Sourced from WATC

Many freelance designers believe their portfolio is their only business card. It is the polished gallery of their best work, designed to speak for itself. This thinking, however, overlooks a powerful, strategic tool for professional growth: LinkedIn marketing for freelance designers. In a competitive market projected to soar past USD 500 billion by 2025, visibility is not just an advantage; it is a necessity. LinkedIn is no longer a simple online resume. It has evolved into a dynamic ecosystem for personal branding, client acquisition, and meaningful network building. For the modern freelance designer, mastering this platform is a non-negotiable skill.

The platform’s sheer scale is staggering. With over a billion members, it represents the largest professional gathering on the planet. Think about that for a moment. This is a digital space where decision-makers, creative directors, and potential clients congregate daily. It’s where business gets done. Consequently, understanding how to navigate this environment is fundamental to building a sustainable and profitable freelance career.

Why Your Ideal Clients Are Already on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is not just another social network; it is a dedicated professional hub. Its user base is distinct. The primary demographic, users aged 25-34, sits squarely in the prime age bracket for both hiring managers and entrepreneurs seeking design services. These are not passive scrollers. In fact, interactions on the platform have grown consistently, demonstrating a highly engaged audience hungry for valuable content.

What does this mean for you as a designer? It means your target audience is actively looking for expertise. They are searching for professionals who can solve their problems. A strong strategy for LinkedIn marketing for freelance designers positions you directly in their path. You are not just showcasing your work; you are demonstrating your value within a business context. Furthermore, an impressive 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find and vet candidates. This statistic alone should shift your perspective. Your next big project might not come from a job board but from a recruiter who discovered your expertly crafted profile.

The Marketing Engine: How LinkedIn Generates Real Leads

For B2B (business-to-business) marketers, LinkedIn is the undisputed champion. A massive 89% of B2B marketers use the platform specifically for lead generation because it works. LinkedIn is rated as the most effective social media platform for achieving business goals, a testament to its professional focus and powerful tools. This makes it a goldmine for freelance designers, who primarily operate in a B2B capacity.

Your potential clients are other businesses. They need logos, websites, branding guides, and marketing materials. Therefore, you must be present where they are looking for solutions. Effective LinkedIn marketing for freelance designers involves more than just having a profile. It requires a proactive approach to content and connection. When you share insights, case studies, or process videos, you are not just posting; you are nurturing leads. You build trust and establish yourself as an authority. Consequently, when a company needs a designer, your name is the one that comes to mind. This is the core of effective inbound marketing.

Building Your Brand: More Than Just a Profile

Your LinkedIn profile is the foundation of your entire marketing effort. It needs to be more than a simple work history. Think of it as your digital headquarters. A professional headshot, a compelling headline rich with keywords like “Freelance Graphic Designer | Branding & UI/UX Expert,” and a detailed “About” section are critical. This is your chance to tell your story. What problems do you solve? Who do you help?

Beyond the basics, your profile must serve as a living portfolio. LinkedIn allows you to feature rich media directly in your experience and featured sections. Use this space wisely. Instead of just listing a job, showcase the project. Add high-resolution images of the final design, link to the live website, or share a testimonial from the happy client. This transforms your profile from a static resume into a dynamic, persuasive sales page. Every element should work together to build credibility and make a powerful first impression.

A Powerful Content Strategy for LinkedIn

How do you capture attention on a busy platform? The data offers clear guidance. Visuals reign supreme. Posts with images consistently outperform text-only updates, driving significantly higher engagement. As a designer, this is your natural advantage. Share mock-ups, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your creative process, or carousels that break down a complex design concept.

However, do not underestimate the power of short, insightful text posts or brief videos. Videos under 15 seconds have been shown to boost shareability, making them perfect for quick tips or revealing a new logo animation. The key is consistency. Aim to post at least twice a week during peak engagement times (typically mid-morning and late afternoon from Tuesday to Thursday). This regular activity keeps you visible in your network’s feed and signals to the LinkedIn algorithm that you are an active, valuable contributor.

To stay on top of the latest trends and gather daily inspiration, it is also essential to follow leading voices in the creative industry. For instance, WE AND THE COLOR’s official LinkedIn page is a must-follow. It offers a curated stream of outstanding creative projects and essential business news tailored for professionals like you.

Networking with Purpose and Authenticity

Building a network on LinkedIn is not about collecting thousands of random connections. It is about cultivating meaningful relationships. A core component of LinkedIn marketing for freelance designers is strategic and authentic engagement. This means more than just liking a post. Leave thoughtful comments on the content shared by industry leaders and potential clients. Tag collaborators when you share a project. Congratulate contacts on their work anniversaries or new roles.

This consistent, genuine interaction builds social capital. When you eventually reach out to a potential client with a tailored message, you are no longer a stranger. You are a familiar name from their notifications, a peer who has engaged with their work. This “warm” approach dramatically increases your chances of getting a positive response compared to a completely cold outreach. Remember, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. Your activity on LinkedIn is how you build that trust at scale.

The Fine Print and Final Thoughts

Of course, no platform is without its nuances. As your follower count grows, your organic engagement rate per post may naturally decrease. This makes a smart content strategy, including reposting your top-performing content, even more crucial. It is also wise to be aware of fraudulent accounts, although the platform is actively working to mitigate this issue.

Ultimately, LinkedIn should complement, not replace, your primary portfolio on a personal website or a platform like Behance. Think of it as a powerful marketing and distribution channel that drives qualified traffic to your work.

The evidence is clear. For any serious creative professional, an effective strategy for LinkedIn marketing for freelance designers is indispensable for growth. By optimizing your profile, creating valuable content, and engaging with authenticity, you transform the platform from a passive resume site into a proactive client-acquisition machine. It is where you build your reputation, connect with decision-makers, and secure the high-value projects that will define your career.

By Dirk Petzold

Sourced from WATC

By Alexander Puutio

Marketing done right is increasingly boiling down to using your brand with strategic precision.

