Why Your Portfolio is Invisible (And How to Fix It Without Social Media)
Marketing Strategy: By Mike Meyerson
The most painful moment in a creative career is not the rejection letters. It’s not the bad reviews.
The agony of silence.
You spent weeks building your portfolio site. You picked the perfect template, you sorted out your best work, and you finally hit "Publish." You sat back, waiting for the emails to roll in... and you heard crickets.
If you are reading this, you probably have a beautiful website that is currently a ghost town.
But website builders won’t tell you this…"Build it and they will come" is a lie, unless they’re also trying to sell you SEO service.
In 2026, the internet is not a library; it’s a noisy, crowded mosh pit. Simply having a website doesn't mean you exist. Whether you are struggling with marketing your art, trying to figure out the voodoo of promoting your film, or banging your head against the wall promoting your book, you are likely facing the same invisible wall.
You are treating your website like a billboard in a basement. It looks great, but nobody knows it’s there because there are no roads leading to it.
Most creatives try to fix this by running on the "Social Media Hamster Wheel"…posting Reels, Stories, and threads every single day, hoping the algorithm blesses them. But that’s a trap. You don’t own those followers, and the second you stop posting, you disappear.
There is a better way. It’s the "punk rock" alternative to paid ads and algorithm chasing. It’s how you build a reputation that lasts for years, not hours.
It’s called Authority. And you build it by getting other people to point at you.
The Social Media Trap
Let’s look at your relationship with Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
These platforms are tools, but they are dangerous landlords. When you focus 100% of your energy on social media, you are building your house on rented land. You don't own your followers. You don't own the data. And you certainly don't control the algorithm.
If the algorithm changes tomorrow (and it will), things could shift in a hurry. Or, even worse, what if you post something that their bots think is against the rules and you get flagged or banned? Your page along with all the content and followers could be locked and gone forever, and good luck trying to reach a real live support person to help you.
Your website is the only piece of digital real estate you actually own and control. If you don’t have a site, you should really be thinking about building one. It’s not difficult, nor expensive to grab a relevant domain name and build a simple one page site as a starting point. Think of it as your "Forever Home", a place to grow your roots and build your online studio.
BUT…Without the right SEO foundation, Google is treating your home like it’s condemned. Why? Because in the eyes of a search engine, your site probably has little or no reputation.
You might be the best photographer in New York or the most talented writer in London, but Google is a robot, powered by 0’s and 1’s. It can't see talent. It can only see data and links.
In the SEO world, this is called Domain Authority (also known as DA or DR). It’s basically a credit score for websites.
The New York Times has a credit score of 90+.
Your Portfolio could have a credit score of 0…maybe 8 if you’ve done some SEO work.
When you launch a new site, you’re usually starting with a clean slate. Nobody knows you, so nobody trusts you (or your site in this case). When you search for terms like "SEO for creatives" or "indie film marketing," the sites that show up on Page 1 are the ones with the highest domain authority.
So, how do you raise yours? You need the cool kids at the party to vouch for you.
This is the somewhat secret weapon that marketing agencies charge thousands of dollars to implement.
You need Backlinks.
A backlink is simply a link from another website to yours. But to Google, it is a Vote of Confidence.
If a random spam bot links to you, Google ignores it.
If a respected digital magazine or legitimate creative blog links to you, Google pays attention. It says, "Wait, this trustworthy site thinks [Your Name] is an expert? They must be legit. Let's rank them higher."
This is why guest posting is an SEO superpower.
When you write an article for a site like Feeling Creative? (or any other reputable blog or digital mag), you aren't just giving them free content…you are trading your knowledge for a permanent road sign pointing back to your shop.
Unlike an Instagram post that dies in 24 hours, a guest post (and the backlink inside it) lasts forever (unless it’s on a shady site, but that’s a topic for another day). It drives traffic to your site while you sleep, year after year.
So Let’s Do Something About It
If you’re ready to stop shouting into the void of social media and start building authority, you need to start pitching and guest posting. We get plenty of pitches that are generic junk…someone even wanted to post an article here about ladders for a roofing company, yeah…seriously. So try to stick to sites that are relevant to your niche. And be warned, most sites charge for guest posts, which shows you just how valuable they are.
How to pitch a guest post:
Read the Room: Don't pitch a "Top 10 Cat Photos" article to a film magazine. Take a minute to actually look at the site first. See what they cover.
Pitch a Headline, Not a Topic: Don't say "I want to write about art." Say "I want to write: 'Why Oil Painting is Making a Comeback in the Digital Age'."
Be Human: We can tell if you used ChatGPT to write your email. Be real.
You can keep hoping the algorithm picks you, or you can start building your own roads.
At Feeling Creative?, we are building a creative hub specifically for this. We want to help you break out of the basement. Whether you want to write about your artist marketing struggles, share your technical process, or just tell a story about a project that went off the rails or one that’s a huge success, we want to give you a platform (and a high-quality backlink).
Stop being invisible. Start being the authority.
Read our Submission Guidelines and Pitch Us Here. We don't charge for it. Your post will live here permanently, building authority for you long after the algorithm has forgotten your last Instagram post.
Author Bio:
Mike Meyerson is the founder of FEELING CREATIVE?, and has worked in the video/film/advertising industries for over 25 years. He also enjoys photography and has dabbled in screenwriting. Unfortunately, he can’t draw anything other than stick figures...but he is good at building backlinks. Currently located in NY’s Hudson Valley Region and is always looking to build the network, find a new cool trail to hike and a new place to grab a slice of pizza.
