How to Build an Effective Mailing List
(Illustration by Frank Hansen)
As you probably know, an effective mailing list is a crucial element of a winning promotion strategy, because it allows you to target your message to a select group of contacts and keep them up to date with your most recent work.
In order to maximize the effect of your marketing efforts, it helps to know the best ways to go about building and maintaining this list, otherwise, your time and energy will be wasted.
Here are some tips to help you make the most of your mailing list:
Stay on Target
Increase the effectiveness of your promotional efforts by compiling a list that is relevant to your target market, so that you are only promoting your work to Art Directors and other potential clients who might actually hire you. This sounds obvious, but many Illustrators blindly send promo mailers or email newsletters to any contact they can find. This costs more money, time, and energy than is necessary for both you and your contacts.
Use Published Lists
A good place to start collecting contact info is market publications like the Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market, Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market, and other print and online compilations. Be careful to select reputable lists that offer current and reliable contact information, because the industry constantly changes and Art Directors tend to move from one place to the next.
Browse Illustration Annuals
Look through Illustration annuals such as Illustration Now!, Spectrum, 3×3, and the Society of Illustrators annual, because they often list the Art Directors who commissioned each piece. Find the Illustrations that are similar to your style, approach, or target market and add those Art Directors to your list.
Take a Field Trip
Go to your local library or bookstore and spend some time going through relevant books and magazines to take down contact information. Remember to only select publications that seem to be featuring the type of work that you’re doing.
Go Surfing
Visit the portfolio websites of Illustrators whose style or market represents your own and take a look at their list of clients. It can also be beneficial to find out who their art rep is, if they have one.
Browse the websites of various artist representatives and take a look at the artists they represent. If the styles you find there resemble your own, your chances are better that they’ll be interested in what you have to offer.
Stay Current
One of the most important parts of maintaining your mailing list is revisiting it on a regular basis and making sure all the information is up-to-date. As I mentioned earlier, things change often in this industry, and your list is useless if it’s not current.
Your mailing list is one of the most important tools in your Freelance Illustration business, so it’s important to take the time to make it as effective as possible. I hope these simple steps help you to make new connections and find new opportunities for future work.
How do you build an effective mailing list? Please share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Related Posts:
- Book Review – Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market
- 10 Rules of Effective Self-Promotion
- 68 Useful and Inspiring Illustration Resources
- Someone Would Love to Hire You Right Now
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Hi there Thomas,
Your information and suggestions about building an effective mailing list is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome! I hope this helps you to make new contacts and find new opportunities for work. Good luck!
Once again some excellent advice. Thanks so much for taking the time to share information like this — like putting money in people’s pockets!
–Duncan
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Freelance cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, American Media, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers. See my cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
Sure thing, Duncan. I hope this helps!
Excellent commentary and advice.
I thought it was the practice of Agents/Reps NOT to handle artists that had similar styles. Haven’t dealt with a rep, but I see this mentioned in some of their submission guidelines…
Was wondering about that point???
thanks
I appreciate the info shared here. Please keep up the good work. Best wishes to you..
How do you illustrators out there manage your mailing lists? Do you make an Excel document with names and contact info? I’m setting my list up right now, and I was wondering what would be the best route?
Thanks for this article – really helpful guide for starting out. I have a question (if you’re still checking these older threads!). I’ve been using the Artist’s Market to put together a mailing list, and have come across several listings with the same mailing address (multiple imprints by the same publisher). Would you recommend mailing a card to each of the imprints, or just sending one card addressed to Publisher A/Imprints B and C?