Did you know that my college degree is in Spanish? And that I lived a year and a half in Paris -- working most of that time as an au pair to 2 adorable French boys?

This was a long time ago but what I know from that experience is that learning a language takes time and immersion. 

It's the same with marketing your creative services. 

As I explained in this video (and above), marketing your services is a lot like learning a new language. 

That's why I keep trying to simplify the process for you.

That's also why I'm rethinking what I mean by "simple."

In fact, in last month's Office Hours (which comes with the Simplest Marketing Plan,) I revised my "If you do nothing else to market yourself, do this...." advice.

I used to say that sending out an email newsletter is the minimum -- the one thing to do if you do nothing else.

And I must say I was a bit surprised (and even impressed) at the Creative Freelance Summit last week, when I asked all of my panelists what their minimum is, almost all of them said it's their email newsletter they don't let slide -- that's how important and effective it is.

This won't apply, however, if you don't have the structure in place for an email newsletter. It is a big project to get off the ground in the first place and takes longer than most people want it to take.

So if sending out an email newsletter is just too much for you. here's my alternative: 

If you do nothing else...do "LinkedIn" for 5-15 minutes/day.

I know LinkedIn can be overwhelming, so here's how to keep it simple.

Don't worry about posting your own content.

Instead, build your daily habit by visiting LinkedIn and simply moving across the navigation bar in this order:

1. My Network: see who's invited you to connect. Accept the ones that make sense. Ignore the rest.
2. Messaging: see who's sent you a message. Reply to them by offering to chat, if appropriate.
3. Notifications: see who's tagged you or engaged with a post you've liked or commented on. Reply or share it.
4. Home: If you have time, go to the LInkedIn Feed to see if you can find a post (just one!) to comment on, share and/or like.

It's that simple -- and really not as complicated as you imagine -- ever!

Watch the video here (or above)...you'll see what I mean.

And check out the LinkedIn post version of this post to see all the comments on these ideas too.