The Business of Freelancing Creative...

pbeach's 21 practical tips and opinions from 25+ years of successful, professional fulltime freelance illustration and design.

2011-11-12T11:51:00.000-05:00

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Freelancing can be described as "Controlled Worry 24x7x365". This blog... rather a mini manifesto if you will, is all about success and survival in the freelance trenches, baby. Hard-earned lessons and experiences [ and mistakes! ] applicable to multiple creative disciplines. [ things that I wish someone had told me when I was first starting out! ] - a L-O-N-G read but well worth it, I assure you. ;-)

1. Find your "niche" and market the devil out of it. An illustrator today making ANY kind of a respectable [ ?? ] living... [ surviving?... making the rent... paying most of the bills perhaps? ] is working within a niche; as you well know, pure commissioned illustration is a vacant shell of what it used to be...

... within the broad category of "illustration" - viable, commercial subcategories/niches that come to mind might include:

- architectural illustration
- children's book illustration
- fashion illustration
- medical/scientific illustration
- product illustration
- technical illustration [ my specialty.1 ]
- informational/instructional illustration [ my specialty.2 ]
- event/exhibit 3d illustration [ my specialty.3 ]

... perhaps editorial... BUT... within the general "editorial" category, niches may include very specific/narrow industry trade pubs, whereby your imagery is geared to a small, key audience and subject matter...

... etc., etc... maybe you can think of more - you get my drift.

SUMMARY: any illustration sub category that cannot be covered by stock!!!

>>> an additional bonus of a narrow niche specialization: once you determine the unique set of keywords and phrases that describe that niche for search engines, you'll invariably come up higher in the rankings because of the more specific nature of those keywords and phrases [ vs the generic "illustration" ]
>>> speaking of stock: the IPA - Illustrators Partnership of America has an incredible library of related articles on the effects of stock houses on the illustration industry [ click the IPA link in the right-hand column... go to > Topics > Stock ]

It's safe to say that the majority of rookie ADs today wouldn't know how to commission [ or think to hire? ] an actual freelance illustrator to save their life - they may crack open a stock CD or visit the multitude of stock illustration sites and base their campaign on the stock imagery gathered. [ I have some fun stories on how using royalty-free imagery has come back to bite and embarrass a client when they discovered their competition using the same material!!... a serious and satisfying "I told you so" situation - what can I say?... I warned them! ]

>>> Survival and success for an illustrator today depends on finding that special niche, period and amen.

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2. Referral sites. [ on the obvious assumption you already have a viable, professional web site ]

Determine your online referral site ad budget - some of my best referral sites are free and some are fee-based and definitely worth paying for... WELL worth the investment.

My best referral site: Graphic Artists Guild Member Portfolios. Easily and without doubt my best referral site for many years... by far... accounting for nearly 23% of total hits to the site [ GAG directory inclusion is worth the membership fee alone ]

2008 totals/top 4 performers [ not exactly current I realize but it gives you a rough idea ]

699 hits/22.7%

[ http://portfolios.gag.org/pages/disciplines/illust.html ]

196 hits/6.3%

[ http://www.illustrationmundo.com/illustrators.php ]

113 hits/3.6%

[ http://www.linkism.com/graphic-design/illustrators/index.htm ]

36 hits/1.1%

[ http://www.dexigner.com/directory/ ]

A small sampling of honorable mentions in no particular order: [ criteria changes but aside from Communication Arts Creative Hotlist, I believe most if not all of these are free to list ]

http://folioplanet.com/
http://www.coroflot.com/
http://www.ablestable.com/
http://directory.designer.am/
http://www.creativepro.com/
http://www.creationflux.com/
http://www.illustratorsink.com/
http://www.design-agency.com/
http://www.creativehotlist.com/
http://www.thedigitalartist.com/
http://www.designdirectory.com/
http://www.krop.com/creativedatabase/
http://designers-network.com/sites/artists_illustrators/
http://www.wwar.com/categories/Artists/Design/Digital_Design/

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3. Bidding Sites. the Elance / Guru / iFreelance / GetAFreelancer / Freelancer.com / VOIS / sologig model is terribly flawed... bottom-line, often-sealed/blind bidding is a mistake in SO many ways.

Reason 1: you may be one of 50 or more “professionals” [ I use the term VERY lightly ] bidding on the same project.

Reason 2: the absolute WORST time to be anywhere near these sites is during a deep recession, where employers KNOW creatives are desperate and easy prey for acceptance of sub-standard fees - where the numbers of creatives looking for work... any work... is especially high - where the odds are virtually 100% in favor of the employer.

Reason 3: to top if off, there are fees: for example, Elance deducts a service charge between 6.75% and 8.75% - Guru freelancers pay "a 5% or 10% project fee"... Guru freelancers can also purchase a Guru membership/subscription fee "to receive privileged access to projects and employers." Because Guru.com insists that you get paid through them, they are able to double dip - not only do they get your sign-up fee, but they also keep a portion of every payment you receive. iFreelance charges a membership fee [ 4.69 - 9.00/mo ]...

... certainly not efficient, productive use of your time and limited marketing budget. Frankly, these sites are a joke.

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4. Sourcebooks. Do NOT be fooled into buying a page in one of the illustration sourcebooks.

