Freelancers: Get Paid, Not Played

Trouble getting paid? You're not alone.

77% of freelancers have been stiffed by a deadbeat company. It's not your fault. The Department of Labor makes sure W–2 employees get paid, while freelancers have to sue for their check or just walk away.
We're 30% of the workforce; it's time to change the game.

Join the Freelancer's Union campaign to get freelancer workers paid on time and for the right amount. Go to
http://www.freelancersunion.org/advocacy/campaigns.html to join the campaign and help yourself and the art community. On the Freelancer's Union site are alot of information on different issues on taxes, unemployment, alerts on companies that don't pay, job postings, etc. They are a good group to get to know.

Clovia

Search Engine Marketing

Here are some ways of effective search engine marketing with a brief look at social media— 


1) Most important in your marketing: Be FOCUSED! Get to know your customers. Know who you are reaching out to and what they are searching for. Place those keywords in your website, metatags and in the content of your message.

Google Ad Words: Can be very effective for a business to "stand out" in a Google search. Although you may not need to advertise yourself as an Artist, setting up and managing a client's Google Ad campaigns are a way of making an income. Microsoft Ads can also be used. Use Clean Links! Place direct page (subdirectory page) in the link with blue type (see example below) in the exact words that someone would use to find you or your product. The homepage is reserved for green type link. Google wants to know that you are directing the audience to an actual service or product you sell, so clean links are important. In brand messaging, use variable or AB testing of different words in ad messages to attract the most customers. Make the campaigns focused. Market one at a time. Track the campaign and see the one with the most responses and clicks will be the most successful for your business. You will be bidding on specific keywords for your ad. The more popular words are more expensive. Pay per click charged monthly to your credit card. You need to watch your budget spending tho, as these ads can get costly, especially for a small business. Actual Ad Example (links removed):
 
Buy Art Here
Art Prints & Posters for Sale
Custom Frame your Art Online!
www.AllPosters.com

 

Facebook Ads: These work for most internal events or specific issues related to a Facebook Fan page - not so much for ads with links to outside sources. As a working Artist, you could have a Business Facebook page where visitors become your Fans. Check out a successful painter like James Jean on FB. He's got over 16,300 fans! His artwork is awesome, by the way. A Facebook Ad can help to promote your art event that you create in FB. Then place the event on your own website, connect with Twitter, deLicious, etc. Try as many of the social media accounts as possible. The exposure will be good for your event and also increase the SEO traffic for your own website when you include links to the social media out there.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): is more effective with keywords on your website and also in its metatags (html). You will reach higher placement in front of others with the best keywords in a search engine like Google or Yahoo.

Google Analytics: Can be used for stats on your website. In a more relaxed form, I also use WebStats or RiteCounter

Blogs: It's content can be used to promote your PR. Fill a page with information and photos of your business. Send an email with the weblink to the blog page(s) to prospective clients in your mailing list for media exposure. This electronic "press kit" is a good alternative to the printed version or send both when you are trying to get a write-up in a magazine or newspaper. It is better than sending an attached PDF or s slideshow that editors may not be able to open. Try using Constant Contact or Vertical Response to send out and track mailing list database. Link yourself to other blogs and add a link to your own website.  The SEO traffic will increase for your own website when you include the links. To search for any blog, go to Alltop.com

For Public Relations:  You can use the services of PRweb.com or PRBusinesswire.com  These are services which need to be paid. They will blast your media release to thousands of clients with the correct tags.

Social Media: Such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube and Blogs are online venues that can help to spread your message and your brand. Yes, even as an artists, you should get used to the idea of branding yourself. What is it about you that makes you stand out amongst the others? What do you specialize in? Put these together together in your business image or logo and marketing materials and brand yourself. Social media is used for conversation, awareness, research and acquisition. You will need to manage your time, content, resources. They measure sales, recommendations, awareness and engagement. Although these types of social media named above offer free accounts, you will need to invest all these things, especially your time into them and in the end, they do 'cost' you.

Most of the information above was learnt from attending a Branding Seminar hosted by Justin Boone of www.ClearMetrics.com  Thank you, Justin!

Clovia

Graphic Artists of Westchester and NYC Meetup

This Blog began January 2010 with members from the Graphic Artists of Westchester and NYC group found on Meetup.com. Visit www.meetup.com/gdillers. The Meetup is based in White Plains and serves the Greater NY area. I organize art related events and hold discussions on the pressing issues and concerns in today's design and illustration industry with my Assistant Stephen Richards. I also hold sketch sessions outdoors and inside in the summer months. Please visit at the weblink above and join our group if you feel it will benefit you. It caters to all working artists and art students who shape today's art world and the future.

Help with Marketing and Finding Jobs

In these tough economic times, those freelancing or who recently lost their full time jobs may have a difficult time finding new jobs. This section will help to provide information on jobs and also give tips on marketing, mailing lists, enewsletters, postcards and other printed promo materials. I encourage all hard core graphic artists who really want to find work to market themselves in any of the following ways versus bidding on small meaningless jobs on the internet on sites like e-lance.com. I was taught that pounding the pavement is the best way to go - you get the best results for high-valued and high-paying jobs.

Although the jobs are becoming more demanding with the need to know how to handle html, Flash, write javascript amongst being an expert in the entire Adobe CS3 or 4 design programs, there are believe it or not still an abundance of jobs available- especially for graphic designers. I see about a dozen of them weekly on sites like:
http://www.indeed.com and www.craigslist.com
Indeed is the motherload of all full-time to part-time job search sites including entries from Monster, Hotjobs, NY Jobs, Talent Zoo, etc. etc.
Just plug in the discipline you want in the area your looking for. Have indeed.com send you a daily or weekly list of jobs that interest you to your email inbox. Reply to them and you are on your way to landing that new job.
Craiglist offers some legit jobs but watch out for the shady ones. Illustrators can sometimes find good gigs there.

Register with agencies such as http://www.creativegroup.com/ and http://www.cgrseven.com
When I had an agent with CGR7 a couple years ago, he gave me several leads in editorial design every week. I never went on any interviews because at the same time, I was getting very busy working in restaurant graphics for over 15 places. I created my own niche, which supplied me with constant work for the past 3 years. There has hardly been more than a couple of weeks when I didn't have work freelancing. Niche marketing can be very profitable and to your advantage. I'll talk more about this later. Also search on AIGA.org

Then of course, go back to your alma mater and search through the career office. You never know what jobs you can find. I recommend this more for those who've just graduated, however, there can also be jobs on occasion for professionals at any level.

Then there are mailing lists which you can use to target your marketing with either printed promotionals or e-postcard or e-newsletter. Some places online where you can buy lists are at Adbase.com and AgencyAccess.com.
The lists consists of thousands of names and contact information including websites, addresses (mailing and email) and telephone numbers from the head in charge to all the assistants and lower level managers. Companies are drawn from ad agencies, magazines, book publishers, design studios, TV and movie industry, and on and on. You can find other mailing lists from many other online sources for any industry. Pick one or two and learn to specialize in that field.  These lists can be costly. They start at about $300 for one-time usage of a limited amount of contacts or over $1,000 for an unlimited annual usage- probably the best deal. Considering that you can earn tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars using these lists, they really would be worth it. Both Adbase and Agency Access offer the lists as labels and the ability to send out email promos. And they use a wonderful database set-up to manage everything you do with stats on all responses.

For more marketing tips, contact Ilise Benun at www.marketing-mentor.com/html/tips.html

Hope this helps. Would love to hear about the successes of your job search.

Clovia