Knowing what you stand for, what your customers value, and how to meet them at the intersection of relevance and trust might sound like the beginnings of an abstract mission statement, but in 2025 it’s simply the table stakes for making marketing work.

In their recently launched book, Brand Global, Adapt Local, Nataly Kelly (CMO of Zappi) and Katherine Melchior Ray (former global brand executive at Louis Vuitton and Nike) argue that successful marketing begins by treating branding not as a one-time exercise or a PowerPoint but as the central thread that weaves across the entire organization.

The brand, they explain, is not a coat of paint one slaps on the organization. Instead, it’s the frame through which customers understand your values, your product, and whether you belong in their lives.

“Global brands are under more pressure than ever to balance consistency with customization,” Kelly explains. “Any brand entering a new market is almost starting from the beginning.”

Their book outlines how 70% of global brand failures stem from cultural misalignment and makes the case that cultural intelligence (CQ) is the cornerstone of a winning strategy. “Cultural intelligence is how brands work to understand today’s diverse consumers and reflect their values,” she continues.

Ray is sharper still: “Winning brands think global, but feel local. 77% of global consumers prefer to buy from brands that share their values, yet many companies still try to go to market with a one-size-fits-all playbook. Since brands represent promises, which live in the minds of the consumers, these companies don’t even reach the starting line.”

“Trust isn’t transferable,” says Ray. “It’s built on shared values, and showing up the right way in the right place. That’s what cultural intelligence delivers”.

The book introduces the “Brand Fulcrum” model that Ray developed when she was Vice President Marketing at Louis Vuitton Japan, a framework that allows any organization to integrate seemingly opposing themes like traditional and innovative, for greater local resonance. The Brand Fulcrum framework ensures brand range, relevance and vitality in an ever-changing marketplace.

“As brands adapt to culture, they can get overextended, which is where the fulcrum comes in. Brands then need to tactically balance opposing yet complementary intrinsic values to bring to life across cultures,” she added.

Their approach to brand building is rooted in hard-earned lessons from years of running some of the world’s most valuable brands across cultures, and it serves as a stark reminder for all wishing to pump out results from their marketing budget.

If trust is the currency, the brand is how it is earned, kept, or lost. And keeping these flows moving is by no means the CMO’s job alone.

As Kelly and Ray explain, it is the CEO who owns the promise of the brand, but they emphasize shared ownership. “When marketing is done right, it becomes the connective tissue between product, people, and performance. It’s a leadership imperative where the brand is front and centre, and the CEO is in the driver’s seat, but the marketing organization carries it across borders,” they continue.

The CEO as Chief Storyteller and Custodian of the Brand

Janine Pelosi understands this better than most. As the former CMO of Zoom and now the CEO of Neat, she’s lived through hypergrowth, media firestorms, and the reality of building trust at global scale.

She explains that in the best companies, the CEO and CMO don’t operate on separate tracks. Instead, they share the core function of telling the story of the business in a way that builds belief, inside and out.

Pelosi’s journey makes her uniquely fluent in both roles. At Zoom, she helped define one of the most recognizable brands of the pandemic era, not by leading with hype but with clarity. Now, as CEO of Neat, she brings that same ethos to building a next-generation workplace tech company.

“The CEO has to be the custodian of the brand,” she says. “Marketing can scale belief, but only if the leadership is embodying it, too. If you’re saying one thing and doing another, no campaign will fix that.”

She’s quick to stress that the brand is not a static asset. It’s adaptable, localised, personal—and those same pressures sit squarely on the CEO. “You have to be OK with the level of autonomy and responsibility that comes with leading through change,” she says. “The world isn’t one-size-fits-all, and neither is your story.”

Reflecting on the chaos of 2020, she doesn’t talk in superlatives, but in systems that have to all work seamlessly together, from crisis comms, global coordination to the brand and the trust it builds. “If I hadn’t gone through all that, would I have learned what actually matters when it comes to scaling a global brand?”

As for the shift to hardware at Neat, she’s direct: “What I did learn is that there’s no playbook for this and mindset is everything. If you bring a problem, also bring three ways to solve it.”

In many ways, Pelosi represents the kind of executive that modern brands need: someone who understands that storytelling is at the heart of the CEOs task. And that being the brand means living its values visibly, even when it’s uncomfortable.

In fact, CEOs are often pulled into the gravitational force of the brand, willingly or not. Just ask Elon Musk, who embodies his companies’ brand stories to the point of becoming indistinguishable from them. For better or worse, the CEO is now part of the product. Pelosi doesn’t chase that spotlight, but she doesn’t run from the responsibility either.

“When you’re building a brand that’s global, you have to be ready for it to get personal. People don’t trust logos. They trust people,” she says. “So the question becomes: Are you someone worth trusting?”

For Pelosi, the answer lies not in charisma, but in coherence. Marketing scales belief, but only when leadership walks the talk. That’s not a handoff between departments. That’s shared DNA.

The CEO as Chief Trust Officer And Making Marketing Work at Scale

The relationship between a brand and its audience relies on trust, and trust has the CEO’s name written all over it.

Heather Neary, President and CEO of Taco John’s, a Mexican restaurant brand with nearly 400 locations and half a century behind it, knows this well.

For Neary, trust goes far beyond what the company sells or does, extending well into building authentic relationships, understanding franchisees and customers deeply, and aligning the entire organization to deliver on its promises.

“Trust starts with listening,” Neary begins, reflecting on her first six months at Taco John’s. “I spent every second week in the field, visiting restaurants, sitting down with franchisees, and hearing about what’s really happening. You can’t make meaningful decisions if you don’t understand the business at its core.”

Neary’’s leadership approach is centered on transparency and collaboration. “At the end of the day, people want to feel heard. Whether it’s franchisees, restaurant operators, or customers, trust is built by being intentional about collaboration and open communication,” she explains.

