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This is a series of journal entries I wrote for Creative Latitude
documenting my self promotional process for finally taking the step to be an illustrator. These articles were later published in the 2006 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market. Note: Some links may not be active anymore.
Entry 1 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves June 2004
I just recently completed my longest, most physically painful,
exhilarating and inspiring
project of my life. For the past nine months I've been
inundated with cute little clothes, books, pictures, you name
it, with incredible designs and illustrations. Time after
time the same thought would fill my head: "I wish I could
do that!" I've been dreaming about an illustration career
for years. Why can't I do that? Really, why couldn't I? There
was absolutely no reason why I couldn't. Sure, I have a full
time design job, a new bundle of joy to take care of, but
why not just go for it? This is my first journal entry in
a series of 12 entries (published each month) dedicated to
my process of self promotion.
I wanted to keep a monthly journal for two reasons:
1. To encourage others and let them know successful
promotion can be done and how one person was able to do it. I am always on the lookout to see what other illustrators
are doing. I've found a few illustrator's sites who have blogs
that sometimes mention their promotional endeavors but never
seems to give updates on their progress.
2. To keep myself accountable and to follow through
with my dream. Keeping a personal deadline had always been
hard for me. I always put it off and let something else take
precedent. With this commitment of documenting my process,
I know I can keep myself accountable not only to myself, but
to all the people who will follow this series. My goal in
all this? To become a full-time illustrator while being a
stay-at-home Mom.
I have had a website
dedicated to my illustration work for a couple of years now,
but have done little to promote it. One thing I have
done is link
exchanges. By linking to other designers' and illustrators'
sites (and them linking to me), my name comes up more times
in search engines. You'll be surprised just how many hits
you'll get from another person's site. Just this week I
received two emails from people who had seen my site listed
on another designer's site.
Last year I had 1,000 postcards printed with plans to mail
them out to potential clients. Today I have about 990 of those
cards still left in the box. Why? I over critique my work,
as I'm sure most people do. I started not to like the image
I had produced specifically for the card. This time I am approaching
it differently. I realized that I need to pick one of my best
pieces for the promo card and not try to think of something
specifically for it. Why it took me this long to figure that
out, I'll never know!
So, I have my website up, I have an
illustration to use for my postcard, and I have a growing
list of names to send them to (thanks to the Artist & Graphic
Designer's Market, Children's Writers & Illustrators market
books, people emailing me to be on my mailing list, as
well
as companies I've found by using keywords on Yahoo! and Google).
I am now officially ready to move forward! See
you next month!
Entry 2 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves July 2004
I have totally surprised myself. I've made so much progress
this month but, near the beginning, I thought I'd get nothing
accomplished. I couldn't concentrate on what to do next or
get motivated to do anything. Part of it probably had to do
with the fact that I was missing my daughter horribly while
working my full-time design job all week. I was miserable,
but I worked my schedule out with my boss so I am able to
work from home 3 days a week which made me a much happier
and more pleasant person to be around.
In my lack of concentration and motivation I decided to go
to to our local art museum to gain it back. The
Red Grooms exhibit was in town. Great stuff! I love his
dimensional work. When I was in college I had a classmate
who said, several times throughout our years, that my work
reminded him of Red Grooms (ego boost!). While looking at
his work I immediately got my drive back.
At the end of last month I mailed out a press
release announcing my new dimensional illustrations, as
well as announcing some illustrations I had completed for
a magazine. After mailing those out to my list of 30 people
(boy, I really need to add some names!) I got 3 responses
back, one of which said they had some upcoming projects they
would contact me about them.
I also completed my postcard.
I wanted to show off my dimensional work but throw a little
of my digital work in there as well. I used Rocket
Postcards after receiving their samples and comparing
their prices. I ordered 500 4/4 postcards for $120.00. It
took about a 2 weeks to get them and, while I was waiting,
I received and email from the printer saying that my order
had a very slight print production flaw which created some
offset on the front (mail panel) of my card. They could either
reprint them if I decided I didn't like them, or they would
give me a 20% discount if I choose to keep them. When I received
them, I could notice the offset but I don't think anyone else
could. I did a test and mailed one to myself to make sure
the offset didn't affect how it went through the post office.
