How do I get my Creative work seen?
Discussion
The topic I posted this morning was removed.
Here's another version without any links to my work which I hope won't get my wrists slapped.
How do I get people to see my Creative work?
I’m a full-time Photographer, Videographer, Web Designer, Copywriter and Designer with loads of experience.
I'm trying to get new business.
I’m not comfortable 'cold-calling' by knocking on doors of companies and whenever I have done so in the past, the decision maker is always out.
Cold calling on the phone gets the same response.
Personal and Marketing Emails are never replied to.
Social Media and Print advertising has never generated any kind of response.
Business Networking Meetings in my area, tend to only be attended by people in the same field as me, also looking for work.
Google Adwords don't work and no-one seems to be searching on Google for my kind of business in my area, which is Brighton.
I have now run out of Bright Ideas and wondered if any of you had any?
Many thanks.
Here's another version without any links to my work which I hope won't get my wrists slapped.
How do I get people to see my Creative work?
I’m a full-time Photographer, Videographer, Web Designer, Copywriter and Designer with loads of experience.
I'm trying to get new business.
I’m not comfortable 'cold-calling' by knocking on doors of companies and whenever I have done so in the past, the decision maker is always out.
Cold calling on the phone gets the same response.
Personal and Marketing Emails are never replied to.
Social Media and Print advertising has never generated any kind of response.
Business Networking Meetings in my area, tend to only be attended by people in the same field as me, also looking for work.
Google Adwords don't work and no-one seems to be searching on Google for my kind of business in my area, which is Brighton.
I have now run out of Bright Ideas and wondered if any of you had any?
Many thanks.
Edited by 993kimbo on Monday 7th January 14:39
Have you considered employing dedicated Business Development and/or marketing resources, skill sets that perhaps are not your forte?
They needn't be full time, but may have the expertise to get your business in front of key decision makers and those with requirements you can deliver.
You should perhaps look at independent consultants or agencies that you can engage with specific targets for bringing in new customers.
They needn't be full time, but may have the expertise to get your business in front of key decision makers and those with requirements you can deliver.
You should perhaps look at independent consultants or agencies that you can engage with specific targets for bringing in new customers.
My experience of the creative industries (I work for a music publisher/agency and occasionally as an audio engineer, though I never really 'made it') is that it is mostly nepotism. Cold calling does occasionally work, but you have to have a really good offer. If someone emails us with a no bulls
t "this is what I do and it costs this" pitch that looks like it'll involve minimal input from our end we'll generally get in touch. An email, followed by a string of phone calls with an offer to meet generally gets our attention especially if their portfolio has recent work with some of our existing clients.
t "this is what I do and it costs this" pitch that looks like it'll involve minimal input from our end we'll generally get in touch. An email, followed by a string of phone calls with an offer to meet generally gets our attention especially if their portfolio has recent work with some of our existing clients.Thanks, yes I employed two Sales managers/New Business Directors a couple of years ago who (apparently) had lots of contacts and who did all the phoning around for me on a part-commission basis.
They set up two appointments in that time which unfortunately came to nothing. One of them actually used my office phone for that time and was on the phone for a good three hours each morning.
I ended up paying £3000 for their time and an email list of 'good' leads.
It's something I would consider again but I could only do it purely on a commission basis. Do those services exist?
They set up two appointments in that time which unfortunately came to nothing. One of them actually used my office phone for that time and was on the phone for a good three hours each morning.
I ended up paying £3000 for their time and an email list of 'good' leads.
It's something I would consider again but I could only do it purely on a commission basis. Do those services exist?
j_4m said:
My experience of the creative industries (I work for a music publisher/agency and occasionally as an audio engineer, though I never really 'made it') is that it is mostly nepotism. Cold calling does occasionally work, but you have to have a really good offer. If someone emails us with a no bullst "this is what I do and it costs this" pitch that looks like it'll involve minimal input from our end we'll generally get in touch. An email, followed by a string of phone calls with an offer to meet generally gets our attention especially if their portfolio has recent work with some of our existing clients.
A string of phone calls is the hard bit, as I'm never put through. No-one ever phones back.t "this is what I do and it costs this" pitch that looks like it'll involve minimal input from our end we'll generally get in touch. An email, followed by a string of phone calls with an offer to meet generally gets our attention especially if their portfolio has recent work with some of our existing clients.I currently have a 25% discount on all creative services offer running.
993kimbo said:
It's something I would consider again but I could only do it purely on a commission basis. Do those services exist?
You might find someone if the commission is attractive enough.Another idea would be to attend conferences and exhibitions attracting companies in the fields you feel you could add value for. Do a tour of the stands and the breakout areas between conference sessions and introduce yourself.