In a franchising model, Neary emphasizes the importance of aligning incentives and being honest about opportunities. “If we’re asking franchisees to invest thousands, we owe them transparency on the ROI. The best way to sell a franchise is to have an existing franchisee champion the opportunity,” she says.

For Neary, the role of CEO is centered around trust-building as much as it is strategy. “I see myself as Chief Trustbuilder. Every decision I make needs to strengthen the brand, respect the entrepreneurial spirit of our franchisees, and ensure we’re delivering on our promise to customers,” she concludes.

Scaling this sense of trust is also where the story of Luke Mahoney, CEO of FuturHealth, begins.

Mahoney started his career in marketing but quickly pivoted into entrepreneurship—founding eight companies from scratch, all bootstrapped or leanly funded. His latest, FuturHealth, is a GLP-1 weight-loss telehealth platform that’s now one of the fastest-scaling players in the space.

Mahoney’s approach is blunt, and all the better for it: “Most people are offering access to a product, but you need to do more. That the product works is a given, good marketing and great branding is the amplifier without which nothing happens.”

That philosophy where product is the proof and brand is the resonance runs through every venture he’s built. At G-Plans, a nutrition platform that has reached over 28 million users, he started with metabolic data before a PR push. At You & Yours, a design-forward distillery in San Diego it was the architecture, music, and mood before the marketing.

“Our website didn’t even say half of what we did at first,” Mahoney admits. “We worked with an agency to make the messaging tighter. That’s what good marketing is, clarity in motion.”

And while marketing may have come after the product, he doesn’t view it as a downstream activity. Far from it, he argues that its place is upstream and central for FuturHealth.

“The weight loss journey is tough and you need tools, yes, but more than that, you need an experience that supports it. We built that into the product, the branding and our marketing.”

This trifecta of a product that works, a story worth sharing and a brand worth trusting is exactly what Mahoney argues makes marketing work at scale.

How Localization and Personal Branding Can Change Everything

Which leads us to one of the more fascinating case studies in the realm of founder-led marketing: Playtime Engineering.

Founded by Kate and Troy Sheets, the company produces synthesizers and grooveboxes that look like toys but function like the real deal. The underlying innovation, a living instrument called myTRACKS, evolved out of obsession, problem-solving, and a love for music that refuses to be dumbed down for kids.

“We really lucked out with a designer, he came from the synth world, understood our hardware inside and out,” Troy Sheets recalls. “The product was always going to be solid, but marketing it? That was the part we had to learn.”

They started in earnest in 2018, self-funded and wildly iterative. A DIY prototype led to a showcase appearance, which led to a successful crowdfund. Then came their first stumble, selling out with no post-campaign stock. “It was six months of silence,” they say. “But it taught us about forecasting, logistics, and the long tail of attention.”

It also taught them how important it is for marketing to be backed up with the good, lest you risk burning trust with your audience.

Based on these lessons they’ve since built a modest but mighty brand that leverages fun.

It also makes the brand personal in ways that bigger players aren’t capitalizing on yet.

Clara Venice, a synth-pop artist and producer who has recorded with Blipblox, puts it this way: “I work with a lot of synth products and I’ve always wondered ‘Why don’t they make a pink one?’ The larger brands don’t get how intimidating it is to go into a music shop and be confronted with a wall of black. If they make a colour that reflects you, that sells. I want high-quality gear, but I also want it to speak to me.”

For Venice, branding is as much about the look and feel of the product as it is about the product making it’s user feel seen. “It’s a sophisticated approach that most of the big players are missing. Companies like Blipblox have realized you can be a serious musician and still be fun. You can make an instrument that’s fun to play and still make really good music with it, and the brand doesn’t suffer from embracing a wider group of people, quite the contrary.”

In short, localization can be as simple, and powerful, as a design choice. A splash of your favourite colour, a texture that feels friendly instead of cold, a name that makes you smile. Sometimes, that’s all it takes for a brand to resonate.

Sheet’s agrees, and notes how their brand growth has been much more durable because of their approach. Their instruments still remain the main draw, and they bridge a gap between high-end equipment and creative play. That bridge is now also their brand.

“We aren’t making junk toys that get thrown away,” Sheets says. “These are products kids grow with. And we’re growing with them, every year a new product, every month new sounds.”

Now, with the support of a long-time marketing consultant who understands both music gear and consumer psychology, they’re moving deeper into digital. New geographies, new pricing experiments, even a warehouse in the Czech Republic to beat tariffs. Places where the product opens the doors, but the brand and marketing make the sales both locally and globally.

Playtime’s approach is not based on an obsession over product-market fit, instead, it’s one that builds upon brand-customer resonance. They build instruments with purpose, and that purpose travels through every channel they use, no matter what language the message gets translated into.

And here, we see the common thread that Nataly Kelly and Katherine Melchior Ray opened up for us. The global framework for brand building that Pelosi, Mahoney and the Sheets instinctively have followed shows how smart marketing doesn’t sell hype. Instead, it emphasizes value and instead of shouting “look at me” it whispers “this is for you.”

And when marketing is done right, it doesn’t feel like marketing at all. Instead, it feels like a brand that is authentic, a leader you can trust and more increasingly than ever, that’s the only thing that sells.

Feature image credit: Getty

By Alexander Puutio

Find Alexander Puutio on LinkedIn. Visit Alexander’s website.

Sourced from Forbes

By Natalie Fear

In the UK, as soon as the sun peeks through the clouds, you can guarantee someone will be firing up their barbecue. Embracing this traditional summer spirit, British supermarket chain Waitrose has launched a larger-than-life billboard campaign celebrating an iconic star of the BBQ – the humble kebab.

Recently, brands have been stepping up their billboard ads, embracing out-of-the-box ideas from guerrilla marketing to logo-free campaigns. Waitrose’s tactile yet playful billboards are not only visually striking, but also a wonderful subversion of the ordinary, sure to leave a mouth-watering impression on passers-by.

