool tech worked but then I ended up pivoting into the porn generation stuff as I thought it was a cool concept, especially after watching the movie Her," GP said in an email to Motherboard. 

GP explained his process to Motherboard over email, as well as in detail on Reddit, posted in the popular r/MachineLearning community. He used a Stylegan2 model that's available on Github as open-source code, but loaded it with datasets of porn. It's similar to how any other face-swapping deepfake is made, but instead of using a dataset consisting of many expressions of one person's face, he pulled from multiple datasets found online. 

To create the videos, GP trained the algorithms using datasets from around the web, including one that primarily consists of images ripped from Czech Casting. The datasets, which are hosted and are free to download from popular file sharing sites, are compiled by users experimenting in deepfakes and other forms of algorithmically generated images. GP found the Czech Casting dataset on one of these file sharing websites, but said that if he didn't he would have written a web scraper to collect the images from Czech Casting. 

This is because of the scope and uniformity of the porn that Czech Casting has created.

A censored sample of the Czech Casting dataset.

Creating algorithmically generated videos of a full, naked body requires many images and videos of real, nude people, and it's hard to imagine a more suitable resource for the task than Czech Casting. 

Czech Casting, much like Girls Do Porn, specialized in casting couch-style porn, and has posted thousands of videos of women over the years. Its production style was almost algorithmic to begin with: Each video of a woman also comes with a uniform set of photographs. Each set includes a photograph of the woman holding a yellow sign with a number indicating her episode number, like a mugshot board. Each set also includes photographs of the women posing in a series of dressed and undressed shots on a white background: right side, left side, front, back, as well as extreme close ups of the face, individual nipples, and genitalia. In recent years, Czech Casting also started including 360-degrees photographs of the women, where they pose for interactive VR-style content. 

"The main reason people opt for a data source like this, is that the generative adversarial models (GAN) people use, are trying to learn a general structure of an image for the class of objects you're trying to generate," GP said. "If your images are structurally similar, the model can learn more about the finer/granular details of the item class, like dimples or freckles on a face. Which leads to a higher quality result."

GP sent Motherboard a sample of the dataset he's using, which also included images from Girls Do Porn videos. Other datasets that GP is using, which Motherboard has viewed, include images that appear to be scraped from across the internet, including other porn sites, social media, and subreddits where users post selfies, like r/roastme, a subreddit where people post images of themselves for other people to judge.

Gigabytes of questionably-sourced images

In a post to the r/MachineLearning subreddit explaining how his algorithmically generated porn works, GP pauses halfway through the explanation to address "a potential ethical issue."

"I wasn't sure what to do with it, other than it being this cool thing I'd created… I'd contemplated making an OnlyFans and offering personalised AI generated nudes that talk to people," he wrote. "But someone I knew frowned upon this idea and said it was exploitative of Males who might need companionship. So I decided not to go down that route in order to avoid the ethical can of worms." 

He also noted in that post that training dataset ethics is something he's concerned about. "Are the images we are training on ethical or have the people in the images been exploited in some way[?]" he wrote. "I again can't verify the back story behind hundreds of thousands of images, but I can assume some of the images in the dataset might have an exploitative power dynamic behind them," noting that some of the images are from Girls Do Porn. "I'm not sure if it's even possible to blacklist exploitative data if it's been scraped from the web. I need to consider this a bit more."

These questions didn’t stop GP from building the project in public, on social media platforms, which means he’s perpetrating harm regardless of whatever ethical quandaries he says he may have. Much of the most harmful nonconsensual content is spread on the internet through surface-level platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, OnlyFans, and tube sites like XVideos and Pornhub.

"So many mainstream porn websites host child pornography and nonconsensual pornography, and does depict rape, and profit from those through ad sales," Červenka said. 

When Motherboard contacted Reddit for comment, a spokesperson said Reddit's site-wide policies "prohibit involuntary pornography, which applies to all content, including deepfakes." Reddit banned deepfakes in 2017. Both r/GeneratedPorn and r/AIGeneratedPorn were shut down after Motherboard's request for comment. 

Generated Porn's user profile on Pornhub was also taken down after Motherboard contacted Pornhub. A spokesperson for Pornhub declined to comment.

Porn tube site xHamster took down GP's user profile pending further review: "These new types of content are indeed grey areas and we will need to review with our own machine learning team and TOS team to determine how to evaluate and where necessary prevent," a spokesperson for xHamster said.  

XVideos, another free tube site, directed Motherboard to a content removal form. 

OnlyFans did not respond to a request for comment. Patreon, where GP was asking for people to fund his project with little success, told Motherboard that while funding nonconsensual sexual content isn't permitted on the platform, if an account does contain nonconsensual porn, the platform works with the creator to bring the account within its terms of use. The project was taken down from Patreon as of Monday.

Twitter directed Motherboard to its nonconsensual nudity policy and rules for sensitive media.

"Now somebody walks up and uses those images to create a baseline for computers to use, potentially for decades to come, to use for computer generated images?”

In an email to Motherboard, GP expressed another ethical concern: that the algorithm might produce something that is recognizable as a real human—a result that would negate the whole point of his project: anonymity. 

"It's quite possible for the algorithm to reproduce fake people who resemble real people, but it wouldn't be a 1-to-1 replication of the data it has trained on," he said. "This presents an ethical problem I'm trying to navigate around, which is identifying the rare situations where it does replicate a person from the ~7,500 images it's learning from. It's something that plagues generative networks… It's possible and I'm not quite sure how to 100% avoid the possibility of this happening. But I really do want to avoid this. I'm not interested in deep-faking anyone, even by accident, it's a bit scummy imho!" 

GP is far from alone in this type of project. The creator of the first deepfakes told Motherboard almost the same thing in 2017: that he wasn't a professional researcher, just a programmer with an interest in machine learning who “just found a clever way to do face-swap,” he said.

These Nudes Do Not Exist and a subsequent project from the same creator called "Harem" most likely draws its data from Czech Casting—the images come out looking unmistakably similar, but the creator of that project hasn't responded to requests for comment on where the images in their dataset come from. Another abandoned project at r/AIGeneratedPorn did the same. 

The real ethical issue plaguing this project is not the risk of parting lonely men from their money. It would take one search online of Czech Casting, and some basic awareness of the concept of pirated content being harmful to creators, to recognize the datasets these non-existent women are built from are comprised of gigabytes of questionably-sourced porn, some of it potentially depicting sexual assault.

On Monday, the night before this story was published and after his Patreon account was suspended, GP told Motherboard that he “decided to shut down the project.”

"It certainly should be illegal"

Jane told Motherboard that she was hoping her video would get lost among so many others online, and no one would find it. "But there is always someone who manages to fish it out from the depths of the internet," she said.

Červenka, the lawyer at McAllister Olivarius law firm who specializes in revenge porn and technology, told Motherboard that because some of the Czech Casting videos were allegedly edited to look consensual from the start, they have always been deceptive and harmful—and churning them through the meat grinder of machine learning algorithms doesn't make them less so. 

"Now somebody walks up and uses those images to create a baseline for computers to use, potentially for decades to come, to use for computer generated images? It's awful, on a personal level, and it certainly should be illegal," Červenka said.