Also consider contributing to discussion groups on LinkedIn to get your name known, as well as (selectively) publishing posts to showcase your work - especially if there are case studies you could use.
I think you probably need to look wider than just your local area for business - I'm assuming a lot of your work could be delivered to clients anywhere nationally (or even globally).
993kimbo said:
A string of phone calls is the hard bit, as I'm never put through. No-one ever phones back.
I currently have a 25% discount on all creative services offer running (but it makes me feel cheap!)
Have you tried stalking CDs or lead producers through LinkedIn? I know it's a tactic our sales team uses when trying to get their claws into a new client, as you say the generic receptionists or switchboard just treat you like an annoyance so getting a name can help you swerve them.I currently have a 25% discount on all creative services offer running (but it makes me feel cheap!)
Photographer, Videographer, Web Designer, Copywriter and Designer????
No disrespect, but you consider yourself to be ALL of the above?
Whilst a company looking to employ someone might see that as a positive, most people looking for someone to do some work for them would prefer to use a specialist in their field.
It would be very very difficult to be top of the game in all of those disciplines, along with keeping up to date and current in each field.
Have you considered focusing on one or two areas of specialism?
I'm a graphic designer by trade, photographer by hobby and starting to dabble in videography for fun. But I would never try and offer all of those things to my clients. Even within design its hard to keep on top of print, web, UE/UI, animation etc.
I've not seen your work so this is no reflection of your ability.
No disrespect, but you consider yourself to be ALL of the above?
Whilst a company looking to employ someone might see that as a positive, most people looking for someone to do some work for them would prefer to use a specialist in their field.
It would be very very difficult to be top of the game in all of those disciplines, along with keeping up to date and current in each field.
Have you considered focusing on one or two areas of specialism?
I'm a graphic designer by trade, photographer by hobby and starting to dabble in videography for fun. But I would never try and offer all of those things to my clients. Even within design its hard to keep on top of print, web, UE/UI, animation etc.
I've not seen your work so this is no reflection of your ability.
I'm afraid you need to get a job in an agency, full-time or contractor by sending them your portfolio.
The creative work field you occupy is quite saturated, so I can not see one man operation picking up any commissions.
Another field is of course "youtube", which you have to generate quite creative and almost extreme content, to create followers, subscribers and etc.. then big brands would chase (or even beg you) to pay.
HTH
The creative work field you occupy is quite saturated, so I can not see one man operation picking up any commissions.
Another field is of course "youtube", which you have to generate quite creative and almost extreme content, to create followers, subscribers and etc.. then big brands would chase (or even beg you) to pay.
HTH
Thank you both,
Linked-in is not something I've ever tried, although I have quite a few contacts on there from my various work jobs in the past. I will look into it.
However none of my contacts are in the Motor Trade which is an area I'd like to stay in, having worked with Precision Porsche for the last 10 years designing and updating their website, as well as all their photography and promotional videos.
I'm not restricted to area.
Linked-in is not something I've ever tried, although I have quite a few contacts on there from my various work jobs in the past. I will look into it.
However none of my contacts are in the Motor Trade which is an area I'd like to stay in, having worked with Precision Porsche for the last 10 years designing and updating their website, as well as all their photography and promotional videos.
I'm not restricted to area.
Kewy said:
Photographer, Videographer, Web Designer, Copywriter and Designer????
No disrespect, but you consider yourself to be ALL of the above?
Whilst a company looking to employ someone might see that as a positive, most people looking for someone to do some work for them would prefer to use a specialist in their field.
It would be very very difficult to be top of the game in all of those disciplines, along with keeping up to date and current in each field.
Have you considered focusing on one or two areas of specialism?
I'm a graphic designer by trade, photographer by hobby and starting to dabble in videography for fun. But I would never try and offer all of those things to my clients. Even within design its hard to keep on top of print, web, UE/UI, animation etc.
I've not seen your work so this is no reflection of your ability.
Yes, I consider myself to be all of the above. Pistonheads won't allow me to show you my website or my work but my web address is in my profile. All the work you see on my website has been single-handedly created by me. Everything.No disrespect, but you consider yourself to be ALL of the above?
Whilst a company looking to employ someone might see that as a positive, most people looking for someone to do some work for them would prefer to use a specialist in their field.
It would be very very difficult to be top of the game in all of those disciplines, along with keeping up to date and current in each field.
Have you considered focusing on one or two areas of specialism?
I'm a graphic designer by trade, photographer by hobby and starting to dabble in videography for fun. But I would never try and offer all of those things to my clients. Even within design its hard to keep on top of print, web, UE/UI, animation etc.