Developed in collaboration with creative agency Wonderhood Studios, MG OMD, Grand Visual and Talon, the towering billboards debuted in Camden and Westfield White City, London. Featuring various kebab staples such as onions, peppers and prawns, each 3D component was meticulously painted onto polystyrene foam across a five-day process. “We wanted to challenge ourselves to see if anything truly is a kebab if you put a skewer through it,” says Jack Croft, creative director at Wonderhood Studios. Turns out, it is,” he adds.

Part of Waitrose’s ‘Let your summer side out’ campaign, the playful billboards embrace a spirit of relaxation and fun. Similar to Dreamies’ OOH cat ad, the tactile advertising is a joyful subversion of billboard ad trends, proving that thinking outside the box (literally) can make for a wholly memorable campaign.

Feature image credit: Waitrose

By Natalie Fear

Natalie Fear is Creative Bloq’s staff writer. With an eye for trending topics and a passion for internet culture, she brings you the latest in art and design news. Natalie also runs Creative Bloq’s Day in the Life series, spotlighting diverse talent across the creative industries. Outside of work, she loves all things literature and music (although she’s partial to a spot of TikTok brain rot).

Sourced from Creative Bloq

Sourced from Independent Australia

Good web design plays a crucial role in improving a website’s search engine optimisation (SEO). It enhances the user experience, making the site easier to navigate, faster to load, and visually appealing, which helps retain visitors and lowers bounce rates.

These factors contribute directly to better search engine rankings, as search engines prioritise websites that offer both quality content and seamless user experiences.

A well-designed website incorporates responsive design, clear navigation, and optimised content, all of which align with SEO best practices. This integration ensures that search engines can efficiently index the site while delivering relevant results to users. Without good web design, even the best content can remain hidden from potential visitors or fail to engage them effectively.

By focusing on the intersection of design and SEO, businesses can boost their online visibility and improve their site’s overall performance. The combination of technical optimisation and user-centred design provides a solid foundation for achieving long-term success in search rankings.

How good web design impacts SEO

Effective web design shapes how search engines evaluate and rank a website. It influences several technical and user-focused factors that improve a site’s visibility and performance in search results. Key elements include how easily search engines crawl and index pages, how the site performs on mobile devices, and how quickly it loads. All of these things are taken into account when an SEO company optimises your website.

Search engine crawling and indexing

Good web design ensures a clean and logical site structure. Clear navigation, simple URL schemes, and well-organised internal linking help search engines discover and understand content efficiently.

Using semantic HTML tags like headings (H1, H2) enhances content hierarchy, making it easier for crawlers to prioritise important information. Minimising duplicate content and avoiding excessive JavaScript or Flash elements prevents indexing issues.

Websites with straightforward architectures allow search engines to index all relevant pages faster. They also reduce crawl budget waste by eliminating broken links and orphaned pages.

Mobile responsiveness for SEO

Mobile responsiveness is critical for SEO since search engines prioritise mobile-first indexing. A site that adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes provides a better user experience and ranks higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Responsive design ensures all content, images, and navigation elements adjust without requiring zoom or horizontal scrolling. Avoiding mobile-specific errors like slow loading or inaccessible menus is essential.

Search engines favour websites that maintain consistent performance and usability across devices. Mobile-friendly sites reduce bounce rates, increase session duration, and improve user engagement signals influencing rankings.

Website speed and SEO performance

Website speed directly affects user experience and search rankings. Faster-loading pages reduce bounce rates and increase the time visitors spend on a site.

Optimising images, leveraging browser caching, and minimising HTTP requests are key strategies for improving load times. Clean code and efficient server performance also contribute.

Search engines factor in page speed as part of their ranking algorithms. A delay of even a few seconds can hurt visibility, making speed optimisation vital for SEO effectiveness.

User experience and search rankings

Effective user experience directly influences how search engines rank a website, and would be taken into account by your SEO agency when optimising your site. Factors like navigation clarity, user retention, and accessibility contribute to how search engines interpret site quality. These aspects encourage longer visits and easier content discovery, both valued by ranking algorithms.

Navigation structure and findability

A clear navigation structure helps users locate information efficiently. Well-organised menus and logical page hierarchies ensure visitors can move through the site without confusion. This reduces frustration and increases engagement.

Search engines use navigation cues to understand the relationship between pages. Properly labelled menus and internal links help distribute link equity and improve indexing. Websites with intuitive navigation tend to have higher crawl rates and better search visibility.

Important elements include:

• consistent menu placement;
• descriptive link text; and
• hierarchical page organisation.

These practices support both users and search engines, enhancing overall findability.

Reducing bounce rate with intuitive design

Intuitive design keeps visitors engaged by fulfilling their needs quickly. Simple layouts, fast loading times, and clear calls to action decrease bounce rates. A lower bounce rate signals search engines that the content is relevant and valuable.

Websites designed around user behaviour—such as predictable navigation patterns and straightforward interactions—encourage exploration. This increases dwell time, another positive factor for SEO.

Key actions to reduce bounce rate:

• minimise clutter and distractions;
• ensure mobile responsiveness; and
• use clear headings and concise content.

These contribute to smoother user journeys and improved search rankings.

Accessibility and SEO benefits

Accessible design allows all users, including those with disabilities, to navigate and consume content easily. Features like keyboard navigation, alt text for images, and readable fonts benefit users and search engines alike.

Search engines favour accessible websites because they are easier to crawl and understand. Accessibility practices often overlap with SEO best practices, such as optimised images and semantic HTML tags.

Essential accessibility elements include:

• Alt attributes for images;
• proper use of ARIA labels; and
• sufficient colour contrast.

Implementing accessibility not only broadens audience reach but also enhances SEO performance.

Visual elements that influence SEO

Visual elements affect several aspects of SEO, including page speed, user engagement, and trustworthiness. Proper handling of images, typography, and branding plays a vital role in enhancing search engine visibility and improving user experience.

Optimising images for search engines

Images must be optimised to reduce load times, which directly impacts SEO rankings. Compressing images without losing quality helps pages load faster, improving both user experience and search engine crawling efficiency.

