033: Secret Codes (1/3)
That unlocked the door into the creative industry.
Today’s newsletter unpacks the the first of 3 short pieces of advice I got from the industry I was trying to get in. I’ll tell you what the advice meant to me, and how I used it to find my treasure.
1. Are you in contact with a lot of people who hire illustrators? If not I’d start there.
This seems such an obvious point.
But at that moment in time my answer was no. I was not in contact with a lot of people who hire illustrators.
I posted a lot of stuff on the internet. But I was in contact with only a handful of people who hire illustrators.
My mistake was interacting with a handful when i needed to be interacting with a lot. It was a minor detail, but this piece of advice helped me self correct.
So instead of following only illustrators online, I started also following art directors, creative directors and editors. Just keeping my eyes open for these new category to follow helped me see them everywhere.
Now I was “connected”. The next thing was to pay attention
to the things they post, interacting with things that resonate, laughing at their jokes (the funny ones), you get the idea. I was opening the door for ever more meaningful interactions. I was starting the ‘conversation’ by saying here are some things I genuinely like about you.I also signed up for online events that got you in front of people who hire illustrators. Sometimes it lead to work, but it also lead to gaining insights about the people who hire illustrators. And over time these interactions lead to work.
Being in contact with a lot of people who hire illustrators is like going to many mini job interviews. It increased the surface area of LUCK.
Narrowing the Gap
You might be doing all the right things. But in the wrong quantities.
You may have all the ingredients, but you might need to tweak the recipe.
Think about how you might need to reallocate your time, is there something you should be doing more off? And if you’re not sure, ask a pro.
Attention is a currency.