I've not seen your work so this is no reflection of your ability.
ooid said:
I'm afraid you need to get a job in an agency, full-time or contractor by sending them your portfolio. The creative work field you occupy is quite saturated, so I can not see one man operation picking up any commissions.
Another field is of course "youtube", which you have to generate quite creative and almost extreme content, to create followers, subscribers and etc.. then big brands would chase (or even beg you) to pay.
HTH
Thanks. I worked in various agencies in the past, but could never go back and work for The Man again. Also, I'm probably too old!Another field is of course "youtube", which you have to generate quite creative and almost extreme content, to create followers, subscribers and etc.. then big brands would chase (or even beg you) to pay.
HTH
YouTube is not really for me. (Age probably)
Edited by 993kimbo on Monday 7th January 15:54
993kimbo said:
Thanks. I worked in various agencies in the past, but could never go back and work for The Man again. Also, I'm probably too old!
YouTube is not really for me. (Age probably)
Apologies, I assumed you are fairly new with some experience. In that case, I would only recommend digging into the old phone book, and try to look for connections, people from previous experiences. I'm also in the design industry, so as you know this business is all about "relationships" and "word of mouth"... Very hard to get a new business, without knowing any contacts.YouTube is not really for me. (Age probably)
Edited by 993kimbo on Monday 7th January 15:54
For video and photography, I can also recommend a good recommendation by a well-known influencer, blogger or user, so that people with similar jobs might find you on google? Good luck!
993kimbo said:
Yes, I consider myself to be all of the above. Pistonheads won't allow me to show you my website or my work but my web address is in my profile. All the work you see on my website has been single-handedly created by me. Everything.
Okay, well that alone is impressive.I've had a quick look at your site. There's not really a nice way to say this, so I'm just going to say it – that your graphic design work is average, and this is the problem. A lot of creatives trying to cover several different disciplines and never really master any of them. Again, I've not looked at ALL your other work on their, just the design at the moment, so maybe you excel in some of the other areas, or maybe you're not showcasing your best work.
Don't mean to offend you, and I'll say it again that even being able to do all those things solo is an achievement, but you're only going to attract clients that want to cut costs and get one person to do all their creative work for them. This will often be clients looking to keep prices down and therefore you're already up against your first hurdle.
I'm not saying you can't make a career that way. But I wouldn't expect big clients that are savvy in the creative fields to approach you because they will often use whole teams of people just to create a website (designer, illustrator, front-end dev, back-end dev, typographer if they want a custom typeface, and so on…). And those big clients are often where the money is.
993kimbo said:
Ha, yes I know
Some extremely talented people on there - I have used them for voice-overs, logo design, photographic retouching. Very high standard of work.
A bit difficult filming a video for a car dealership in Brighton if you're based in Delhi though.
Well quite, but that's only 1 service out of the 5 that you're offering. 3 of the 5 can be done for peanuts from anywhere in the world.Some extremely talented people on there - I have used them for voice-overs, logo design, photographic retouching. Very high standard of work.
A bit difficult filming a video for a car dealership in Brighton if you're based in Delhi though.
The way you get noticed is getting off your butt and ensuring you're mingling with the 'right' people by going to events and functions. You seem to be quite involved in this Porsche stuff you're doing so make sure you're at all the social functions and get to know as many people as possible. This is what's known as networking and if done right opens up doors than you wouldn't normally stand a chance of getting anywhere near.
Sitting at home and specutively ringing a bunch of garages to see if you can interest them with a 25% off website isn't going to achieve anything.
Kewy said:
Okay, well that alone is impressive.
I've had a quick look at your site. There's not really a nice way to say this, so I'm just going to say it – that your graphic design work is average, and this is the problem. A lot of creatives trying to cover several different disciplines and never really master any of them. Again, I've not looked at ALL your other work on their, just the design at the moment, so maybe you excel in some of the other areas, or maybe you're not showcasing your best work.
Fair enough - Graphic Design is not my strongest point. If I get a tricky job in, I farm it out to one of the freelance Graphic Designers in my area. I can handle menus, logos, brochures for Hotels and small businesses myself but I wouldn't take on anything like a company report for Microsoft without lining up stacks of help. My main strength is Photography and Video.I've had a quick look at your site. There's not really a nice way to say this, so I'm just going to say it – that your graphic design work is average, and this is the problem. A lot of creatives trying to cover several different disciplines and never really master any of them. Again, I've not looked at ALL your other work on their, just the design at the moment, so maybe you excel in some of the other areas, or maybe you're not showcasing your best work.
I market myself as a 'One Stop Shop' because existing clients ike the fact that they can get all their creative work under one roof, rather than having to find a separate web designer, videographer, copywriter, etc. That's always been our USP and our clients have always bought into that.
Edited by 993kimbo on Monday 7th January 16:29
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