Using descriptive, keyword-rich alt text supports accessibility, allowing search engines to understand image content. Proper file naming conventions also aid SEO by signalling relevance to search queries.

Responsive images that adjust to different screen sizes improve mobile performance, a key ranking factor. Additionally, implementing formats like WebP reduces file size compared to traditional JPEG or PNG.

Typography and readability

Typography affects how easily users consume content. Clear, legible fonts improve readability, reducing bounce rates and increasing time spent on a page, which are positive signals for SEO.

Font size and line spacing should be optimised for different devices to enhance user experience. Avoiding overly decorative or complex fonts ensures text remains accessible to all users.

Consistent use of headings (H1, H2, H3) structured around clear hierarchy helps search engines interpret the page layout and content priority. This assists in better indexing and ranking.

Consistent branding and trustworthiness

Visual consistency enhances brand recognition and user trust. When design elements such as colour schemes, logos, and layout styles are uniform, visitors are more likely to view the site as credible.

Trustworthiness influences user engagement metrics that search engines consider, such as return visits and lower bounce rates. A professional, cohesive appearance supports credibility in the eyes of both users and search engines.

Incorporating familiar visual cues and clear calls to action reassures users, encouraging interaction and extended site visits, which can indirectly support SEO performance.

Choosing a web design company with SEO experience

Selecting a web design company with SEO expertise is crucial for building a website that performs well on search engines. A firm that understands SEO integrates optimisation from the start, rather than treating it as an afterthought.

They ensure technical elements like site speed, mobile responsiveness, and clean code are prioritised. This creates a solid foundation for search engines to crawl and index the site effectively.

Look for a company that offers content strategies aligned with SEO goals. These agencies often recommend a content calendar driven by keyword research to keep the website relevant and competitive.

Transparency about their SEO practices is another important factor. A reliable company should explain their methods clearly and provide measurable results.

Choosing a company without SEO knowledge risks a website that looks good but performs poorly in search rankings. Businesses benefit most when design and SEO goals are aligned from the start.

Sourced from Independent Australia

By Maria Ross

Empathetic Brands Start From the Inside Out. Here Are Three Ways to Break Down the Silos Between EX and CX.

Customer experience is everything. This is a mantra most business leaders have rallied behind by now. From initial brand awareness to personalized post-purchase support, organizations have grown increasingly intentional about making customers feel seen, heard, and valued through every interaction with their brands.

In rushing to improve customer experience (CX), many may overlook another fundamental truth: Employee experience (EX) is also vital to shaping customer outcomes. So what happens when customer experience efforts aren’t mirrored internally, and employees aren’t extended the same care and attention they’re expected to give?

A 2024 PwC report found that 82% of U.S. and 74% of non-U.S. customers want more human interaction in their brand experiences. But according to the 2024 Gallup State of the Global Workplace report, only 21% of employees globally felt engaged at work. By 2025, this decline in engagement was found to be among the top 7 workplace challenges, costing the global economy an estimated $8.8 trillion in lost productivity and poor management.

A recent Quantitative Marketing and Economics study further confirms this by finding a direct, causal link between employee engagement and customer satisfaction.

In other words: while consumer-first strategies are undoubtedly important, when they’re implemented at the expense of employee wellbeing, they backfire in costly ways.

Employees are the ones who deliver the human experience customers want. When they feel unheard and unseen, disengaged, and burned out, they can’t extend that care to customers. As one World Economic Forum article notes, empathy is one of the most critical leadership skills for the future of work, and more importantly, a key driver of innovation and employee engagement. And in an economy where both customers and employees demand meaningful engagement, empathy must flow in both directions.

To create an authentically empathetic brand, leaders can’t treat CX and EX as separate silos. Instead, they must acknowledge that one flows into the other, and align internal culture with the external promise. Here are three places to begin breaking down those silos:

Listen Like a Leader, Not Just a Manager

Many organizations typically collect customer feedback through surveys, support tickets, or NPS scores. But what about doing this internally too? According to the Center for Creative Leadership, empathetic leaders outperform in collaboration and innovation because they listen deeply and respond thoughtfully. And when employees feel safe enough to share challenges, ideas, or concerns, companies gain insight into what’s really working (or not).

In her conflict resolution framework on The Empathy Edge podcast, organizational development professional and CEO of Seattle Conflict Resolution Kristine Scott outlines three simple but powerful steps for managers navigating tough conversations: validate the emotion, state the boundary, and offer support or options. This can also mean creating intentional moments where employees feel safe to speak and confident they’ll be heard. It means investing in employee check-ins, feedback loops, and listening sessions as strategic tools, not just HR nice-to-haves. And as this Harvard Business Review article reminds us, listening well is not only a first step to aligning employee needs with business goals, it’s a teachable, trackable leadership skill that every leader can access.

Equip Managers to Model Empathy

Internal culture isn’t as shaped by C-Suite memos as it is by those everyday interactions employees have with managers. Yet they’re often undertrained, overburdened, and most overlooked when it comes to empathy training. According to Harvard’s Professional & Executive Development platform, teaching managers reflective listening, empathetic communication, and psychological safety techniques helps address burnout, distrust, and disengagement among teams.

And as MIT Sloan Management Review puts it, empathy within teams turns warm hearts into cold hard results. But it still needs systemic support, because while training leaders to be more empathetic is necessary, organizational structures must reinforce it. When empathy exists only in pockets but is not supported by the environment, that’s like planting healthy seeds in nutrition less soil and still expecting an abundant crop.

Align Policies with People, Not Just Profit

When leaders ask whether organizational policies honour their people, it might mean rethinking rigid schedules, performance metrics, or communication norms. It also means considering the mental, emotional, and psychological toll of customer-facing roles. A 2024 Current Psychology study found that emotional exhaustion in these roles has a mediating impact on employee turnover intention. But when employees know that the company has their back, not just during peak performance, but during hard seasons too, they’re more likely to stick around and go the extra mile.