Reason 1: aside from needing to be a weightlifter to lift the darn things, we're talking caveman technology here...

[ think about it: the web is the best and easily the SINGLE PUREST FORM of advertising and marketing ever invented: One-on-One... the customer and the screen, period... it doesn't get any better than that!!! ]

Reason 2: in a sourcebook, you are adrift in a mindless sea of incredibly-talented illustrators, page after page... essentially side-by-side with hundreds of your closest competitors - a complete waste of your valuable and scarce money... and the cojones of the publishers charging 2K-3K+ for a page [ Serbin now charges 2495.00-2695.00 for a single page in their Directory of Illustration and 30 online images - Workbook rates are 3375.00-3535.00 for a page and online portfolio ] - smart, efficient marketing it is not...

... my god, for substantially less you can join a professional organization, pay for inclusion on some killer referral sites that will return you REAL hits and work - and have enough left over to print a set of quarterly postcards, buy a respectable laptop, a new iPod and dinner for 4 at your favorite restaurant.

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5. SEO. Read-up on web developer/search engine analysis sites [ I know... BORING!!!!!!... but you will not regret the research time spent ]… analyze and improve your search engine optimization - there are sites that explain the Google algorithms... how it analyzes a web page, what it likes and doesn't like - try to understand how the top search engine models find and rank sites... what to do, what not to do...

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>>> a start: Google Algorithms - Google Site and Link Analysis

[ http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Google-Optimization-Help/Google-Algorithms/ ]

Google looks at factors such as the following:

- The length of domain registration
- Domain ownership changes
- WHOIS data and physical address information
- C-Class IP information
- Keyword and non-keyword domains
- The discovery date of new domains/pages
- Document change frequency and the amount of change
- The number of linked internal documents
- Link anchor text
- Link discovery date
- Link changes and deletions
- External link growth patterns
- The authority of external links
- Link quality ratios
- The distribution of links
- The lifespan of links
- Link patterns [ new vs old and old vs new ]
- Anchor text variety

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Type in your typical keywords and phrases [ be specific, relating your niche ] into Google, see what comes up high [ your competition's listings perhaps ]... visit their sites, view their source code [ > View > Source ] and try to determine just why they may be ranked so high...

... analyze the meta tags [ though fair to say meta tags are nowhere near as relevant as they once were - http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html ]

], image alt tags - your own and your competition's [ a link for a good, quick, free analysis of those tags: http://www.scrubtheweb.com/abs/meta-check.html - enter your full URL at the bottom of the page ]

Search engine ranking is EVERYTHING.

Related article: 3 most common reasons why SEO campaigns fail - http://www.entireweb.com/newsletter/archive/2006/ISSUE247.html

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>>> Robots.txt file: Important! - used by web owners and webmasters to signify to spider/spam-bots and search engines not to crawl or index certain files and directories. The Robots.txt file is a command file that most creditable search-bots will obey and check for on entry to your website URL. To create a robots.txt file, visit the following URL [ http://www.invision-graphics.com/robotstxt_generator.html ] fill out the form and select the fields to either disallow certain bots, disallow directories or deny access from bad-bots.

Here's my robots.txt file: http://www.pbeach.com/robots.txt - notice that access to the Graphics folder [ among others ] is blocked [ Disallow: /Graphics/ ] - this'll serve to prevent most/reputable image search bots from securing and indexing your site's imagery...

… and speaking of your site’s imagery: technical illustrator James Provost posted an insightful, helpful article on his TECHNICAL ILLUSTRATORS.org site: “How to Protect Your Images with Metadata”. I was quickly able to follow his direction and updated all the graphics on my site in less than 20 minutes.

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6. Link popularity/reciprocal links. Secure quality inbound links. Make sure the links are directly related to our industry... VERY important. Heads-up: Google has adjusted and refined their Page Rank algorithm many times in the last few years...

... Google favors links [ ideally, strong one-way inbound links ] pointed back to your site from respectable, reputable sites that are directly related to, in our case, the creative industry... related illustration/graphic design/creative industry sites of "highly relevant related content"... vs. random, no-relation link swap sites.

Google Link Popularity Analysis Tool - only looks at Google links and the pages associated with those links. The reports show PageRank data, internal and external link counts, anchor text weights, class C IP reporting and much more.

[ http://www.rustybrick.com/link_analysis.php ]

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7. External links. For what it's worth and some may strongly disagree: I am passionately against any external links of any kind on my portfolio site, except to this blog [ that said, the more helpful resource links the better on this blog, right? ;-) ] - of the philosophy that you do not want to give a prospective client any option whatsoever to leave your site, even if the code will open the page above or below yours...

... think about it: if you had a client in front of you in your studio would you then show them easy ways to leave?... usher them out the door?... encourage them to visit another studio? You have a captive audience, keep it that way.

Detractors may respond [ this was actually posted as a response in an illustration site forum ]: "I think it's healthy competition. I like the idea of supporting other illustrators and sending traffic their way." ...

... to which I reply:

"HUH???!!!"... when an AD is on your site, they have already made the choice to be there - why give them an easy option to leave?... Healthy competition?... noble but naive. I need to pay my bills - no way I purposely choose to divert a potential client's attention away from the possibility of paying those bills.

