DEV Community: Daniel Wallen

The Content Marketing Playbook: Strategies and Tactics to Get Hired Faster

Daniel Wallen — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 23:38:17 +0000

Content marketing is like having a full-time staff that works for you all day. Even while you're asleep! Below, I'll reveal how to get started...

What Is Content Marketing?

Heads-up: this article contains a ton of helpful links. To prevent interrupting your reading experience, open them in a new tab.

Every word and image you see online is a form of content marketing. People might call it "art" or some other name. It's still the same.

Tweets. Status updates. Posts on LinkedIn. Blogs published on the Practical Dev. Portfolio and resume websites. Even your social media profiles. All fall under the content marketing category.

Why Is Content Marketing Important?

The unemployment rate is 11.1%. 1,400,000 jobless claims were filed this week alone. And it wasn't easy before COVID-19. The average job opening attracts 250 resumes. 4-6 people get interviewed. One gets hired.

Bleak picture, right? Applying for jobs isn't enough. If you want to stand out, content marketing is the best way to do it. The goal is to tell a story that demonstrates your "secret sauce," or what makes you different from the average web designer and developer.

How Does Content Marketing Work?

Begin with a big vision. This should inform all of your decisions. Answer these questions before you write a single word of content.

What Tech Roles Interest You the Most?

I bet "web developer" and "software engineer" will be the most common choices. But there are other options. Personally, I'm great at selling stuff and interacting with customers, so roles that interest me include:

Sales Engineer
Support Engineer
Implementation Engineer
Technical Success Engineer
Customer Success Engineer

If you're not crazy about the idea of staring at code all day, look into alternative tech jobs. As you can see, there are plenty! You need to make this decision before you start content marketing. Take a few days or weeks to reflect if necessary. Heck, I needed a few months.

Where Are You Willing to Relocate?

If you don't have an audience, content marketing can't help you. Decide where you'd like to live first. Second, connect with people who reside in those areas. Moving won't be as scary since you'll already have a network. And they might know of an opportunity that's a good fit for you.

I've lived in the same area my entire life, so this part was hard. Here's a resource that helped me. It breaks down the best places to live according to a Quality of Life Index. Scores are determined by factors such as:

Safety
Health Care
Traffic/Commute
Climate/Pollution
Purchasing Power

You also might want to consider what cities are in the best and worst positions to recover from the Coronavirus. After you decide, type these details in the LinkedIn search bar:

"(City, State) (Job Title)"

Personal example with my hometown: "Kingsport, TN web developer." Then click on the People tab. You should see something like this.

Now you want to connect with anybody who shares your interests. Don't be shy. I've sent hundreds of connection requests. Almost all of them were accepted. And most people even answered! Here's a template you can use:

"Hey (Name). Hope you don't mind the connect request. Noticed we have a similar background. Now I live in (current area), but (new area) is on my list of "Places to Potentially Relocate." How do you feel about the area in general, plus job/career opportunities more specifically? Cheers and enjoy your day!"

PLEASE edit the above script to fit your own voice and style. If people get the same message from a thousand of us, that'll be awkward. And then this system won't work at all. So be unique and original!

How Do You Communicate Best?

Writing is the easiest way for me to express myself. I've been doing it for a decade. And have 200+ articles under my name. So this is my preferred method of content marketing.

Others are better speakers. They tremble at the thought of writing a blog or tweeting on a daily basis. But they're a boss at talking their way through complex problems.

Which one fits you? Either way, I advise an 80/20 approach. Spend 80% of your time playing to your strengths. Devote the other 20% to working on your weaknesses.

Why Should People Trust You?

This part starts with healthy self-esteem. Without confidence, you won't even be aware of your greatest achievements. Keep a log of projects and their associated performance metrics.

For example, I launched a pet adoption website last month. I check its Google Analytics every morning. So I always know the total views, visitors, and average time on page.