Here’s the bottom line: Empathetic organizations don’t begin with clever ad campaigns. They begin at the Monday morning meeting, with leaders who listen, managers who care, and internal systems that reflect both values and humanity. For loyalty from our revenue-driving customers, we must first invest internally in empathy for our employees and understand how employee experience impacts customer experience.

Feature image credit: Getty

By Maria Ross

Sourced from Forbes

By Katie McIlvenny

Katie McIlvenny shares her key learnings from her first year as a freelance PR consultant, and how design studios can make the most of media opportunities.

I’ve worked with branding and design studios since 2017; some small and nimble, others larger and more process-heavy. But after a year flying solo as a freelance PR and media consultant, I’ve had a proper education.

If my early years taught me what makes a good story, this year showed me what actually gets published, and why some PR works while a lot doesn’t.

With budgets tighter, timelines shorter and attention spans in freefall, design studios often ask – is PR worth it? The short answer is – it depends.

Here’s what I’ve learned over the past 12 months.

1. A new project isn’t a story

Let’s start here because it’s the biggest misconception I see and the biggest shift I’ve noticed in the last year.

New work might excite your agency, but that doesn’t make it media-worthy. Ask yourself – why should anyone else care? Especially through a design lens; not just what was made but why it matters now.

Does it offer fresh perspective, useful takeaways or cultural context? If not, it’s probably better suited to your own channels. Be honest with yourself, and don’t lose it when your PR is honest with you.

This is doubly true in design, where fewer editorial staff face more agencies and studios than ever. The bar’s high. Stories that get picked up usually:

1. Tap into a wider cultural moment.
2. Offer a surprising point of view.
3. Speak to a business or societal shift.
4. Spark discussion beyond the design bubble.

Journalists aren’t your marketing team. If your pitch reads like a case study padded with adjectives, it belongs on your blog, not their inbox.

2. Think like a journalist

This is the one I’ve seen trip people up the most. Founders and design leaders often want to prove value through their creative thinking, like the layers of meaning behind a wordmark, or the strategic rigour of their grid system.

And that’s all valid. But the best PR doesn’t say, “Look how good we are.” It says, “Here’s something we’ve seen or done that adds to the conversation about design.”

Design publications want to know what’s relevant, not just what’s new. What does this say about how design is being used right now? What’s changing? What’s being challenged? Why does it matter?

If your story helps people in the industry think differently about processes, tools or the role design plays in culture or business, it’s got legs.

The most effective pieces I’ve worked on start with a half-baked idea, a hunch or even a rant about how a client brief made a creative director question everything. If there’s a sharp point of view in there, we can shape it.

That doesn’t mean being provocative for the sake of it, Just be honest. The design world doesn’t need more content, it needs authentic perspectives that add value.

3. Don’t underestimate DIY visibility – especially in design

Some of the best visibility right now happens on owned channels.

We all know LinkedIn can be a cringe wasteland (“I got married; here’s what it taught me about client services.” NO!!).
But sharing smart, funny, human takes can earn you as much credit as earned media.

Design is a visual, ideas-driven industry, so we have every reason to stop taking ourselves so seriously.

Designers who share thoughtful takes on process, early experiments or the messy parts get noticed. I’ve seen people land projects, hires and speaking gigs just by showing up consistently and talking like a human.

That said, peer applause isn’t the same as strategic storytelling. If you want to reach future clients, collaborators or where industry press look for signals, that’s where PR helps.

A good comms partner doesn’t just pitch – they help you figure out what your studio really wants to say, when to say it, and how to hit beyond the bubble.

Ever wonder how some creatives always get quoted right when a topic explodes? There’s probably a PR behind the scenes, antenna up, quotes prepped, contacts primed.

4. Old-school relationships still work, especially now

We’re solidly back in the era of “fancy a drink?” And honestly, thank god.

Journalists, like us, are exhausted. Their inboxes are chaos. If you want to stand out, don’t just send another cold pitch. Get to know them. Be curious about what inspires them. Ask questions, and show genuine interest in the answers.

A good lunch sticks way longer than an email. Relationships don’t guarantee coverage, but they give you a better chance than the 275 other unread emails in a journalist’s inbox.

It’s not about louder, it’s about clearer

With AI taking jobs and everyone chasing the same headlines, PR is changing fast.

But the fundamentals hold. Know your story. Know your audience. And know when to share it on your own channels, rather than squeezing it into a pitch.

If I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s that PR isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about being clearer, and knowing when to go big and when to hold back. Give both the media, and their audience, something worth their time.

The world doesn’t need more noise; it just needs better stories.

Feature image credit: Shutterstock

By Katie McIlvenny

Katie McIlvenny is a freelance PR and media consultant, specialising in the design and creative industries. 

Sourced from DW

By Jodie Cook

If I asked your LinkedIn connections what you did and what you believed, what would they say? Would they be able to recite your mission statement, define your dream client, and explain exactly how you help them achieve results? Most people on LinkedIn are invisible because no one knows what they stand for. They aren’t consistent with their message. And that’s a problem.

Someone with half your experience is building a bigger business because they have twice the clarity and triple the conviction. Don’t get left behind. Don’t feel the pain of missing out when you could be using LinkedIn to become successful beyond your wildest dreams.

They’re not smarter than you. They’re not more qualified. They just decided to choose a lane and stay in it. It’s your turn.

Stop hiding: stand out on LinkedIn by choosing one message

Repeat one big idea until it’s attached to your name

Pick the hill you’re willing to die on and plant your flag there. Every post, every comment, every interaction should reinforce this one core message. If your thing is “pricing psychology for SaaS founders,” talk about nothing else for six months. When you define your swim lane, the right people start showing up. People begin tagging you in pricing discussions. Potential clients DM you before making their next move.

You don’t need variety in yourLinkedIn posts. Your audience doesn’t even need you to be interesting. They need you to be useful in one specific way. Think about the most successful thought leaders on LinkedIn. Gary Vaynerchuk talks about hustle. Brené Brown talks about vulnerability. Simon Sinek talks about finding your why. They’ve been saying the same thing for years, just finding new ways to package it. You get known by saying something real, then saying it again tomorrow.