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8. Search engine submission. Consider paying for a "Priority Submit" service whereby they submit your site on a regular basis to, say, the entire Inktomi network - for 49.00 it's certainly worth considering [ http://www.prioritysubmit.com/ ]... it's worked for me.

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9. Trackers. Insert free stat tracker code on your index page [ and subsequent pages if necessary ] and analyze the heck out of the results on a daily basis - VERY informative and useful ...

- what are your best performing referral sites?
- what keywords and phrases are people using to find you?
- what pages are getting hit the most?
- where are your visitors coming from?
- what search engines?... browsers?... screen resolutions?, etc., etc.

... you can further tweak your site, your code and your online marketing strategies accordingly, based on the analysis.

Some free trackers include:

http://www.google.com/analytics/ - the code is invisible the page

http://www.statcounter.com/ - the code is invisible the page

http://www.haveamint.com/ - an extensible, self-hosted website analytics program [ single site license: 30.00 ]

http://www.extreme-dm.com/tracking/ - the tracker icon remains visible on your index page but that said, I inexplicably love the simplicity and a few key functions of this tracker

Additionally, all ISP's provide a section within your account/control panel which you can access and extensively analyze stats... essentially the same stats, give or take, that the above links provide. I visit my ISP control panel often - here's what they provide:

When: - Monthly history - Days of month - Days of week - Hours

Who/Countries: - Full list

Hosts: - Full list - Last visit - Unresolved IP Address

Authenticated users: - Full list - Last visit

Robots/Spiders visitors: - Full list - Last visit

Navigation: - Visits duration - File type - Downloads - Full list

Viewed: - Full list - Entry - Exit

Operating Systems: - Versions - Unknown

Browsers: - Versions - Unknown

Referrers/Origin: - Referring search engines - Referring sites

Search: - Keyphrases - Keywords

Others: - HTTP Status codes - Pages not found

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10. Reps. I had an East Coast-based rep for the better part of 11 years...

[ another one - West Coast-based - for only one year because she coerced me, against my strong better judgment, into taking a page in a sourcebook [ Graphic Artists Guild Directory of Illustration ] for 2K+ that resulted in ZERO calls or work... her whole claim-to-fame was talking an artist into a sourcebook page, sitting back and doing nothing... shame on me, right?! ]

... my longtime rep was a seasoned and sharp businesswoman, a great friend, a daily confidant, supportive and caring in every way and brought me high-end projects.

How did I land the rep? [ this directly relates to my #1 tip: Find your niche ]:

I approached her with samples of my work, which at the time were almost 100% technical/informational/instruction-assembly B&W lineart [ now THAT's a narrow niche! ] - not a common discipline for reps and most importantly, a niche that no one in her collection remotely covered.

[ she had a killer stable of amazingly talented artists and no initial desire whatsoever for anyone new ]

She replied: "Hmmm... I have to be honest with you, I'm not looking for anyone right now and I just don't think there's enough money there." I convinced her that indeed there was good potential; she then agreed to rep me on a "trial" basis; as luck would have it, the very next week Cuisinart called her looking for an illustrator to illustrate a product manual full of technical lineart. Bingo, baby!... and a wonderful professional relationship began...

... soon after that, one of her illustrators had just finished a logo for a division of The Torrington Company [ now Timken ]... the art director was frustrated over unsuccessfully trying to find an illustrator to work on a huge project converting 40+ years of existing engineering/mechanical/assembly drawings, diagrams, charts, graphs, etc. into a series of digitally-produced catalogs - she said: "I have just the guy for you!"... guess what?... the first purchase order [ of several ] was for 50K [ !! ]... I kid you not. Long-term over the better part of a year... AND... it allowed plenty of time for add'l freelance projects.

Niche.

Reps are a wonderful and perhaps a necessary evil, especially when you're just starting out in a career [ though most reps rightfully prefer an artist with "some" time-in-grade and self-promotion experience under their belt ].

Reps look for style and a well developed visual vocabulary in a portfolio. Someone that is unique and highly-skilled - ideally, an illustrator that has gone through the process of soliciting work, portfolio development, performed self-marketing, competitions, billing and bookkeeping etc. is going to appreciate what a rep provides to them more than an illustrator who has never had to experience how much work is involved.

Attributes they look for: personality, professionalism, loyalty, dedication-to-craft and PASSION!.

They handle all the initial client contacts/price negotiations, marketing, promotion and PR - but a heads-up: do NOT make the mistake as I once did of relying solely on a rep - you have to run your business as if the rep does not exist - if they come in with work, great... if not, shame on you if you have not been marketing on your own.

I'm guessing a rep experience is only bad if you don't perform your due diligence... check out the rep BEFORE you approach them:

- Obviously, make darn sure your portfolio is truly ready for primetime and the professional world before even thinking about approaching a rep.

- Email a few of the artists in their stable... ask them their opinion of the rep, their experiences, are they happy?, any negatives?, etc., etc.

- What is the commission percentage?

- Respectfully ask the artist if they'd be willing to provide a copy of their contract for you to review, if one exists.

- How are tax withholdings handled?