Even for professional porn performers, stolen content is an issue that plagues the industry. Adult performer Leah Gotti, whose images are part of the datasets GP is using without her consent, told me that the problem of stolen content isn't just disrespectful—it's dangerous. She's currently working to stop a stalker-fan from creating fake Instagram accounts of her and targeting her family by stealing her content and reposting it.

"It just goes back to, no one truly respects sex workers," Gotti told me. "All those things are pirated, and that's supposed to be against all the rules, but because we're having sex on camera they're like, well, she asked for it." 

Earlier this year, a rumored OnlyFans leak of a database of stolen porn threatened to put sex workers on that platform in danger of being harassed or doxed.

Daisy Lee, the performer who started with Czech Casting when she was 18 but continued working in the adult industry after, told Motherboard that she blames herself for thinking that the videos wouldn't go viral worldwide. 

"They don't put it on Czech servers but people download it and re-upload it everywhere," Lee said. "Every girl that goes in thinks it won't be visible to their friends and family… 14 days later [my] video was everywhere. It destroyed my reputation and spread around my home town within hours. But nobody forced me to do anything, no drugs, nothing like that."

Many of the women who were targeted by Girls Do Porn also blame themselves for believing the company’s lies claiming that the videos would stay in a certain region—in that case, in private New Zealand collections, on DVD. But the entire system of porn online, and all content online for that matter, is set up to spread videos and photos the harder one tries to remove it. Algorithms are driven by what people feed them. One Czech Casting model lost her teaching job after students found her episode online, and when she spoke out about feeling victimized by the company, people sought her video out more.

Collage by Seth Laupus

"The researcher in me feels like 'if it's been published online it's open source and fair game' however the budding capitalist in me feels like that violates IP in some sense," GP said. "I'm a bit conflicted. I've personally accepted that any data I ever create as an individual will be used by others for profit or research."

GP also said that he thinks the type of abuse Czech Casting has been accused of is "horrible," but that it's difficult to screen for this kind of abuse when creating or using datasets.

"There is no such thing as ethical use of an AI that uses database images without consent”

"Now that the abuse is present I can opt to not use that data and source data from elsewhere," GP said. "Others in the area may not care and may decide to use it anyway. It's quite difficult to screen for this data completely. Doing a google image search for 'female standing nude' gives you a bunch of Czech Casting images. Throwing on the flag '-"czech"' catches a lot of them, but some still get through the cracks."

While GP said that he could choose not to use images produced by Girls Do Porn and Czech Casting, he didn't say that he would, nor is it clear if his project and others similar to it could function without those images. GP also suggested that his project could also somehow help these women.

"I feel bad for the victims of this abuse and I can't say anything that may make them feel better," he said. "My only hope is that technology such as the tech I'm working on, now and in the future, leads to a reduction in harm to others. By making it an economical and technologically inferior choice to commit abuse."

Červenka said that even after three years of deepfakes panic and decades more of nonconsensual porn online, the laws to stop them haven't caught up. Victims could make a legal claim that they've been portrayed in a false light or defamed, especially when content is edited deceptively to make it look consensual. But that's often not enough.

"These laws have been around for a long time, and we are just trying to use them in the current context, because we don't have anything else," Červenka said "The legislature is unable to truly grapple with what people do online, and how to regulate harmful effects of what people do online."

It also becomes harder to go after anyone hosting the content if they're hosting it anonymously, all over the world, where every legal system is different. Even in the U.S., where some states have enacted deepfakes-specific laws, it differs from state to state. 

When the content is buried inside a dataset, the problem is that much more difficult.

Is ethical AI porn possible?  

The abuses the women in Czech Casting and Girls Do Porn endured happened in the real world, but the videos spread online made it worse. Some Girls Do Porn victims were forced to change their names, move states, drop out of school, and lost their careers or relationships with family and friends. Czech Casting victims have similar stories. 

Revenge porn victims—as well as professional and amateur adult performers—spend hours sending takedown requests to websites that host their images. Often, those requests are ignored. And when it comes to datasets used to create more porn, it's hard to know where your images live on, unless you can locate where it's hosted and download a huge set of files, then sort through them to find yourself. Their worst moments are enshrined forever among gigabytes of others.

There have been efforts in recent years to create machine learning datasets that are fully consensual. After the privacy failures of MS-Celeb-1M, a dataset of 10 million photos from 100,000 individuals collected from the internet, ranging from journalists to musicians and activists, there's more awareness than ever toward ethical uses of people's faces. In 2019, for its "Deepfakes Detection Challenge," Facebook launched a dataset consisting of 100,000 videos of paid actors, for researchers to use. One of the sponsors of that challenge was data science community site Kaggle. One of the datasets Generated Porn used is hosted on Kaggle, and appears to be largely stolen, scraped porn content. 

If machine learning engineers interested in creating AI porn wanted to start a fully-ethical project, they would do something similar to what Facebook did with its challenge dataset.

"They would get consent from people who want to be nude models, and say this is what we're going to build it for, and everything's on the up and up," Rumman Chowdhury, data scientist and founder of ethical AI firm Parity, told Motherboard. "And maybe even [models] would get royalties, [engineers] would go build their AI, sell it as a porn, and they would actually do pretty well." But doing things the right way costs money, and when you're tinkering with porn as a side project, it's usually money you don't have. r/AIGeneratedPorn's project died because renting server time and running the training was too expensive, according to a post in that subreddit before it went down.

"There is no such thing as ethical use of an AI that uses database images without consent," Chowdhury said.

"How can a tech that at its core has rape videos be anything but a perpetuation of rape culture?" Červenka said. "I don’t think I would sleep well at night if I were [GP], because he's relying on images of abuse to create a Frankenstein's monster."

‘Frankenstein’s Monster:’ Images of Sexual Abuse Are Fueling Algorithmic Porn syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[williamlwolf89]

How to Create a Writing Portfolio That’ll Wow Potential Clients

Your writing portfolio is a critical tool in your marketing arsenal.

After all, it’s the first thing a potential client will want to see. And a kick-butt writer portfolio can do most of the selling for you.

As a freelance writer, you know this, but where do you start?

Well, there are three things you need to know to create an online writing portfolio that wins clients:

What online portfolio sites will showcase your writing samples?

Tips for a writing portfolio published on your own website.

Ideas for building a catalog of writing samples.

Let me walk you through these. Ready?

8 Portfolio Sites to Showcase Your Writing Samples

Online portfolio sites allow you to create attractive and professional-looking portfolios while handling the technology and design concerns for you.

Using these sites for your freelance writing portfolio frees you to focus on creating more samples. This is especially crucial for newbies.

As a bonus, two of these sites may even help you find writing jobs.

Free Class: Want to supercharge your writing income? Check out our Six-Figure Freelance Writing Class. It’s the new way to make real, tangible money as a freelance writer (working from home whenever it suits your schedule).

1. Clippings.me

Creating your online writing portfolio with Clippings.me is fast and easy. During the account setup process, you can even connect to your Twitter account to import your bio and avatar.

You can customize the look and feel of your portfolio by choosing one of the provided theme pictures or by using your own picture. Your portfolio will show your name, title, bio, and will display up to 10 clips (free version).

Here’s one of the writing portfolio examples from Clippings.me:

Pros of Clippings.me

An easy and quick way to show off your portfolio pieces. Paste in the URL of your clip, and the date, publication, title, and image populate automatically.