Write like you’re already leading the industry

Your energy shows up in every word you type. When you write from a place of desperation, trying to prove you belong, people can smell it through their screens. Compare “I’ve been thinking about customer retention strategies” with “Customer retention is broken. Here’s what we’re doing differently.” One sounds like you’re asking permission to speak. The other sounds like you’re already in charge. Imposter syndrome has no place in your world.

Claim your authority without years of experience or fancy credentials. Speak with the confidence of someone who’s already arrived. Position yourself as the expert rather than the student. What happens next: people start treating you like an expert. They share your posts with their teams. They screenshot your advice. They come to you with their biggest challenges because you sound like someone who’s already solved them.

Share wins as punchy screenshots

Nobody has time for your three-paragraph humble brag about closing a big deal. But a screenshot of that contract value with one powerful line makes people pay attention. Visual proof is worth more written claims. When you share your client’s 400% revenue increase, don’t write an essay. Show the graph and add a few words. Simple.

Your proof should be easy to scan and impossible to ignore. Screenshots of client testimonials, before-and-after metrics, calendar bookings, and revenue dashboards tell your story fast. The most engaging posts on LinkedIn include evidence. Show the Slack message where your client says you changed their business. Show the waitlist for your program. Show the DM from someone implementing your advice. Let your results do the talking.

Turn your comment section into your next post

Another month of LinkedIn posts are in the comments you left on other people’s posts. That off-the-cuff response where you broke down your entire pricing philosophy becomes next week’s viral post. The framework you sketched out to help someone struggling with team management is a carousel waiting to happen. Most of your best content is hidden in replies because that’s where you (and everyone else) are most real.

Start treating every comment like potential content. When someone asks a great question, give them an answer worth stealing. Create a feedback loop of engagement. Then trawl through those conversations for insights, or paste them into ChatGPT and ask questions. Your audience is literally telling you what they want to know more about. Expand detailed responses into full posts and weekly series.

Update your profile headline to include your target client

Your LinkedIn headline is so important and most people waste on job titles. “Marketing manager at generic company” tells me nothing about why I should care. But “I help busy mums get more sleep without taking pills”? Now they are listening. Your headline should make your ideal client think two things: “This person gets me” and “I need what they’re offering.”

Make it undeniable. Lead with your strongest belief about your industry. Call out exactly who you serve. Promise the transformation they’re desperate for. Watch your inbound inquiries triple. Finally say what you mean, not what you think you’re meant to say. Your headline should feel like a belief statement, not a business card.

Own your space on LinkedIn without apology

You don’t need a huge audience to win on LinkedIn. You need clarity about what you stand for and the courage to say it repeatedly. Consistency over creativity, conviction over consensus. While everyone else is trying to go viral with motivational quotes, you’ll be building an audience of buyers by solving one specific problem better than anyone else. Stand out by owning one thing, and owning it loudly. Pick your message, perfect your proof, and keep showing up.

Update your LinkedIn profile to attract ideal coaching and consultancy clients.

Feature image credit: Getty

By Jodie Cook

Find Jodie Cook on LinkedIn. Visit Jodie’s website.

Sourced from Forbes

By Amanda Breen • Edited by Jessica Thomas

Ruth Sack seized an opportunity to expand the brand’s customer base.

Ruth Sack, 27, grew up with Streets Ahead, the luxury leather accessories brand her father, David Sack, founded in 1982. She and her siblings painted belts with nail polish in the Los Angeles factory and attended trade shows across the country with their parents.

But it wasn’t until 2020 that Sack considered dedicating significant time to the brand. “I went to UCLA and studied gender studies, and then Covid hit,” Sack says. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I started helping out with the family business because things were pretty tough, and I actually sort of loved it.”

Sack went on to attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and step in as Streets Ahead’s head of marketing and design.

Streets Ahead’s products are made locally in California with leather and hardware sourced from Italy, and the brand is known for its novelty pieces —  ”bestselling belts [with] crazy heart hardware with chains and snakes and things like that” — that have been spotted on numerous celebrities, including Beyoncé during her Cowboy Carter tour.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Streets Ahead}

The brand built on its success as a legacy wholesale business over the decades, but when Sack joined the team, she wanted to explore its potential in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) space.

As it turns out, there was a lot: In just a few years, Sack grew DTC revenue from $60,000 to more than $500,000. Streets Ahead is projected to hit $3.2 million to $3.5 million in total revenue in 2025, with $2.7 million to $3 million from wholesale and $500,000 to $600,000 from DTC.

“I came in and changed the platform to Shopify, kind of just revamped the whole thing.”

Streets Ahead’s foray into DTC sales started with a website refresh.

“We always had a website, but [no one ran it],” Sack says. “It didn’t really make any money. It was never up to date. So I came in and changed the platform to Shopify, kind of just revamped the whole thing, and started adding products and keeping it up to date. And immediately we saw a difference.”

Once her parents saw the results, they were even more willing to invest in the brand’s DTC strategy. Streets Ahead leaned into professional content creation and advertising and continued to see its DTC sales grow.

Part of the brand’s digital transformation also included a logo overhaul, Sack says.

The company featured the new design across its social media platforms and started to generate interest from major influencers like Rocky Barnes, who boasts more than three million followers on Instagram and 200,000 followers on TikTok.

“ She found us through an ad that we were running, and she wanted the exact belts from the ad,” Sack recalls. “So we started doing some gifting, and we could see that it worked. As we built our social presence, especially Instagram and ads, we got so many DMs, and now they keep coming.”

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Streets Ahead}

“99% of the time we’re making it from scratch.”

Sack would love to sell more on TikTok, but the platform’s quick-ship requirements prove challenging for the made-to-order brand, as “everything is essentially custom” and takes time to manufacture.

