If we knew exactly what the key for earning a stable income as an artist on the internet would be, let it be known that we would gladly share it with all of you. However - as is, the fickle matter of gaining and maintaining business on the internet is still an enigma to most. So take this advice as guidelines and by no means requirements for success. Afterall, the most important part of launching youself and your business, is that your strategy is tailored to the specific services you offer, your comfort, requirements and standards.
Your personal limits / self respect
Before you go on ahead and put yourself out there, it is important that you do a bit of self-evaluation first. This is especially important if you plan on offering NSFW services to your potential clients. Knowing what you’ll want to do, and what you defenitely do not want to do is crucial, and will save you a lot of hard or awkward situations down the line.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- How much time am I willing to put into commissions? ( how much time do I have for commissions )
- What are the general themes or subjects I woud like to be ordered to do, how do i make that preference visible?.
- Am I willing to work with NSFW content, and where are my limitations to this content.
NSFW content
If you plan on working with NSFW content, make absolutely sure that you know the laws about that sort of content, both in production and distribution ( and of course, never distribute NSFW content to minors ) in your area, to ensure that you don’t land yourself in hot water.
If you distribute NSFW content, you might want to get at least cursory knowledge on how the distribution of such content works in the regions where you distribute to ( ie. where your clients are coming from ). Just to be on the safe side.
Always be mindful that a client can be a minor posing as an adult;
If the person is not in possession of their own credit-card (pay-pal), or there’s a discrepancy between the account they are ordering from, and the payment information you recieve- you’re better off doubling down and asking them to prove their age.
It is true that there are many ways that minors can forge an adult identity, but if you do your bid to make sure that your clients are of age in being critical of any suspicious information - you will be able to weed out some offenders and keep yourself out of risk of being accused of distributing to an inapropriate crowd.
That said, I have not personally experienced a minor trying to order off of me yet, so i daresay it is still a rare occurence that situations like these crop up.
Picking a personality profile
This is by no means a must-do for everyone. I just find it comforting to know that i have a uniform way of approaching my clients regardless of their standing in relation to me and my services.
When working as a freelancer ( as you will technically be doing when taking commission ), you are your own store-clerk. And like any store-clerk, you are expected to act in a certain way by your customers. Of course: keeping a polite and open tone with your clients is important, but how exactly that polite and open tone sounds when coming from you - is highly personalized.
I’ve met artists who will put on a big, broad smile, and get really involved with their client’s gossip and sometimes even private life as part of their outward business-persona. Nothing wrong with that at all, i imagine they’re going for the “friendly coffee-shop down the street” kind of vibe.
Personally I am more withdrawn when communicating with clients, usually staying somewhat formal and informative rather than getting into too much small-talk with my cilent.
This has nothing to do with who I am in private, where i love sitting around and chatting for hours and hours. It simply gives me a bit of respectable distance from my client and myself.
Not everyone needs to alter their behaviour at all when talking to clients, but if you like it when work-personality is a little bit seperated from private-personality ( esp if you, like me, is a goof-ball memelord with terrible humour who does NSFW art ) I’d consider how I would most comfortably interact with potential clients if i were you, and then practice the approach so that you can easily slip in and out of it.
Write a ToS
I spend forever explaining to my clients how things were going to go down when they would order a piece, before i sat myself down and wrote a proper ToS ( Terms of service ).
It took precious time out of my schedule and became a flat out chore whenever someone approached me and i had to explain the process. That’s why i recommend every commercial artist who gets even just semi-regular orders in, to sit down and write their process, terms and conditions out in one document or post so that they can easily shove it at their client when they’re putting in an order.
Saves you the trouble of having to type it up everytime someone asks’ and also makes it easier to maintain a streamlined process, as you are not in danger of treating customers with different ToS unintentionally.
HOW IT’S DONE
In my catalogue i have three pages in my ToS. The first page describes the in’s and out’s of the process itself, by guiding the client through what’s going to happen. Particularly when the client will be expected to give feedback, as my process has very fixed points in which the client will be able and allowed to suggest alterations to their piece.
Fixed amount of alterations vs. scope of alterations
Sometimes a client will want to keep suggesting edits, alterations or additions to an art piece for whatever reason. This can really drag out the workload, and potentially slow down the process of other orders in your queue.
When this happens, it is important that you take a look at the time spent on the piece, and the time spent on alterations. If you feel like the client is continously hitting you with edits that are prolonging the process beyond what you feel is worth the payment - politely inform the client that they are exceeding the typical amount of edits, and either let them know that their current edit is the last they will be allowed, or add a fee to the order to make sure that you are compensated for the extra time. Do not start working on the edit until the client understands the new terms for the order, and do not start until you have recieved any extra payment that you may have imposed.
