Module 3 / Lesson 3.1: Do what you love
Do what you love
You’ve honed your skills and promoted yourself off-line and online, now is the time to get paid to do the work of your wildest dreams. The kind of work that makes you feel like you’re not working…because you love it THAT much. I will show you a few ways to get this type of client work. Remember that it’s essential that you stick to your values when it comes to saying yes or no to projects, to make sure you’re building your career on good foundations and staying in touch with yourself. Let’s get you working!
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Get your first clients
The most important way to get your first clients is to make sure that you’re sharing and showing the work you want to be doing. Whenever someone sees your work, they need to know straight away what you’re all about. Clients and brands usually like to work with illustrators whose values are close to theirs. Obviously, they have to love your work and see how it could apply to their project but sharing the same values really helps. Other than sharing your work and reaching out, let’s look at other ways to get illustration work:
Recruitment agencies: You can get some freelance work to get you going this way. I did this for a few months when I was starting out and it really helped me not to stress about money while I was creating the work that I loved on the side.
Online job boards: The Dots, If you could or Behance were some of my favourites.
Social media: More and more designers and illustrators are found and hired through social media. Hence the importance of sharing your work on there and showing people what you want to be doing. Be consistent in the way you post your work but don’t overthink it if you think it’s not “perfect” enough. Just do your thing and enjoy the process. Don’t forget to follow brands and people you love and interact with them. You really never know what could be around the corner for you..
Word of mouth: This starts happening once you’ve done a few freelance jobs already. It shows the importance of always working hard and going 120% on each project you work on. Going the extra mile will always win you more work. It goes without saying that being talented and skilled isn’t enough, you have to be a lovely human being too. People don’t like working with assholes. Stay polite and make sure your grammar is top-notch.
Your website: After having followed Module 2, you should now have a lovely website that reflects your personality and showcases your work well. It doesn’t have to be crazy original, it just needs to be easy to navigate and show whoever is visiting it what you’re all about.
Find the right jobs for you
You will soon get to a point where people are coming to you for illustration work. That’s when things get very exciting. You never know who could email you tomorrow! It could be your favourite brand or a new business which wants your illustrations to be at the core of what they’re doing. So many exciting opportunities will be coming your way…and although it may sound crazy, you shouldn’t say yes to all of them. Why? Because not all projects will be the right fit for you. Remember, you’re trying to build a successful, healthy career that will hopefully last you a lifetime. You don’t have to rush anything. What you want is to build a career you’re proud of and have a portfolio filled with projects you truly love. I can hear you say “But what about money? What if all the projects that come my way don’t feel right? Should I say no to money, even if I really need it?”. Let’s talk about this now…
Make a living doing what you love
The whole point of this course is to teach you how to make a living doing the illustration work that you love, without losing your mind. I do want you to make money and we’re going to talk about money much more in the next lesson. But the thing is, sometimes, you’ll have to take on jobs you don’t really love to support yourself and/or your family. We all need money to pay for rent, bills, food…and this means we all have to compromise sometimes. If you do take on work you’re not fully in love with, what I’d advise you to do is to not share it online. Don’t talk about it, don’t show it, keep it for yourself and see it as a way to pay the bills. You don’t want people to think that you actually enjoy doing that kind of work (although remember to always remain very polite with your clients, you don’t want them to know that). You need to make sure you’re sharing work that you absolutely love so you can get more of it. Eventually, your portfolio will be filled with amazing projects and you will keep on getting similar projects… The kind you want to be doing and earning money with. In no time, you’ll be making a living doing only what you love (but nothing keeps you from taking odd bits of boring work here and there if you’re trying to earn more money).
Where to find freelance work
•The dots
•If you could
•Behance jpbs
•Upwork
•Your favourite brand’s website
•Your favourite brand’s instagram