How to Network on Instagram (It's More Than Just the DMs!)

9 Feb 2024

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LinkedIn isn't the only way to make professional connections. Have you ever written a "professional" DM? It's basically a message you send to someone in hopes that they'll be willing to connect and help you with some aspect of your career. That could be landing a job, collaborating on a project, or even just giving you sound advice. Most people use LinkedIn to make these kinds of connections, but here's a tip: try using Instagram instead. The platform is less crowded, which means your message may actually be read. At the same time, writing the message itself will still be a challenge. Do you sound too eager? Do you sound like a spam message? Are you being annoying? When should you follow up if you don't hear back? Multimedia Producer Elainy Mata spoke with Jesty Beatz — a musician and postproduction specialist who has built his career through DMs — to learn best practices for networking on Instagram. Watch his step-by-step guide on how to network on Instagram and improve your chances of getting read and replied too too. 00:00 Wait, this works! 00:10 The professional DM 01:01 Meet Jesty Beatz 01:51 Use LinkedIn for research 02:12 Know what you have to offer 2:55 Engage thoughtfully 4:20 Wait for engagement back! 4:59 Don't write, "Let's collab!" 5:50 Here's what I wrote 6:35 Be patient! 6:48 Follow up (but not every day) 07:08 I don't want to seem annoying... 08:39 They replied! Produced by Andy Robinson, Elainy Mata, Kelsey Alpaio Video by Andy Robinson Editing by Andy Robinson Sound design by Elainy Mata Animation and Design by Alex Belser and Karen Player Subscribe to our newsletter: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters?movetile_hbpascendnl&hideIntromercial=true #networking #instagram #jobsearch

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