Is there anybody out there? [linkpost]

Written By Caroline Beavon

One of the biggest challenges of being a freelancer is finding the work …

I’ve never had to advertise as work has come to me from the effort I’ve put in attending design conferences, data meet-ups, design events, delivering infographics training and giving visual communication talks -  someone who met me, remembers my name and contacts me when they need me. 10 years of freelancing taught me to be my own advert, speak to people and become known for what I do.

What I’d actually done was build a community  - albeit distributed across the real and online world - of people who liked what I did, would hire me if they needed me and (most importantly) would recommend me to others.

Salary wise I was doing ok (and looking at the latest research .. I was definitely in the right ballpark (discover what real salaries look like in creativity today) but a brief tussle with breast cancer in 2020 (12 months of hardcore treatment) then shielding from COVID put pay to a lot of the in-person connections being made, and I wasn’t great at keeping those conversation pots boiling online.

That’s not to say I wasn’t connecting with people … in fact I was spending just as much time online, but I’d been seduced by a new community … the arty content creators.

I’d discovered a love for mixed media art during lockdown, and a few Youtube searches threw me headlong into a group of fascinating millennials … (I’m talking about people like Frannerd, Leigh Ellexson, Furry Little Peach and Bybun) - small shop owners and creative YouTubers/Patreon creators who make as much money (if not more) from their content as they do from their Etsy shops. They have multiple income streams and juggle between recording and editing behind the scenes videos, whilst designing products to sell online.

And how have they done this?

By building a community … hundreds, if not thousands, of fans who not only pay for physical goods, but sign up to their Patreon, chat in their private Discord channel and evangelise their work to others.

It’s a cottagecore industry, with a tasty income.

And the mega corps have cottoned onto this …. Brand loyalty has been replaced by brand friendship - it’s not enough for the customer to be just loyal TO the brand, they’re expected to be mates WITH the brand (Why brands are now building communities)

I’m not sure I’d have the energy to start a YouTube channel, or a Patreon .. but I am definitely looking to reconnect with my community. For one, I’m keen to get back to coworking (I’ve missed it terribly) but I also need to get my head back into the industry conversations. But like someone dipping their toe into online chat rooms back in the 90s, the advice is always, “sit back and watch the conversation before jumping in”

Whether it’s a community you want to connect with, or a client you need to help, you have to listen  … check out this fascinating article from Atmos - Listening as a Radical Act

So I think this week I’ll be mostly hanging out on Twitter and Linkedin, and listening, because I need my community back.

Caroline Beavon
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