Last year storyboard artist Mark Simon published a 3-CD audio set containing his lecture “The Thriving Artist” given at the National Caricaturist Convention. Simon’s website describes the lecture as a “non-stop energy presentation packed with insider secrets and industry stories you won’t hear anywhere else.” The first two CD’s contain the lecture, and the third “bonus” CD is Mark discussing all the information he didn’t have time to include in his presentation.
Since I’ve been freelancing for over ten years now, I didn’t think there would be much information on the CD’s that I didn’t already know. But I was pleasantly surprised. The CD’s are jam-packed with very practical info, and although much of the content is material I was already familiar with there were quite a few tips and insights I hadn’t heard or considered before, or that I looked at in a new way. Simon is an artist who is also very much a businessman, so he does a good job of presenting important business-related topics in a very relatable way. His speaking style is very energetic and confident, but not over-the-top like what you might expect from a lot of “self-help” type material. If you make your living as an artist, or if you aspire to, purchasing this CD set would be money well spent.
Here’s a list of the topics covered in the lecture, taken from the back of the CD jacket:
• What is a Thriving Aritst?
• Learn how to earn more money, without doing more work.
• Should artists ever work outside the arts?
• How to get art jobs.
• Fighting the Starving Artist Myth.
• Dealing with families who say,, “Get a real job.”
• Artists have more job opportunities than any other profession.
• Rates and Salaries.
• How to turn clients into evangelists for you
• The 80/20 business rule.
• Accounting for aritsts.
• Marketing do’s and don’ts.
• Artist rights.
• Artist resumes.
• Artist websites.
• The 5 steps of hiring freelancers.
• And much more.
You can order “The Thriving Artist” here.