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Advice-seeking Post?
13 years ago
So i'm trying to make money with my art.
I know i don't have the world's greatest art skills, and I'm not trying to take business away from everyone else, but any help you can give me in getting my business off the ground would greatly help.
questions:
Should I be trying to take commissions to begin with?
This is my biggest question. I've seen where people post and comment that some beginners probably ought to focus more on improving their skills before taking commissions, and I worry that I might be in that boat.
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/tieran/
https://www.weasyl.com/profile/tieran
Is there a way to know if you've got a bad name already?
I admit, a number of times, long long before, when I was putting out feelers for seeing if I might want to do art for extra income, I offered free requests. I also admit, I didn't have the discipline to finish them. I actually sketched them out even, but, well, was a dumb kid and didn't continue it to the finish.
I feel I am more disciplined now, having participated in the equinexchange community successfully for a long time now, having turned in my part of the trade consistently on time. I worry, however, that I may have tainted my reputation already.
How should I get my name out there?
I've already posted my commission chart to my page and to DA, and made journals, but I don't know where else to post. Should I look into a banner? How much advertising is too much? Where is it appropriate?
Is offering a special deal in exchange for a review a good idea?
I have a deal going on where the art is half off if you write a journal about your dealings with me (good or bad). I figure it helps everyone involved. Is this a good idea? Is there a way to make sure it works out? As far as payment goes, should I be charging the full amount, and then refund half when they write the review, or just charge half (what I intend to do right now).
Has anyone made artwork to sell at a local fair, and is this a recommended course of action?
A little off topic, but it's another route I'm considering.
I know i don't have the world's greatest art skills, and I'm not trying to take business away from everyone else, but any help you can give me in getting my business off the ground would greatly help.
questions:
Should I be trying to take commissions to begin with?
This is my biggest question. I've seen where people post and comment that some beginners probably ought to focus more on improving their skills before taking commissions, and I worry that I might be in that boat.
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/tieran/
https://www.weasyl.com/profile/tieran
Is there a way to know if you've got a bad name already?
I admit, a number of times, long long before, when I was putting out feelers for seeing if I might want to do art for extra income, I offered free requests. I also admit, I didn't have the discipline to finish them. I actually sketched them out even, but, well, was a dumb kid and didn't continue it to the finish.
I feel I am more disciplined now, having participated in the equinexchange community successfully for a long time now, having turned in my part of the trade consistently on time. I worry, however, that I may have tainted my reputation already.
How should I get my name out there?
I've already posted my commission chart to my page and to DA, and made journals, but I don't know where else to post. Should I look into a banner? How much advertising is too much? Where is it appropriate?
Is offering a special deal in exchange for a review a good idea?
I have a deal going on where the art is half off if you write a journal about your dealings with me (good or bad). I figure it helps everyone involved. Is this a good idea? Is there a way to make sure it works out? As far as payment goes, should I be charging the full amount, and then refund half when they write the review, or just charge half (what I intend to do right now).
Has anyone made artwork to sell at a local fair, and is this a recommended course of action?
A little off topic, but it's another route I'm considering.
Getting your name out there: there's a group called commissions which posts price guides; you can get some extra exposure that way. If you're just starting to take commissions, a website banner may or may not bring in enough customers to cover the cost of a banner. It can give you a great boost later on, but in the beginning results vary. There's also this site: https://artistsnclients.com/ I don't know how much traffic it gets, but some other artists recommended it.
Is there a way to know if you've got a bad name already? I have no idea. But one thing I will suggest: once you've done several commissions, ask your customers to recommend you to TrustedArtists. That can also give you more exposure as well as a good reputation. It can take months to get added to the list (they don't update very often) so if you're not added right away, don't worry about it, just keep doing what you're doing.
Special deal in exchange for a review? Umm, my first instinct is to say no, because it sounds like you would be undercharging yourself. Journals help IF the person has a lot of watchers. If I posted a journal, you wouldn't get any benefit from it, because only 3 people actually read my journals and they're all poor.
You could certainly try it, though. I would present it as a limited time offer, so that people don't expect the sale to go on forever. Considering the time of year, you could make it a holiday sale until the end of the year, or something.
Payment is tricky. I don't like the idea of refunds, because paypal will take a percentage both ways. But if you only charge half up front, and they don't do their end of the deal after the art is delivered, then you're out half the money and got nothing for it.
Could you make it a discount for future art? Like, buy anything in the next month, and if you post a journal, you get 50% off your next purchase. (If you do that, I recommend keeping a journal of names who have the coupon, partly to not forget, but also so customers can see that you have records of their coupons and they will have it the next time they buy something.)
And whatever you do, always get payment before you start working on a commission. I've heard so many stories of people doing the art first and then not getting paid for it.
Good luck!