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?
In the following video, from Harvard Business Review, 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.