I received it in the mail 2 days later. It looked fine so
I'm keeping them.
I have also been gathering more names for my mailing list.
I got the idea to go to some online bookstores, browse their
children's book section and collect all the publishers I could
find that I think my illustration style would suit. I found
so many names that were not in my Children's Writer's & Illustrator's
Market book. I'm still compiling names in my database, but
I hope to do my first mailing sometime next month.
I emailed a quote to a potential client to who had seen my
website (via another designer's site) and thought my style
would be appropriate for a t-shirt she was making. Sounds
like a fun project and I'm eager to hear back from them. Three
weeks later and still nothing, so I'm guessing they're no
longer interested once they saw the price.
I did one very important thing this week. Since people constantly
misspell my name (which is understandable), I went ahead and
purchased hollyconger.com and redirected it to holliconger.com.
It's just a little something to make sure people find me,
but I think it was smart to go ahead and do it. I also revised
my logo to emphasize the "i."
I updated my site (again) with more work, better meta tags
(thanks to Neil!), a "How I Work" section and a downloadable
PDF sample sheet. I've had several comments on it already.
Once I uploaded everything I sent out some emails to illustrators
and designers offering a link exchange. I went through the
sites of some of my favorite illustrators and the ones that
had a links section, I sent them an email. I also created
some little graphics to use as links if it fit their layout.
So far I've received 4 reciprocal links. I just want to tell
you all how beneficial reciprocal links are. I know some people
don't like to send visitors away from their site but the reason
for doing so is getting a better ranking in search engines.
This really came to my attention when Cat started asking for
them on the About Forum (and that conversation later grew
into Creative Latitude). When I do a Google search for my
name, links regarding to me fill the first 20-25 listings.
That's pretty cool!! I still need to work on coming up when
people search for Holl"y" Conger, but I've added some keywords,
so hopefully it will show up soon.
I started concepting a little promo piece that I will mail
to select Art Directors. I hope it turns out ok, but I'll
tell you all about it next month. I've already gotten several
emails of encouragement from my last entry but please keep
them coming. There's nothing more motivating than knowing
people want you to succeed. See you next month!
Entry 3 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves August 2004
Ideas. Can you ever have too many? I'm finding out that you
can. I have a long list of them on my desk. They all consist
of creative things to make. Most, if not all, have been on
the list for several months. Why haven't they gotten done?
Time, motivation and inspiration. Things I feel I've had
very little of this month. I've spent most of the month
on promotion
of which has left me no time to be creative. I need promotion
but there is little to no creativity in that for me.
My site traffic has been amazing this month. I can really
tell that my promotional efforts are paying off. Last month
(July) I received 511 hits, this month I received 2800. One
thing I am surprised about is that no one, not a single
soul,
has signed up for my mailing list. Not that I want any average
Joe to sign up, but I figured I'd get some potential clients
signing up with all those hits. So that was a little disheartening.
At the beginning of the month, my site was featured on Netdiver.
The day after my feature, I received about 450 hits on my
site.
Pretty impressive given that I usually average 8 hits a day.
Mid-month, I sent out around 100 postcards to magazine publishers
and ad agencies. I have decided to hold off sending them
to publishers until I can get more samples together that
reflect
children's book illustrations. I have mailed out only 3
promo pieces with reply cards, but have yet to get them
back.
I've updated my free listing on Folioplanet,
my free listing on Creative
Hotlist, my free portfolio on Portfolios.com,
and added a free portfolio listing to Coroflot.com,
as well as added myself to the free Google illustration directory.
Do you notice a trend? I'm trying to spend as little money
as I can right now on promotion since I'm just starting out
in this field. Just today I received an inquiry from someone
who had seen my listing on Coroflot. These listings have added
to my site traffic and my search engine results. I'm constantly
on the lookout for more
exposure, so if anyone knows of some listing sites, let
me know.