Support promises to answer most questions within 24 hours.

You can showcase your portfolio in their journalist directory.

Cons of Clippings.me

The free version is limited to 10 articles.

A spam-protected contact form is only available as a premium member. (The site warns against spam if you provide your email in your bio.)

Cost of Clippings.me

Free for up to 10 articles. The premium package costs $9.99/month. Included features are unlimited samples, custom domain name, portfolio privacy (spam-protected contact form), and Google Analytics integration to measure views.

Clippings.me is a solid option for freelancers with less than 10 samples.

2. Pressfolios

Pressfolios states that it’s “the easiest way for journalists, writers, reporters, bloggers, public relations and other media professionals to backup their news stories, design a beautiful online portfolio website, and showcase their personal brand — no coding required.”

There is no free version, but there is a 14-day trial.

Pros of Pressfolios

A clean page design containing three sections — a header, stories (your samples), and an About section.

You can organize your stories by section (aka niche).

Full-text backup of your stories (as part of the paid service).

Cons of Pressfolios

Free for a 14-day trial only.

You can only upload PDFs with the Pro version at $14.99/month.

Cost of Pressfolios

14-day free trial. The Lite version costs $9.99/month for up to 250 stories. The Pro version is $14.99/month and includes unlimited stories, privacy options, custom domain name, and allows you to upload PDFs.

This option is best for journalists and reporters as the concept of “stories” may not fit for other writers, especially copywriters.

3. Journo Portfolio

Journo Portfolio provides an impressive amount of options to design your writing portfolio. They boast of “hundreds of ways to customize your online portfolio.” Multiple themes, background images, colors, and fonts are available to choose from.

The site allows you to display a bio, social media links, PDFs, or any kind of multimedia files. You can also publish articles directly on the site.

Pros of Journo Portfolio

Adding samples is easy —enter the URL and Journo Portfolio will autofill the date, publication, title, and image.

You can have multiple pages in your portfolio, including Contact and About pages.

You can sort samples into different niches either by using content blocks or by putting them on separate pages.

Cons of Journo Portfolio

The number of customization options could be overwhelming.

Your portfolio isn’t password-protected unless you select the Pro version.

Cost of Journo Portfolio

The free version allows up to 10 articles. The Plus version is $5/month for unlimited pages and articles. The Pro version is $10/month and includes your custom domain name, article backups, a password-protected portfolio, and an HTTPS certificate.

The Pro version of Journo Portfolio is the closest thing to having your own WordPress website without worrying about hosting, security, or backup.

4. Contently

Contently calls itself, “The complete content marketing solution.” Not only is it an online portfolio site for writers, but it’s also an online content agency.

Contently provides a single-page interface where you can display unlimited projects. You can display your picture, bio, links to social profiles, skills, niches, and even the URL of your writer website (if you have one).

Pros of Contently

No limit on the projects you can upload.

A rates database that allows you to see what clients are paying for various projects (information is uploaded by freelancers who work for the platform).

The potential for writing work. It’s an active marketplace with reasonable pay, and clients include larger companies such as Google, Dell, and Walmart.

Cons of Contently

You need at least 7 projects to be considered for brand work.

LOTS of competition on the platform, so it will take time to be “discovered” for freelance writing gigs.

Cost of Contently

Free

Once you set up your profile, you will have a professional-looking and free writing portfolio. Plus, you have the potential for writing gigs in the future.

5. Quiet.ly

Quiet.ly is an online content marketing agency that allows you to create a profile potentially leading to writing gigs.

Pros of Quiet.ly

Potential for writing job leads.

Active marketplace with clients such as Adobe, Slack, and Dell listed.

Cons of Quiet.ly

No guarantee that you will be matched with clients. It depends on your skills, niche, and the businesses searching for potential freelancers.

You’ll be in direct competition with other freelancers.

Cost of Quiet.ly

Free

Fill out your profile in detail, add relevant writing samples, and the Quiet.ly editors could match you with writing opportunities that match your interests and skill set.

Note: The option to create a public portfolio isn’t currently available. Unless you have very specific needs, you should probably look elsewhere to meet your writing portfolio needs.

6. LinkedIn

Your LinkedIn profile is your freelance writing online resume. A link to your profile is often requested by potential clients (especially larger companies).

LinkedIn isn’t designed to be a writing portfolio, but you can use it as one.

Highlight your best samples by placing them in your Summary section, using the Upload File or Add Link options.

You can use the Experience section to list clients and provide links to the  work you’ve done for them.

Pros of LinkedIn

LinkedIn builds your visibility online. More than 30 million companies are on LinkedIn, and companies run searches to look for freelance writers whose skills and interests match their needs.

You connect with people at companies you are interested in writing for and build relationships with them.

You can use LinkedIn Publisher to publish (or repost) your work to prove your writing skills in a particular niche, and perhaps capture the attention of those in your network.

Cons of LinkedIn

With LinkedIn, you don’t own your profile. You could lose all the work you put into building your connections if your account was blocked or banned.

You need a niche prominently stated in your profile to help companies find you, or it will be hard to stand out.

Cost of LinkedIn

It’s free to set up a profile.

Creating an enticing LinkedIn profile is an excellent way to connect with both prospects and clients, as well as other freelance writers.

7. Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine. To design a writing portfolio, you’ll want to create a Pinterest business account complete with bio and a professional picture.

To use Pinterest, you first create or source images to represent your posts. Then use those images to create “pins,” which link to your post and can include your headline, author name, and post description.

These pins can be organized on boards, which act as containers for groups of pins. Using the right keywords or keyphrases is essential if you want your pins or boards to be discovered.

Pros of Pinterest

It’s another way to expand your online presence (and help potential clients find you), and it’s free.

You can create boards for each niche or keyword to make it easier for bloggers and other business owners to find you.

A fun form of marketing if you enjoy creating or sourcing images.

Cons of Pinterest

It’s not relevant for all niches. Look at popular boards to confirm whether or not your niche does well on Pinterest before you begin.

Creating and/or finding images is the entire point of this platform, so if that doesn’t appeal to you, you may want to pass.

Cost of Pinterest

Free to use.

Creating a writing portfolio using Pinterest can be fun if you enjoy working with images. At a minimum, enable the “Pin It” button for images on your writer website so your posts can be shared on Pinterest.

8. Muck Rack

Muck Rack is a PR software platform designed for journalists and PR pros. The platform is open to any writer; however, only verified journalists get a green badge to signify that they meet Muck Rack’s criteria.

This platform is dedicated to the profession of journalism. Since it is integrated with Twitter, it tracks what journalists are Tweeting about.

Pros of Muck Rack

Automatically compiles articles and social media profiles, making set up easy.

It provides full-text backups for your writing portfolio.

You can track the impact of your work by using the “Who Shared My Link” tool to see social shares for your article, and the journalist who shared it.

Cons of Muck Rack

Designed primarily for journalists.

You’ll be signing up to receive PR pitches (although you can edit this in the settings).

Cost of Muck Rack

Free for journalists.

This is a fantastic option for journalists. A benefit of using this site as a freelance writer is you could sign up and then use the platform to find journalists to interview for your articles.

Back to Top

12 Tips for Portfolio Pages Hosted on Your Own Writer Website

The writing portfolio sites we just discussed can get you started, but eventually, you’ll want to create your own writer website.

Why?