Whereas other companies might have thousands of units sitting in a warehouse ready to ship, every time Streets Ahead receives an order, that request is sent down to the factory, which starts the production process.

“We don’t have anything made here unless there was a return and we have [that returned product],” Sack says. “99% of the time we’re making it from scratch.”

Because of Streets Ahead’s branding and social media presence, it can get “a little bit lost” on people that each item really is custom-made for them, Sack notes. The company follows up on particularly large orders to confirm them before moving forward with fulfilment.

What’s more, despite the business’s made-to-order model, Streets Ahead does accept returns.

“ I buy things that I want to try and might return — we all do it,” Sack says. “If we want to have this type of direct-to-consumer [platform], there has to be some kind of return. People need to try things on. They don’t know their size. So we do allow returns, [but] we’ve now started to put a little tag on [products] that says, If this tag is removed, we can’t accept the return, to prevent people from wearing it and then sending it back.”

“You have to be okay doing the grunt work.”

As Sack considers Street Ahead’s future and her own role within it, she’s excited to expand the brand’s offerings beyond belts. The brand dropped its first handbag collection last month, and Sack says she’d love to branch into shoes, particularly leather boots and sandals with hardware, down the line.

For young professionals or aspiring entrepreneurs who hope to make their mark on the fashion industry, Sack says it’s important to “learn a little bit of everything” — and be prepared to do your part.

“You have to be okay doing the grunt work,” Sack says. “There are some days I’m down shipping, some days I’m cleaning buckles, things that someone as a designer or creative director doesn’t necessarily want to do. But you need to be a team player and be willing to know every single role.”

Feature image credit: Streets Ahead. Ruth Sack.

By Amanda Breen

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

Edited by Jessica Thomas

Sourced from Entrepreneur

Sourced from OCCRP

Professional scammers call upon a global network of service providers to execute their work in a sophisticated, streamlined fashion. Here are some of their names.

Feature image credit: Banner: James O’Brien / OCCRP

Sourced from OCCRP

By Kyle Christie Edited by Maria Bailey

How solopreneurs can use YouTube and AI to stay discoverable and build trust in a changing search landscape.

The digital space is noisy and fast-moving. For solopreneurs, staying visible is one of the biggest challenges. While many chase quick wins on Instagram or LinkedIn, the most reliable platform for long-term visibility remains YouTube. As artificial intelligence changes how people search for information, YouTube isn’t just useful — it’s essential.

A 2024 Statista survey found that 63% of Gen Z prefer YouTube over traditional search engines, and 58% turn to TikTok. This signals a major shift in behaviour: people want video content that is direct, trustworthy and easy to engage with. And as AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini become more embedded in everyday searches, video is becoming the format people trust most when they need real answers.

Why YouTube still works

Unlike social platforms where content disappears in hours, YouTube acts more like a searchable library. A single helpful video can be discovered, indexed and recommended for months or even years. That gives solopreneurs a major advantage — a way to stay visible without constantly churning out new content.

AI is supercharging this effect. When someone types a question into tools like Google, ChatGPT or Gemini — “How do I price my services as a freelance designer?” for example — the answer often includes a recommended YouTube video. That video is usually pulled from a channel that’s clear, specific and helpful. This creates a major opportunity for small business owners to show up right when potential clients are looking.

My experience: showing up when it matters

I started my YouTube channel, See Your House Now, 14 years ago. We have just over 1,000 subscribers — not a massive number — but that’s not the point. People find us when they need us. Our most-watched video is titled Who is the best real estate photographer in Waterloo Region? That’s a question people search using AI tools, and because of that video, we stand out and get clients.

For us, it’s never been about going viral. It’s about being in the right place at the right time. Most of our in-person video service inquiries come from people who first found us on YouTube. We also host client real estate tours on the channel, which adds more value. It’s a quiet engine for our business — and best of all, it’s free.

Five steps to build a YouTube presence that lasts

Start a purpose-driven channel
If you don’t already have a channel, start now. Focus your content on the specific questions your audience is asking. Instead of broad topics like “how to grow a business,” choose direct, niche-specific titles like “how to get clients as a solo architect” or “how to raise rates as a copywriter.” Make each video answer a real question your ideal client would type into a search bar.

Use AI to reverse engineer your titles
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to use ChatGPT or Gemini. Ask what questions your audience might be searching or request optimized title suggestions for your niche. Try prompts like, “What would a real estate agent in Houston search for on YouTube right now?” These insights help build a stronger content calendar that aligns with what people actually want to watch.

Optimize your metadata
Help both people and algorithms understand your videos. Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions, relevant tags and upload transcripts to boost accessibility and search ranking. Small details like this help your videos surface when and where they matter most.

Design thumbnails that stand out
Your thumbnail is often the first impression. Keep it bold, simple and consistent. Use a high-quality image of your face, a short phrase with large text, and a clear visual identity so people instantly recognize your videos. Free tools like Canva make this easy — just search for “most popular” templates to get started.

Create a content series
Don’t think in one-off videos. Build short series around your core topics. This improves discoverability — no matter how someone phrases a question, they’re more likely to land on your channel. A focused series also builds trust faster than scattered videos.

The future of being found

For solopreneurs, the biggest challenge isn’t making great content — it’s making sure people find it long after you’ve posted. YouTube solves that problem. Especially when paired with smart AI tools, it gives your work a longer shelf life and higher impact.

This isn’t about chasing trends or going viral. It’s about showing up with clarity, consistency, and value when your audience is ready. If you create content that answers real questions, YouTube will continue to work for you long after it’s posted. And that’s the kind of strategy that leads to sustainable growth

By Kyle Christie 

Founder & Creative Director at See Your House Now Inc. at The Listing Lounge. Kyle Christie has taken all of the editorial and production skills learned in his career as a television journalist and applied them to real estate. The result is a marketing agency that provides clear messaging, imagery and promotional content to help real-estate professionals stand out.

Edited by Maria Bailey

Sourced from Entrepreneur