- Does the artist routinely interface directly with the client or does the rep act as a buffer? [ major red flag ]

- Does the artist invoice the client directly or does the rep do the invoicing and then pay the artist? [ potential red flag: how do you REALLY know what the rep charged the client? - I only say this because it happened to a friend and fellow illustrator ]
- and if the rep pays the artist, what are the net terms?... i.e. the rep pays the artist only when she gets paid by the client? [ potential red flag - ask yourself: can you afford to wait min. 45-60-90++ days to get paid?... I know I can't! ]

I was fortunate - I spoke directly with the client at all times during the project after she initially brought in the project and worked out the fees - I invoiced the client directly and paid her when I was paid... and I had no contract - I suspect this type of relationship may indeed be quite rare.

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11. Postcards. As wonderful as online marketing is, conventional direct-mail still works - consider developing a set of four postcards each year and mail one per quarter. Three places to start your pricing research:

http://www.modernpostcard.com/
http://www.uprinting.com/
http://www.4by6.com/

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12. email marketing. Yes, cold email works - I've had decent results the few times I've allowed full brainpower and attention to a mini campaign. It's important to note the key characteristics of those emails:

1. The emails featured a very narrow niche speciality... big surprise, right?... HA!!! [ event rendering and design in this case ] within my overall skill set and were targeted towards an equally-narrow short list of event marketing agencies that have a need for this speciality.

2. Extensive due diligence was performed in advance – exhaustive analysis of industry-related only sourcebooks, directories and search engine results. If you're lucky, you're able to secure an art buyer/art director/contact name from a sourcebook... oftentimes, not so easy.

3. Once the list of potential agencies was secured, then a visit to each site - drilling down to locate the creative director/art director. An email never went out dead-cold... without a valid, qualified contact name who's job [ partially ] in life is to hire someone like me.

4. The emails contained a small, web-prepared set of imagery from the portfolio - embedded [ vs. attached ].

5. I included a Return Receipt required - a lot of folks don't click on a Read Receipt – many do. I’d wait a few days and then call them directly, respectfully inquire whether they received my email, if they had any comments, did they like what they saw, could they identify a need, etc., etc.

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Another email marketing option

FWIW, I’ve also worked as a freelance creative director for a small growing company here in Miami… and I’ll tell you what’s been a wonderfully successful marketing tool for them related to this subject…

[ successful also because the contact lists were painstakingly prepared and targeted specifically to a niche segment within an industry ]

… for these folks, I use to use Constant Contact but now use myemma [ http://myemma.com/ ]... IMO, myemma beats the HELL out of Constant Contact [ CC has effectively over-engineered their templates to death ]

One of the major concerns in email marketing is the goal of having the messaging and imagery display properly, as you designed it, within various email apps and across all OS platforms. A daunting task. Hence the need to use a highly-rated, proven direct email service. [ vs. launching a campaign from the client side, building the email from within, say, Outlook ]

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13. Simple, common sense stuff. [ and ultimately, perhaps the most vital part of your business success ] Illustration is brutally competitive and requires more than talent to succeed.

- SERVICE. GREAT, fast service is KEY, KEY, KEY.

- COMMUNICATION. Return phone calls and emails promptly... polite, respectful, quick responses to a clients' needs. Great communication skills are SO important... and SO lacking in today's business world - sharpening this skill alone will set you apart from and above your competition.

>>> and while we're on the subject of communication: use spellcheck in your emails - there's nothing less professional to a client than misspelled words

- During a project, develop the habit of sending out a "Just checkin' in"/progress-update email first thing in the morning - open with a little light humor, inquire about them on a personal level *; this communication effectively puts them at ease that you're on-track with their project and keeps them off your back during the day while you're busy creating that masterpiece... a win-win.

* Find out something personal about the client - a hobby?... do they have kids?... what do they like to do?... something that will additionally link them to you on a personal level so, as your relationship develops, you can tap into this knowledge in your subsequent chats.

- BEND OVER BACKWARDS FOR A CLIENT. [ or at least let them think you're bending over backwards! ] ... service, service, service, baby! [ have I mentioned “service” enough? ] - like it or not, whether you agree or not, I tell my clients [ my best clients, which frankly I can count on only a couple fingers ]: no day is sacred in my studio... I am available for you 7 days a week if necessary [ subject to change depending on what personal/financial stage of life you find yourself in, right? ;-) ]

- PROJECT A POSITIVE, CAN-DO ATTITUDE NO MATTER WHAT YOUR EMOTIONS. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had an AD on the phone, either discussing a potential project or one in-progress... and been emotionally down on that particular day - invariably, I'll mistakenly allow those negative emotions to creep into my voice and 9.9 times out of 10, they'll quickly sense it and comment: "You OK with this project?"... you don't seem too enthused", etc. - fake it if you have to but ALWAYS project the best attitude possible towards a client.

- NEVER LET 'EM SEE YOU SWEAT. [ when speaking with an AD... your various enthusiastic replies ] "You ask if I can match that style?"... "You want it by Thursday noon?"... "You want me to revise the background landscape for the third time?... "You want me to stand on my head, spin around and whistle Dixie while simultaneously juggling 5 bowling pins AND illustrating a giraffe on roller skates?" - "Absolutely, positively, guaranteed!... I can't WAIT to dive in!!... consider it done!!!... you can TOTALLY count on me!!!!" ... then... slowly hang up the phone and start sweating profusely. You'll get it done. ;-)

- BE ON TIME with preliminary and final submissions!

