“Don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

I recently quit my job as a graphics and motion designer in an agency with the aim of going freelance by the beginning of next year. While there’s a lot to figure out with insurance and pensions etc, what I’m wondering most is what’s the best way for me to reach out to clients – especially agencies that create work I see myself in?

How should a fresh freelancer get in touch with agencies to offer their services?

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

It’s super exciting that you’re jumping into the world of freelance. It sounds like you already know the type of studios you want to work for, but I’d start with a list of your top 5. Try to be considered when sending your first enquiries, rather than messaging every agency you know and losing track.

The best place to start is on socials. Visibility. People are much more likely to respond to you if they recognise your name. Now is a great time to start engaging with some of the content these studios are creating. Whether that’s new case studies, commenting on thought pieces from the team, even heading to events they’re speaking at. A really important criteria when booking freelancers is knowing they’re nice, passionate people. So try to show them that ahead of landing in their inbox.

If you know someone who has worked there before, reach out and ask for an introduction. That’s another great way to demonstrate your character.

When it comes to getting in touch, personally I find a quick message on LinkedIn is the best way to open a conversation. Keep it short. “Hi X, I’m a massive fan of the studio and would love to work together. Is there a good email address to send over my portfolio?” Getting a personal email address is a better route in than a generic ‘hello’.

But don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back, wait a couple of days and shoot a message off to the email they have on their site. Keep it concise! Tell them your name, job role, a list of your skills. Then a link to your work (bonus points for an online presentation versus a chunky PDF) and your day rate and availability. Make it as easy as possible for someone to book you without having to go back and forth with questions. Then offer to jump on a quick call and talk them through your work.

The other option is using a recruiter. There are lots of agencies out there like Path & Unknown who take on freelance briefs too. Arranging a chat with them is more likely to convert into work than joining the hundreds of replies to job postings on LinkedIn. But a small note on recruiters – once they introduce you to a studio, any work you win will need to be through them. So try to set up direct connections first.

Freelancing is such a cool way to meet new people and test drive different types of work. Best of luck in your new adventure.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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