Chewing Pencils

In the twelve years I’ve been freelancing,  virtually all of my work has come through my website (www.mattglover.com) in some way, shape or form. Sometimes a client has been searching on Google for a cartoonist and has landed on my site. Other times they have seen a cartoon of mine somewhere that has my web address listed in the corner. Word of mouth has sent them to my site or I might have approached them directly and shown then my work on their computer.

Some of the jobs that have come through my site have attracted a five figure fee. Other have made me smaller amounts, but have given me a steady, ongoing stream of income. Over the years, the website has got me jobs that earnt enough to pay off my house.

And this is as a very part time, freelancer.

This week I had another reminder about just how important the website is for my business. I received a phone call on Friday from a lady named Leonie who was looking to interview a cartoonist for her radio show. She had found my site, liked my stuff and gave me a call. We chatted for a while and made a time for her to call me back and do a live interview on the radio (Hi to all ABC West listeners that might be visiting!).

The interview lasted about ten minutes and we chatted about much of the stuff I talk about here on Chewing Pencils. She thanked me for my time and the interview ended. I enjoyed it and thought it was nothing more than a bit of fun.

I had mentioned my site during the interview and though I might get a few extra visitors that day, but not much more. I was disappointed to see that the level of traffic hardly changed at all! However, I did receive two emails out of the blue from potential new clients. I’m still waiting to hear if they have accepted my quotes, but if all goes well, these two jobs will earn me around $2000 - $3000.

ALL OF THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF MY WEBSITE!!!!!

So if you haven’t got one already, get onto it. You’re missing out on potential business that could earn you some extra dollars to help you pay for your petrol bill!

In the coming weeks we I’ll be running another Group Drawing Project that will require you to have your own website to participate. It doesn’t have to be elaborate (mine isn’t) but if you’d like the chance to win the prize on offer, you’ll need to find your place on the world wide web.