- KNOW YOUR CLIENT/KNOW THEIR BUSINESS, prospective or otherwise.

- PROFESSIONALISM in every aspect of your business.

- Make each client feel that they are the most important part of your business [ frankly, as a one-man/one-woman operation, oftentimes they are! ]

>>> TWO KEY THINGS... laser-etched in stone, to keep in mind:

1. Your single job and goal in life as a freelance artist is to make an art director look good to his or her boss, period - check the ego at the door.

2. You're in business to land and keep clients... think long-term: some artists go in for the quick $$ kill on the first job... the big picture: you want that client to be there down the road when you need the work to pay that utility bill before it gets cut off!

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14. Join a professional organization and become a part of their community. The professional benefits to you are enormous.

I've been a member of both the Graphic Artists Guild and the AIGA ... G.A.G. off and on since the early 80's ... the AIGA for only a short 2 year period or so. [ I can't say I took advantage of many AIGA offerings aside from their online portfolio directory, which did generate respectable traffic/hits to my site ]

My experience with the two suggests this: both offer community through network, forums, conferences, seminars, job/portfolio postings, newsletters, health/industry discount options, etc, etc...

... when money became especially tight [ when is it not??!! ], I had to choose the single best organization that I personally would most benefit from... and chose the G.A.G...

... it is my opinion that what sets the G.A.G. apart is it's legendary dedication to the advocacy of an artist's professional and legal rights. [ to which I have accessed and used, from their various contract and agreement docs to emails/calls to pro bono industry-related lawyers with legal questions ]

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Graphic Artists Guild.

Initiation/Application fee: 30.00 - Professional Member: 200.00 - Associate Member: 170.00 - students: 75.00

[ http://www.graphicartistsguild.org/join/ ]

>> with a Guild membership, you belong to a global creative community that tirelessly supports and advocates for artists rights - benefits include:

- Industry discounts [ ADBASE - Theispot - Allworth Press, sourcebooks, magazines, etc... hotels, car rentals, credit unions... ]

- Health insurance discounts [ The Guild recently affiliated with the United States Federation of Small Business which means that Guild membership will now have access to group rates on health insurance plans in 28 states ]

- Professional development [ Artist to Artist Hotline - Job Referral Systems & Promotional Services - JOBline news ]

- Advocacy and access to a wealth of industry-related legal knowledge [ Grievance Committee - Legal Referral Network Pre-Paid Legal services - Contract Monitor with sample contracts and related docs ]

- Informational services [ Guild News - Local Newsletters ]

- The great and very useful "Pricing and Ethical Guidelines" book

- and of course their proven online Member Portfolio directory

As I've mentioned, for many years their portfolio directory has routinely produced more hits to the site [ and jobs! ] than any other referral site by far. Heck, the benefits of the online directory are truly worth the cost of the membership alone; the other benefits are gravy after the referral hits from their directory.

[ http://portfolios.gag.org/pages/disciplines/illust.html ]

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AIGA.

315.00: an individual who has practiced or taught in any design community for four years or more - 230.00: an individual who has practiced in any design community for fewer than four years - 95.00: a full-time student who presents a copy of a dated bursar's receipt or current ID from an accredited college or university.

[ http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/join ]

Good luck in your organization analysis!

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15: Conventional vs. Digital. [ maybe the most controversial subject here? ] I received a call from a conventional airbrush artist in Colorado who was represented by my agent - IMMENSELY talented... I was stunned and humbled by his advertising portfolio samples [ and felt quite inferior actually ] - Fortune 50 stuff... Pepsi, General Motors, Proctor&Gamble - our rep had informed him he was losing calls and work because he wasn't working digitally. He was lamenting the fact that he was in foreclosure… 3 months behind in his mortgage, managing a second job at a local ski slope and wanted my advice on computers, feeling the intense pressure of going "digital" - now here's an artist who has more talent in one finger than a lot of artists have in both hands or will EVER have... with a drop-dead, killer portfolio who's starving for work...

... the commercial advertising world is blindly digital... combined with the fact that, faced with the routine insanity of ever-accelerated deadlines, the time it would take for a conventional artist to complete a project [ and more importantly, revise quickly on a VERY tight deadline ] is often enough greater than someone on a computer. [ I know some of you may argue these points ]

Summary: the conventional artist in the commercial advertising world is a dinosaur, period.

[ FYI: I got that call and had that conversation in 1994 ]

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16. An artist first. Ideally, a fine arts background or sensitivity to the masters and their techniques perhaps... then a mastery of the computer for art and illustration - the computer is nothing more than a wonderful, glorious tool and ONLY a tool ... synonymous to an airbrush, paintbrush or pastels - the operator still needs a complete understanding of spatial concepts, light, form, layout, color, design, perspective, etc., etc.... bottom line: raw yet studied conventional art talent/appreciation first... the computer will exploit and explode that talent beyond your wildest dreams.

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17. Marketing knowledge, or the willingness and aptitude [ and above all, PASSION!! ] to promote is a HUGE plus - there are a lot of talented artists out there who don't really have a solid clue as to how to promote and market those talents properly - reversely, there are marginal artists who are aggressive, driven and persistent... good at multiple forms of conventional and online promotion... and, they get the work - the ideal, obviously, is to be talented AND savvy in marketing.

