Thursday 2 June 2011

You've gotta sell 'em !!!

When I first started this business back in early 2007 I had a really minimalist web site with few samples. The inquiries I got were simply emailed the price and a few other details. Business didn't exactly boom !

I gleaned a few bits of business and marketing advice from fellow caricaturists - membership of ISCA proved invaluable for this - and gradually kept updating and upgrading my website. It's not anywhere as good as I'd like it to be, but the plans are in place for a really 'serious' one to be in place early next year.
That is once I've fathomed out RapidWeaver, to date I've used iWeb but it has limitations and Apple haven't updated it for some time.

Once I've received an inquiry, whether by email or the 'fill in a form' on the website, I endeavour to get back to the inquirer within 24 hours. I email them a comprehensive personal letter outlining my services and pricing and what I require them to supply - I have a mass of templates stored in TextEdit for this covering every type of request or scenario I've ever received. If I see the need I'll phone them as well.

I also attach a 'recent samples' sheet for them to check out. I can't, and don't, keep updating the artwork on my website that, at best, is an annual process. I do however keep a large .psd file with all my recent favourites, this is in constant update, and is sent as a .jpg along with, if necessary a larger image of a theme they're interested in. 

I spend a lot of time quoting but it is worthwhile. I keep statistics when I started I was receiving commissions on less than 10% of the quotes - it's now over 50%. Usually more work than I can handle and in fact I've always got a month to 6 weeks full capacity work scheduled in and, as of now,  jobs booked up to April 2012.  People like the personal touch. 

'They will come' doesn't work.

  

Weddings are a very important part of my business and as such I treat them as a separate caricature type.
Here is the current sample sheet for quoting on these.



10 comments:

Niall O loughlin said...

And now we're learning from you, nice one Tel, ever the pro! (don't ever move to Ireland, I'll gun you down in the airport)

Unknown said...

hahahaha - no chance mate !
Might visit you one day though .... in my flak jacket !

Steve Roberts said...

Things to do: steal emailed example sheet idea from Terry ;) Great idea, thanks for sharing your experience Tel, much appreciated.

john said...

you've done extremely well in such a short space of time Tel, but it isn't surprising with the quality of work you produce...

Unknown said...

Cheers John and Steve - it's not really 'rocket science' is it !

Vincenzo said...

Really phenomenal stuff Terry!!!

Unknown said...

Cheers Vin - thanks for dropping in mate !

Mateus Souza said...

Hi Tel, this is Mateus Souza, I'm from Brazil and I know your website since last year.

Before anything, I wanna say sorry for my english! I lived in the U.S. four years ago, but my english is bad!

So, I came here to say that I greatly appreciate your work and get inspired it! Congratulations! I consider you one of the greatest caricaturist in the world and I love your style! Take care! Graciously!

Dave "Rock" Cowles said...

Always a smart guy! Good Stuff, Tel.

Kamal Dollah said...

Good advice Tel. Maybe I should steal your samples and use it. BTW I'm drawing too many people visiting from Perth who said you're too busy. :)