Erik Jones: Visuals help you stand out
Interview #001
Erik Jones is a great writer, a good friend and proponent of using visuals to make your content stand out. Check out his interview below.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business. How did you get started, and what inspired you to use visuals to help grow your business?
I write a newsletter that is full of recommendations for podcasts and links that make you think, called Hurt Your Brain. Along the way I’ve done all sorts of freelance writing and quickly became frustrated with the standard practice/expectation of spending 99% of your time writing, and 1% at the very end slapping on a random stock photo.
I started creating my own visuals because of a combination of my hatred of generic stock photos and trying to learn something new.
I’ve always felt I have no artistic talent, and I wanted to test the idea that anyone can learn anything if they simply have the time and interest.
Could I learn to draw?
I wanted to find out!
Creating visuals are now my favorite part of being a creator.
2a. How do you use visuals to communicate your ideas or products to your audience?
If I write an article, I like to use a visual I created to accompany it as often as possible. It helps it stand out, or at least feel more authentic to me.
I also create visuals about podcasts and creativity for social media, mainly to scratch a creativity itch. I’ve been surprised to see these visuals have more engagement than anything I’ve created previously and it has led me to want to have most of my social media presence be centered around visuals.
2b. Social media platforms where you share your content.
Twitter, Instagram
3. Can you share some specific examples of how using visuals has helped you attract new customers or clients, or helped you stand out from competitors?
The visuals I create for the podcast community are mostly simple visual metaphors or graphs that lean into being more fun than serious.
I’ve been asked to partner with different folks several times on joint projects where I make the visuals, and am just starting my first true paid freelance gig for visuals (instead of my typical freelance gig: writing).
Visuals can help you stand out, but if you make visuals for a community that you are part of it can also create a lot of interest around working together.
4a. What tools or software do you use to create and edit your visuals?
I use Procreate on my iPad combined with Apple Pencil for almost everything.
4b. Are there any tips you have for someone who is just starting out and doesn't have a lot of design experience?
You absolutely don’t need to have traditional skills in the fine arts.
Creating visuals is all about the idea and creativity.
Start with whatever you have.
Some of my visuals that have been the most popular are also the simplest. A hand drawn Bar graph or Venn Diagram is something anyone can do from day 1.
5. How do you measure the success of your visual content? Do you track metrics like engagement, clicks, or conversions, and how do you use that data to inform future visual content?
I keep an eye on likes and retweets and such, but the most important metric for me is if someone replies or reaches out in some way. It’s similar to my newsletter, where my favorite thing is when people reply. I don’t really look at open rates anymore. I want the things I create to resonate with people, and I love engaging with folks around it.
I think tracking it too closely to inform what you do next can kill some of the playfulness that can ultimately lead to your best ideas.
You want to find an overall intersection of what you enjoy making and what people seem to respond to, without getting too clinical about it.
6a. Do you have any advice for other creators/ solopreneurs who are just starting out and want to use visuals to help grow their business?
Creating visuals (even very simple visuals) can be a daunting task, but is worth exploring. There is basically unlimited text out there on the internet, but I am immediately drawn to content with hand drawn visuals. I recommend at least playing around with it to see how it feels!
I beg everyone reading this to please stop treating the visual part of their content as an afterthought. It’s ok to use stock photos, but they do really require some thought. But really, with the existence of MidJourney and DALL-E, the new standard should be to at the very least create an AI generated image instead of using a generic stock photo. But better than both is something you create.
6b. What are some common mistakes to avoid, or tips for creating visually engaging content on a budget?
There are limitless formats and styles you can use for combining visuals and text, and limitless ways to overthink things. Start with very simple goals. Think through how you can communicate an idea in a tweet using something mostly visual, and very little text. Maybe a fun graph.
Also think through if you would rather have a hand drawn feel to your visuals or not. I prefer to use Procreate and an Apple Pencil, but many prefer to use tools like Canva or Figma (both free) that can be operated entirely with a mouse or touch screen.
7. Finally, where can we go to learn more about you and your business, and see some examples of your visual content in action?
The “About” page of my newsletter has links to everything I’ve written, and if you scroll through my Twitter you can see plenty of examples of how I’ve been playing with visuals lately.
These are two threads that collect some of my favorite podcast related visuals that will give a good idea of the style I go for.
7. Website/ Social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/erikthejones
Website: https://www.hurtyourbrain.com/