In case you don't know, "time on page" tells you how long people stay on your website. It's a good measure of reader engagement.

Most people leave a website within 10-20 seconds. Compare that to 1-3 minutes for most areas of my website.

Screenshot metrics like these from your own projects. Save them on your computer for ease of access. And share them often! This is the easiest way to become an authority figure. People lie, but numbers don't.

Where Should You Do Content Marketing?

Everywhere! The goal is to tell a cohesive story across all social media platforms. People shouldn't be confused about who you are and what you do. So you need a consistent brand message.

Pictures speak louder than words. Below, I'll share images of my Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. You'll see they are very similar.

Notice: the only difference? I left out the "soft spot for shelter dogs" part on LinkedIn since this is a more professional platform.

I suggest branding your profiles with a custom header. It's not hard. Canva is the software I used to make mine. Okay, one more screenshot...

This is the top of my online portfolio. The first thing to observe? I used the same three titles -- "Dogfather, Internet Architect, Performance Marketer" -- yet again. No matter where people go, I'm telling the same story.

Secondly, see those performance metrics? Earlier, I posed a question: "Why should people trust you?" This is my answer. Quantify your impact and get the evidence in front of people fast.

A Final Note on What to Post

First, let's summarize the six essential content marketing principles.

Assess the best tech roles for you.
Build an audience and network of peers.
Choose your preferred communication method.
Determine your greatest strength or secret sauce.
Emphasize your skill set with data or performance metrics.
Fine-tune your social platforms until they tell the same story.

Figure this stuff out before you worry about what to post. Without these pieces in place, content marketing won't help.

That said, the best strategy is to be useful. Share tips and insights that a) help people do a better job and b) demonstrate your expertise.

In case you want to see some examples...

Content Marketing Tip #1

Use relevant hashtags (especially if you don't have many followers yet).

Content Marketing Tip #2

White space is your friend (it makes text easier to read and process).

Content Marketing Tip #3

Retweet your greatest hits (seriously, most people don't mind).

Content Marketing Tip #4

Write a "job search" tweet and pin it on top of your profile.

Got questions about content marketing?

If so, leave a comment. I encourage you to bookmark this page since it's loaded with info. Then you can reference it anytime. And feel free to share with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

The Power of Purpose (Find Your “Why” to Identify Your “What”)

Daniel Wallen — Fri, 15 May 2020 00:37:06 +0000

Purpose is the fire that blazes your path to success in web development. Without a clearly defined vision or mission, it's impossible to spend your time and energy on high impact activities. You'll get trapped in a never-ending cycle of busywork that does little to make you successful in the long-term. The risks of demotivation and procrastination also grow in direct correlation to the lack of purpose behind your actions. We can only find joy in meaningful work that makes a true, tangible difference. Continue reading to unleash your full potential in three steps.

1. Accept yourself and be aware of situational barriers.

It’s hard to think about the future when we’re stressed out about the present. This is especially true right now. COVID-19 is a wrecking ball that disrupted the foundations of our economy and life. Be patient with yourself, because reflection requires mental peace and distance from our current concerns. And that’s not realistic for everybody all the time.

Believe me, I know. I suffered through an intense and prolonged fog of depression. Not “sadness,” which we can work through. The crippling kind of depression that leaves you in bed all day, trapped in a state of apathy that drains every iota of love and light from your body. There was no “purpose” for me at this stage. My only goal was to resist the urge to surrender.

Be real with yourself. Accept your current mental state. Set your life goals according to those. We can’t always go 100 MPH. Sometimes we need to settle for 10 MPH until the storm lets up. That said, find moments of peace (going outside and listening to the birds helps me), and meditate about where you want to be in the future. “The future” can mean 1, 5, or 10 years. Think as far ahead as your mind allows. Journaling might be helpful.