This may seem very scary the first couple of times. As the client can potentially break off the collaboration with you ( which is why you should charge the baseprice of the commission up-front. more on this later ).
But remember, you are the one with the product - and if you’ve taken it first, the due payment, and most clients would not want to part ways with the two because of a cap on edits. And if they do anyway, you will still have been paid for the time spent.
Your time is precious, treat it as such.
YOUR RIGHTS, MY RIGHTS
In your ToS i recommend that you take a snippet out to talk about the rights of the work produced. Typically, when a product ends production, some or all rights are sold along to the client who ordered. However, if you want to make sure that you can use the material for marketing purposes ( say, as an example image in your portfolio, or as a graphic for sale’s campaigns ) then you must make your client aware of this beforehand.
Personally, i have arranged it as such, that my clients acquire the right to share, edit and redistribute the image as much as they want with no extra fees, but in return, i have the right to use the image for promotional material. As well as repurporsing all unused material in the process, that didn’t result or contribute to the look of the final piece as i see fit.
RETURN POLICY
It might happen that a client is suddenly unable to continue on with their commission process. In a cases like these, it is very important to have a set return policy in place. And it is also incredibly important for the comfort of your clients to know what happens to their money, and their ordered image - should something suddenly make them or you unable to proceed with their image.
For me, after having been through a few unfortunate clients who left me with partial or no payment at all - i have implemented a rather strict return policy that priorities that the work i have already made is paid, in case the client pulls out.
( If i am the one to pull out, the refunding is in most cases the whole amount, and the client still recieves the material made so far and the rights to distribute, as part a little bit of an apology/goodwill incentive )
To make sure that you can give partial returns on payment, you need to make it crystal clear to the client that they are not paying you for an image, but for your time and expertice. By telling your clients this, you are basically adressing that from the moment you sit yourself down and start working on a piece, you have the rights to the payment recieved for it.
Whether or not you want a no-return policy or partial-return policy in place for unfinished pieces is up to you, though naturally - people generally like it when they know there’s a chance they can get at least some of their money back if something happens to go wrong on their end.
Pricing
Pricing commissions is probably one of the most talked about topics in the online freelancing illustration business. How do you price something just right? Is it too much, or too little.
It really comes down what you feel like you want to charge.
There is of course the debate about artists undercharging clients and thusly going underpaid- which can skewer the clients outlook on the value of an artists’ time. But i’m not here to tout which side of the debate you oughta take.
Just make sure that you feel that you are paid enough for your work. Afterall, if a person doesn’t like what they see and the pricetag on it, they can find someone else.
ALWAYS, have a portfolio available, either in an online gallery or your own website or downloadable PDF - where your potential clients can get an overview of your style, skill-level, strenghts and weaknesses. It is very important to be transparrents with your abilities to potential customers to avoid disapointing them, which may lead to them being discouraged from recommending you to someone else.
Do remember that your pricing will impact the kind of clients you attract. Cheaper commissions prices may attract a younger, less cash-solvent demographic, who seek out the cheaper options. While more expensive pricing may attract clients with a more stable economy, who will be looking to spend money on unique or quality commissions.
I have personally bumped up my prices quite a few times as i’ve cultivated my skills, developed a style unique to me, and gotten a few credentials and a degree. All of this to make sure that I need to land less deals to cover my bills, while also attracting a demographic with a somewhat stable income.
Charge upfront
I will wholeheartedly recommmend that you charge your custommers upfront to prevent either scamming, or them suddenly being out of cash to pay you. If you work with larger clients like companies or the sort - you may be inclined to take pay after the work is done, but with private clients with private economies that are much more prone to being thrown off by life occurences, charge upfront.
If your clients are unsure about this - ensure them that the money is safe and secured on a seperate account ( cause my god, you do not want to start mixing payments for unfinished commissions with your private economy, mark my words - that is a big no no! ) where they will remain in case returns are to be made. Remember, you are paid for your time - not an image.
Make a pricing sheet or catalogue
There are a great number of ways to advertise your commissions. Most important though is that your advertising should state a few things clearly.
- The overall look of the finished product with clear indication as to what will be included in the final image.
- The price
- Your contact info
I’ve seen a number of price-sheet formats out there, but here are some of the more common ones i come across:
Sketch to shading:
These examples clearly layout what each level of polish costs, and is suitable for artists who want to focus their service around providing images that have variable levels of finish.