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18. Single style vs. multiple styles? Hoo boy… tricky question - multiple schools of thought [ and opinions ] at work here:

Single style

Some profess concentrating on a unique, consistent style and I cannot disagree… BUT… only to a degree.

Advantages: easily recognized and identifiable to ADs that want to base their campaign on a specific look&feel.

Disadvantages:

- this desirable style can be hot and trendy for a period of time and either a. fall out of favor b. be copied ad nauseum to point of stale insignificance [ I guarantee you can think of trendy styles that are routinely copied – when I had a rep I can’t tell you how many times an agency AD would call and request that I copy a specific "in" style - and did I do it?... copy the style? - let's see... rent, food, utilities, kids... hmmm... yes. ]

- the danger of the style becoming downright boring and limiting for you [ ?? ]... finding yourself pigeon-holed, churning out same-o/same-o stuff

Multiple styles

Advantages: multiple styles/multiple ADs – simple math, folks… the more art buyer tastes you can fulfill, the more looks/styles in your skill set, the more projects.

Disadvantages: none

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19. Testimonials/references. Devote a section of your website - I've found these to be a valuable marketing tool. Serves to validate you as a worthy and competent professional and provides assurance to potential clients...

... as far as collecting testimonials, timing is everything: wait until the end of a successful project and respectfully ask your happy client if they wouldn't mind providing a testimonial - give 'em some hints perhaps... what are some of the benefits, attributes and talents you brought to their creative table, what it's like to work with you, how do they value your services, would they work with you again... and why, etc. Honestly, I've never once had a single client decline the request.

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20. Invoicing. I obviously can't speak for all of you but if I had to wait even 30 days for an invoice to be paid, my rent would be late, my precious DIRECTV would be cut off, the pantry would be empty and most probably I'd be quickly heading out of business!!! [ TRUST me, I've been there... more than a few times ] Each prospective/new client gets an intro letter/agreement [ to which they must sign ] - it explains what I bring to the creative table: the project and cost benefits of a particular discipline... 3d, etc., my expectations and reference needs, average project cost/timeframe... and only one payment term, that reads as follows:

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Payment term [ 50% advance / 50% net 0 ] and notes:

1. [ your name here ] requires an advance payment equal to 50% of the project estimate, due upon project initiation - the remainder is due, net 0, upon email/FTP delivery of final files;

2. The project is entered into the studio workload queue once email confirmation of the online transaction has been received - usually quite quickly [ you also receive an email receipt ] – once the project has begun, the advance is non-refundable;

3. As collateral I offer my 25+ year multi-industry experience, extensive portfolio, client testimonials and respectable Fortune 500/Promo 100-based client work list, which effectively establishes sufficient proof of professionalism and worthiness of advance trust;

4. Method of payment is to be a secure online transaction* [ AMEX-VISA-MC ] through my web site;

Notes: [ this is optional... some may feel this is TMI - perhaps to be articulated verbally rather than in writing ]

- [ your name here ] is a one-man operation - this advance is my life blood and absolutely essential to my survival;

- As you know, a freelancer routinely experiences extreme highs and lows in workload; hence the increased need for consistent, reliable receivings – I therefore must respectfully require this one term;

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Now I realize you may not offer 25+ years as collateral... but if you're not firm on prompt payment with SOME form of an advance - if you don't portray yourself as a confident, proficient, creative professional worthy of market-value fees to be paid in a VERY timely manner, a client will step all over you... and the next illustrator behind you.

>>> Negotiate your fees and present your terms from strength [ even if it's only perceived and you haven't had a project in a month!!! ]

Often enough, a prospective client may predictably whine about this term - if you calmly and professionally state your case... the talents, skill set, benefits and positives, unique offerings and industry experience you bring to the table and reasons behind your term[s], they will most always relent - and if they don't, it's a blatant red flag and you don't want them as a client anyway!

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21. Have fun!!! "Don't worry... be happy." Life lesson here gang: do yourself [ and your loved ones ] a huge favor - make a conscious effort to notice, embrace and celebrate the smallest and most insignificant things that life presents to you each day - we're on this earth for the briefest fractional moment... it all goes by in 1/4 of the blink of an eye.

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FWIW... it's been a sincere pleasure. After so many years in the industry, it feels good to give back... thanks for indulging me.

Take good care and I wish you massive success, personally and professionally, beyond your wildest imagination!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Peter Beach ;-)

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pbeach's Work-For-Hire in the Real World.

2011-11-06T12:06:00.001-05:00

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Sometimes in life, we must make some compromises.

Let it be said that I am categorically opposed to WORK-FOR-HIRE, in principle and in definition, across the board...

