Freelancing is the easiest, fastest, and best way to start working as a fashion illustrator

Yes! Freelancing is the easiest + fastest + best way to start working as a fashion illustrator.

It is perfect for you if you want to:

• Change your career path, and can’t wait to start working as a fashion illustrator.
• Dip your toe in what’s like to be a fashion illustrator and manage a business.
• And even if you’re afraid of leaving your job and the security it gives you for something unknown (but extremely exciting + meaningful + fulfilling!).

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know how I started working in fashion, and you also know I’m all into freelancing (especially if you’re in my free email course Become a Profitable Fashion Illustrator).

But, in just in case you’re new here, here’s a summary…

I was in college (studying industrial design), and I was SO SUPER eager to work in fashion. I wanted to spend my days designing and illustrating, and creating fashion products. Really, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I started designing and creating my own handbags. It was my very first fashion business; it started small selling to my friends, and then to the friends of my friends. Then, I stumbled into a big and huge wall: the time and money I was investing in my handbags business weren’t returning as much as I needed to make it survive.

So, I started searching for a new way to make money doing something that I ENJOYED, to help me grow my handbags business.

That’s when I found out about freelancing. The first ever time I realized I could illustrate fashion from my home, in my spare time, and be paid whatever I wanted I fell in LOVE. I saw a small announcement on a marketplace platform, and I couldn’t believe it! During the whole week, I returned to that website only to read that announcement over and over again.

I was stoked, happy, and ultra motivated. And, after a little research about what I needed to sell my services as a fashion designer and illustrator, I implemented all that, and I set up my profile and little portfolio. Then, my fashion freelance business began right there.

In the beginning, I just wanted money to keep designing and making my bags, but over time my new business was growing, evolving, and taking me to places I never thought before. It became something I LOVED and CHERISHED, then something I kind of hated, and then again something I truly LOVE and ENJOY 😁

In my latest post I talked about how to become a fashion illustrator, (a profitable fashion illustrator!), and today I want to tell you about the easiest + fastest + best way to start doing what you love and getting paid for it: which is selling your services, aka freelancing.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING, WHAT’S FREELANCING?

Generally, freelancing is offering and selling your services to people or businesses that need them. You can work from wherever you want (from your home, traveling, or from your fave coffee shop). You set your prices, you set the rules, and you work on your own schedule. You’re not considered as an employee, so you don’t get the benefits of working full time in a company, but you get lots of more great benefits.

As I see it, freelancing is the freedom to work with people and projects you love, doing what you enjoy, and doing it in your own terms. It is being your own boss, and more importantly, it is being in charge of your life.

But, why is FREELANCING the easiest + fastest + best way to start working as a fashion illustrator?

I landed my first ever project after less than a month of publishing my small portfolio and reaching to prospective clients. This first project was designing and taking care of the sample production of a footwear collection that was presented in a show in Milan. In my proposal I included pics of a pair of shoes that I designed in school and their patterns, I mentioned the design process, the production process, and how we could work together.

Although I created fashion illustrations for the shoes I designed during that project, the whole project was mainly about design. Yet, my first project in fashion illustration arrived a couple of weeks after that.

I want to emphasize that I had no testimonials, I had no recommendations, I had no referrals, I knew no one, and no one knew me. I just had a tiny portfolio and lots of passion + enthusiasm. And I got my first paid fashion freelance project, one that I truly loved and enjoyed, one that opened up a lot and huge learning + growth opportunities, and one that allowed me to work on my own terms.

So, becoming a freelance fashion illustrator is the easiest + fastest + best way to start making a living from your talent because:

1 | You don’t need a big investment in time and money

This is the most frequent concern among my students + mentees that want to start making a living as fashion illustrators:

• How much money will I have to invest before I start earning?
• How much time do I need to put in to be successful?
• What if I don’t have a lot of money?
• And what if my time is sort of limited?

Well, you can start very small. The family’s laptop + scanner, my fashion illustration tools (paper, watercolors, pencils…), and an internet connection was everything I needed at the beginning. And now on some projects, that’s all I need.

But, let’s break down what you need:

• Website + Portfolio. If you use Squarespace, you can have a beautiful website + portfolio + blog for $12 per month, and if you opt for WordPress you’ll invest less than that.
• Social Media Accounts like Instagram + Pinterest + Facebook + Twitter. They’re FREE.
  Tools + Materials. You can start with whatever you have already, and buy more stuff as over the time. But, watercolors start at $20 per set of 24 pieces, paper is around $15 per block, and you can get a set of brushes from $10 in Amazon.
• Laptop + Scanner. Use what you already have, you don’t need the latest Mac, nor the best scanner in the world. I use my laptop to enhance the color and brightness of my illustrations with Photoshop, and I also use my laptop to communicate with clients. You’ll also need it to promote and market your work online. If you don’t have a scanner you can go to a photocopy center, and they’ll scan your illustrations for less than one buck.
• Internet + Electricity. You already pay for them, so it won’t be an extra expense.