2. Forget about the process (for now) and focus on the outcome.

The goal is to identify the destination, not the path. “Destination” could mean traveling the world, retiring below age 50, publishing a best-selling book, or whatever your heart desires. For now, I want you to focus solely on the destination, because many different paths could take you there. Often, people get too attached to one idea -- be it an app, website, book, job, career, or business -- and resign themselves to failure when it doesn’t work out.

This makes no sense. Imagine you’re on a hike. You come across a downed tree, felled by a lightning strike last night. Your child or a young cousin accompanied you and it’s unsafe to cross, because that would require more coordination than they’ve developed yet. Would you just sit down, shrug, and say: “Oh, well. We have failed. Let’s stay here forever.” Of course not! You’d turn around and retrace your steps until you found a better path.

Treat your career goals like this. If one path fails, try another. Kill any attachment to a single path before it takes root. The destination is what matters. Perceive the path by which you arrive as a means to an end. And the more open you are to alternative ideas, the more likely you’ll bring your vision to life. A lot of success boils down to repetition. No basketball player can make a three-pointer every time. They keep shooting until the average works out. Do likewise by taking shots until you score the game-winner.

3. Apply this philosophy to your career as a web developer.

Let’s close with actionable points you can apply right this second. First, reflect about what you hope to gain through the pursuit of a career in web development. Here are some important questions to consider:

What pivotal moment led you to code in the first place?
Do you want to work for a company or be your own boss?
Are you more interested in income, excitement, or work/life balance?
Would you be happier building software or websites for a certain industry?
Is there a strong talent/preference for front-end, back-end, or full stack development?
Where does coding fit in with your major life goals (i.e. retirement and financial freedom)?

No pressure to answer these questions now. I often benefit from dwelling on them. Epiphanies aren’t known to reveal themselves on demand. Like catching a fish, we have to wait for a nibble before reeling them in.

Second, consider alternate paths to the same destination. Let’s say you want to retire before age 50. That’s one of my goals. I bet a lot of folks share it. Wealth can be obtained in many ways (hint: for best results, combine several approaches; later, you can concentrate on the most effective ones).

Earn passive income by launching a successful app, book, online course, or any other product
Provide freelancing services such as mobile responsive design to a certain type of client
Build a high traffic blog and monetize it with ads, affiliate links, sponsored stories, etc.
Apply to web developer jobs until you get hired and save as aggressively as possible
Invest a percentage of earnings wisely and enjoy the benefit of compound interest

Advice is worthless without application. Make a list of ways you'll apply the takeaways relevant to you. For bonus points, tell us one in a comment for accountability. Feel free to share this post with any of your code pals who might benefit from it. Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

Note: this blog is a preview of an upcoming e-book titled, 12 Essential Soft Skills for Success in Web Development. Each chapter will be released as a stand-alone post before publication. If you want to be the first person to know when the compilation is complete, click here. I’ll also notify you when each new post is live on Dev.to so you can act on them now (not later).

The Many Advantages of Being a Lazy, Impatient Programmer

Daniel Wallen — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 16:23:03 +0000

The hardest thing about life is the challenge of balancing its competing demands.

How are you supposed to cope when you have to juggle a screaming child, impending deadline, and past due bills? There’s no easy answer.

I’m far from an expert as I’m an unmarried man with no kids who can afford to pursue an education without a job (read: am self-aware enough to know I benefit from privilege that should be openly disclosed).

That said, I nevertheless know a ton about a topic that might help you accomplish more stuff in less time. What is it? Don’t fret, I won’t make you guess... time and energy management.

From a Big Picture perspective, you only have two inputs with which you must produce every output you desire from life. Of course, they are your time and energy.

If you want to make the most of those precious resources, read ahead for actionable advice (plus several sad attempts at humor).

First, I’m going to share some key principles. Next, I’ll elaborate on the meaning behind them. And lastly, I’ll share a personal anecdote to demonstrate how I implement the idea in real life.

