Working in the creative industries: is freelancing the road to success? -B00389861

 

Working in the creative industries: is freelancing the road to success?

By Nyssa Catherine Wootton

What does it mean to be a freelancer?

I believe if you have the skillset, you are more than welcome to become a freelancer. A freelancer can be anything for art, music, writing, or content creation. There are so many roles you could go to when you start freelancing. 

It has always been my art that represents me as a freelancer. I sell products in my shop and open up for commissions in the summer. 

Freelancing also applies to the arts of game development, and it is a method used by indie developers to bring a team of people together. Today I am going to talk about how you should handle your work as a freelancer. 

How would I promote myself as a freelancer? 

As a freelancer, you can promote yourself in many ways. But I will explain how you should promote yourself if you're an artist, musician, author, or content creator.

Social media has proven most effective in promoting your work as a professional. And open up for potential employment with clients. You can do this on any social platform. It also applies to freelance game developers as you can use those platforms to showcase games you have worked on in the past and concepts. 

As an artist, you can use many social platforms for work. The most artist-friendly platform out there is Ko-fi. Ko-fi promises entire payout revenue and includes some built-in features that could benefit you as an artist. For example, Ko-fi has a shop feature where you can showcase and sell products, and a commission feature makes it easier for artists to post listings. 

For musicians and content creators, I recommend using video-embedded platforms such as youtube, Twitter, and TikTok. All offer the same premise of uploading videos and getting views from them, and you can also use video links to showcase your works on other platforms.

If you make music, I'd recommend creating a demo reel compilation to showcase what kind of music you do to your potential clients. 

Why is reputation with clients important??

Reputation as a freelancer and with clients is significant because you're not just producing the product when you contact your client for work. But you are also building fundamentals that will make you a good and honest professional. I will discuss two things that help maintain your reputation as a professional and a freelancer. 

Trust 

Trust helps build better connections with your client. I'd recommend showing WIPs and development concepts very early over time to ensure your client that you are the right professional to trust. The more trust you build with them as a partner/client, the better you are seen as a good and honest creator. 

The saying trust goes both ways and could not speak louder than words! It would help if you also trusted your client to be reliable as a consumer. And know your rights as a creator so you can take action if needed. I have heard cases of artists doing work for someone and not getting paid in the right way or not getting paid at all, and they constantly have to take action as it goes against the terms and conditions they agreed to at the beginning. 

Communication

Communication can go miles. And also can help build a healthy relationship with your client. Communicating with your client and asking for professional feedback helps strengthen your reputation as someone who wants to include their clients' views, opinions, and what they would like added to the product.