What Illustrators Say About Finding and Keeping Clients

Conversations with many illustrators remind me that the market is still competitive - however here's what some illustrators say about finding and keeping clients:

~ Art buyers focus on talented artists who can solve a visual problem. Clients want to COLLABORATE WITH YOU - clients are not always focused on style.

~ Illustrators get work from many places. VISIBILITY everywhere is key! 

~ Active illustrators got rid of old assumptions and zeroed in on strategies that would grab market share and won some of the new business that exists.

~ Illustrators moved from high maintenance/low margin clients that are an impediment on their time to opportunities and clients that have become more profitable - producing a healthier bottom line.

~ Illustrators embraced industries that have money to spend while staying focused on their dream projects.

~ Illustrators improved and upgraded their skills - whether traditional, digital, 2D, 3D and/or motion.

~ Illustrators combine traditional graphic design AND illustration skills to create concept driven illustrative design and lettering work.

~ Illustrators learned how to turn work around and deliver it quicker in 3 formats: print, internet and iPad/Smartphone.

~ Active illustrators expand their network. They grow and FIND NEW MARKETS.

The Hoover Institute, Defining Ideas Barbara Kelley	Physician's Practice Bill Sanderson	Aladdin Books C.F. Payne	Samuel Adams Douglas Smith
Smithsonian Magazine Edward Kinsella III	McDonalds Jon Foster	Wall Street Journal Michal Dziekan	Burt's Bees Kent Barton
The San Francisco Chronicle Goni Montes	Medallion Press Chase Stone	H-E-B Dongyun Lee	New Yorker Thomas Ehretsmann
Deloitte University Press Gary Kelley	Rainmaker Entertainment Jason Seiler	Scientific American Chris Whetzel	Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Andrew R. Wright