So, theres this question I seem to get asked a bit by artists who are looking to transition from amateur to being a paid pro: I enjoy x, y and z (different parts of the creative field - eg. drawing/3d/photography/graphic design or different parts of a specific niche eg. landscape/vehicles/props/characters) but but Ive only got limited time and I feel Im progressing slowly on all fronts. Basically, chasing too many rabbits and not catching any. My advice (based on my own experience) is almost always the same and is based on the practicality of getting out from under mom and dads roof, living in the real world and becoming self sufficient ASAP - its certainly not to everyones liking because you basically cut almost everything from your life apart from the pursuit of your goal and tends to be a young persons game. You answer two questions: 1. Which one/s have greatest market demand (meaning sidelining the stuff you enjoy but for which no one will pay you for). 2. Which one/s are you close to being pro-standard (ie. lowest-hanging fruit that you can start charging for). Pick one that satisfies both points, temporarily de-focus on the rest then single-mindedly push your chosen skill-set into the professional leagues as quickly as possibly on a deadline. Single-mindedly means scaling back on everything that gets in the way of your skill-acquisition velocity - which for me meant social life, travel and buying stuff. Once your skills in this area are pro-grade, its time to switch to marketing and hit it hard to bring your income up to a sufficient level. When youre making decent coin, you can decelerate and re-engage in the things you had to sideline for a while. For me at least, its worked pretty well.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 03:58:26 +0000
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