Sunday, December 28, 2008

Define your market

OK...
You've decided to become a freelancer. Now you have to define your market and what you will do.

As an artist, there are many areas that you can freelance in. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, the more areas that you can help people in (web, print, animation) the more you can earn. But you have to decide who your market is.

Is it the end user... the company that will print or post your work? Or will it be for "resellers" like ad agencies or graphic design studios?

Let's look at the end users, like the local business around the corner. 

The positives of working for the end user are:
You can bill a fair and reasonable fee.
Treat them fair and they will need your services over and over.

The negative is that they are not professionals in our field, so some of their demands or requests could be unreasonable.
You will have to educate them about a wide range of subjects that have to do with the production of their assignment

OR 

You can freelance for graphic design or ad agencies.
The positives are that their sales team will bring in the work for you.
They are professionals so they know what they are asking for.
Their account people will do all the leg work for you.

The negative is you will have to bill them a lower price so that they can make a profit off your work.

I like to work with individuals AND graphic design companies.

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