Business 101: Big fish, Small Fish

(be sure to check out Jonathon’s previous post, Business 101: If You Believe It, It Will Become)

Ok, lets see if I can make two points at the same time.

When I first graduated and was ready to take the illustration world by storm a well-respected art director at The Times gave me the advice, “when it comes to clients, start at the top and work your way back.”

It’s great advice, especially to those people who are saying to themselves ‘oh I’ll just send stuff to my local weekly newspapers… “Smaller publications”… because it will be easier to get work from them…’. (here comes the first point) If you are beginning an illustration career you should not see ‘small’ clients as the only places you are worthy to work for just because you are new to the business; In general terms getting work is not about time spent as a professional, it is about the quality of your product. Plain and simple.

Now the other side of the coin.

The pervious advice should be bullet point number one on any new illustrator’s business plan, but it doesn’t mean a person should discard the so-called small stuff either. What I propose is to see the landscape of illustration clients on a level plain, treat the Philadelphia City Paper with equal respect and importance as Rolling Stone Magazine; my reasoning:

It is true that we as business owners want to do work for places that provide the most joy and fulfillment, but let’s be honest, we also want to make as much money as possible. Arguably the bigger clients will pay more money per illustration, especially when compared to a small B/W spot from a weekly paper. This is a logical approach, but don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. A magazine such as Rolling Stone can offer a nice payday for an illustration, but as a monthly magazine you can assume they are not going to call you more than 1-3 times a year (*average estimate). While these jobs are exactly what we all want, don’t brush off the importance of the smaller stuff.

Consider this: A weekly occurs 4 times more a month than a monthly, based on numbers alone, your likelihood of having steady work or at least more frequent offers from weeklies is much higher. Sure $100 sounds small compared to a nice $2000 pay day, but remember if you cultivate a good relationship with the weekly client and you get one spot a month you’re looking at an extra $1200 for the year. Now imagine you land 2 of these clients…$2400…you get the picture. Believe me, at the end of the day it makes a difference.

With the variety of pay scale that we as illustrators deal with, the smartest business decision is to look past the pyramid of clients and take it all on a level playing field. Each client you work for, whether big or small, will present its own set of benefits to your career and business. The idea is to keep your head up and always consider the long term. Don’t underestimate the power of the ‘smaller jobs’, but don’t think that’s all you are good for either.