#The business of freelancing

[icantdothistodaybruh]

What a terribly dull ending this is.

[keymintt]

an illustration commission of goober for @callmegoober !!

[fosliie]

Just you and me

I’ve been itching to do a comic with these two for weeks now, and I finally finished it! Took a lil longer then I thought it would- am a little rusty with making comics but was a great way to get back into making them

Sorry if it may be a lil out of character for either of them? Buuut I would expect after the devil’s playhouse that all that ‘partner literally died’ thing was bound to have some kind of lasting effect on their dynamic

[impcoffeeandcake]

Side Hustles, Freelance Writing, and a Career

I can't count the number of times where someone—either on a Reddit thread or face-to-face—has said, "I love writing. I write poetry and short stories all the time. How can I start freelance writing?" 🤦🏽‍♀️

I have to stop myself and take a step Back to realize that

(a) most people don’t realize that digital marketing and SEO are a thing

(b) most people don’t realize that professional writing is deceptively easy and

(c) The same people telling you that content writing is an easy side hustle are probably trying to shill their course.

The truth is that your learning curve could be anywhere from nonexistent to really steep. It all depends on your base level of reading comprehension, grammar, life experience, and how much you actually read.

As a professional writer in any capacity, your job is to communicate, but that skill alone is deceptively simple, too. You have to know your audience, anticipate their needs, and understand search intent. You'll also have to keep up with social media–which means you'll be using TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Clubhouse for a living when you’re not writing.

And when you’re not writing, scrolling through social media, you'll be reading. Like, read everything¯boxes of cereal, gossip magazines, blog posts about everything from cooking to CNC Machining. And also listen to podcasts about all the above.

After you’ve done all that, you should probably look for local festivals and cultural events to attend. And when you’re there, be sure to brush up on your people skills, smile, and talk to random people. The more life experience you have to draw from, the better. After all, you can’t pull your writing out of thin air.

Oh, and these in-person events should also be in a particular niche, too. No one wants an Brewing Espresso 101 review of the coffee festival you just attended. The best pieces of content, the ones that rank, are from either subject matter experts (SMEs) or connoisseurs.

Now do you still want to be a content writer? 😂

[financeprincess]

I love Tumblr and Pinterest and YouTube but you seriously need to get off your phone as much as possible if you want to make actual changes. Stop the doom scrolling. Turn off notifications. Turn on DND. Log off. Delete apps. Delete accounts altogether. Unsubscribe from texts and emails. Put time limits on the apps on your phone. Unless social media is making you money, limit it as much as possible. Overloading yourself with information is just another form of procrastination. At some point you actually have to take action. Less consumption, more creation.

[hwljpg]

YADDA YADDA YADDA tiny business man boss and his large guard dog

[buglaur]

some of the sims i'm gonna play the new pack with!

[morganbritton132]

After David tells him that his ex has arrived for Career Day and it’s not even the Wheeler that he asked for, Steve marches over to Mike like, “What are you doing here?”

Wow, David thinks to himself. He’s been told that Steve has some problems with his memory - apparently he compensated for it with a truly insane online calendar - but he didn’t expect him to forget about a whole human being. Just, wow.

Steve loudly tells Mike that he’s never had a real job and Mike scoffs at him and tells him that he wrote for a comic book website for three years. Journalism is just writing with a fancy degree. Will and Mike created a comic book together so, “I’m published.”

“Robin is published,” Steve stresses (Steve’s best friend, David knows that one). “If that was the only qualification I wanted than I would’ve asked Robin to come.”

They start squabbling again in whispered voices so David turns to Dustin and tries to alleviate some of the awkwardness with, “Steve, uh, really has a type, huh?”

Dustin squints at him, “Did you just meet him? Today?”

[trishabeakens]

Omg Kevin is that your fucking fursona that's cringe.

[gotchibam]

Rockruff and Meowstic ko-fi doodle for Kiwi!

[ryoplicaisherenow]

Posts really old art in celebration of Ryoji (surprise) appearance on P3Reload news today......