1. Fail Fast

Some programmers have the patience to stare at the same code for hours on end. I’m not one of them. If a block of code is behaving in an erratic and illogical way, I tend to scrap it instantly. Then I try again with a different approach and repeat the process until it respects my authority.

For example: last week I made a Pomodoro Clock for an app I’m creating with a team in Lambda School. The app is called Refresh. It’s meant to help students prevent burn-out and develop healthy habits (which I wrote about last week: here’s the article in case you’re curious).

Guess I should also explain the Pomodoro Technique for the unaware. Basically, there’s a theory that people operate more efficiently when they work in short bursts — of 25 minutes in this case — and take frequent breaks. Thus, I needed to create a timer component that fit those criteria.

Unfortunately, I’m crappy at designing functions related to tracking time. Same applies to math. Me and numbers don’t get along. I’d never accept a friend request from a math equation. Never! So this is how I ended up in a continuous state of timer-related-anxiety for almost an entire day.

I read and followed a tutorial. The author got lazy at the end and failed to explain exactly what two functions were supposed to do. Then I deleted every line of code. I found another tutorial. This one led to a working timer but it only counted seconds. Minutes didn’t register whatsoever.

Next, I consumed myself in documentation about all things related to time tracking in Javascript. The minutes began to tick, but not correctly. Seconds increased by 5-8 numbers at a time. At this point, I wanted to scream, because the only potential solutions seemed too convoluted.

Finally, I failed forward into the best fix. There’s a library on NPM, a resource I don’t utilize nearly enough (which I’m addressing as we speak), that removes all the guesswork. Despise clocks and timers as much as me? Check out react-timer-hook. Simply touch-up the code to match your desired behavior. Ta-da, you’re done!

People say: “Patience is a virtue.” While this is true most of the time, it’s not always the case. A lack of patience is my best time-saving device. If I was patient enough to stare at the same code forever, it would’ve taken me a week to complete this component. But I’m too impatient for that. Thus, I forced myself to find a faster solution and finish in a day. Try to do the same and see what happens.

2. Have Boundaries

Not “boundaries” in the sense of what you share with others. I’m speaking of “boundaries” in terms of how you invest your time and energy. They are NOT infinite resources.

Follow politics? Watch the news? Even worse, are you outraged by what you see? Imagine the amount of mental energy that gets expended in reactions to events beyond your control.

My psychic powers informed me that some of you might be upset because I just suggested that it’s okay to not care. Or you may think I can only feel this way because I’m a straight white man.

(The latter is a fair point — it’s easier to not be reactive to certain stuff when you’re privileged.)

However, the first point doesn’t fly. I do care. But only about areas over which I have influence. For example, I’m a sucker for shelter dogs. I’ve walked nearly 100 of them in the last 16 months. Here’s a cartoon of the first 50. Cute, right?

I also have a background in social media marketing (read: I’m good at convincing folks to click the “share” button). As a result, I get homeless dogs in front of thousands of people every week. On countless occasions, this directly results in an adoption.

The point: I combined a talent (online marketing) with a passion (helping dogs find homes). In other words, I channeled my energy to a cause where I could make a true, tangible impact. The planet is nice, but I can’t stop global warming. I can’t even slow it down to any significant extent. So I choose to spend my time elsewhere and not worry about that issue.

What does this have to do with programming, or work in general? In the long term, having firm boundaries helps you conserve an astronomical amount of energy.

Why is this fact important? The more energy at your disposal, the more efficiently you will operate on a daily basis.

How much more productive will you be? Crap… my psychic powers are failing me.

You’ll just have to trust me, give this philosophy an honest chance, and discover that personal truth for yourself.

3. Ask Questions

Nobody has every answer. Especially not me. No joke. Sure, I can string sentences together in an entertaining and informative fashion — before labeling me “arrogant,” consider the reality that we’re 1,000 words deep and you’re still reading — but I’m not immune to mistakes.

