Your Questions About Business Online San Diego

Jere answers:

I’m a freelancer. I’ve been one for 14 years. I’ve got work up to my eyeballs with great clients who trust me and pay me very well. My work is creatively fulfilling and I’ve got flexibility to make my own schedules, work from home, etc. (of course it also comes with a lot of stress, deadlines, all-nighters, etc.)

I’d say the best way to improve your business in the early stages is to constantly set up meetings to show your portfolio to art directors at ad agencies, magazines, corporate art departments, etc. You can find these places by doing google searches using the name of your nearest city (i.e.”San Diego Advertising Agency”). You can’t be shy. Just say “hi I’m a freelance designer I’d love to come in and show my portfolio. Is there an art director I can speak with?” Then just show up and show your stuff. The whole goal is to pick up on other names of art directors (ask!) and then visit them as well. Sooner or later someone will latch onto you.

Step 2 is to say “yes” to every project that comes your way. Even if this means you need to spend days learning new software and sleepless nights working to deadlines. The goal at this stage is to always be on time, always deliver what’s asked, and always bill within budget (even if you eat some hours)

Also:
Make sure you have samples of your work available online. And post an ad on craigslist every couple of weeks if you’re slow. (if you live in the sticks, post in big cities like SF, LA, NY and say you work remotely. But you know, freelancing is definitely an urban career… You’ll always do better if you can show up to meetings at a moment’s notice)

So basically – always be on the lookout for new clients, always be showing your portfolio, always be adding to your portfolio, always say yes, always be learning new software and techniques, and forget about sleep!

Jere answers:

So you’re having vegemite withdrawals???
Step into this alley and we might be able to do business …lol
I’m an Aussie and I’ve sent small jars of vegemite to people I’ve met online to places like Canada and Indiana and New Mexico … Most were like you … Found it a bit overpowering at first … The best way to have it is on hot toast with plenty of butter and just enough vegemite to turn the butter that greyish browny color 🙂
Good luck in finding some
email deadkelly@excite.com if you’d like me to send you some 😉

Jere answers:

Google, Yahoo, etc. Not Tv though that cost like a thousand doolars per sec.

Jere answers:

Ah… But what is the proper price? It is what people will pay. So if they won’t pay you what you think it is worth, you need to work to make them think it is worth more.

This is called marketing. To create value, you need to restrict the supply (easy, since the works are unique) and increase the demand.

How do you increase demand? You have to think like a buyer and ask yourself why you would want the painting. Is it artistically interesting? For instance, check out the works of Nandalal Bose or Raja Ravi Varma. They are significant because their styles bridged the period between the end of WWI and the modern era, and gave voice to the yearnings of a nation (Bose’s paintings and early sketches are on display at the San Diego Museum of Art). What is unique about yours? Are they paintings of a part of India no one outside India has seen? Are they an Indian take on cubism or impressionism? Anyway, think like that and you will be able to describe your work in a way that will attract the attention of others.

Ask friends and even strangers what they think art like yours is worth. Ask them to be honest, and compare answers.

Hope this helps.

Jere answers:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is what you need to be doing to get the search engines to notice you and gain exposure by actually being found by people who need what you have to offer.

Some of the key points are:

-Placing keywords into your page content (i.e Original T-shirt designs, Trusted pet sitters in San Diego, Professional web design in Dallas).

-Gathering links to your page through social bookmarks, back-links, facebook, twitter, good blog content. Links that are keywords pertaining to your site are especially valuable.

-Updating the site and pinging the search engines when you have new content.

For more ways to build your online presence and rank high with the search engines, check out http://www.local-business-marketing-specialists.com I’d start with downloading their free report.

Good luck!