Compared to “normal” careers that require you to work from an office, being an artist means that you often need to figure things out on your own. Standing out takes a lot more work than sprucing up your LinkedIn profile; you also need to look for spaces designed specifically for creators.

Behance is one such place. You can do a lot on this platform, from creating a portfolio to searching for work in your field. However, you might find it a little complicated to use at first—so it’s worth doing prior research.

Are you keen to know what you can do on Behance and why artists should use it? You’re in the right place. Let’s dive in and find out.

What Is Behance?

Behance is one of the many tools that Adobe has to help creators stand out. It’s somewhat like LinkedIn, in the sense that you can use it to showcase your professional work and connect with others.

Creators in several fields can use Behance, but it’s especially helpful for visual artists such as designers, photographers, and videographers.

Behance is quite old in social media terms; the service launched in 2005.

What Can You Do on Behance?

Behance’s offerings are pretty diverse, and knowing what you can use the service for before signing up will help you get the most out of it. Below is a breakdown of the main things you can use this Adobe-owned tool for.

Create a Portfolio

Screenshot of a user's profile on Behance

The main reason most creators use Behance is for creating a portfolio. You can publish projects that you’ve either completed for clients or for your own enjoyment.

When you create a new project to share, you can include several elements. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Audio

If you’ve got an Adobe Lightroom account, you can save time and import visuals directly from there. When you create new projects on Behance, you can increase your visibility by adding tags and sharing the tools you’ve used.

You’re not limited to sharing everlasting projects on your profile. If you’re currently working on something exciting, you can create a Work In Progress, which will be visible for 24 hours. To do this, go to Share Your Work > Work In Progress at the top of the page.

Display NFTs

In 2021, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) became increasingly prominent online. If done correctly, you can potentially build an additional income stream by selling these.

On Behance, you can share your NFTs with others. After creating them, all you need to do is connect your cryptocurrency wallet with your Adobe account and make the tokens visible to others.

At the time of writing in January 2022, Adobe only supports connectivity with MetaMask on Behance. However, it plans to add Phantom and Temple.

Related: What Is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?

Go Live to Your Audience

If you’ve spent any amount of time on the mainstream social media platforms, you’ve probably heard of going live to an audience. With Behance, you can do the same. You can use this feature to share your creative projects with others, along with providing valuable insights on topics you’re knowledgeable about.

On Behance, livestreaming is easy; all you need to do is go to your profile and click on Livestreams. After that, click on Go Live Now.

Keep in mind that you need to be at least 18 years old to do livestreams—and you must adhere to the platform’s guidelines.

Discover Other Artists’ Work

Screenshot of the Behance Discover Page

Being in a creative field is sometimes challenging. It’s impossible to be motivated every single day, regardless of how much you love what you do. And sometimes, you’ll find yourself lacking inspiration.

When this happens, leaning on (and learning from) other creatives can help you reignite that spark inside you. And as you might expect from a social media platform designed specifically for creators, Behance is a valuable tool for achieving this.

On Behance, you can use the Discover tab to find out what others are doing on the platform. Besides discovering different fields, you can also look for projects created using various Adobe tools. Thanks to this, you can find new styles and directions that you might want to take your own work in.

If you like certain artists’ work, you can leave them a like—known as an “Appreciate”. You can also follow them to see more of their content.

The Benefits of Using Behance

Now that we’ve covered several of the things you can do on Behance, it’s worth looking at some top benefits you can enjoy if you use the platform.

You Don’t Need to Create Your Own Website

Man working on a computer in front of a window

With the likes of Wix and Squarespace, creating a portfolio website is much easier than it used to be. However, it still requires a little manual work on your end; you need to think about things like search engine optimization (SEO) and page speed.

Related: Wix vs. Squarespace: Which Is the Better Site Builder for Beginners?

When you create a portfolio on Behance, you don’t need to worry about any of that stuff. Instead, you can focus on showcasing your creations and building your audience with minimal fuss.

Find Inspiration for Your Creative Pursuits

Inspiration on Behance

Even if you’re a solopreneur, connecting with others is crucial for long-term success. Doing so will not only help you learn new skills, but it’ll also open your eyes to new ways of trying things and elevating your projects.

When you use Behance, you’ll find inspiration from creators in all corners of the globe. You’ll likely also feel less of a need to compare yourself than you would have by using mainstream social media channels.

Find Jobs

Screenshot of Behance jobs page

Many people think a creative pursuit means that you can’t make good money. But in a world where you can do many things from anywhere—and where you don’t need to jump through countless hurdles to get your work featured—this isn’t necessarily true.

Finding creative jobs might take a little more searching than other professions, but they’re plentiful if you know where to look. Behance is one useful resource for this; its Jobs tab has freelance and full-time openings for photographers, graphic designers, and more.

Behance Is an Excellent Tool for Artists

Getting started as a creative is difficult, especially if you don’t have an extensive network. However, it’s become a lot easier to connect with like-minded people and share your portfolio—and Behance is one place where you can find your crowd.

Behance is an excellent tool for showcasing your work to potential clients and finding inspiration. You can also use it as a funnel to your other social channels, where you show users the behind-the-scenes of what you do.

Having read this guide, you should have a solid understanding of what Behance is and why you should use it. All that’s left for you to do is create an account and get started!