Excerpts from Starting Your Career 1 2 3 EX
What About Competition?
They’re out there. They’re good. They’re waiting for you. While this may sound like
the promo to a bad slasher flick, it’s really not hype or horror. The small army of
your skilled peers is tremendously talented, hard working, and organized. In
general, I’ve found the competition to be a rather loose and friendly fraternity. We
do play the same game, in the same ballpark. But your comrades-at-arms won’t all
act like your bosom buddies, nor is that a requirement in their job description.
Competition in free enterprise is the American way. Use it as your motivation
and you’ll have an edge. Have a keen and healthy esteem for your competition.
Respect their work and keep your eyes open: know what your associates are doing
by researching the trade magazines, creative directories, and annuals. Don’t be a
rubber stamp of the hot new style, but do know what’s current. A key to real
success is to offer something that’s original and fresh--something the buyer can’t
get just anywhere, from just anybody. And as illustrator Matt McElligott says, “It’s
vitally important to be true to yourself.” Combine this with good service,
strengthen it all with determination and forethought, and your competition will not
be so scary after all.
How do you handle stress? Keep the following buzzwords in mind when pondering
the considerable tensions of freelancing: grace under pressure...flexibility...rolling
with the punches...shooting from the hip...adaptability...creativity...thinking on
your feet. I could go on, but you get the picture.
If you rattle like nuts in a jar when the pressure builds, you’re going to be in
trouble. The landlord is banging on your studio door; you are certain there’ll be a
horse’s head in your bed the next morning if you don’t pay the rent. A once
generous deadline screams at you from the calendar while that simple watercolor
wash becomes a life or death situation. Panicky?
How’s your bankbook? In times of low pay, slow pay, or (heaven forbid) no pay, can
you--should you--support yourself and your business with personal savings?
Realistically, how long should you do this if your business is new, not up to speed,
or in a lull?
My accountant tells me to have a reserve of at least three months in the bank
just in case, but everyone’s situation is slightly different; your safety net might be
a year or six months. The numbers will vary but a hard fact of economics remains
constant: can you launch and sustain your business if you’re not generating
income?
Initially, it may be wiser for you to freelance as a sideline with outside
employment (full or part-time) smoothing the rough financial edges. It’s no crime
to build towards independence rather then leaping romantically, albeit imprudently,
into the fray.
Do you mind working alone? Hopefully you have a stunning relationship with the
only one sharing your work space--you. Art school is a pleasant memory now—the
halls buzzing with kindred spirits spilling into the comfortably familiar studios, a
common ground, awaiting the arrival of teachers and students with a singular
purpose and shared excitement. That glorious phase of your life’s education is over.
At first you’ll laugh, as if at a dumb joke, but you’ll discover that it’s really
true: you’ll need to get out and practice those “real world” skills! Life away from
the studio, with friends and acquaintances who make actual conversation (and not
necessarily shop talk) helps balance the isolation. Outside interests temper the
hours spent hunched over the drawing table keeping your own company. Seek
activities and nurture a support system outside the studio. You may very well be
your own best friend, but don’t go it alone.
How do you feel about selling yourself? Aside from your artistic responsibilities, this
is a salesperson’s job. It’s a fairly simple situation (at least on paper): you must
bring in the work to sustain the business that satisfies your creative impulse.