See? You don’t need extravagant amounts of money to get started, and you definitely don’t need endless hours to begin working as a fashion illustrator.

You need to set aside some time to set up your website and create your portfolio. And if you have 12-15 free hours per week, you can use them to create one or two fashion illustrations, create content for your marketing efforts (one blog post + social media for the week), and start building your audience. That’s all you need to start getting the ball rolling, you can begin growing from there, and once you feel secure to leave your job, then you can do it – if you want.

It took me a month to land my first project (and it gave me $5,500). Everything – my portfolio and my profile page – was very basic; I didn’t even have a website (although it’s a must, I didn’t know I could have one 😛 ).

The time and the money you invest in freelancing as a fashion illustrator is a tiny fraction compared to the time and money you have to spend to create a product based business. For the latter, the money investment is above the five figures, and the time you need to set up, launch, and start making money is at least ten months.

How long or how easy is it to get a regular job? I don’t know, I’ve never worked full-time in fashion – and I never will! That’s really not my thing, but I’m sure it’s more difficult and restrictive than becoming a freelance fashion illustrator.

If you’re serious about becoming a fashion illustrator, and if you want to start freelancing ask yourself:

• How many hours per day or week can I set aside to devote to my fashion illustration business?
• How many dollars per week can I set aside to make my fashion illustration business grow?

2 | You can do it anywhere

Yes, this is for REAL!

When I started working as a freelancer, I did the work on my home’s dinner table, at school between classes, at my boyfriend’s house, and at the coffee shop.

And over the years, I’ve been able to work from home, from my studio, from the beach, from the hotel pool, from Starbucks, from whenever I’ve wanted.

Seriously, you can work from wherever you are, and from wherever you want. It also applies to the city or place you live. You don’t have to wait until you move to New York or Milan, you can start working from wherever you are now.

Once, I had to send some quick drafts when I was on vacation at Los Cabos, Mexico. I drafted them watching the sea, and when I arrived at the hotel, I took some pics, and sent them. – I don’t recommend working on your vacations; that’s sacred time, but I care so much about my client’s and their needs (ok, maybe I’m a bit workaholic too), and that was super easy to do 😉

Ask yourself:

• From where would you like to work?
• Do you want to work while you travel, or would you rather work from home?

3 | You can do it according to your schedule

We covered a little of this on point number one, but I think it’s quite important to clarify that you can work as a freelance fashion illustrator according to the schedule you already have. A lot of people wait months and even years thinking they’ll have more time later, ‘maybe next week, or maybe next month’, but that time never comes.

And if you really want to make a change in your life and work as a fashion illustrator, I’m sure you can make it happen because you can use your free time or free up time to do the work you have to do.

Once I began my first freelance project I couldn’t stop, more clients started to come, and I was still in school. I had to make time for school, for homework, for family, for my lovely boyfriend, and for my own rest.

A regular full-time job could have never EVER ever fitted into my busy schedule at that time.

Now I take the amount of clients that gives me the time + money freedom I want. I work the hours I want to work during the week, and I take care of other things (and persons!) I love.

If I want to take the day off and go to the lake, I can. If I want to visit family and spend the weekend or more days with them, I can. If I want to take a whole week on the beach, I can. If there’s a special occasion I don’t want to miss, I can go. And if I feel tired or sick, I can slow down and adjust my schedule.

There’s SO MUCH FREEDOM!

Ask yourself:

• What things are important to you that you wish you were able to do but you can’t with a full-time job?
• What things are important to you that you want to keep doing even when you work as a fashion illustrator?

4 | You can start with the skills you already have

A lot of people wait until they learn how to create illustrations with watercolors, and acrylics, and oils, and markers, and digital mediums, and, and, and….

That’s only another way to procrastinate your dreams.

If your skills are already strong in one art medium (watercolors, markers, digital, or whatever), and if you already see signs of what could be your style, then you’re ready to go.

You can start marketing and on the skills you already have.

Of course, you can still learn, explore, and master other things, but you don’t have to wait until you do it to start working as a fashion illustrator.

Ask yourself:

• What are the fashion illustration skills that I already have?
• Do I feel confident about them, would I feel comfortable offering them?
• Is my style as fashion illustrator starting to show up?

5 | You can start with basic tools

I already mentioned the tools I used on my projects, which are:

• Laptop
• Scanner
• Tools and materials to create my fashion illustrations
• Photoshop
• Internet connection (to send the files, and communicate with clients).

Now you could tell me ‘but Karen, I don’t have a laptop or Photoshop is too expensive.‘ But, the first laptop I used was my dad’s (well he bought it, but everyone in the house used it 😛 ), I couldn’t use the desktop because it really was too old and super S-L-O-W. And when I couldn’t use my family’s laptop I borrowed one in my school’s library.