There has also been some nice people who have mentioned
me in their blogs. I've gotten about 300 hits from one girl's
entry. I love the idea of blogs. I frequent one of an illustrator's
and it seems to be great exposure for her. I'm not a writer
by any means, but I may just become a blogger one day. (I've
had the appropriate URL for about a year!) Would anyone
tune in?
I recently emailed some new pictures of my daughter to family
and friends. I sent them to a girl I work with, and her
reply
included a freelance offer for a children's project in October.
Who would have thought your kid could be a promo tool. Who
wouldn't
want to give work to the mother of a face
like this? Having a child is a load of inspiration.
I am constantly thinking of what I can draw for her, what
can
I make for her. I can't wait until she can use crayons. That
will be a great day!
I found a couple of new illustration forums this month that
have been helpful. They focus on children's books and occasionally
a publisher will solicit illustrators. I responded to one
post and prepared a quote. I haven't heard back yet after
numerous emails, and the original deadline is a couple of
days away, so not sure what's up with that one. Remember
the project
I quoted on last month and never heard back? Well, I still
haven't heard back after several emails (I didn't have a
phone
number for her), so the project has moved to my "non-active"
prospects folder. I'll still keep her on my mailing list
just in case she needs me in the future. I didn't gain a
project,
but I did gain a prospect, so that counts for something.
Since I didn't do much illustrating this month, that will
be my focus next
month. I'll go through that list of ideas I have and hopefully
I'll get some
things checked off. See ya next month!
Entry 4 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves September 2004
This month was full interruptions and delays. I didn't
get done what I wanted and began doubting my illustration
style. Do people even like my work? I've had a few freelance
design projects absorb my time as well as some projects
around
the house (like putting hardwood floors down on the entire
first floor of our house!).
The month started off with promise for a potential job. It
was for five mug illustrations. The client and I negotiated
back
and forth with money and usage and we finally agreed on a
price. I got the signed contract from him and let him know
that I'd begin work once I received his deposit (stated in
the contract). The response I got was "Did you give me your
bank account info?" What did that mean??? I promptly emailed
him back and told him I only take checks. His response
then
... "I'm afraid we're out then. Good luck to you." So was
it a scam? Who knows, but there was a little gleam of hope
for a project but it quickly dimmed.
Last month I mentioned that my goal was to get some things
cleared off that big list I have and get some illustration
work done. I did clear some things (not as many as I wanted)
off and got two new clay illustrations complete. One of
which
is on my site
now. I need to get a better shot of the other to put on my
site. I haven't been able to get the shadows just right.
I
also have tons of new sketches waiting to be materialized.
I'm thinking about doing some black and white hand drawn
work
and marketing that to some smaller one-color publications.
I had one person sign up for my mailing
list after seeing my last article. I added a link on every
page of my site for people to sign-up. I realized that I really
didn't specify to sign-up for my mailing list and people may
not know to go to my contact page. Hopefully I'll get some
more names and hopefully I'll get some work so I can send
out a press release to them. I'm about due for one.
Promoting myself as an illustrator has been hard. I've never
really promoted my freelance design business and I've had
steady freelance work (by word of mouth) for 6 years. I guess
every business needs a designer and few need illustrators.
Especially if your style is geared for one audience —children.
I've been thinking about offering some pro-bono illustration
work. I've "budgeted" it for this year but I don't know exactly
how to go about it. I need to get my name and work out there
but I'm struggling with how. Maybe I'll look through my Children's
Writers & Illustrators Market book and see if a particular
magazine strikes my fancy.
Since I struggle with things to draw and sculpt I've found
a couple of fun online contests that will help get my creativity
going. I've found a fun costume
contest and a contest for the Society
of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. I've been
waiting on this one to be posted! Hopefully, I'll come up
with some good pieces and it will help spark some other pieces.
I tend to work best with an "assignment" rather than just
coming up with something.
I've noticed some hits from my listings on sites I added or
updated last month. I did find one other listing
site and added my info. I'm still looking around for some
more freebie listings so hopefully I'll have more to share
in the months ahead.
