Some Business Tips from the Pro’s
Published by Matt Glover February 11th, 2007 in Sites of NoteThere are stacks of pro-cartoonists with blogs these days, and many of them happily share their thoughts on what it takes to make some money from drawing. These are two posts that recently caught my eye that I think Chewing Pencils readers will like:
Marketing Yourself as a Freelancer on Tom Richmond’s MAD blog. Tom suggests getting a rep, advertising in a sourcebook and self-promotion are the best ways to get cartooning work. He wonders, though, whether the web has replaced printed source books - I would answer with an overwhelming YES! I gave up on a local source book (the only one I ever used) about two years ago now and haven’t noticed any drop in work because of it.
The Gag Cartoonist’s Business Plan on Mark Anderson’s blog. The most helpful bit of this post is the ‘What not to buy’ section, though I think business cards might still have a place. I wouldn’t print off 1000, but having say 100 printed and then attaching them to invoices and the like can get you repeat work in the future.
Thanks lads!
Personally, I think business cards can be useful or useless depending on your social habits.
I live in New York City and attend conferences all the time (albeit they’re not related to cartooning). So in my case, I meet plenty of people whom I can give a card to. But if you’re living in the middle of nowhere and don’t go to social events often, obviously a stack of business cards is less useful than toilet paper for you.
And thanks for the great links, Matt.