Photoshop too expensive? At that time, I acquired a license with the first payment of my freelance project. Now, affordable plans are starting at $10. When you think about the bigger (so MUCH bigger) returns you’re going to get, money excuses begin to vanish away.

No internet connection? You don’t have to be all day all the time on the web. You need it to communicate with your clients and send them results, besides, when you want a thriving and sustainable business, you don’t want to be a slave of your inbox.

I know things sometimes are more difficult to some persons than others, but if you want to do what you love on your own terms, then it’s your job to figure things out. You are the one in charge of your life, and you can make things easier + faster + better to yourself 😉

Ask yourself:

• What tools + things do you already have that you can use in your fashion illustration business?
• What tools + things would you need to buy?
• Can you start with what you already have?

6 | You create + do only the things you want

If you build and launch your fashion illustration business, you can create your own offerings. You don’t have to work doing something you don’t like, or something you don’t feel experienced or comfortable enough.

Do you prefer editorial illustrations over commercial?

Do you want your illustrations to be part of fashion products, clothing, wall art, packaging, branding?

What kind of products do you want to illustrate? Kidswear, Womenswear, Menswear, Accessories?

What illustration techniques do you enjoy the most? Watercolors, markers, color pencils?

You set your rules, and you offer what you want, so you enjoy your whole journey.

7 | You create your own process

You don’t have to follow anyone’s style or process.

You can create, and tweak, and improve your own creative process and style. And also the process you follow to work with clients and delight them, is all up to you.

As you learn new things you can implement them into your process, the more experience you get, the more unique your process will be. And the more unique your style + process are, the more you stand out.

8 | You can charge what you want

Yes! You charge what you want!

Sometimes, particularly in the beginning, you’ll have to negotiate, but I believe that if you want a thriving, successful, and authentic business, you have to stick to your pricing and never undervalue your work.

So, you don’t have to be limited to a salary; it is sad to have dreams and attach those dreams + goals to the amount of money we can spend every month. When you have a freelance business, you are in charge of how much you want to earn and the hours you want to work.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Ask yourself:

• How much do you want to earn per month, per week, or per illustration?
• How much do you want to earn per day, or per week?

9 | You can work with as many clients as you want – or can handle

Do you want to work in multiple tiny projects at the same time? Or do you prefer only one large project?

Yes, that’s also up to you! Can you see now how the freedom + flexibility + the joy a freelance business can give you?

When I started my business, I used to say ‘the more, the better.’ But, over the time I realized that I rather have quality clients and projects over a large quantity of them. Maybe you think like me, or maybe don’t, but you are the one who sets the rules.

10 | Clients want to work with you because of your style and talent

In many full-time jobs you get hired according to your salary rate, but if you establish yourself as an experienced fashion illustration with a distinct style, and show off your talents, you’ll start attracting raving clients instead of chasing nightmare clients.

This is huge! If you can work on your own schedule, charging what you want, doing what you love, and on top of that you work with delightful + loving clients, then you are in heaven! (me singing with a heavenly voice, haha!)

BUILDING A FREELANCE BUSINESS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE THOUGH

Yes, there’s a disclaimer here.

Despite all the amazing reasons why freelancing is the easiest + fastest + best way to start making money as a fashion illustrator, you have to work hard, you have to be consistent and persistent, you have to hustle, you have to deliver, and you have to delight.

This is not for people that give up easily, not for people that conform with little, even less for people that want overnight success.

Freelancing as a fashion illustrator is for passionate people that want to do what they love on their own terms, but also that want to pour their heart and soul into what they do.

This is for people who want to grow and evolve along the way and help others to grow and evolve with them. This is for hardworking people that are willing to give their best every time, every day, in every project.

To Finish…

My hope for this post is that you can see the awesome benefits + possibilities you have when you decide to become a freelance fashion illustrator. And I hope this post serves + encourages + inspires you to create your thriving fashion illustration business!

One more thing, before I go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This blog post is part of a series I’ve created to present you the first launch of Thriving as Fashion Creative, an 8-week step-by-step program that’s here to help you turn your passion for fashion illustration into a CRAZY profitable business.

A business that makes you stand out from the crowd so your dream people find you. One that offers services that your dream clients can’t resist loving, sharing, and buying. A business that is all yours, and that allows you to do what you most love + live the life you want.

There are a few spots available, and it starts in September 2016 – find out more this way.

With all my LOVE!

P.S: Will you try freelancing as a fashion illustrator?

If your answer to this questions is ‘yes, yes, yes, I can’t wait!’, I have to invite you and encourage you to:

Sign up to Thriving as Fashion Creative. It’s been created for you, the passionate + talented fashion illustrator who can’t wait to make her dream business happen.

I’ll teach you how to start your business from scratch + make a living doing what you love.
I’ll give you space to learn + implement.
I’ll make it easier for you to plan + show up.

And I’ll be with you along the way, step-by-step, hand-in-hand. Go here to secure your spot.