Because with portfolio sites, you are only a renter, not an owner. Policies and pricing can change overnight. An ideal situation is to use these sites in addition to a writer website, which you own and control.

So how do you optimize a writing portfolio hosted on your own website? Follow these 12 tips:

1. Know Your Target Client and Desired Niche(s)

Select your writing portfolio samples with your target client and niche(s) in mind. Choose relevant samples that would appeal to potential clients and are in niches that you want to write in.

And in you include testimonials in your writing portfolio, be sure they come from reputable sources who represent your ideal target.

2. Limit Your Freelance Writing Portfolio Samples

Avoid overwhelming potential clients with too many choices. Provide enough samples to demonstrate your writing ability and to give a selection of options, up to three per niche. This is your writing portfolio, not a blog, right?

3. Choose Quality Over Quantity

Include only your best work, not every example of your work. And not only your best pieces, but your most recent writing samples.

4. Confirm That Your Writing Portfolio (And Website) Is Easy To Navigate

Make it super-simple to find everything. To test this, ask a friend to open your website, and then find one specific piece of information on your portfolio page. Make any necessary changes based on their feedback.

5. Organize Samples By Type, By Niche, and Use Clear Descriptions

Make it easy to find samples by organizing them by type (posts, white papers, landing page copy, etc.) and by niche. Also, provide brief descriptions of your samples (and put on your copywriter hat where possible). For ghostwritten clips that lack your byline, add “ghostwritten” in the description to prevent confusion.

6. Keep Your Writing Portfolio Design Clean and Simple

Keep your design uncluttered, with no distractions, so your samples stand out. Use clear, easy to read fonts at least 14pt in size.

7. Don’t Display Entire Articles on Your Portfolio Page

Instead, provide links to the samples, and have the samples open in their own distraction-free pages.

8. Use Thumbnail Images For Each Writing Sample

Text-only links are okay but aren’t as compelling as images. Images help your samples visually pop on the page.

9. Use Plug-ins or Page Builders to Help You Design

These tech tools help you design a professional-looking portfolio. However, before you install a plug-in or page builder, confirm it has been recently updated. Also, check that it is compatible with both the latest version of WordPress and your theme.

As an example, the page builder Elementor (affiliate link) has an Image Box widget with impressive capabilities (and it’s free!).

10. Check It On Mobile And Tablets

Your writing portfolio may look beautiful on your desktop, but always double-check how it looks on tablets and phones. Confirm that text and images don’t get cut-off or distorted.

11. Keep Your Writing Portfolio Fresh and Up-to-Date

Check your links often, at least once a month. Also, replace older samples as you create new and improved ones — Google loves and rewards fresh content on your website.

12. Have a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA) On Your Portfolio Page

The whole purpose of your writing portfolio is to motivate potential clients to contact you. Make that next step easy. Either display your email address or a clickable button leading to a “Contact me” page.

Back to Top

How to Build Writing Samples for Your Freelance Writing Portfolio

So…

What if you complete the steps above, and your writing portfolio looks a bit, well, sparse? Solution: Build a list of strong writing samples.

Start with a spreadsheet and a strategy. This answers the questions of “what do you have, and what do you need?”

A spreadsheet (or simple Google Doc) provides an organized list of all of your published samples — one central location to track your work. Not only will this save you time, but it will show you at a glance what holes you may have in your strategy and what you need to create.

Here’s an example:

As a freelance writer, you need to prove that you can write the type of content your target clients are willing to pay for. Your writing samples provide this proof.

So let’s cover how to do this.

1. No Barriers To Entry: Publish Posts on Your Own Website

For newbies, this is the easiest way to get started. Plus, creating posts provides a benefit beyond proving your writing ability to clients. You also prove to yourself that you would enjoy writing in a particular niche.

If you want to break into new types of writing, you can create samples to demonstrate your skill. For example, if you want to add case studies to your writing services, create a fictional case study to show that you understand the form.

2. Money Well Spent: Hire a Copyeditor

The downside of creating samples on your own is that you don’t get the feedback you need to improve. Friends and family are helpful, but typically far too generous.

By hiring a copyeditor, you can learn where you make mistakes and improve your samples.

3. Smash Down the Wall: Take a Class

If you’ve been procrastinating or don’t know where to start, a course can be an excellent way to move forward. The best courses do more than provide information — they encourage you to implement what you’ve learned, and provide feedback.

Taking a course costs money, but it’s an investment in yourself as a writer.

Editor’s Note: Smart Blogger has a free Six-Figure Freelance Writing Class. If you don’t know where to start, start here.

4. Friendly Practice: Publish Posts on Medium

By posting on Medium, you can practice your writing skills in a friendly environment. Practice publishing regularly so you get used to your words being out in public.

SEO tip — publish your posts on your own website first, wait for at least two weeks, and then re-publish it on Medium. This way, the search engines index your site first.

5. Byline Power: Write Guest Posts

Write guest posts that allow you to include your author bio with a link to your writing portfolio. This is an excellent method to get published posts with your byline on it, critical for social proof and credibility.

Guest posting is typically unpaid, although there are exceptions. The focus here is on getting your first byline, and on creating samples for your portfolio.

Choose a blog that has a high level of credibility, is respected in your niche, or is where your target clients are likely to hang out.

If you aren’t sure where to begin, try Google:

Search for a niche or topic (in the screenshot example above, we used “blogging”) along with a relevant phrase (“write for us”).

Google will return a list of search results containing both terms/phrases.

If you find a good target, add it to your spreadsheet. Next, try a few different variations in Google:

“blogging” + “guest post”

“blogging” + “contribute”

“writing tips” + “write for us”

Etc.

Replace “blogging” and “writing tips” with your own niche/topic.

When you have a solid list of potential blogs to pitch, look at their popular posts, and the topics they cover. You need to know what kind of content they want, so do your research.

Read their guest posting guidelines and follow them when preparing your pitch.

Once one of your pitches is accepted, celebrate! Then be prepared to do your best work. After all, this post will be one of the building blocks in your writing portfolio.

Back to Top

Start Building Your Rockstar Writing Portfolio Today

Your writing portfolio is your main sales tool, the one that follows the adage, “Show, don’t tell.”

Imagine how you will feel with a strong writing portfolio backing you up as a freelance writer. No more blending into the crowd — you’ll be a confident freelance writer, with proof of your writing skills.

Creating and maintaining a writing portfolio signals to both the world and yourself that freelancing isn’t merely a hobby — you are a professional who is serious about your freelance writing business.

So take one step, one tip, or one action from this post, and go implement it right now. Yes, right now. Your future self will thank you.

About the Author: Karen MacKenzie is a freelance writer and Smart Blogger Certified Content Marketer specializing in digital marketing and personal finance. She blends her business and financial experience with a desire to connect with readers in a warm and friendly manner. Go to kmackenziewriter.com if you’d like to hire her for your next project.

The post How to Create a Writing Portfolio That’ll Wow Potential Clients appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/writing-portfolio/

[simply-shakera]

2018 In Review

For many, 2018 was tough! I received so many messages from folks who were ready to leave it behind. To a degree, I understand! There even came a point when I stopped watching the news.  For me however, 2018 was the most transformational year of my life thus far. At the start of each year I select one word to help guide my intentions for the next 364 days. For 2018 I was on a quest for PEACE.