Heck, I wouldn’t have written this article if I didn’t say something super stupid on a channel in Lambda School’s Slack network. That epic fail caused me to ask myself, “How can I express that opinion more effectively?” And turns out I needed more than a paragraph (my bad, fam!).

The average person is afraid to ask for help. Me? I’ll beg for it: shamelessly and relentlessly. This tendency saves an absurd amount of time. It fits right in with principle #1. Instead of staring at a block of code until I miraculously wrap my mind around it, I consult an endless array of qualified experts and authority figures.

Where? Everywhere! I follow brilliant developers such as Wes Bos on Twitter. I consult tutorials at W3Schools. I browse Google and keep opening new tabs until I land on an article expressing the concept in a way that clicks. I share the issue with fellow students and see what they think. I ask for help in support channels. Often, I do ALL of these things simultaneously due to my impatience and thirst for the fastest outcome.

Is it “good” to be lazy? Not really.

Should everyone aspire to be impatient? No way.

Nonetheless, you can leverage your laziness and lack of patience in a smart direction.

Leaning into those personality flaws — versus pretending they don’t exist — allows you to turn them into a net positive.

Agree? Share this post with your friends.

Disagree? Tell me why in the comments below.

5 Healthy Habits for Computer Programmers and Web Development Students (#3 Is Simple but Powerful)

Daniel Wallen — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 00:23:56 +0000

In my past life, I was an online coach. That basically means: "personal trainer in your pocket." I was obsessed with habit change and consumed myself in research. As every human being is by definition a creature of habit, it's impossible to make any progress without redesigning our behavior patterns. With that reasoning in mind, here are five healthy habits that will make you feel alive and refreshed. #3 utilizes your body's built-in stress reliever.

1. Take an activity break every hour.

Stand up. Take a walk. Do some desk stretches. The specifics don't matter (yet). Right now, the important thing is to get away from your screen. Too busy? Nope. Science shows exercise actually makes you more productive. To test this theory, pay attention to how long it takes to finish your usual daily tasks. I bet you'll discover exercising causes an efficiency boost.

2. Refill your water when you return.

Not gonna bother finding evidence to support the claim that water is healthy, because you're smarter than the average Flat Earther. You know this. And yet it's easy to forget, get dehydrated, and end up fatigued. There goes your energy! To prevent a crash, always keep a glass of water at your desk and get a refill immediately after your hourly activity break.

3. Take a few slow, deep breaths.

Do you see how I tied habits one and two together? I'm about to do the same here. This is called habit stacking. We are chaining related habits together in a row. After returning to your desk, take ten deep breaths in and out. Count to three during the inhale. And count to six during the exhale. Your belly should expand on the inhale and shrink on the exhale. As a result, you'll feel less stressed and more refreshed.

4. Listen to music that calms you.

Noisy environment? Invest in headphones. Listen to soothing music. While I'm a metal head at the gym, I can't handle all that noise when I'm coding. It's distracting and wrecks my focus. Instead, I listen to classical music. To clarify: I mean Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, Chopin, Handel, and other dead guys with funny hair. This music enhances my mood and concentration to a significant extent. Experiment with different genres until you find what works best for you.

5. Shut down at a decent hour.

Bright screens can mess up your circadian rhythm, especially if you're exposed to them late at night. In addition, you need to give your mind time to empty itself of concerns about the day. Otherwise, the quality of your sleep will suffer. I like to shut down at least two hours before bed. Then I watch a couple episodes of Batman: the Animated Series and read about 40-50 pages of a fiction book (just in case you're curious, Dean Koontz is my #1 favorite author). This helps me wind down and wake up with a full battery.

Would you add any healthy habits to this list? If so, leave a comment! You're also welcome to share this blog with any colleagues who need to read it.

10 Blunt Thoughts about Lambda School from a Living, Breathing Student Who's Halfway Through

Daniel Wallen — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 22:32:22 +0000

Lambda School is an innovative study program geared towards beginner web developers. They don't merely teach you how to code. There are also careers lessons to prepare you for a successful transition into a new job as a computer programmer. Below are ten blunt thoughts about my experience thus far. As I'm a big believer in balance, this article contains both praise and constructive criticism.