... that said, in practice… in real world scenarios and situations… in the daily freelance trenches trying desperately to support a family and survive in a brutally competitive creative discipline… in an exponentially more brutal economy, compromises must be made… and here is my best example:

For approx. 10 years, from 1985-1995 give or take I freelanced for Hasbro, illustrating instructional lineart for countless toy lines. They were my first, bonafide GREAT client and I love them to this day. Hell, the Transformers literally built my studio… put me on the map as a freelancer and were responsible for me finding the courage to finally go full-time [ along with a supportive and understanding wife ]. During those years, I averaged 20k-30k/year with them alone… [ wow, where have THOSE years gone?!!! ] - Hasbro helped in great part to support my family of two kids and all that goes along with it …

… the illustrations, in the beginning, were pen&ink on mylar… yes indeed - [ yikes!... though truth be told, I do miss those golden days ] … and later, were produced on the computer. Those familiar with, for example, the typical instruction booklet that came with a Transformer toy know the type and style…

… punchline: I didn’t WANT to own the art… I could care LESS if I ever saw it again… I didn’t care at ALL if Hasbro owned the art - I was paid well, LOVED producing the material, LOVED working for them and man, they kept me afloat and alive during some tumultuous economic times…

… now… had I declined to sign Hasbro’s Work-For-Hire agreement, who knows if I would have ever survived in those early years or become a full-time freelancer at all.

Summary: as with anything in life, compromises are necessary - the line between convictions-in-theory and in convictions-in-practice is often unavoidably blurred.

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[ a key portion of a poignant response to the above comes from Mr. Paul Burton, founder of the Professional Artists League: "The uphill battle boils down to creatives allowing this practice to continue by signing documents without understanding the consequences ... and, it’s an issue we all face as independent creative professionals at one point or another." ]

- Peter Beach ;-)

© pbeach illustration!
[ http://www.pbeach.com/ ]

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ASK FIRST campaign

2009-04-14T15:18:00.005-04:00

The Graphic Artists Guild along with the Copyright Clearance Center is sponsoring this copyright awareness campaign. They collectively encourage “respect for private intellectual property and the copyright laws that govern it.”

“Art or photography in portfolios submitted for a job should not be copied for any use, including client presentation or "comping", without the creator's permission."

COMPING IS USAGE.

"Similarly, images appearing in any of the talent sourcebooks and directories (either in print or electronically), should not be "swiped" for any reason. In case after case, the creator's property rights have been upheld, and those caught engaging in these practices were penalized, paying large fines to the artists.”

“We appreciate your desire to use our images. Even more, we are flattered and complimented. But for a number of reasons, artists may not want to have their images used in any way, including agency representations. And any use, including "comping", implies value that is worth some compensation.”

"Contact the creator before copying."

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You, as a responsible creative sharing concerns for artist's rights... as well as being one heck of a superior human being... should certainly support it too, right? Pass the word. ;-)

- Peter Beach

pbeach illustration!
[ http://www.pbeach.com/ ]

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Pricing is Marketing

2009-04-04T15:23:00.003-04:00

[ reprinted - © FreelanceLocalTech.com - by/credit and with respect to Andy ]

Here’s a tip that all really successful freelancers know: the price you set for your work is a marketing tool.

Some freelancers think the price they charge is about what they want to make. And, to them, it is.

Clients view the price they pay for something as what the work is worth. (Sometimes that view is combined with how much will I grow my business by spending this money?) In other words, if — to the client — the work is worth $1000 for what you perceive to be 10 hours of work, then you should be charging around $100/hr.

If you charge the customer $400 for those 10 hours, then the customer is perceiving your work as being worth less than they think it should be worth and they will wonder why you are undercharging them so much.

How will the customer know what the work is worth? Lots of times, on first meeting a freelancer about a project, the customer has no idea what the costs are going to be. Instead, they have an idea about the cost for NOT doing the job, since not doing the job also affects their business. Your job, as a freelancer, is to set the customer’s expectations about how your rates are in line with the market in your area, how working with you will have additional value beyond just the rate, and so on. That’s the selling part.

Setting your rate in line with what the customer expects to spend is marketing.

How will you know what the customer expects to spend even if the customer doesn’t? First, figure out where your rates fall in relation to other freelancers in your market. If you don’t know, call around and ask other freelancers who offer similar services what they charge [if you think they won’t, try asking as though you were going to subcontract a piece of a project to them].

Once you have an idea of what the market will bear for your services, figure out whether you are able to get projects done faster and cheaper than your competitors. This task is usually one that comes from experience and from talking with customers about other projects they’ve had freelancers do. Have your customers compare your performance to other freelancers with whom they’ve worked. The feedback is important and will help you figure out if you’re charging too little or too much on a per-hour basis.

What about being a low-cost leader in my area? You can always do that, but I’ve found that customers who are looking for the cheapest price are also the worst customers and they will value your services less. These customers are more demanding and less forgiving than customers who value you on something other than the amount they spend on you. I also think that if you compete on price, there’s always going to be someone who’s cheaper somewhere else.

Bottom line: the price you set for your services is one of the messages you convey to customers about your services and about yourself. Make sure the message you send isn’t “My work isn’t worth much.” That kind of message will get in the way of making the sale.

Illustration Under Attack

2009-04-03T12:58:00.012-04:00

[ reprinted - © Illustrators’ Partnership of America - by/credit and with respect to Mr. Bart Forbes ]

I have always considered myself very fortunate to be an illustrator. I believe that many of the most talented artists of the last century have been illustrators and not "fine artists". And I'm distressed that illustration, as a profession, is today under attack. That attack threatens all of us who create images for a living.

