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I posted a poll earlier today about answering your questions about the business side of art - freelancing, rates, finding clients, etc! Thanks so much to everyone who voted! You guys voted to ask questions in advance, which I will then use to make a video answering the questions. That's the most ideal option for me as well, so that's what I'm gonna do!

Because of that, a request: please post your questions about freelancing and the business side of art in the comments below! If you want more privacy, you can also email it to me directly at loishh@gmail.com! I will go through them and try to answer as many of them as possible in an upcoming Q&A video that I will try and post before the end of the month :)

Thanks so much guys! 

Comments

Anonymous

I recently saw Nathan Fowkes "bulletproof" career vid (where he tells about the eyepatch) he said he had plan A to F which generated income even when he was fully unemployable. Do you also have more things going on to generate income (so afaik, patreon, merchandise, freelance jobs). How important is it to focus on multiple ideas to sell your work? How many paths should you have?

Anonymous

How important was the success of your Instagram for your work? Do you think you would be in a different situation without it?

Anonymous

Hi Lois! I’m sure, like many other freelancers, you’ve worked with bad clients or on projects that didn’t suit you. When you meet with a client, what factors do you keep in mind to determine if the client will be a good one to work with and if you should ultimately accept the project? Thanks for all the great info you provide to your patrons!

Anonymous

How did you get started?

Anonymous

Hi Lois, I have some questions regarding companies / brands / people who are frugal. They want to say so Chanel, but only want Ali-express prices. I found it really hard to convince clients that my rate is very important to me and the quality of work I want to deliver. 1. What is your experience with clients who are looking for a bargain? How did you handle with it? 2. How did you deal with companies / brands that in the midst of the project suddenly tell that they want more finalized artworks what you didn’t calcaluted for in your rate? And they expect that it will be for the rate you all agreed before. With this question I don’t mean alterations, but really extra additional finshed pieces. 3. What to do with companies / brands who keep telling that they don’t have a huge budget, but they still want hire you, because they like your art / designs? 4. Do you have a kind of cancellation fee in your contracts? Like if a client cancels a project, because they don’t continue with a project inside they own company and they don’t need your artwork or services anymore.

Anonymous

Hi Lois :) I have a few questions: 1. What to do when you feel down because you don’t get the number of clients or projects you want? 2. Which marketing action you can do to increase your clients and visibility? Thank you so much, your patreon is amazing! :)

mlara_artescape

Hey Lois! I am a bit late to this post, not sure why I don't remember getting a notification for it. I have one question. What would your advice be for someone who has started their career in a different sector for a few years now but wants to also build up an art career? Do you think it's possible to do so with freelancing in the free time outside of the day job? Thank you so much!

Anonymous

How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you come up with ideas for new paintings? Ever since I finished college/university I feel like I haven't really created anything without someone telling me what to do. It doesn't help that I've moved away from all the artistic friends I'd made. How do you keep up with making new content?

Anonymous

Hello! Thank you for making time to read over my comment. My two questions: What are your thoughts on tabling at conventions or expos? And, as a self-employed individual, how do you manage your health insurance/retirement?

Anonymous

hi loish, thank you so much for doing this!! I just have one question that is; how do you find clients that are interested in the work that You like to do? for example, I’d love to get commissioned stuff related to character art, but the the few clients that approached me asks for portrait art which is something I’m not as comfortable doing :”D

Anonymous

Hi! As someone interested in accepting commissions for the first time, how do you set up the boundaries (creative, financial, etc)? Did you have negative experiences with commission work, and how did you deal with it?

Anonymous

1. How do you manage to sit in front of the screen such a long time? 2. How do you overcome the feeling that everything was invented and drawn in the past and there is no need and possibility to make sth extraordinary?