Advice for an Artist?

[Imatk]

Hi guys,

I found this forum and have been reading and reading and reading hehe.

I've been trying to come up with an idea for my own venture, but it seems like most of you guys who are successful at your own business seem to be in marketing, real estate, or other forms of sales / numbers driven businesses.

I am a visual effects artist. I've been in the industry for about ten years, and I've probably worked on many of the television shows or movies that many of you watch.

I was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and have done very well in my field.

I make good money, but definitely not "fast lane" money, and after reading MJ's articles and many of your success stories I'm thinking I've been missing the picture.

Thing is, I'm not really a salesman or a numbers person, probably why I gravitated toward art.

I've been really trying to come up with a business idea like marketing or some other type, but I realize this really isn't my forte and I thought perhaps I could use what I already have to create some sort of business venture.

I haven't yet figured out what that is though heh. So I was wondering if any of you would have some good ideas for me to be able to somehow turn what I've accomplished in my current career into a "fastlane" approach.

I don't know if I should, or am allowed to, post my website here, so if I'm not supposed to please delete the site address for me.

My current demo reel is here: SamJam design:ortfolio

And the homepage is SamJam design:: Home

Thanks for any advice guys

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Welcome to the board and thanks for the partial introduction. My question for you is ... how can you bring your talent to the masses?

Also, what is a demo reel? Is that your work? Looks very well done ... how about I hire you?

PS: I let the links be stay since this seems genuine.

 

[Imatk]

Thanks very much

As for bringing it to the masses, I kind of already do in a way, just not a profitable way I suppose.

I get 30-50k hits on average on my site a month. But I don't sell anything on there, it's just basically my portfolio and demo reel.

I've had much more traffic after either doing an interview or posting a new art piece on other sites like CG Arena and the like, but again I don't really see any profit from that.

I've thought about selling high resolution prints, so that could be one avenue. I'm just trying to think of a creative way to maybe fill a need or void that perhaps someone hasn't thought of so far.

 

[TaxGuy]

:Welcome:

I am in the same boat that I feel it'll be hard to do sales/marketing and I'm currently reading "From Patent to Profit" which translates to your line of work in that it advocates inventors(or designers in your case) stick to the creativity part and build a team around yourself that involves a sales/marketing, legal and business management.

It seems that one common denomonator of all established fastlaners is that they have an expertise, usually their own creativity and ability to think outside the box and what they don't know they find someone who can, hopefully fanocks2003 can chime in on this as he has been a major source of inspiration for me personally with not only his success story, but a lot of the advice he has posted, then again, don't want anyone to feel left out as not only the successful entrepreneurs like him, MJ and countless others, but even the up and comers give daily inspiration and motivation that I hope other get from my posts which make this such a valuable community!

 

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[Imatk]

Thanks very much

I'll check out that book, sounds interesting.

Yeah I read fanocks2003's success story. Amazing... it's incredible that someone that young could achieve so much so early on in life.

I'd really like to be able to translate what I do into some kind of business venture not only for myself, but for my family so that I could then teach them how to operate in the "fast lane." Wish I had found this site long ago.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

You have talent! Welcome

 

[TaxGuy]

Wish I had found this site long ago.

A lot of us(myself included) are saying that! In fact I found this place in April, by accident and even took it for granted for several months before becoming as active as I've been the last 2-3 months and it's amazing how much motivation you get here as well as there is always something new to learn!

As far as young'ns making it big, there are more extreme stories than fanocks and is why I have plenty of faith in all the active teens on here that they'll be successful by the time they reach my age and also motivates me to set short and long term goals so I can be financially independent by age 30(I turn 25 next Tue).

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

So what does it cost to produce something like that? (Your demo reel?) Your fees? Production? The entire shee-bang.

 

[Imatk]

Thanks again guys

I'm 37 so you've got a few years head start on me vr4playa.

As for cost, my demo reel is a span of about a year's worth of work so I'm not even sure what it would tally. I would say for the studios I worked for it would be in the hundreds of thousands, and perhaps more if you total all the production costs, of course I'm getting just a slice of that because like you wrote, I'm not "driving the car."

Figure generally commercial work (which usually pays a bit more depending) could be anywhere from a 200k spot to 1million spot, but of course that's if you are the studio.

 

[andviv]

wow!

ok, first, welcome to the forum.

now, again, wow!

That is talent.

Can you write? (it seems you can, your posts are well articulated, for what I've seen so far).

People (specially youngster) would like to learn HOW to make something like this happen.

Put together a document (think e-book for now) where you explain to people how to make this work, explain the details, make it a how-to... and start selling that. It will take you time to get the first one ready, but once it is done it will continue bringing revenue.

Also, start marketing a seminar you will have to teach people about this.... that may also be another revenue stream, although not that passive, but speakers-instructors bring a lot of business as people see them as the experts.

 

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[Imatk]

Also, what is a demo reel? Is that your work? Looks very well done ... how about I hire you?

Hey MJ, sorry I missed this the first time I read it, my demo reel is basically a visual resume. A collection of work I've done to show prospective employers.

As for hiring me, well sure Let me know what you had in mind.

 

[Imatk]

wow!

ok, first, welcome to the forum.

now, again, wow!

That is talent.

Can you write? (it seems you can, your posts are well articulated, for what I've seen so far).

People (specially youngster) would like to learn HOW to make something like this happen.

Put together a document (think e-book for now) where you explain to people how to make this work, explain the details, make it a how-to... and start selling that. It will take you time to get the first one ready, but once it is done it will continue bringing revenue.

Also, start marketing a seminar you will have to teach people about this.... that may also be another revenue stream, although not that passive, but speakers-instructors bring a lot of business as people see them as the experts.

Thanks very much andviv

I never thought of doing a book. But that's a really good idea. I don't really know why I didn't think of it before actually.

I have a degree in journalism, and I've been published in several magazines and newspapers before I started working in the visual effects field, so that's pretty much right up my alley.

Thanks very much for the idea :smx9:

 

[AroundTheWorld]

Great idea Andres ++,

Also - - are you getting paid royalties for all the work you have done? Possible to negotiate your pay / contracts differently in the future?

 

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[andviv]

well, your story kind of reminds me of RussH's story, when he was a recognized name in the AV world (he was published in Home Theater magazines and was a speaker).

His advice would be valuable in this case, I guess.

Also, was thinking... why not record a session of your work, and make it a set of youtube videos, where people get to see how you do a few tricks. That should help your name to be established. It would make people come to your website to see your job. It is all part of a big marketing strategy to make yours a household name when people talk about this type of work. It would then only be natural for you to publish a book.

As part of the same strategy, get in touch with colleges and tell them you would be willing to stop by and present your work, so students get inspiration from your work. These students could be the buyers of your publications, as now they know who you are, and they identify you by name.

ATW, great idea about negotiating the contracts.