2018 answered the call immediately! Things kicked off with continued celebrations for my 30th birthday, preparations for my company’s fifth anniversary, and boom, in walks one of the greatest men I’ve ever met. Joy to the world! The future I envisioned was changing and this required a new action plan. So where do I start? To maintain peace in my eyes meant to work smarter not harder. I’m accustomed to completing a million tasks a day, jumping here, typing there, driving to the next class, or the next gig. But nah, not for 2018. I wasn’t eager to jump in to my normal work routine. I was intentional about slowing down to figure out next steps. Better steps. Smarter steps. Definitely needed to lean on my faith for direction! The moment I did that, everything changed. God revealed so much I needed to know and the world as I knew it flipped upside down. Was the experience bad? Nope! Painful? Sometimes. Uncomfortable? VERY! ...but here I am today on the other side of healing with so much gratitude, strength,and lessons. Instead of focusing on the discomforts and hardships of 2018, let us remember the year we lived, learned and LEVELED up… with or without Ciara’s dance.

Speaking of Ciara she made a comeback and added to the Black Girl Magic and Black Boy Joy that flooded 2018. I still get chills when I reflect on Beyonce’s Coachella performance and the fact that Michelle Obama wrote the #1 selling book of 2018 with BECOMING! My sister Siobhan Bent became an author too and co-wrote the book 13 Steps!! Jada, Willow, & Gam opened up our hearts with the Red Table Talk. Meghan Markle and her mom sprinkled melanin all over Buckingham palace...

We could not stop dancing in 2018. Ding Dong and the ravers crew made Dancehall NICE again! Mi nuh tiyad YET fi fling, genna bounce, and lebeh lebeh. @iamzoie had EVERYONE twerking on Fridays… Aliya Janell went on tour, and both lucian & vincy music dominated the soca airwaves and carnival waistlines...

and last but not least, we cannot discuss 2018 without the historical, box office breaking, Michael B Jordon shining, vibranium oozing, BLACK PANTHER!!!!

Some of my personal favourite moments in 2018 were:

The Surprise Party my family through for me TWO weeks after my birthday!

I am still shooketh and can’t believe they pulled it off! Look at my cake ya’ll!

My Babies SMASHING their waltz on Breakfast Television and at their annual gala!

I am the dance program coordinator for the Trust 15 organization. They provide youth in the Rexdale/North Etobicoke area with programs that promote and facilitate positive behaviour, creative expression, and cooperative working skills. Love my babies!!! The team was challenged with the task of learning the waltz for the annual gala. Not only did they SMASH the appearance we did together on Breakfast Television (Watch HERE) but they DELIVERED on show day and brought me to tears! That evening we all elevated together.

Aug. 3rd: The day went in this order Spice interview on CP24 --> Spice appearance for Tweed, Shakera and friends attend Friday Night Mas night parade at Ontario Place → 4 hours sleep → Caribana 2018 at the Exhibition.

I can’t put this day into words. The Carnival Spice calendar was full and so was my heart! The team and I worked, filmed live interviews, and played mas twice! I’m still sore… but oh the memories

Power of Success Conference where I met THE Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins knows my name all! This is probably THE WORST picture of me but I don’t care. This day shifted me at my core.

Having been in the carnival scene for over 10 years, I’ve seen and experienced so many memories and great lessons. However, on December 29th, 2019 I announced that I will no longer be taking any carnival entertainment bookings or teaching any Carnival Spice drop in classes.  Watch the full video to LEARN WHY HERE)

Although a tough decision, it’s also very freeing! I embrace all the new opportunities flowing my way and will continue my work in developing aspiring artists of color and on a professional platform where their spirits, beauty, and talent can shine. But best believe if Machel or Bunji calls and says they need me in Trinidad to perform, I WILL BE THERE - FEATHERS IN HAND!

Culture is so important to me, and Carnival Spice allowed me to express that. We celebrated Carnival Spice’s 5th birthday, website relaunch, and first company audition in 2018. Even had a repost from Kes the Band for my choreography to their smash single HELLO (Watch Here - it’s at 15, 000 views! ). When I founded the company, I had no idea that it would be what it is today. From festivals, to birthdays, to weddings, the SPICE could be found all over the GTA and your social media timelines. The connections that have blossomed among the #SpiceFam members is also a major highlight; I can’t express how heartwarming it is to see my clients and team members bond both in and outside of class. I look forward to what’s next for the Carnival Spice community.

SENDING YOU LOVE & LIGHT! LET US USE THE TOOLS WE LEARNED LAST YEAR TO MAKE 2019 THE BEST YEAR YET!

Xoxo & Wakanda Forever,

Shakera

[jessette20]

Social Media for Musicians

Let’s be honest: marketing as a musician is tough.

On any given day there are a million must-do’s and hardly enough hours to get them done, right?

Promoting your latest songs. Networking for new gigs. Fighting for the attention of fresh fans.

Exhausting? You bet.

But ever-so-rewarding when it all comes together.

View this post on Instagram

#yyys #allpointseast #london ⚡️💗🐰💗🐰💗⚡️ our beating heart for you!

A post shared by YEAH YEAH YEAHS (@yeahyeahyeahs) on Jun 4, 2018 at 8:15am PDT

Since musicians are often so busy, you need to make the most of your time spent marketing.

And if you’re laser-focused on building up your SoundCloud or Bandcamp presence, you might want to consider expanding your horizons to social platforms.

For the sake of building up a base or rabid followers and getting discovered by new ones, understanding the in’s and out’s of social media for musicians is a matter of “when,” not “if.”

Why social media marketing for musicians matters so much

Make no mistake: social media isn’t some sort of silver bullet for musicians with stars in their eyes.

However, a smart social presence is undoubtedly the best way to grow your audience and fill space at your gigs.

How so?

For starters, consider that your audience is likely glued to social media regardless of your genre. In fact, Instagram recently passed a billion active users while Facebook boasts two billion daily active users themselves. These numbers blow the likes of SoundCloud and Bandcamp out of the water.

Oh, and did you know that YouTube is the technically the most popular music streaming service right now, beating out Spotify and Apple Music?

Besides, an optimized social presence can signal your status as a professional. In an industry where competition is so cutthroat, having pristine profiles out there lets people know that you’re anything but an amateur.

That said, social media for musicians is can be a bit tricky.

With so many platforms to choose from and a need to stand out from the crowd, where should you focus your energy? What should you post?

Heck, where should you even start?

Relax.

In the guide below, we’ve outlined the best practices of social media for musicians including how to set up your profiles and come up with a content calendar that totally kills it.

Now, let’s dive in!

Start by optimizing your profiles

When someone looks you up, they’re more than likely going to find your social profiles via Google or through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

That’s why having a clean, optimized profile on each platform is a top priority.

Before worrying too much about content or creative touches, you need to ensure that your profiles tick the following three boxes:

Make your profile or bio link count by always pointing to your latest promotion (think: new song, album, tour or merch)

Your profile pictures and covers are correctly sized for social 

Ensure that any and all profile information is accurate and up-to-date including tour dates or events

The beauty of social media for musicians is that you have tons of creative freedom beyond these three points.

Let’s take a moment to look at what an optimized musician profile looks like in the wild.