The Good

Let's start with "the glass is half full" outlook. Here are seven positives:

1. You can get a risk-free education (read: there's no "tuition").

Lambda School utilizes an unconventional payment method that you can expect to gain popularity in the near future. Their students sign an Income Share Agreement (ISA). They don't collect payment until you get a job within your chosen field. Even better, you must be earning a minimum of $50,000. Past that point, Lambda collects 17% of your paychecks. Your financial obligation ends after two years or when you've paid a total of $30,000 (whichever comes first).

2. You have constant access to a massive support network.

Upon acceptance, you'll get invited to a Slack channel for your specific cohort. There are help channels where you can get assistance from fellow students and team leaders (TL's -- Lambda's version of a tutor). As you can imagine, debugging is faster and easier when you have access to a hive mind of like-minded peers. There are also "after hours" sessions available for people who get behind or stuck on a specific concept.

3. You don't have to think about what to learn next.

Every study unit builds on the previous one. First, you learn HTML (how to build a house). Next, you learn CSS (the ability to paint and renovate it). Then, you dive into Javascript (where you discover how to set up wiring, plumbing, etc.). Finally, you move onto more advanced languages like React, Java, and NodeJs. I've tried teaching myself how to code and found it to be an overwhelming endeavor. Without a concrete and structured study program, my efforts went literally nowhere. Know the feeling? If so, this might be a good option for you.

4. You won't have to worry about the material being "out-of-date."

This field changes at a rapid pace. Thankfully, Lambda School matches said pace. They keep their finger on the pulse of the web development industry. And as the best practices change, so does their curriculum. For example: as soon as "React hooks" became a thing, they modified their materials instantly. That's not the case for books. One of my first forays into coding was via the "Smarter Way to Learn" series by Mark Myers. While these books were an excellent resource upon their initial release, they are now ancient history. The same can be said for plenty of resources on the Internet. Choose your sources carefully!

5. You'll build projects that mimic what you'd do in the working world.

Knowledge is useless without application. That's why Lambda School requires their students to build a working app or website every single day. Not an exaggeration. Every day begins with a lecture and guided project led by a qualified instructor. Next, you do your own project (with the right to get help from peers and TL's). Every Friday, you must complete a "Sprint Challenge" that applies a full week of coursework... all by yourself. The idea is to repeat the most important steps or coding concepts often enough for your mind to cement the information. And the difficulty escalates over time. While I can't speak for every student, this approach works well for me.

6. You'll gain an edge in hire-ability versus self-taught developers.

First: don't get mad, because I know there are exceptions to this rule. Some folks know how to market themselves and are capable of thriving on their own. But most people would benefit from assistance with career-related activities such as resumes, portfolios, networking, applications, social media, job interviews, and salary negotiations. That's a small sample of the subjects we've covered so far in Lambda School's weekly careers presentations. And I can honestly say they've influenced my decisions on all fronts. While I haven't taken advantage yet, Lambda also provides daily Q&A sessions with career coaches. They seem intent on getting students hired ASAP.

7. You'll taste test the key coding languages without having to commit.

You know what I didn't expect? The fact that I'd prefer back-end development. The possibility never entered my mind. I thought it'd involve a bunch of boring math equations. But that was a false assumption. In reality, database management is a neat opportunity to explore connections between various pieces of a puzzle. At least that's the way I see it (note: I've worked inside spreadsheets for most of my professional life -- and am dang good at it -- which might be relevant). Without exposure to the back-end, NodeJs to be more specific, I wouldn't have discovered this passion. And without Lambda School, I wouldn't have bothered trying it.

The Bad

I told you this article would be balanced. While I don't have as many grievances, Lambda School is far from perfect, and here are three ways they could be better.