The reason for this is not the technology which is changing many areas of our lives today. It is, rather, our own inability as illustrators to confront those who regularly take advantage of us and have for some time. The most blatant are the stock agencies who have found a gold mine for themselves by "helping" illustrators market their work via re-use and royalty free sales. These agencies are creating profits for themselves in the short term, with apparently no concern for the long-term well being of the illustration market.

Illustrators have long been the willing "victims" of a variety of entities that profess to help them in their careers. When I first acquired an agent some years ago, it was not unusual for that person to represent only a few artists and actually devote time to developing each artist's career by looking for new markets, targeting art directors, doing individual PR work, and so on. Today it is more likely for many agents to have their artists buy pages in sourcebooks and wait for the phone to ring. Such agents frequently represent 20 or more talents.

It doesn't take a math wiz to realize that if your agent has 20 artists and works a 40-hour week, you are receiving an average of 2 hours a week of that person's time. That is not representation, it's brokering. There are a number of very fine reps today, but there are also too many who simply take advantage of their artists by not giving them real representation.

And the work-for-hire contracts that many of us have signed further diminish our ability to control what happens to our work. For example, the U.S. Postal Service has for years required that artists sign a work-for hire agreement before creating a stamp design. Many of us have agreed to this, against our better judgement, because we want the visibility and exposure that comes with creating a stamp. Again, the illustrator is allowing himself to be used because the work he has created is no longer his own.

And now we add to all this the stock agencies that sell the illustrators' work at discounted prices and control the rights to those works. This is nothing more than taking advantage of those who are desperate for money at the expense of all illustrators. The end result is the erosion of the marketplace for our product. In the 30-plus years that I have been working, the cost of living in this country has increased several times, and yet the cost of illustration has stayed about the same. While publications have continued to raise their advertising rates, they have not increased what they pay for editorial art and, in some cases, actually pay less than before.

In addition, ad agencies now find they can get art for less through the stock agencies, thereby increasing their profits. Allowing stock to be sold in this way is like paying cut-rate prices for the materials we use— watercolors, oils, acrylics, canvas— and being shocked when the quality of those products goes down or the products are simply no longer there. It is dangerous business and those who allow the work that they do to be sold in this way are making a mistake.

There is of course, a way to correct this situation. Illustrators need to take control of their own destinies and simply refuse to be taken advantage of. There is nothing wrong with selling existing images for re-use, but why not insist that the agencies charge the going rate for art based on its use, leave the control and the rights to the art in the hands of the artist, and maybe even make an effort to increase the price of illustration? Rather than allowing stock agencies to take a stiff 50 or 60 percent of a sale, artists should pay them only the 25 percent commission that most artists' agents take. In this way, stock agencies might actually become businesses that help illustrators and benefit the market as a whole. Taking advantage of people never produces long lasting relationships. It only creates resentment.

The High Cost of Cheap Art - How Much is Stock Hurting Us?

2009-04-03T12:41:00.007-04:00

[ reprinted - © Illustrators’ Partnership of America - by/credit and with respect to Mr. Brad Holland, legendary illustrator... one of my all-time favorites ]

At the IPA’s Stock Roundtable, Alexis Scott of Workbook quoted these figures: Yearly global stock illustration sales total 30-60 million dollars, of which 12-15 million are spent on royalty-free clip art.

We don’t have research on how much these sales are costing us, but we can draw certain conclusions:

Let’s exclude clip art sales because I can’t think of a way to calculate the commission fees they might replace. That leaves us with 18-45 million dollars spent on traditional stock alone.

If stock houses are discounting commission fees by even 50 percent, then twice the sum Alexis quoted—at least 36-90 million dollars—has been reduced by half, then halved again by fees and commissions, leaving less than 9-22 million bucks to ever find its way back into the hands of artists.

This means that at least 27-68 million dollars, which once went to all of us to make a living, has been lost— perhaps permanently—through these discounted sales.

And if stock house discounts are even steeper than 50 percent (as they most certainly are), then our total losses, including clip art sales, are even greater. Are we losing double that figure, 50-130 million dollars or more each year? It may seem incredible. But do the math and the question is inescapable.

You cannot take that much money out of a small fragile economy like ours without doing irreparable damage to thousands of careers. With less money to go around, competition will intensify. And in the end, the least competitive artists—often the same artists who signed stock house contracts to make "a little extra money"— will be the most vulnerable.

There’s no way to put a happy face on this. There are people in our business right now who will not be here in 5 years.

We don’t need to blame anybody for what’s past. But if we, as an industry, don’t begin to take some responsibility for steering out of this skid, we can all blame ourselves.

Until 4 years ago, opinion about stock house sales was mixed. Art schools ignored the issue, and our professional organizations either stayed "neutral" or, actually endorsed stock house sales as a good way for members to earn extra income, or break into the business.

But since 1997, a grassroots movement has reversed that conventional wisdom. Now the damage done by stock house sales should be self-evident.

About one month ago, we posted the draft for an IPA "Stock Advisory" on several websites. We invited others to suggest improvements to our draft and we hope that schools and organizations will adopt this statement (or one like it), to publicize as a warning to students and professionals alike.

Neither the authors of the statement nor the IPA need be credited. Schools and other trade groups can simply substitute their own name for ours.

Isn’t it time for schools and professional organizations to join us in taking a stand on the most serious threat to illustration in the history of our field?

[ originally posted in June 2001... still extremely relevant today ]