Using a stylized band photo, Weezer’s Twitter bio highlights their latest album, singles, fan store and tour dates. That’s a lot of information to pack into such a small space, but you can make it happen by being economical with your copy and choosy with your links.

Meanwhile, blink-182’s Instagram highlights their tour dates and Las Vegas residency, in addition to social-specific hashtags they want their fans to tag themselves with.

Don’t neglect valuable real estate such as your cover photos, too. Here’s a great example of Fall Out Boy’s cover photo promo, which scores bonus points by being visually striking as well.

If you want that sort of professional vibe for your profile without hiring a designer, don’t fret. There are tons of image creation tools out there like Canva that can help you create your own banner, tour announcement and everything in-between.

And although imagery certainly matters, it’s perhaps most prudent to make sure that you never let your profiles gather cobwebs. For example, you should always have Facebook events on deck for your shows if the venue you’re playing at isn’t doing the legwork of promotion themselves.

Now that your profile is squared away, there’s the still the issue of content.

That is, how do you keep your social feed filled with fresh stuff for your followers?

Good question!

Keep your followers in the loop

You shouldn’t worry about doing too much self-promotion given that’s what social media marketing for musicians is all about.

As such, there’s no need to be shy about whatever is new in your world.

New song? Upcoming album? Hitting the road?

Let people know!

Considering how fickle algorithms are and how fast social media moves in the first place, frequent hype posts are totally fair game.

Additionally, it’s a smart move to put together frequent fliers and announcements which are perfect for pinned tweets or posts. That way, anyone visiting your profile can know exactly what you have going on.

View this post on Instagram

a few tix left for some of our upcoming shows with the amazing @lizzobeeating – get em while u can

A post shared by HAIM (@haimtheband) on Apr 19, 2018 at 2:59pm PDT

Oh, and bear in mind that social selling is totally fair game for musicians. Through creative promotions and sales, you can hawk your merch via social with no shame.

MVRCHES SALE

🔥 sale storewide over on http://bit.ly/2MjrXPp the code MVRCHES for 25% off

Posted by CHVRCHES on Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Show off yourself in action

When you follow a band or artist on social media, it’s because you want to see them in action, right?

Well, your followers feel the same way.

If you’re regularly touring or playing shows, shouting out attendees and posting pictures of your performances is a good start.

Also remember that your fans can be a fantastic source of content themselves.

Encouraging user-generated content in the form of tagged fan photos is a brilliant way to interact with fans and show them a bit of love, too.  Reposting these photos is a subtle yet significant way to create a stronger connection with your audience and let them know you’re listening to them.

View this post on Instagram

Atlanta tonight at the @masquerade_atl with @lemuriapop & @mikeyerg!!! Doors at 7! Let's party! 📸: savannahhhjai

A post shared by CAYETANA (@cayetanaphilly) on Feb 23, 2017 at 8:09am PST

Posting new content doesn’t have to be a massive production, either. If you have some time to kill, why not record a quick off-the-cuff social video to keep your feed fresh?

Home sweet home in Tennessee for 72hrs… But Georgia’s always on my mind 🍑🍑 #raycharles pic.twitter.com/dsGFhrcsKB

— Larkin Poe (@LarkinPoe) August 7, 2018

Post some behind-the-scenes content

On a related note, a huge piece of social media marketing for musicians is authenticity.

Rather than just post promo after promo, it also pays to connect to your followers on a more personal level.

A low-hanging way to do just that is to post content that takes your followers behind the scenes.

View this post on Instagram

Photo by Derick Daily

A post shared by DJ Shadow Official (@djshadow) on Feb 22, 2017 at 10:09am PST

Whether you’re traveling across the country or just sitting in the studio, don’t neglect the power of a candid snapshot. Such posts are windows into your world and are much more entertaining than 99% of what’s probably already in your followers’ feeds. They can even serve as some much-needed escapism for your fans.

And if nothing else, behind-the-scenes photos also give you an opportunity to show off your personality.

View this post on Instagram

fueled

A post shared by paramore (@paramore) on Aug 17, 2018 at 8:47pm PDT

Again, you need to post with regular consistency to stay relevant to your fans and followers. Given that it only takes a few seconds to snag a snapshot to post to your Facebook or Instagram story, consider behind-the-scenes shot as a sort of “backup plan” if you don’t have anything else to publish.

Now that you know how easy it is to stock up on content ideas so you never run out of things to post, you’ll also want to consider your social media posting schedule for getting all of that content in front of fans.  You can use the Sprout Social Calendar to plan posts in advance.  You can even let Sprout’s ViralPost choose the best posting times for you, so you get the most out of all of those photos and posts you’ve curated. Both features let you reduce the amount of time you need to spend each day just figuring out what to post and when to post it, so you can spend more time on everything else on your to-do list.

Tag brands, venues and other musicians

It’s well-documented that tagging serves as a way to instantly increase the visibility of your posts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

As such, it never hurts to tag others in your posts where appropriate. Some examples of smart tagging include:

Boosting brands (think: instruments or clothing) that you can show off in your performance photos

Shouting-out a venue where you’re performing

Highlighting fellow musicians you’re touring with or someone whose song you’re covering

Last night. 🔥 🎸 thx @bmi & @AltNashville ✌🏻 @Fender #sheshreds pic.twitter.com/zwVUEmczKb

— B R A N D Y Z D A N (@brandyzdan) August 21, 2018

Who knows: you could score a big-time follower or repost from an industry player through tactical tagging. Although tags might not seem like a big deal, anything you can do to get more eyes on your profiles is a point in your favor.

Interact with your fans

This might seem like a no-brainer, but don’t overlook the importance of going back-and-forth with fans.

Maybe they love your new song. Perhaps they have a question about your latest merch.

Either way, responding and retweeting shows that you’re listening to them. While it might not be a big deal to you, shout-outs can make fans feel positively starstruck and encourage them to be even more loyal followers in the long-run.

this is all of us and always has been https://t.co/DON92cOcRb

— hellogoodbye (@itshellogoodbye) August 21, 2018

Carve out some time throughout the day to respond to fans, paying close attention to your notifications and mentions in the process. Obviously, it makes sense to prioritize questions that deal with shows or merchandise: try to get to those within a few hours if possible.

Make YouTube a top priority

Last but not least, let’s talk about YouTube.

While you might not think of YouTube as a traditional social network, the platform’s insanely active community tells an entirely different story.

As noted, YouTube is the number one place where people stream music versus Spotify, Pandora and a whole slew of other services combined.

And no, it’s not even close.

Since people are more familiar with YouTube versus music-specific sites like SoundCloud or Bandcamp, having your music present on the platform flat out makes sense. While YouTube streaming isn’t exactly a cash cow, simply being there is totally worth it.

When it comes to social media for musicians, there are some specific YouTube optimization tips to consider.

To start, make sure that your video descriptions are fully filled out including tags and links. Since YouTube gives you plenty of real estate in video descriptions, feel free to highlight as many promotions or social profiles as you see fit.

Another way to look less “amateur hour” on YouTube is by optimizing your videos’ thumbnails. Some simple overlay text is a subtle yet significant way to make your videos stand out from the crowd via search.

Finally, a brilliant move for gaining traction on YouTube as a musician is to publish cover songs.

This is more of an artistic tip versus a purely social one but it deserves your attention regardless.

The common thread between many of the biggest musical names on YouTube?

That’s right. Covers. Lots of ’em.