Well, I know I have a lot of catch up next month. I have
got to get creative and motivated. Fall usually brings this
on
for me for some reason. I can probably relate it back to
elementary school with all the new school supplies and those
fun Halloween
and Thanksgiving projects to work on. I don't know how many
hand outline turkeys I've drawn in my lifetime! I have
a
couple of design projects to do as well as some more projects
around the house, and between those I'll try and fit in
some
illustration work and promotion. Wish me luck!!
Entry 5 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves October 2004
This month has been one of the busiest months I've probably
ever had, and I can see all future months being busier. No
new illustration jobs, hopefuls or leads, but a slew of design
work, and my husband and I purchased a business. So, now
I'm the marketing coordinator and designer for the business.
Let's see, I am a full time wife, mom, designer, freelance
designer, illustrator and now a marketing coordinator. Whew!
No wonder I'm so tired. But, I'm happy. Even though I'm
not getting much (well, any) response from my illustration
promotion from prospective clients, I have been creative
with my design work, so I'm feeling creatively fulfilled
and not as discouraged as I would normally be.
This month I mailed out a few more postcards to some people
I found by word of mouth or on the Internet and mailed out
two promo packs to people who have shown interest in my work
before. But I still haven't received any of my SAS reply
cards I included in them. I also set up a paid (yes, I spent
some
money) account on Portfolios.com. It's for a four-month trial
and it was super cheap, so I thought I'd try it out. I don't
know how many people have looked at my section since they
don't supply stats, but I've only gotten about five hits
on my site from there. The key to having a portfolio on Portfolios.com
is to update your info whenever you can since the search
feature pushes newly revised sections to the top. Your can
see my portfolio here.
Sadly, that's all I've had time for this month. I didn't
even participate in the online costume contest for Illustrators
or the SCBWI contest I told you about last month. I'm kicking
myself for not getting the SCBWI done! So, what's next? Well,
I have a couple of design projects that require some illustrations,
so that will be fun. I have my Christmas cards to do (illustration
will be involved somehow). I also have a job to design
and illustrate a collection on gift cards (gift certificates)
for Christmas. All these jobs came through my graphic design
promotional efforts, but I'm glad I get to sneak some illustration
in to build my portfolio.
I'm sorry I don't have much this month, and really don't
know what my promotional plans are for next month, but I'm
still dedicated to plugging away at it!
Entry 6 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves November 2004
Well, I finally got an illustration job this month. It was
my first job that came directly through my promotional efforts.
A local company saw my work on Portfolios.com and hired me
to do a set of illustrations that will potentially be used
for stickers and window clings. This one job more than paid
for my 4 month trial on Portfolios.com! Not bad for my portfolio
being up for about a month in a half. I know we've all heard
this before, but the company was interested in working with
me on future projects. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it
does feel good to know that someone likes your work. Then,
another company contacted me after seeing my listing on Portfolios.com
They are wanting to license some of my work for cell phone
wallpaper. I still need to go through the contract they sent
and see if it's something I'd want to do.
I also finished up a big design job I got through my illustration
listing on Coroflot. This job included some illustration
work, so I had fun doing it. The illustration style wasn't
in my wide-eyed style, but it was pretty challenging to break
out of that and play with a retro/vintage style. I am constantly
updating my free listings at Coroflot, Folioplanet, Communication
Arts, and Portfolios.com. And so far a couple of them have
proven to get me work. I also got 2 responses back from the
promo packs I mailed out a couple of months ago. One reply
wasn't interested in my work, but the other wanted me to
keep them on my mailing list and could see a need for my
style
in the future.
Since I had that one illustration job finished, it's time
to send out a press release. This one is a little tricky,
though. Their contract said that I couldn't show the work
I did for them in my online portfolio (which translates to
the internet in general) which makes total sense after they
explained why (they don't want their competitors knowing
which artists they use). So with that rule in place, I have
to figure out what I can send. They did say I could send
out a press release with the illustration attached, but some
places I send the release post it on their website so I might
have to send out a separate one to them.
