Freelance Success For Artists: A Quick & Easy Guide

The world is your oyster so which services should you offer? In my humble opinion it should not necessarily be everything you CAN do, but rather only the things you most ENJOY doing. Here are my thoughts about choosing which services to offer and how those choices may change over time.

This is the question I am asked most often by my university and online students. Here I will show you how to come up with your own formula for what to charge your clients based on six important key factors to consider. Cha-ching! 

A lot of artists, especially students and beginners are asked to do work for free. Here I'll give you my best advice for when you might consider doing something for free and when to run the other way screaming.

There are many reasons why you may decide to take a job. As long as your reasons are in harmony with "Respect the Client. Respect Yourself," you will be in good shape. This checklist will help you decide which jobs to take and which to run away screaming from.

This lesson will help you get up and running fast by learning how to best find and attract your first clients. We'll talk about getting your name out there, setting up an online portfolio, and how to get the ball rolling by finding your first clients.

This is a short list of websites you can check out where you can find new clients as a freelance artist or designer. If you have others you'd like to share here, please let me know in a new discussion or message. Thanks for helping me build this resource.

Fiverr is a popular website that many people use to find freelance work. Here I'll show you the best way to use Fiverr and sites like it so you don't waste your time working for peanuts. Learn how to use Fiverr and sites like it to YOUR advantage.

Contracts are for boring stiffs right? Wrong! Contracts are for anyone who values their time, talents, money, and sanity. Here I'll show you a free and easy way to set up a legal document that will help both you and your client be on the same page regarding your upcoming project.

Some artists insist on being paid upfront. This can work great when you are established and already have a solid reputation and client pool. For absolute beginners you will often have to do the work first and get paid later. Here I'll explain my favorite compromise: getting paid half upfront.

These tools can help simplify your life by being the platform where you manage both your contracts and payments with many options you can customize based on your specific needs.

Taxes are boring. Taxes are no fun. OK. Maybe. But they are something we freelancers need to think about and prepare for. Here I'll give you my best tips for painlessly preparing for the tax man or woman and how you can actually come out on top.

This lesson will show you an easy invoicing system (free trial and paid versions available), how to set it up, and how easy it is to use and keep track of your clients, projects, and payments. Look and BE professional by properly sending invoices to clients and keeping reliable records.

This lesson will give you tips and tricks for communicating perfectly with your client so you can get a good start on your gig and ensure you and the client are both on the same page.

Here is my top list of questions you can use with your own clients to ensure you are communicating effectively.

In this lesson I'll show you an easy but often underused trick for making better work and happier clients.

One tactic I use successfully with clients is showing them a preview of what I'm making for them. This then allows me to get a sense of whether or not I am on track to make all their design wishes and dreams come true. This can be a bit risky however when you have a client who wants to micromanage your every move or who changes their mind and asks for something entirely different than what you first agreed upon. Luckily you followed my advice about getting a contract right? So use work in progress to make better work and happier clients. I'll show you my best tips in this lesson.

In this case study lesson I'll show you a final version of a project, how it changed from previous versions, and what else I did to ensure the client would be happy with the final result.

Here's a rundown on how to best wrap things up with your client, deliver the final work, and make sure everyone is happy so you get paid ASAP.

This lesson will show you two more important things you should do after finishing up a project that will help you attract even more future clients.

In this lesson I'll show you a popular website where you can upload your artwork to help find art-lovers and interested buyers as well as potential new clients, followers, and fans who may also want to hire you to make custom work. Use these kinds of gallery websites to drive traffic to your website and social media pages as well as to earn extra passive income on existing artwork. Win-win!

Here we will talk about ways to link your online store with your website and social media pages and how this helps generate traffic and create the best conditions for fans, followers, and future clients to best find discover you and your work.

In this current economic funk set to stay for years thanks to the global Covid-19 Pandemic, it makes more sense than ever to not put all your eggs in one basket. Why not experiment with creating several or more income generation streams and start creatively earning money using online tools?

Here are some of my top free tools you can use to help you get started making professional-looking graphics, illustrations, animations, websites and more for yourself or for clients. It's easier than you think. Be up and running in under 10 minutes. [This lecture comes from my full course, Skyrocket Your Creativity: 7 Easy Ways.]

Here is my big list from my website of 75+ Resources to Get FREE Images, Music, and Videos For Your Projects.

The images, music, and videos on this list are from the Public Domain or have Creative Commons licenses. Make sure to double check the terms on each site and for each image to ensure you are using them correctly. In some cases you may need to provide attribution (credit) to the creator (for many Creative Commons licenses), though for Public Domain works, no attribution is needed.

Happy Designing!

This is a recording of a LIVE 1 hour interview about freelancing for artists and creatives I did on September 12, 2017 with Essitino Artists.
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ABOUT THIS WEEK’S EPISODE:
In today’s Creative Success Story, we are talking to Kristen Palana, a
practicing award winning multimedia artist, world educator and author.

Treat this like your freelancing 101 for artists class - if you’re
interested in earning money and building your reputation doing what you
love, this live interview with Kristen will help you have a better
understanding of what it takes to start and work as a freelance artist
or creative.

Some of the things covered in this video: what do you need to start
freelancing, how to find freelance clients, build an effective
portfolio, how to price your services, what are some things to avoid,
how do you create a repeat client list, produce income and build your
reputation as a freelance creative, etc.

ABOUT KRISTEN:
Since 2000 Kristen has taught university students in North America,
Europe, Africa, and Asia. She is currently teaching at American
University of Myanmar and is a former Associate Professor of Digital
Media (2006-2016) at The American University of Rome where she
co-founded and directed its Film & Digital Media Program.

Since 2014 Kristen also teaches over 35K online students in over 165
countries. Her artwork is exhibited internationally and has received a
number of awards. In her courses and books, Kristen aims to empower
ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Welcome to the world of AI-powered creativity and productivity. As artists and entrepreneurs, harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence can open up exciting new horizons for your work.

This is a new video I made as part of a collaboration with fabulous accomplished location-independent artist and fellow Mastrius mentor, Shannon Amey. She is teaching a course at Mastrius (a mentorship website for artists) called Discover the Secrets of Artistic Prosperity: Develop Multiple Income Streams for a Thriving Art Career.

I thought it was also relevant to anyone in this course who wants to get a better idea on how to be more resilient, especially when it comes to work and financial matters.

Thanks so much for taking this course. Please let me know if I can help you with anything or answer any questions. Please also consider leaving a rating or review. Your feedback helps others know if this might be a good course for them. 

In this lesson you can find more of my courses (free samples and discounts) as well as my books on Amazon, and how to stay in touch via social media.