Social media give you a chance to introduce yourself to a potential client through your online connections, or to get a professional advice from an expert. Recently I’ve found three professional networks which might be helpful for those designers who are looking for new ways to expand their businesses. The benefits and features of free accounts are described below.

Dreamers Into Doers (USA)

The Martha Stewart community that celebrates talented and creative people who turn their dreams into careers they love.

PROS:

• A customizable profile page (colors, backgrounds, etc.).
• A slideshow with your images which is displayed on your profile page.
• You may also add videos to your profile, as well as create and share events.
• A good variety of groups and discussions devoted to arts, crafts & design. You can even chat with group members who are online when you are.
• A customizable badge to display on your website, blog or Facebook page.

CONS:

• Annoying advertising on profile pages.
• You may have your own blog in your Dreamers Into Doers profile. However, there is no possibility to link it to your other blogs.
• The Dreamers Into Doers website is not available in any other languages besides English. That is why there is a mostly English-speaking community.
• A profile does not have an option to display skills, work experience, a client list or any other information you usually keep in your professional profiles. It is quite limited by displaying only your website address and photos.

Viadeo (France)

It is a professional social network with over 45 million members worldwide.

PROS:

• The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.
• Instagram-like photo filters which can be applied on profile images.
• You can connect your profile to your blog and other social media (such as Twitter, Flickr, etc.)
• Customizable buttons and widgets for blogs and websites. You may use them to share and promote your profile.

CONS:

• There is no option to display your portfolio.
• There are many various groups, but only a few of them are devoted to design.

XING (Germany)

It is another professional social network that is used by people from over 200 countries.

PROS:

• Available languages include Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Swedish and Turkish.
• You can connect your profile to your blog and display your latest blog posts (via RSS feed).
• There is a “Freelancer Marketplace” option, which allows you to post and look for various projects.
• A profile button for your website or blog.

CONS:

• There is no option to display your portfolio.
• There are many various groups, but not all of them are for English-speaking users.