It is really important that your website is coded well with all the correct tags, keywords etc. Your website is the one place you can promote your illustration work that you have 100% control over. Obviously your website will be your first & initially your most important method of self-promotion. Now this is where it starts to get interesting…. How to Promote Yourself and Find Work as a Freelance Illustrator On your portfolio site it’s always a good idea to include a few links to other places where your work appears such as Behance, Pinterest, Instagram, other blogs, your shop, published work if you have one etc.
You can also include a bit of info about yourself, how much is entirely up to you. Your portfolio should be easy to use, professional and pleasant to look which not only shows a consistent body of work of but also your contact details. But what you do need to is make sure it’s accessible.
You don’t have to include all your work in your portfolio, it’s probably better if you don’t. The most obvious first step is to put together a portfolio website and get it out there with your name attached to it. Get used to the idea that you run a business and think like someone who runs a business and take it seriously. Even if that business is only one person, you.
Working freelance/independently whatever you call it means you are running your own business. No one else is going to believe that you are an illustrator if you sound like you’re not sure yourself. If you’re promoting yourself as a freelance illustrator then that’s what you are. You can have a great portfolio but if you don’t take yourself and your business seriously other probably won’t either. Confidence that you are competent and able to fulfil their brief, on time and with skill. Obviously, I’m not suggesting that you should lie but you need to instil confidence in potential clients. If you don’t know what you’re doing then who is going to pay you for your illustration work? Phrases like this imply that you aren’t professional and might not know what you’re doing. You need to remove phrases such as ‘ would be illustrator’ from your vocabulary, website and any online biographies. But I had lots of skills I didn’t want to see going to waste and after a few months I realised that yes, not only could I set up my own business, but that I could also make a success of it too. At the time I’d just been made redundant and we had 3 children of 5 years and under. I hooted with derision when my husband first suggested I set up my own business. If you don’t believe you can do it, you’re going to have a difficult time convincing other people (i.e. I know that’s corny but it’s really, really important to have self belief in yourself and your abilities if your serious about finding work as a freelance illustrator.
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