It's been three months since I sent out a postcard mailing
so I probably need to do another something soon. But with
the holiday's coming up, I'm not sure it's the best time
to send something. I probably need to wait until the first
of the year to do something. That should give me plenty
of planning time (I say that now but I probably won't think
about that until January!). With the holidays coming up and
some vacation days to burn, I really need to sit down and
do a marketing plan for 2005. I also need to work on some
more illustrations for my portfolio. Maybe Santa will be
good to me and just give me great ideas and motivation for
Christmas.
Entry 7 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves December 2004
December was a slacker month for me. With all the holiday
hustle and bustle, plus all the aftermath I just haven't
had the time or energy to do much. I took a good bit of time
off from my freelance "career." Before Christmas
I received another job from the company I had done a digital
illustration for last month. They hired me to create a Christmas
money holder in my dimensional style. It was a tight deadline,
but I got it finished and it looked great! Now I have another
project to add to my press release! Speaking of press releases,
I really need to send one out. I've somewhat made a schedule
of when I need to send them out. My plan is to do one every
month. I don't know what I'm going to do if I have nothing
to announce one month but I'll have find something.
One big step I took at the end of December (New Year's Eve
actually) was to start a blog. I'm an introvert so this is
kind of a challenge for me to let people know what's going
on in my life. I really want to network with other illustrators
and force myself to be creative. Having a blog will do that
for me. I'll be participating in Illustration
Friday and
possibly A
Month Of Softies just
to keep creative. You can check
it out here. I've already
gotten some comments and feedback about the blog so that
has been a big encourager plus I've added some
people to my
mailing list.
I've also jotted down a general marketing plan for myself.
I find it hard to stick to with personal deadlines, but I've
convinced myself that I HAVE TO in order to reach the goals
I've set for myself. I am really rethinking the postcard
promotion route. I need to think of something creative, inexpensive
(to make and mail), and easy to have reproduced, yet gets
attention. That is one of the top things on my list that
I really need to work on in January. I also have a plan/goal
to sell some original dimensional illustrations online and
in specialty stores. I'm hoping I can get this stared soon.
I have my ideas all sketched out, I just need to execute
them and figure out how to make shadowbox frames cheaply.
I'm really hoping January will be a productive month for
me!
Entry 8 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves January 2005
January was a pretty good month for my illustration career. At the beginning of January I went into "full" client acquisition mode. I made out a to-do list that will help keep me on my toes. The list is as follows:
Daily
Find 3 new addresses for promo
Sketch
Blog entry (at least a few days a week)
Weekly
Update Portfolios.com listing
Illustration Friday
One clay or digital illustrtaion (portfolio quality)
Look at freelance job listing sites
Monthly
Press Release
Update portfolio
Creative Latitude article
Believe it or not I have really stuck to it and it's been fairly easy.
With my quota of 3 addresses a day to meet, I have been scouring the internet and am amazed at the children's publishers and product makers out there. I haven't had any trouble finding new an obscure little places to send my postcards to. I am needing to send something to those who I sent postcards to around October. I am still toying with the idea of doing a postcard mailer. I need to send something out, but I just don't know what. I don't know if I should do digital or dimensional focus if I do go the postcard route...hum, I need to get something going though. I do have some promo/sample packets to put together and mail to some publishers I'd really like to work for. I'll need to let them sit a few days so the spray mount smell can wear off but then off they go.
Having a blog has helped my creative and motivational efforts greatly. I have already met many people who are in the same boat as me or
they are already successful illustrators. Before I really knew no other illustrators with my same focus, but now I know several that I feel like I can call on for advice. Also participating in Illustration Friday has really helped me be creative and build my portfolio. Plus it feels good to get all though nice compliments about your work. I have posted all my creative latitude articles there as well and I've gotten so many comments about how much people have enjoyed them. I am just super motivated now that I have a network of illustrators and feel like I belong.
I've had a few prospects this month. One was interested in my dimensional style for a flash game, one for illustrating an educational workbook (I've got my finger's crossed on this one, should hear something about it next week), an earlier prospect emailed me after getting my press release and wanted to let me know that they'd still like to work with me but the project was on hold for the moment, PLUS my first postcard and promo mailer paid off - I received a job from a children's magazine illustrating a calendar page for at least 6 of their issues. Needless to say things are really working out. I feel more confident now than I ever had!
That's pretty much it for this month. I hope February brings plenty of jobs and inspiration!
Entry 9 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves February 2005
Wow! This has been the best month so far in my illustration ventures. The biggest thing was joining a critique group.
The Picture Book Junkies were kind enough to let me join their group and it has been a
wonderful experience. I have felt like I've been going though my daily struggles by myself, but this group has really taken me under there
wings and has been a huge support system. It feels so good to know others who face the same struggles I do. They welcomed me with open
arms and I feel like I've known them forever. You can find out here how start a critique group.
Since I started my blog at the beginning of January, I have had more
people exposed to my work that I probably could not get otherwise. I average about 75 hits a day and I've
heard several times over how good this article series has been for people. I have participated in
Illustration Friday weekly (helping me build upon my style as well as my
portfolio) as well as A Month Of Softies
(just to keep those creative juices flowing). Having a blog also helps me clear my head and talk about daily
things like promotion and my work. It's been a good creative outlet for me.
This month I entered the SCBWI contest
and submitted this I haven't
heard anything back yet but it was fun to do. I also added some more work to my portfolio
which included some black and white line work (which I need to build upon). I finished up an
illustration
job that will appear in the September
issue of Adventure Magazine. The art director gave me a lot of creative freedom with it. I will have at
least 6 more months to illustrate in the future so a reoccurring gig is good to have. I did do some more
promo packets (just printed samples this time) and will hopefully get my SASE's back within a few weeks.
I'm hoping they are filed with letters rather than the samples I had sent them.
One larger step I took this month was to email a few Illustrator Reps. It would be a dream to just
draw all day and not have to worry about all the contracts and negotiations. I do love the promotion
part of it but not so much the business side. I heard back from some that said they weren't taking on
new talent but to keep in touch, and then some that my style didn't jive with. I did get two nibbles
though. One sent me a contract and I have emailed her with several questions but haven't heard back
yet. The other like my work but isn't taking on new talent but was interested in helping me strengthen
my work. She gave me great advice and I have been plugging away and doing more work.
My style has also made a transition this month. My wide-eyed style is no more. I've had a few
comments on my big-eyes and the more I look at then, the scarier they look to me. So, I have
modified them to smaller eyes and some with dots. I am really digging my dots eyes and
how they bring out personality to each character. I am also experimenting with a painterly
digital style. I've done a pieces and really love the look of it.
Next month will consist of more portfolio work and trying to really push my style. You can
read my blog throughout
the month to see little things I'm been doing to further my dream. Have a good one!
Entry 10-11 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves March/April 2005
It has been so hard for me to keep up with my continual promotional efforts because I have done so much in the last two months, I can't keep track. This time around I've decided to combine two months in one just because of everything that has happened and so much stuff has overlapped from March and April.
I have finally switch my freelance work over to more illustration that design work (it has been the opposite for several years). Illustrations jobs have been very steady with some existing clients and a few new ones here and there. This is exactly where I want to be freelance wise. I am still holding onto the full time job, but am in negotiations of going part time with them. Once I know a little more on their end, I'll be able to make the decision: "Do I stay or do I go?" Hopefully by next month's entry, a decision will have been reached.
I sent out a press release last month announcing my new painterly technique and also updated my portfolio to reflect the new work. I feel I have grown leaps and bounds from when I first started promoting myself. The more work I do in this technique, to more I begin to dislike my vector work. I am slowly phasing that look out of my portfolio.
I had mentioned before about working with a rep on building my portfolio. She has been extremely nice and helpful by taking me under her wing and showing me how I can grow my style. Well, in April, she signed me. I was (and still am) so excited. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. There is still a need for me to do my own promotion, but it feels good to know I have my own cheerleader out there routing for me and helping find me work. She has already gotten me a nice project that I am currently working on.
