Creating a professional online presence is becoming more easily available to a global audience. With the creation of social media platforms being developed every single day it is becoming a an attractive prospect for everyday society. One of the main and most appreciated factors of social media is it’s ability to engage and foster a community of other people from around the globe. It is the heart of what social media is about and without the ability to communicate with the world around you it’s like having a voice but no one there to listen. It is all about interacting with and building that community of people within your circle of interest, in other words creating a brand that represents you.
When looking at social media options the list is an endless spectrum of possibilities, ranging from Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Linkedin and even Cahootify to name only a few. The best part of all these social media platforms is the fact that you don’t have to sign up for just one, we can use the platforms to build on each other and build our online world for that perfect professional online presence.
So what is Cahootify?
“Showcase your skills, crew your projects”
If you don’t know about Cahootify yet well now is the time to find out, as stated on their on website, “Cahootify is an online project portfolio and team-forming platform for the creative production industries. We exist to help you make projects happen.”
It features rewards which you can give to someone for joining your project, these rewards can range from cash, profit-share points or even expenses.
What does Cahootify do?
There are 3 main features that Cahootify has:
- Build a project portfolio which lets you tell people who you are and show them projects of what you are all about. Through Cahootify you can credit the people that you have worked with, just like Youtube you can ask people to subscribe to other people’s channels if they have worked with you as this helps you and them. People are more likely to get in touch if they know someone that knows you, it is all about collaborative projects and building that sense of community.
- Following on from my first point building teams is a big part of Cahootify, you can post about a production you are working on and showcase the roles that need to be filled to make your project happen. You will also be able to see who is currently working on the project and what roles they are playing as people enrol others.
- Seek opportunities, meaning you can look for roles on other people’s projects, whether they may be paid or simply collaborative.
In this fast developing world, where social media waits for no one we can see that social networks are using more and more collaborative mindsets, this is so they can continue to evolve. A great example of this is in the social network Linkedin, the world’s largest professional network with more than 400 million members in 200 countries and territories around the globe. Just like Cahootify, members can add a bio page, photos and connect with other members using the social network.
Who is Cahootify for?
“Cahootify is for people who are committed, engaged and up for making stuff happen. People who know what it takes to build a career in the industry, are prepared to get on with it, and are seeking others to work with who match their commitment and professionalism.”
So basically there are two main types of people this is for; the people that want to endorse in creating a project (the film-makers) and the people who want to be involved in other people’s project (these are the actors, lighting, visual effects and so on)
This is an example of a film-maker looking for people to take part in their project
You may say that there are other many other film-maker platforms out there already with the likes of Youtube, DailyMotion and Vimeo but none are as professional as Cahootify, with the main differences being that they are not as interactive, community based and can place many unwanted restrictions.
Cahootify is only a starting point for film-makers (aspiring or professional) as to build your online presence you will need the aid of 
other established platforms to get your creations and brand seen by the many millions around the world. Even Cahootify needs to use other platforms through Facebook and Twitter
Creating a professional online presence
While they say that any publicity is good publicity, this is not always the case when creating a professional online presence as we are looking to create our own personal brand and will want to be associated with what we put on the web. So it is is important to use features and tools that will engage your community and achieve your personal goal in whatever field you are in.
When creating our online presence we are looking to create a network of people that not only follow you but people that you in fact will follow yourself so you can collaborate and widen your audience. It is important to note that the way people perceive you online is the way people will perceive you in real life so make it count, this is why we should never link our personal social media accounts with our professional ones.
Now that we have Cahootify to start our film-making career, it’s time to use other social media marketing tools to create our professional online presence
While Cahootify is good start to your film-making career it is also important to use other social media platforms to develop your online presence such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo and Vine while they are starting to use features that let you use video not all are featured length and may have 30 second restrictions such as Twitter and Instagram. While these other social platforms can market your projects it can also drive the traffic needed to your Cahootify site.
You are trying to network your projects so it is essential you build an audience that is invested in you there are simple steps in doing this:
- Make sure you only use platforms that are only related to you and present your work in way that it deserves to be presented.
- People are always interested in how things are done especially in the movies, use social media platforms such as twitter to tweet what you are doing on set that day, use Instagram to give them a sneak peak of what is going on behind the scenes and what the set looks like. They will feel more invested in you and feel that connection that they are there with you.
- Twitter is good for keeping people up to date with what is going on in your latest project, make sure to use all its features that is relevant to you. E.g. Pin post, link to site in bio, etc…
- Once you attract your followers it is important to engage them, give them a reason to stay with you and return for more. Remember these are the people that got you there in the first place. Make it personal to your followers by not just posting a tweet on twitter, why not go one step further and Direct Message them. Make sure to answer all tweets and if they have something that they would like you to watch of their own work make sure to share it because you never know they might be the people that will one day help you out.
- Make sure to join groups and online communities to engage with your audience, make sure it is relevant to your field of choice. This will give you the opportunity to grow your followers and share your latest releases with similar people. Linkedin is a great example of getting to know people in the same professional field of interest.
- Make sure you tag your projects relevantly and effectively, this will ensure people will find you easier through search engines and other platforms with key relevant searches.
- And most importantly make sure all your networks are linked together, what is the point in creating all this great work if people can’t find you? One platform leads to another and so on.. Your online community will be created in no time, as long as you are prepared to put in the time and effort.
So that’s it you are off and running! Hope this has helped and remember being a film-maker makes you the story teller, may that be on screen or in 140 characters or less!!
Anthony Rogan Media 