8. You'll sometimes get frustrated with the Training Kit (TK).

The TK is basically your textbook. It contains a daily lesson that includes text, videos, and follow-along exercises. Most of my frustration was with the latter. Often, the TK author fails to provide enough info for you to implement the code. And that's irritating, because the whole point is to get in more reps, which is impossible when you don't know what details are missing. All of that said, Lambda seems to be owning this issue, and are actively working to improve the TK.

9. You'll wonder if anybody is reading or reviewing your careers homework.

I'm four months into Lambda School and haven't received one bit of feedback about my careers assignments. Are they solid? Lacking? Somewhere-in-between? No idea. While I have a business background and am well-versed in marketing (i.e. like to think I'm smart about such things), it'd be nice if someone would confirm or deny that bias. Perhaps this is what "office hours" with career coaches are meant to provide; but if that's the case, somebody should clarify.

10. You must be privileged to manage the course load (while staying sane).

Is privilege a bad thing? No. Is it responsible to give anybody advice without acknowledging it? Also no. I'm privileged as heck. Over the last year-and-a-half, I saved enough money to put myself through Lambda School without working a job. Given the reality that I devote 40-50 hours to the program every week, I question the wisdom of trying both. There are people who try it, but they seem so stressed (and I must admit I'd be an emotional wreck). Unless you have enough money saved to go approximately a year without income, I'd suggest Lambda's part-time course. Ignore this advice at the risk of your physical and mental health.

Are you a Lambda School student? If so, what would you add to this list (both positive and negative)? If you're not a student, do you have any questions?

Social Media: the Sore Subject Every Developer Should Stop Overthinking

Daniel Wallen — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 22:38:26 +0000

I know all about over-analyzing. It used to be one of my favorite hobbies. However, I've discovered overthinking is a disease. Little good comes from it. You'll convince yourself a subject is more complicated than it is. And then you'll be crippled by indecision. While you spend hours analyzing a topic, others will spend the same amount of time implementing. And who will be further ahead? The latter. Based on my experience in Lambda School, social media is the #1 subject web developers in training overthink the most. Know the feeling? Read below.

"How do I promote myself on social media?"

Don't "promote" yourself at all. Instead, document your process. That's what potential clients and employers really care about.

For example, I share a screenshot of every project I make on LinkedIn and Twitter. How? Simple:

Click the "print screen" button on your computer.
Paste it into Paint (or a similar program).
Crop out the excess (anything irrelevant).
Make a new folder for this exclusive purpose.
Save the file (maybe include a date so you can sort them).
Share it on social media and attach a short description of what it does.

For interactive or responsive projects, I recommend sharing a video instead. Here's an easy program that lets you make videos by pressing the Windows key + G: Xbox Console Companion (no, you don't have to own an Xbox).

So you can see this process in action, here are two sample tweets.

Last night I made a React #app that pulls profile information from the @Github API. It also includes a search box where you can plug in another user's information to see their profile and followers. Pretty happy with this one! #coding #100DaysOfCode #LambdaSchool #ReactJS #React pic.twitter.com/shN2flJeEI
— Daniel Wallen (@webwallen ) September 1, 2019

It's about smurfing time I got this app to work. Yesterday I suffered through my worst sprint challenge yet at #LambdaSchool. But this morning I tried again and found myself having fun + coding faster without the time pressure. #100DaysOfCode #ReactJs #StateManagement #Javascript pic.twitter.com/Gd7LrMycCI
— Daniel Wallen (@webwallen ) September 14, 2019

You don't have to be "perfect" to showcase your work. That's why I shared the one above here. Did you see how I turned a negative (my inability to pass a sprint) into a positive (my ability to recover from a setback quickly)? Do the same.

Lastly, make sure you attach relevant hashtags to your updates on Twitter or nobody will see them (unless you have a million followers). Feel free to steal the ones above. It won't hurt my feelings.