Getting back into the industry and new clients

[carlosvandango]

Hi guys, I’m looking for a bit of advice, I hope this sort of question isn’t out of line.

 

I used to be a full time 3D visualiser a few years back, I worked for a company that went bust in the 2008 credit crunch and I fell out of 3D work as there wasn’t much about. I started my own business selling on-line instead and I’m pleased to say it’s made me a decent living but it takes care of itself now and I’m looking for something to do.

 

I’ve kept up my skills with 3D working on freelance projects as and when I can get them but I’ve not put any real effort into getting new clients.

 

So I guess I have two questions really, firstly how is the market for 3D Visuals in the UK at the moment, is there enough work out there to do this full time as a freelancer? Secondly how do you guys actually get work, do you just approach Architects and Interior design companies offering your service or is it more complicated that? I don’t have much experience in B2B sales or anything similar so it’s all a bit new to me.

 

Thanks

[philippelamoureux]

I don't have much experience but it seems like word to mouth is the best way to get new clients. Try to use social medias to promote your work too. One thing I'm planning to do is to follow every architect/design studios in my city on twitter and ''hopefully''have them follow me. That way I can constantly post my best work and they can see it. I think it's not too intrusive.

 

Make sure you have a nice website to showcase your work before trying to promote yourself though.

[Scott Schroeder]

While social media is nice, the person following you at an architecture firm is more than likely from marketing and is not going to notice your rendering skills. You need to reach out to the architect themselves, but be prepared to be one of the many requests that they get each day. I typically get at least 5-10 unsolicited check out my renderings! emails a day. All of which go pretty much straight to the recycle bin. The people in marketing probably get tens times the amount of unsolicited requests each day, so I would go into social media with the bigger firms with extremely low expectations.

 

You need to get your foot in the door and the best way to do that is though human interaction. Go to events in your area and meet people. I'm sure the UK has something equivalent to the American Institute of Architects here in the US. They always have meetups going on somewhere. I got quite a bit of work through doing charity work through Habitat for Humanity and getting to know local builders/developers.

[philippelamoureux]

Good advice. There are a couple of events I was planning to attend in my city. There was a crazy nice event back in 2013 in my city (Montreal) but they don't do it anymore. Design Montreal open doors. Basically you could go visit pretty much every architect/designer offices in town for free and meet the people who worked there. Would have been such a nice opportunity to make contacts. I wasn't doing 3d at the time though.

[CliveG]

...you could go visit pretty much every architect/designer offices in town for free...

 

What do they charge for a visit normally ?

[Lupaz]

Hi Carlos,

 

I don't know the UK market, but in the US I feel the market that targets architects and designers is completely saturated.

You'll be selling a service they don't need. They're comfortable with having an intern with sketch-up. Why would they pay for an image if they can have as many as they want in-house for less money?

[carlosvandango]

Thanks for the replies, some good advice here. I think the direct approach of getting out and meeting people is a good idea then. Perhaps a bit of direct marketing as well.

 

@guido gspth: I appreciate your point but I know people do hire in 3d professionals as I've had work before myself and know of at least one person locally who has been making a full time living to support himself and 3 kids for years now so I'm confident it can be done, although I expect a lot of no answers along the way.

[innerdream]

Thanks for the replies, some good advice here. I think the direct approach of getting out and meeting people is a good idea then. Perhaps a bit of direct marketing as well.

 

@guido gspth: I appreciate your point but I know people do hire in 3d professionals as I've had work before myself and know of at least one person locally who has been making a full time living to support himself and 3 kids for years now so I'm confident it can be done, although I expect a lot of no answers along the way.

 

I don't think there is a mystery, get good clients, do great work and you'll get paid a living wage. That said good clients are rare and there are tons of options for them in terms of talent.

[Ernest Burden III]

What do they charge for a visit normally ?

 

Time and self-worth

[Lupaz]

 

@guido gspth: I appreciate your point but I know people do hire in 3d professionals as I've had work before myself and know of at least one person locally who has been making a full time living to support himself and 3 kids for years now so I'm confident it can be done, although I expect a lot of no answers along the way.

 

Things changed. Even in the last 3 years. Sketchup is the new standard now. Cheap software + easy modeling + new render engines + architecture students having rendering skills as a must + too many new architects(this last one is a common denominator in history). It's not hard to believe that getting a client to pay over $1000 for one image is extremely hard. Quality or realism is not key anymore, or at least it's not worth the extra thousands of dollars for a little difference in quality.