The Easiest Way To Determine Which Form Of Promotion Works
(Illustration by Thomas James)
There are a lot of ways to promote yourself as an Illustrator. How do you know what’s really working and what’s not?
As professional artists, promotion is a major component of our businesses. As time goes on, there are more and more ways to do that, such as direct mail, email, social networking, paid portfolio sites, promotional services, competitions, etc.
As with anything, there is always a cost with every form of promotion, whether it’s your time and energy or cold hard cash. We only have so many resources to work with as creative professionals, so it’s incredibly important to know how they are best utilized. Otherwise, you’ll end up squandering your time and money without much to show for it.
After all, the point is to bring in more work and new clients, right?
So, how do you know which form of promotion is worth your valuable (and limited) resources?
Ask.
That’s right. Ask your clients where they found you.
Sure, you can check your stats to find out what sites or services are leading people to your website, but you never know who your visitors are or why they came. Besides, the main idea isn’t just to boost your online presence but to make a living.
That’s why it should be a regular part of your interaction with your clients to ask them how they found out about you. That’s really the only way to know which promotional activity is bringing you new clients.
For those of you who might be disappointed by the simplicity of this advice, the reason that this idea is worthy of its own blog post is that many Illustrators never ask this question at all. This is a big mistake because it really is the best way to find out what’s working.
The Long Game
Keep in mind that this approach takes time. In order to get a true impression of real results, you’ll need to try different things out and let them do their thing over time.
So, If your stats are showing a lot of traffic from a certain place without getting you any contracts, that doesn’t mean that you should ditch it altogether. All I’m saying is that it’s never a good idea to continue to dump resources into something that isn’t offering a return on your investment at least part of the time. So, actual results should be a major consideration when determining what’s working for you.
Have you ever asked your clients where they found you? What other ways do you track the success of your promotional efforts?
Please share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Related Posts:
- Promotion 101 for Artists
- What’s Wrong With Your Illustration Business?
- 9 Ways to Run a Smart Creative Business
- Are Your Promo Materials Out of Date?
- Email Marketing vs. Print Promotion for Artists
- Creating Your Promotional Strategy
- 10 Rules of Effective Self-Promotion
- How to Build an Effective Mailing List
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That’s great advice.. EVERYTIME a client contacts me, after the conversation about money and any other banter to land the job, I ask them how they found me.
Getting this info also helps to get an idea of and preconceptions or lack thereof the client may have for you..
-If someone recommended me, I even ask who did so, and sometimes I ask how they know each other.
This is also a way to find out what your clients know about you, and how that might affect your working relationship. And it can give you some sort of personal connection with the client, especially if you are both on good terms with the “recommending party”.
Thanks for your comment, Tariq. All great points. I think you’re asking that question at the perfect time in your conversation with the client.
I too always ask how a client found me. It is a good policy and helpful to know for future self promotion purposes and also in terms of negotiation.
Depending on how they found me they might need to be educated on pricing/rights/etc. and it will affect how I price out a job. For instance if they found me through a directory, chances are they are professional and have an understanding of what illustrations cost and I can comfortably charge accordingly.
If they found me through a friend who knows I’m an illustrator, they may not and it might require a different kind of negotiation and a need to educate.