Module 2 / Lesson 2.3: Reach out
Reach out
You are amazing and people need to know about you and your work. You don’t have to hide at home, eagerly waiting for people to come to you. You can reach out to your dream clients… Yes, it’s allowed. I even encourage you to do it! You won’t necessarily always get an answer but reaching out doesn’t cost anything and it can lead to incredible opportunities and valuable relationships. I understand it can feel daunting to cold email your dream brands or collaborators, that’s why I will give you my best tips to do it right. On the other hand, don’t forget that it’s all about playing the long game… Few things actually happen overnight.
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Email the right people
The first thing to consider is who your dream clients are. You should only be emailing the brands and people you actually care about. You need to do your research first and foremost. Get in touch with brands and clients that have values similar to yours. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine if they would love your work too, if your work would fit their brand. Check their website, social media, any interviews the founders may have done in the past… Make sure you really know what the brand is all about. This ensures you’re reaching out to the right people. People that are very likely to love your work and want to work with you too (once they’ve done their research on you!). So, write down you dream clients, why you love them and what you would bring to them. That’s essential to know because you might want to communicate this to them via email. Ok, now that you have your list of dream clients…let’s figure out a way to get in touch. A bit of stalking can come in handy for this. You want to be getting in touch with the creative directors, art directors, maybe even senior designer (or founders, if we’re talking smaller businesses). Here are some of the places you can look for their email addresses:
The brand’s website and contact page (the first place you should look!)
Linkedin (Find the brand and/or the people you want to reach out to…you would have figured out their names via the website or social media)
Instagram (You could try finding someone’s email via the platform, or you could DM them to ask for their email)
Google (That’s where you can do a bit of stalking and try to find someone’s email).
So, you’ve found some email addresses and you’re all fired up. But what should you say now? Let’s talk delivery.
Nail the delivery
Let me share a small tip before we dig deeper. Always start by creating a draft email but don’t put an email address in there just yet, that’s in case you send it by mistake, before having finished or checked it! I’m sure this has happened to you before, and you really don’t want it to happen for those kind of emails.
I’m not going to tell you exactly what to write because it wouldn’t make sense. Your email needs to sound like you. Keep it natural, light-hearted and SHORT. Yes, don’t email your dream clients a novel… You want your message to be snappy and exciting. You can add a JPG or PDF to the email with images of some of your best work…because chances are, the people you’re reaching out to are very visual people as well. No matter what you say in your email, your grammar needs to be foolproof. I’d avoid smileys and emojis in your first contact with your dream clients as well… May not look very professional to them (unless that’s their thing!). Make sure you communicate what you love about them and why it resonates with you, as well as letting them know what you would love to do for them. Let them know your availabilities and openness to have a chat with them, if they are interested. Don’t forget to share your website and/or Instagram handle so they can check out more of your work if they need. Although, you should always have a nice signature at the bottom of your email, with your logo, website, Instagram handle, phone number… One final thing about your emails is that you can’t just copy and paste them and send them to different people. They really need to be personalised to each of your dream clients.
Play the long game
You have to be ready to play the long game…because great things don’t happen overnight. A lot of things can go “wrong”. The person you were trying to contact may have changed email addresses or even jobs. The email could have gone to their junk mail. The email could have gotten lost amongst hundreds of emails they might be receiving daily. They might have seen it but forgot to answer it because they don’t need any collaborators right now. Maybe they’re stressed out and busy. Maybe they don’t have any budget for illustrators right now. There are a lot of reasons you might not get an email back from them…and you not being good enough is NOT one of them. Don’t take a lack of answer too personally. You are amazing and you need to keep trying no matter what. Why? Because sometimes, you WILL get a lovely answer telling you how good your work is. Sometimes, the stars may align and your dream client will need an illustrator like you for an exciting project. You never know what’s around the corner and it really doesn’t hurt anyone to reach out. Do it and don’t overthink it! In terms of chasing up, I’m not really up for that too much but I think it’s ok to try to email a second time if you don’t hear from them after the first email (wait at least a month to re-email them and remain polite and nice). If you have no answer after this, maybe try again a year later (I’m not joking!). Don’t lose patience…again, it’s a long game.
Send snail mail
When it comes to reaching out, it doesn’t only have to be via email. Snail mail is a real thing and can make a much bigger impression on your dream clients. It’s only trickier because you need a physical address where you know for sure that someone will receive your mail…and it’s better if that person works within the creative department or knows who to deliver your mail to internally. It can also be tricky (and expensive) if you decide to send something abroad. That’s the other thing, you could end up spending a lot of money creating something meaningful to send them, without ever knowing if it’ll reach the right person (or the right country). On the other hand, if your snail mail reaches the right pair of hands, it can be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with your dream client. When it comes to the content of your snail mail, the sky’s the limit. You could create a type of zine or magazine to showcase your work, you could send some prints or some postcards, you could make a 3D figurine of a character from your work. You could do anything, as long as it’s in line with your values and what you love. Have fun with it!
Where to print your work…
•MOO (great for stationery bits like business cards, greeting cards, stickers…)
•Noissue (a great place for all your packaging needs, they do custom tissue paper, tape and also stamps and stickers)
•Printed (a cheaper alternative toMOO, still good for flyers, postcards and anything you’d like foiled or with special effects!)
•Awesome merchandise (a good place to get some merch printed…custom notebooks, totebags, tees ect)
•Merchery (a high end version of Awesome Merchandise, if you feel like splurging on some marketing bits)