Composition:
I’ve seen these used mostly with artists who will always default to full colour and shading in their works. These sheets focus on the amount of the character that would need to be shown in the final image. They are primarily targetting potential clients who are moreso focused on having their character drawn on their own - than on having them included in larger illustrations.
The catalogue:
My personal preference is making a catalogue ( link here for reference )
For me; having the freedom to define exactly what kind of commissions i want to do, and being able to price them individually without having to change up my entire pricechart to keep up with the new one. ( while also being able to make individual sales-campaigns on each format ) has helped immensely in vetting the kind of material i am requested to do. It has also made it easier for my clients to not only figure out my pricing, but what my range of services cover. While also being inclined to read my ToS while they’re there.
It is a little bit of a hassle to upload since some platforms do not support this multi-picture format, though for platforms such as tumblr, or deviantart + furaffinity, where you can slot your commission types in pretty easily on its own little tab, they work a charm.
Sales and events
Occassionally, a sale can boost your traffic a bit, and maybe land you some more commissions for a limited amount of time. Just remember to clearly state in your post ( or in the graphic ) when the sale ends. So that people won’t approach you after the sale is over, expecting to get the campaign-price on something.
Posting
Part of my PR strategy is posting all commissions i’ve made publicly to the apropriate platforms ( NSFW content for NSFW platforms, etc ). So that the material you produce becomes part of the promotion cycle. People will come to know what your standards are like when it comes to the produced material, and will also get a feel for what other people might buy off of you. Besides, posting client-requested material often means that you ‘ll get a more varied content stream, which can show off more of your skillset than what your typical content would.
Aside from posting your finished commissions, flaunting your pricesheets or catalogue, and other content regularly is important in keeping traffic coming your way. Semi-regular posting will keep you on the front page of your platform for a limited time, but getting involved with groups or forums for specific themes or subjects can help you spread your appeal even further, and perhaps reach the people with the right interests.
Money services
I am personally still using paypal for my commissions, in part due to its accessibility for those outside the states. Though - there are many alternatives to paypal that offer similar or lower rates on their transactions, and more freedom as to what services you can peddle over it. ( Stripe and Google-pay are two of the services that come to mind ). If you end up using paypal, remember to tell your customers not to label their payment with any hints of NSFW content that might be in the image - as that has lead to artists having their accounts frozen in the past.
Some also propose that you tell your customers not to include the word “ commission” in their payment note, as it messes with paypal’s internal algorithm too.
Taxes
Important: check the tax-laws and regulations in your area to make sure that you are paying the right amount of taxes on your work, as to prevent yourself from being slammed with a tax-bill later when you least expect it.
I am personally working as a freelancer under a specific circumstance, that is dictated whether or not i earn over a certain amount of money, which means that i have to account for my own tax-payments. I do this by simply splitting my payment in half and saving one half for taxes ( which should cover any tax-bill with some in spare in the unlikely case that i miss filing one payment ), and keeping the rest as income.
This method may not work for you, and depending on your specific region, tax laws will be wildly different - so make sure to look it up for yourself.
Correspondence
No-brainer here, but just to include it: when corresponding with your client, make sure to stay polite and proper ( even if you have a very friendly/outgoing sales persona ). Remember to communicate clearly, and leaving nothing vague - as to avoid the risk of any misunderstandings.
And lastly, give yourself the courtesy of logging out once in a while. It is totally fine to have daily correspondence with a client if the job begs for it, but don’t let them hawk you more than you feel is necessary. It is completely fine to pull the plug and just work for a bit if you are not discussing alterations or feedback in the designated feedback periods.
Let yourself work.
Platforms / find your demographic
We all have to start out somewhere, but simply throwing your stuff out on facebook might be a waste of effort. If your art is partial to a certain demographic ( like how anthro-art is partial to the furry-community ), then you might be better off pouring your energy into scoping out the different forums and platforms from where your content will hit its target demographic with the least work on your part.
You can always branch out into multiple platforms, later. Afterall trying your luck with new platforms, only to realize it didn’t work out ( or in fact, did work out ) like you thought it would is a stable part of trying to find out where your niché and your crowd is.
Just remember that managing a social media platform often takes a whole lot of time, so watch out for which platforms give you the most interaction and clout, and try to expand your presence from there, as your first priority before foraging elsewere into unknown territory.
And of course, remember to let people know where they can find you elsewere on the internet, if they stumble into your profile, blog or gallery on your main platform.
- Mod Wackart ( ko-fi )
from The Redline Station https://ift.tt/2HI9T5m
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment