Part.1

Starting freelance work can be overwhelming with all the emails, negotiations, and contracts you have to handle with clients on top of the actual work. In this series, I'll be sharing a detailed step-by-step guide of what a typical freelance timeline and workflow looks like for me. Let's start with how I find clients.

Finding Clients

Most people who want to work with me discover my art through Instagram, where I'm most active and get the most professional attention. I try to make it as easy as possible for potential clients to reach me by putting my email in very accessible places like my social media bio, website, and LinkedIn. To keep my business inquiries organized and accessible, I have a dedicated business email that I only use for work.

Make a clear path from your portfolio to your contact info

It's important to have a clear and easy path for potential clients to follow in order to see your work and contact you. For example, most of my clients find me on Instagram, then check out my website through my bio, and then reach out to me via the email on my site.

Be proactive and reach out to potential clients

When I'm proactively looking for freelance opportunities, I've found most of my clients through LinkedIn, either by applying or messaging people who are looking for my skill set. I make sure to keep my LinkedIn, portfolio, and resume updated so I can share them at any time with potential clients. If there is a particular job you are very interested in doing, I highly recommend messaging the recruiter or someone related to the role at the company after you apply online. It’s likely that there are hundreds if not thousands of applicants for jobs so sending a personal message can make you stand out.

Your peers are your biggest supporters

The final and most reliable way I've found opportunities is through peer referrals. It's very common for friends in the same art industry to pass jobs around to each other. The arts industry is a very tight-knit community, so word travels very fast. If you maintain a good and reliable reputation, people you know or have worked with in the past will think of you for new opportunities.

Make yourself known

If you haven't worked freelance before and don't know too many people in the industry, go to networking events to meet people. If you want to be a convention artist, go speak to artists tabling at conventions like Anime Expo, Comic-Con, or DesignerCon. If you're looking to become a concept or vis dev artist in the entertainment industry, go to Lightbox Expo join Warrior Painter events, or start being active on entertainment art discords. If you want to be a gallery artist, go to art gallery opening receptions and network there. Just being active and present in those spaces will help you understand the market better, and making connections will become easier and easier.

Assess Whether You Want to Take on the Work

Once you've started communicating with a potential client, make sure they are reliable and trustworthy. Typically, I only accept freelance work through formal inquiries via my business email.

Beware of Scams

There are a myriad of clever scams plaguing the art industry, so here are some safeguards I put in place to make sure a job request is legitimate.

1. Be wary of social media DMs

I don't usually accept inquiries through my social media DMs unless it's someone I know I can trust. My experience is that most job inquiries through social media DMs are scams. If someone approaches me through social DMs and I'm on the fence about whether it's a scam or not, I ask them to make a formal inquiry to my work email. This simple extra step will usually deter potential scammers.

You can say something like…

“Hey! Really appreciate you having an interest in my work. I actually only accept formal work inquiries through my business email so please reach out to me there if you’d like to take this further. Thanks again!”

2. Do background checks

If you get a formal inquiry in your business email, make sure the email sounds professional and like it's written by an actual person. Legitimate emails will more often than not have an email signature with the company name or website, and it's easy to do a quick Google search to make sure the company exists. If I don't see any information on the company, it's usually a scam. I've also often looked up company names and found a forum or Reddit post about other artists being scammed or warning people about them.

Don't Do Work for Free (or for "Exposure")

Even if you get a formal inquiry and you've started a conversation with the client, it's okay to turn the work down if at any point you feel uncomfortable. Make sure the job is paid fairly and you're 100% confident that the person reaching out to you is legitimate before taking on the work.

Stand firm in your value as an artist

It's often misunderstood, but working with a client is an equal two-way street. Even though the client is paying you, you're also bringing your expertise and skills to the table that the client needs. Understanding your worth as an artist is an important skill that you'll continue to practice and improve as you gain more experience.

Setting boundaries is good for you and the entire art industry

It's also important to know that by having standards and saying no to unfair working conditions, you're also setting a standard for the entire arts industry. If someone says yes to a job that's unpaid or for "exposure," you're lowering the standard and allowing clients to take advantage of artists, and they will most likely never pay artists fairly moving forward. I know it's a luxury to say no to certain jobs, and if you really need the income, it's not something anyone can fault you for. But if you're ever in a position where you can say no to unfair work, don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. It might be intimidating to say no or push back on a client, but setting boundaries will become easier with practice.

Your portfolio is your biggest weapon

Finally, I want to remind you that freelancing as an artist is an extremely competitive industry, and what's most important above all these strategies is to have good skills and a solid portfolio. Being a working professional artist means having good work is a given, and these tips I'm sharing are the final push to make it easier for clients to find and work with you.

What's coming in part 2…

In the next article, I'll be going over the most intimidating part of freelancing: setting your rates. I've come up with a streamlined process that makes this as painless as possible, so I can't wait to share that with you guys very soon.

I hope this gives you guys a good idea of how to get started as a freelancer and as always feel free to let me know in the comments if you have any questions or have any future topics you want me to cover!