Every month The One Club for Creativity hosts Creative Space at the Mingei Museum in San Diego. This month we heard the tall tales and epiphanies of illustrator Brad Woodard of Brave the Woods. Brad shared insights behind the business of his illustration studio. Much of this can be applied to running other creative businesses.
Make friends – People like to work with people they know. Keep in touch with colleagues. They all move on to other jobs, clients, and agencies and will still hire you. Brad mentioned that he emails colleagues from time to time just to see how they are doing, never a request for work. Top of mind = more assignments.
Cultivate an opinion – Share your thoughts about the industry. Brad got his start early during the golden days of blogging and this really built up his readership These days you might share on TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn. (LinkedIn is severely underused by most creatives.)
Curate your portfolio – Show the work you want to do more of. Brad got his start in infographics but got tired of doing them. His next job was design-centric with a focus on illustration.
Create the opportunity – If you don’t have a paid opportunity for a new type of project you want to try, initiate the work yourself: video, a book, or animation. Brad self-published a children’s book and since then has worked with every major publisher.
Have multiple streams of income – How else can you make money beyond client work? Store. Classes. Making brushes and presets. Social media monetization. Brad makes how to digital art videos. This elevated his presence and drew the attention of larger, big-budget clients.
License – Participate in client success. This can be a big source of income for illustrators and photographers.
Learn about the business side.
Brad mentioned that in art school he didn’t learn a thing about business. I find this true with many recent grads that I talk too. But luckily business can be learned without getting an MBA in the arts. (I can’t think of a better waste of money.) Knowing how to conduct business is what separates successful creative business owners. (Not necessarily their skill at their craft.)
And look at the cute print everyone went home with. Thanks Neyenesch Printers, Inc. Another great idea: always leave your audience with something to take home. It’s how you keep top of mind.
Creative Space happens the first Wednesday evening of every month. I hope to see you there sometime if you live in the San Diego area. As a San Diego copywriter my number one tip for propelling your creative career is to get out and meet people. If you have a network of fellow creatives that you can rely on and refer work to and get feedback from, your practice will soar.
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