If you are a self-employed creative, business networking is a significant part of your marketing mix. While designers, illustrators and photographers naturally get together with other creatives for mutual support and trend
Simply creating graphic assets and promotional materials is not enough to manage your brand. You need a strategy — a plan, method, or series of actions for obtaining a specific goal or result. Here are 7 basic elements to get started.
Every independent creative professional should have a web site. Hands down, WordPress.org is the most popular self-hosted content management web site framework. Over 50% of self-hosted
…your process of emerging from school into the (design) profession needs to be as carefully framed and designed as any of your projects.
From time to time I’ll fire off an email to a client during the late evening or early morning hours. Occasionally, an immediate response comes back
Art and design students focus on developing their portfolios during the final terms of their education. The portfolio is the most important tool when entering
Self-promotion is an ordinary and necessary aspect of doing business as an independent creative professional. Unlike social media marketing, self-promotion campaigns are targeted to contacts
It’s widely acknowledged that there is a direct correlation between reading and success. But it’s not the amount you read, it’s what you read. There’s
Did you know that there is more than one way to be a freelancer? Independent creatives — freelancers — can choose a variety of working scenarios
A photographer is still in school full time but is already establishing connections for professional work. She is purchasing cameras, lenses and equipment she will use
Has something like this ever happened to you? You have a solid, signed written contract with your client that includes payment terms and penalties for
As with vehicles, your freelance business needs regular tune-ups to ensure smooth performance and prevent breakdowns. If you’re the owner of an independent creative services
One of the huge differences between a salaried worker (a W2-based employee) and a freelancer is that freelancers need to always be looking for work.
Because pretty much everything runs on design and other forms of visual communication, the role of the visual communicator (designer, illustrator, photographer) is more in
These are the freelance business deductions you can take for the 2025 tax year if you’re established as a sole proprietor or single member LLC,
How do you know if you should quit or not? Sometimes quitting is in fact, the wise and right option. Freelancing isn’t easy. It takes courage and tenacity to push through. It starts out being fun, like a great adventure, especially when you land your first couple of clients and get paid for the projects. But when obstacles and opposition show up, what will you choose?
One thing that’s great about flying solo as a freelancer is all the freedom you have in who you work with, where, when and how
Technology fosters challenges and opportunities, and the freelance creative needs to address both in their creative process and business systems.
We are always marketing. From the quality of our work to how we talk about ourselves, we are constantly sending messages into the public square,
Creativity requires action and effort to actually make something. We can mull over our ideas all we want, but to make a difference, at some point
Self promotion is the practice of telling potential clients about what you do. With it you build your brand, engage prospects and find clients. As a
How do you measure success? How long will it take to succeed as a freelancer? This is a common question among freelancers, and I believe
How can you invest your product or service with “lovability” and create devotion in your customers? Here are some options: Love it yourself. If you’re
As an independent creative, prospecting is a practical and necessary business activity that needs focused attention to. It requires work to maintain a pipeline of