The projects for the last two months have been four full page illustrations for an activity book, four spot and a one page illustration for a children's magazine, and I am currently working on an illustration for a logo and some illustrations for educational materials.
My critique group continues to give me much needed support and gets me excited about being creative. Having a critique group has been the most beneficial thing in my career thus far. I would of never thought it. There are many ways to connect with a critique group. You can see about joining an existing group or you can start your own.
I also heard back from the SCBWI contest I mentioned last month. I won honorable mention which was pretty exciting. I've had several congratulatory emails since. That made me feel even better. I also decided to pay for another online portfolio listing. This one is geared toward children's illustration buyers and seemed like a great place to test. I've gotten a few hits from their site, but I've only been listing a couple of weeks. I just noticed today that I am "illustrator of the week."
One thing I have slacked on is doing another postcard mailer. I've been working on the illustration here and there and I really need to get it out the door. I'm thinking of doing a larger size card through the US Postal Service and send those to place I would really like to do work for. I may also mail out some smaller ones too.
One market I have been thinking on and off about promoting to is the gift/greeting card industry. There are tons of children's products out there and I think my style would fit in well. I need to get a new Illustrator's and Graphic Design Market book and build a mailing list. I also need to have some appropriate samples in my portfolio. Way back when, I did an independent study in college that consisted of coming up with greeting card designs (100 I believe) and getting submission info from different companies. I had a good time doing it, but by the end of the semester, I was pretty much burnt out on the notion of trying to get into that market. Now that I'm more and more comfortable with my style, I think I should see what comes from my promotional efforts.
Well, I hope May will be full of surprises and good projects. I hope to get some more promotional things done, but I wouldn't mind being too busy with projects and not get a chance to do any of it.
Entry 12 of 12: One Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves May/June 2005
Well, it's been a year since I started to "actively" pursue my dream. I am proud to say I have done it. I have reached my goal of becoming a professional illustrator and being a stay-at-home mom. May 31st was my last day as an employee and now I'm out on my own.
I have learned so much over the past year. The main thing has been the evolution of my style. I was happy with what I had going when I first started out, but as I got more feedback I decided I needed to work on some things (like using smaller eyes, adding eyebrows and necks). You cam se my progression below with my digital work.
Illustrator with flat color and outlines. Notice my big eyes:
Illustrator with gradients for more dimension. Notice I'm toning down the eyes in the phase:
My medium of choice now has become Painter. Notice my little eyes:
I am very comfortable with my style and technique now but I know there is room to grow. I'm starting to experiment with paper and surface textures and things I need to work on are my noses and gestures. It will all come together in time and I'm enjoying the process.
I've mentioned my self promotion process throughout the year and have narrowed down the things that have helped me the most.
Things that worked for me marketing wise:
My website
Link exchanges
Detailed Meta tags
Portfolios.com
Coroflot.com
Folioplanet.com
Things that helped me grow as an illustrator:
Researching other illustrators
Looking at picture books
Starting a blog
Illustration Friday
networking with other illustrators
Joining a critique group
Sketching daily
And believe it or not, just spending time with my daughter to see her facial expressions and body language.
All the things above cost no money (except portfolios.com since I sprung for the titanium portfolio and it has more than paid for itself with referring jobs). Although I had a full time design job in all this and did freelance design work on the side, I still didn't want to spend any money. I wanted to show myself and others that promotion could be done without spending gobs of money on flashy mailers or sample packets. Without doing those fancy things, I got myself out to potiential clients, landed an agent and have gotten enough work so I could quit my full time job.
Getting here has not been easy. I am tired. Incredibly exhausted. The kind of tired where you are so tired you can't sleep. I have worked on my goal one way or another every day for a year. There have been (and still are) many late nights working on projects, slowly building my client base. At least now I have more freedom and am not bogged down with a full-time job, but I do have my hands full chasing a giggly one year old around, so having a huge project with a short deadline sometimes has to wait until naptime or bedtime. I wouldn't have it any other way though. Being home with my daughter is the most important thing for my family and me, but I still want a career. I need to accomplish goals and have something to show for it. I want to be successful. Although I am starting out again, so to speak, by being self employed, I still have to market myself heavy and do what I've been doing.