Especially if you’re an up-and-comer, covers a long-term way to expose yourself to an audience that’s unfamiliar with your work. Case in point, this cover of the Cranberries’ “Zombie” amassed nearly 130 million views within the span of six months.

Woah.

Think as covers as a sort of gateway to your original music. While you are by no means compelled to post them, they’re a safe bet for growing your audience if you’re starting from zero.

And with that, we wrap up our guide!

Any more questions on social media for musicians?

We get it: musicians are busy.

As a result, you need to squeeze the most you possibly can out of your schedule.

By optimizing your profiles from the word “go” and always having fresh content in mind, managing your accounts becomes second nature.

We still want to hear from you, though. What do you think is the biggest challenge of social media for musicians? Which platforms are your top priorities? Let us know in the comments below!

This post The complete guide to social media for musicians originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from http://bit.ly/2N4egt6

[minnievirizarry]

The complete guide to social media for musicians

Let’s be honest: marketing as a musician is tough.

On any given day there are a million must-do’s and hardly enough hours to get them done, right?

Promoting your latest songs. Networking for new gigs. Fighting for the attention of fresh fans.

Exhausting? You bet.

But ever-so-rewarding when it all comes together.

View this post on Instagram

#yyys #allpointseast #london ⚡️💗🐰💗🐰💗⚡️ our beating heart for you!

A post shared by YEAH YEAH YEAHS (@yeahyeahyeahs) on Jun 4, 2018 at 8:15am PDT

Since musicians are often so busy, you need to make the most of your time spent marketing.

And if you’re laser-focused on building up your SoundCloud or Bandcamp presence, you might want to consider expanding your horizons to social platforms.

For the sake of building up a base or rabid followers and getting discovered by new ones, understanding the in’s and out’s of social media for musicians is a matter of “when,” not “if.”

Why social media marketing for musicians matters so much

Make no mistake: social media isn’t some sort of silver bullet for musicians with stars in their eyes.

However, a smart social presence is undoubtedly the best way to grow your audience and fill space at your gigs.

How so?

For starters, consider that your audience is likely glued to social media regardless of your genre. In fact, Instagram recently passed a billion active users while Facebook boasts two billion daily active users themselves. These numbers blow the likes of SoundCloud and Bandcamp out of the water.

Oh, and did you know that YouTube is the technically the most popular music streaming service right now, beating out Spotify and Apple Music?

Besides, an optimized social presence can signal your status as a professional. In an industry where competition is so cutthroat, having pristine profiles out there lets people know that you’re anything but an amateur.

That said, social media for musicians is can be a bit tricky.

With so many platforms to choose from and a need to stand out from the crowd, where should you focus your energy? What should you post?

Heck, where should you even start?

Relax.

In the guide below, we’ve outlined the best practices of social media for musicians including how to set up your profiles and come up with a content calendar that totally kills it.

Now, let’s dive in!

Start by optimizing your profiles

When someone looks you up, they’re more than likely going to find your social profiles via Google or through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

That’s why having a clean, optimized profile on each platform is a top priority.

Before worrying too much about content or creative touches, you need to ensure that your profiles tick the following three boxes:

Make your profile or bio link count by always pointing to your latest promotion (think: new song, album, tour or merch)

Your profile pictures and covers are correctly sized for social 

Ensure that any and all profile information is accurate and up-to-date including tour dates or events

The beauty of social media for musicians is that you have tons of creative freedom beyond these three points.

Let’s take a moment to look at what an optimized musician profile looks like in the wild.

Using a stylized band photo, Weezer’s Twitter bio highlights their latest album, singles, fan store and tour dates. That’s a lot of information to pack into such a small space, but you can make it happen by being economical with your copy and choosy with your links.

Meanwhile, blink-182’s Instagram highlights their tour dates and Las Vegas residency, in addition to social-specific hashtags they want their fans to tag themselves with.

Don’t neglect valuable real estate such as your cover photos, too. Here’s a great example of Fall Out Boy’s cover photo promo, which scores bonus points by being visually striking as well.

If you want that sort of professional vibe for your profile without hiring a designer, don’t fret. There are tons of image creation tools out there like Canva that can help you create your own banner, tour announcement and everything in-between.

And although imagery certainly matters, it’s perhaps most prudent to make sure that you never let your profiles gather cobwebs. For example, you should always have Facebook events on deck for your shows if the venue you’re playing at isn’t doing the legwork of promotion themselves.

Now that your profile is squared away, there’s the still the issue of content.

That is, how do you keep your social feed filled with fresh stuff for your followers?

Good question!

Keep your followers in the loop

You shouldn’t worry about doing too much self-promotion given that’s what social media marketing for musicians is all about.

As such, there’s no need to be shy about whatever is new in your world.

New song? Upcoming album? Hitting the road?

Let people know!

Considering how fickle algorithms are and how fast social media moves in the first place, frequent hype posts are totally fair game.

Additionally, it’s a smart move to put together frequent fliers and announcements which are perfect for pinned tweets or posts. That way, anyone visiting your profile can know exactly what you have going on.

View this post on Instagram

a few tix left for some of our upcoming shows with the amazing @lizzobeeating – get em while u can

A post shared by HAIM (@haimtheband) on Apr 19, 2018 at 2:59pm PDT

Oh, and bear in mind that social selling is totally fair game for musicians. Through creative promotions and sales, you can hawk your merch via social with no shame.

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Show off yourself in action

When you follow a band or artist on social media, it’s because you want to see them in action, right?

Well, your followers feel the same way.

If you’re regularly touring or playing shows, shouting out attendees and posting pictures of your performances is a good start.

Also remember that your fans can be a fantastic source of content themselves.

Encouraging user-generated content in the form of tagged fan photos is a brilliant way to interact with fans and show them a bit of love, too.  Reposting these photos is a subtle yet significant way to create a stronger connection with your audience and let them know you’re listening to them.

View this post on Instagram

Atlanta tonight at the @masquerade_atl with @lemuriapop & @mikeyerg!!! Doors at 7! Let's party! 📸: savannahhhjai

A post shared by CAYETANA (@cayetanaphilly) on Feb 23, 2017 at 8:09am PST

Posting new content doesn’t have to be a massive production, either. If you have some time to kill, why not record a quick off-the-cuff social video to keep your feed fresh?

Home sweet home in Tennessee for 72hrs… But Georgia’s always on my mind 🍑🍑 #raycharles pic.twitter.com/dsGFhrcsKB

— Larkin Poe (@LarkinPoe) August 7, 2018

Post some behind-the-scenes content

On a related note, a huge piece of social media marketing for musicians is authenticity.

Rather than just post promo after promo, it also pays to connect to your followers on a more personal level.

A low-hanging way to do just that is to post content that takes your followers behind the scenes.

View this post on Instagram

Photo by Derick Daily

A post shared by DJ Shadow Official (@djshadow) on Feb 22, 2017 at 10:09am PST

Whether you’re traveling across the country or just sitting in the studio, don’t neglect the power of a candid snapshot. Such posts are windows into your world and are much more entertaining than 99% of what’s probably already in your followers’ feeds. They can even serve as some much-needed escapism for your fans.

And if nothing else, behind-the-scenes photos also give you an opportunity to show off your personality.