(To hear Akira Ishida x3 once again.....)

[reasonsforhope]

Okay, social media hiatus over! I'm back!

And there's lots of queue'd posts rn too, because fun fact I'm changing around some of my meds rn, and it's mostly going well, except my executive function and focus has fallen below what I need to yknow sit down and do my actual job, and hit instead at "just enough to queue a bunch of good news posts"

[fosliie]

QUESTION!! What if Samantha stopped going to Maxine's shows for a while? like would Maxine go look for her, ask why she stopped coming or just check thats she's ok idk fydhtgsrfd--

Because i'm just like SAM. YOU TORTURING YA SELF. GIRL PLEASE- (just a what if idk if it is in character- TvT)

No no, you got a point there! Why in the world would Samantha keep going back if it just gets her all messed up seeing Maxine?

She gives a different answer everytime. A new lead on a case, a certain drink they don’t sell anywhere else. She’d rather be caught dead then explain why, and the regulars are keen to pick up on fhis

Noooow I’d imagine if Samantha somehow gained the will power to not attend one (or several) of Maxine’s shows, it probably would bug Maxine just a teeeeeny bit

[meowdyjac]

Doodle Dump :D !!!!!!! Enjoy my amalgamations <3

[kristinagehrmann]

Freelance strategies that have saved my butt!

Some of them I wish someone had told me when I was a newbie illustrator, some I have used from the start and they're still proving effective. Hope they're helpful <3

1. Decide on a clockout time at the workday's end. Whether 5pm or any other, relax & do nothing more work-related til next day. It sounds counterintuitive, but if your times are random/too long, this will boost productivity & decrease stress! In German it's called Feierabend.

2. Overestimate your deadlines. Especially as a new illustrator it can be hard to accurately tell a client how long a project will take, so make a habit of estimating generously. Don't take on more than one "rush gig" at a time.

3. Don't apologise if you did nothing wrong. Instead, "Thank you for your understanding." (e.g. if you have to reject an unattractive project) is both effective and polite.

4. Have a professional website with an easily accessible email address. It helped me get work long before anyone knew me on social media, even when my skill level was lower than now. From an art director's perspective: www.muddycolors.com/2021/09/why-y...

5. communication is key! Whenever anything is unclear in a client's brief, ASK. When you won't be able to meet a deadline, TELL them. Have clear quote & contract templates ready. Don't have any? Ask a fellow freelancer (like me!) Example for a quote: x.com/KristinaDraws... (99% of project conflicts are due to insufficient communication, this includes vague terms and/or nonexistent contracts!)

6. Your can also ask your fellow pros for pricing information in specific markets. Chances are it's already written down someplace (GAG handbook, blog article...) & they can link you to it. Being specific increases your chances of getting good answers. Pro illustrators have a sincere interest in you knowing & charging good prices - a rising tide lifts all boats!

7. Identify your most productive time of the day. This is when you do your best work. For me it's morning to noon. So I tend to do other chores (grocery shopping, exercise) in the afternoon when I'm more "head tired".

8. To stay hydrated (important!), make it a habit to always keep a drink on your desk. For me that's usually a mug of tea. Hot tea feels good too, bc 90% of the year it's chilly at my desk. I'm also a serious believer in a high fiber diet.

9. Something that has LITERALLY saved my butt: an orthopedic seat cushion (from Bonmedico, bought at Amazon) where the spine can basically "hang free" when you sit. This will turn every desk chair into a healthy one! Be smart and don't use it as an excuse for sitting even longer than you already do, but it does make long periods of sitting to work so, so much easier.

[kamapon]

FINALLY! All the Overblot and Sweet Dreams P.Os' leftovers are UP and listed!!

Stickers, charms, pins and sticker sheets!

you can find these on

✨ETSY http://kamaponworkshop.etsy.com

✨FWS (my webstore) http://kamapon.fws.store

Sharing is appreciated!🩷🩷