I truly hope that this series of articles has been beneficial to you in following YOUR dream. I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten and I will continue to write about my promotional efforts and experiences on my blog.
One Year Later June 2006
On June 1, 2005, I ventured out on my own for a freelance illustration career. I documented my year leading up
to my corporate departure entitled: Girl's Journey to Doing What She Loves (Becoming an Illustrator). I would of never thought the impact my journal would have on others. Hundreds of people have emailed me during and since my journey of amazes me how I helped and inspired people to make a plan and stick to it so they could have the career they wanted. I'm still getting emails! I was contacted last year by the publisher of the annual book Artist and Graphic Designer's Market, wanting to reprint my journal in their 2006 issue, so my experience was shared with even more people than I had imagined.
Since June of last year, I have had a steady and welcoming stream of work (attributed to both
my rep and my promotional efforts). At times I felt overloaded with work - like 5 different
deadlines in one week - I don't know if I could go through another week like that, but I was
never dissatisfied or afraid if I would have more work coming in. I have added 22 new clients
to my client list and too-many-to-count pieces to my portfolio. It has been a challenge. There
have been late nights (which I thankfully haven't have for several months - more about that later),
uncreative and unmotivated days and distractions. Some days I couldn't work because there was too
much demand for me to sit and draw shapes, animals and people on
a doodle pad for
hours on end. But, I have never regretted my decision of leaving my secure, great benefit, full-time design job. I'm
home with my daughter. Where I need and want to be. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith and see what happens.
One big issue I hear about from others wanting to go out on their own is money. It is stressful to not know when
and if you'll have money coming in. I think since I started heading towards a freelance career while I had a full
time job, helped me with that stress. I knew I couldn't leave my job until I had some money saved, clients who
would call on me again, and the hope that I would have more work coming in. I've heard that it can take up to 3
years get your freelance career to where it needs to be financially. I may be the exception to the rule, but this
was not my case at all. I had a very nice paycheck with my design job, but after leaving my job, the other 6 months
of the year doing straight freelance, yielded work that ended up being about 1.5 times my annual salary. I don't say
that to boast (or to depress you if you aren't there yet), but to let you know that there are illustration jobs out
there. I think the trick is having a style that is applicable to many type of things (editorial, publishing, packaging, greeting cards/giftware, etc.)
I've continued promotion on several levels and have been able to take some risks with spending the money to try some
different portfolio sites to test out and see how they work. I joined the ispot this
year and just a couple of years ago thought I'd never have the "extra money" to spend for that. I designate every Monday as "Marketing Monday" and use my
time to update my personal website, my portfolio listings on other sites or gather names for my next postcard or packet mailing. By setting aside time each week,
it doesn't seem so overwhelming and I feel like I have current and fresh stuff out there all the time.
I have also come to a point where I am finally able to manage my time.
I have pretty much quite working nights (by that I mean when everyone's in bed)
and the last time I stayed up working was about 2 months ago and that was until
11:00 one night. I get up early if I need to or work faster or more efficiently
during the day. Things are always on my mind, but I feel like I have more free
time and enjoy my time much more with this type of schedule than last summer which was new, unorganized and hectic.
Being a full-time freelance illustrator may not be as successful for me in years to come, and I realize that, but for now, I'm enjoying every bit of it. I end with a quick story. I'm sure a lot of illustrators never see how their audience experiences their work (for me, my audience is children). I was sitting in church a few weeks ago and a child in the pew in front of me had a magazine that I illustrate a monthly calendar for. It was so fun to see him stop at the page, look through it and giggle, then show his dad something on the page. He then began to scribble and draw on that page adding things to what I had already drawn. It was really neat to see the satisfaction in the the things I do from that perspective.
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