View this post on Instagram

fueled

A post shared by paramore (@paramore) on Aug 17, 2018 at 8:47pm PDT

Again, you need to post with regular consistency to stay relevant to your fans and followers. Given that it only takes a few seconds to snag a snapshot to post to your Facebook or Instagram story, consider behind-the-scenes shot as a sort of “backup plan” if you don’t have anything else to publish.

Now that you know how easy it is to stock up on content ideas so you never run out of things to post, you’ll also want to consider your social media posting schedule for getting all of that content in front of fans.  You can use the Sprout Social Calendar to plan posts in advance.  You can even let Sprout’s ViralPost choose the best posting times for you, so you get the most out of all of those photos and posts you’ve curated. Both features let you reduce the amount of time you need to spend each day just figuring out what to post and when to post it, so you can spend more time on everything else on your to-do list.

Tag brands, venues and other musicians

It’s well-documented that tagging serves as a way to instantly increase the visibility of your posts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

As such, it never hurts to tag others in your posts where appropriate. Some examples of smart tagging include:

Boosting brands (think: instruments or clothing) that you can show off in your performance photos

Shouting-out a venue where you’re performing

Highlighting fellow musicians you’re touring with or someone whose song you’re covering

Last night. 🔥 🎸 thx @bmi & @AltNashville ✌🏻 @Fender #sheshreds pic.twitter.com/zwVUEmczKb

— B R A N D Y Z D A N (@brandyzdan) August 21, 2018

Who knows: you could score a big-time follower or repost from an industry player through tactical tagging. Although tags might not seem like a big deal, anything you can do to get more eyes on your profiles is a point in your favor.

Interact with your fans

This might seem like a no-brainer, but don’t overlook the importance of going back-and-forth with fans.

Maybe they love your new song. Perhaps they have a question about your latest merch.

Either way, responding and retweeting shows that you’re listening to them. While it might not be a big deal to you, shout-outs can make fans feel positively starstruck and encourage them to be even more loyal followers in the long-run.

this is all of us and always has been https://t.co/DON92cOcRb

— hellogoodbye (@itshellogoodbye) August 21, 2018

Carve out some time throughout the day to respond to fans, paying close attention to your notifications and mentions in the process. Obviously, it makes sense to prioritize questions that deal with shows or merchandise: try to get to those within a few hours if possible.

Make YouTube a top priority

Last but not least, let’s talk about YouTube.

While you might not think of YouTube as a traditional social network, the platform’s insanely active community tells an entirely different story.

As noted, YouTube is the number one place where people stream music versus Spotify, Pandora and a whole slew of other services combined.

And no, it’s not even close.

Since people are more familiar with YouTube versus music-specific sites like SoundCloud or Bandcamp, having your music present on the platform flat out makes sense. While YouTube streaming isn’t exactly a cash cow, simply being there is totally worth it.

When it comes to social media for musicians, there are some specific YouTube optimization tips to consider.

To start, make sure that your video descriptions are fully filled out including tags and links. Since YouTube gives you plenty of real estate in video descriptions, feel free to highlight as many promotions or social profiles as you see fit.

Another way to look less “amateur hour” on YouTube is by optimizing your videos’ thumbnails. Some simple overlay text is a subtle yet significant way to make your videos stand out from the crowd via search.

Finally, a brilliant move for gaining traction on YouTube as a musician is to publish cover songs.

This is more of an artistic tip versus a purely social one but it deserves your attention regardless.

The common thread between many of the biggest musical names on YouTube?

That’s right. Covers. Lots of ’em.

Especially if you’re an up-and-comer, covers a long-term way to expose yourself to an audience that’s unfamiliar with your work. Case in point, this cover of the Cranberries’ “Zombie” amassed nearly 130 million views within the span of six months.

Woah.

Think as covers as a sort of gateway to your original music. While you are by no means compelled to post them, they’re a safe bet for growing your audience if you’re starting from zero.

And with that, we wrap up our guide!

Any more questions on social media for musicians?

We get it: musicians are busy.

As a result, you need to squeeze the most you possibly can out of your schedule.

By optimizing your profiles from the word “go” and always having fresh content in mind, managing your accounts becomes second nature.

We still want to hear from you, though. What do you think is the biggest challenge of social media for musicians? Which platforms are your top priorities? Let us know in the comments below!

This post The complete guide to social media for musicians originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-musicians/

[b2bsocialmedia]

Marketer to Instagram Influencer: The Josh Horton Story

Want to become an Instagram influencer? Wondering how to maximize the exposure of your Instagram posts? To explore how to become a full-time Instagram influencer, I interview Josh Horton. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Josh Horton, known online as Jugglin' Josh. He's a marketer turned influencer with more than a million followers across all of the social channels. He also holds 12 Guinness World Records, and he's been on The Ellen Show. Josh explains how he uses various Instagram features to share content and grow his following. You'll also learn how producing content for YouTube differs from Instagram. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen Now Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show: Becoming an Instagram Influencer Josh's Story In 2011, Josh graduated from college and planned to be a professional juggler. After performing for several months, Josh joined a social media agency started by a friend of a family friend. Josh was the eighth hire, and he started out part-time, deleting spam and cusswords from Facebook pages. When the company (McBeard Media, which later became part of Fullscreen Media) began to grow, they offered Josh a full-time job. Because he worked remotely, he could work full-time and continue performing on the side, juggling and traveling for shows. After a couple of years, Josh was managing a team of coordinators, graphic designers, and video editors. He helped run day-to-day operations of multiple brand pages, including Sony Pictures. Every movie from Sony Pictures had its own Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and sometimes Snapchat account. He also helped create graphics and videos posted to other brand pages every day. However, the deeper Josh fell into this job, the less he focused on juggling. In 2015, when Josh turned 25 years old, he realized he had no juggling gigs booked. Although juggling was a side hustle, it was also his passion. So within a month of his birthday, he quit his job. Originally, he planned to focus on performing on stage at halftime shows and corporate and community events. But because he knew all this stuff about social media, he decided to also try growing an Instagram following. Josh focused on Instagram because he enjoyed that platform the most and figured it was the easiest place to grow a following. Today, although Josh is still performing, his social media following has grown to a point where it makes him more money than his performances do. Listen to the show to learn more about Josh's work at the social media agency. How to Grow a Following on Instagram When Josh quit his job, he had around 8,000 Instagram followers. Now, he has about 260,000. Josh began trying to grow his following soon after Instagram launched its video feature. From his agency work, Josh knew he needed to make something that was so good people would want to like, comment on, or share it. Compelling Videos: To encourage engagement, Josh edited his juggling videos into polished content with music and transitions. With those videos, he gained followers organically. Then he found viral video accounts on Instagram, which have millions of followers and post other people's content. He gained a lot of followers when those accounts reposted videos of his trick shots. Some of those accounts reposted his videos with permission, and others didn't get permission. As long as the accounts tagged Josh, he was okay with it. Collaborations: Josh also started collaborating with other Instagram influencers to continue building his following. In fact, Josh keeps performing in part because his travels allow him to connect with other influencers. Original article from Social Media Marketing Podcast helps your business thrive with social media http://bit.ly/2jrcoJv Check out the Social Media Examiner blog for great social media help with actionable insights! A great resource if you're managing social media for your business. As always, let me know your thoughts on this article in the comments section below. If you have enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it with your followers! Thank you!