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Working Freelance in the Creative Media Sector Maintaining workflow Unit 14: Learning outcome 4 Name: _Abby Downing ____

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Working Freelance in the Creative Media SectorMaintaining workflow

Unit 14: Learning outcome 4Name: _Abby Downing____ BTEC Level 3 Diploma in

Creative Media Production

Students Name

Project Title Maintaining workflow

Unit(s)Working Freelance in the Creative Media SectorUnit No14Tutor(s)Dave Bakes

Project DatesStart Date 24/03/2015Deadline Date 14/04/2015

Aims

This unit will give you an understanding of the nature and role of freelance work within the creative media sector. You will cover the legal and financial aspects of freelancing, maintaining workflow and professional development.

Tasks/Notes

No matter how talented you are at your chosen specialism, without a detailed plan of action to establish and then maintain a workflow, you will not succeed. A significant amount of your time will be spent on finding work rather than doing work. Its important to have a clear plan to find that work and to market yourself if you are going to be success.

Task 1:

Briefly explain the different sources of work you could use including websites, agents and agencies, trade journals, trade events, networking, maintaining contacts and word of mouth.

You should also outline different ways you can market yourself including business cards, websites, your curriculum vitae (CV), a showreel or professional portfolio, networking, press releases, promotional material and exhibitions.

One you have given an overview, prepare a strategy to maintain workflow in a chosen freelance specialism in the creative media sector. You should build on the information you gave in task 1 and provide specific strategies you can use to find work and promote yourself.

Distinction students will prepare a strategy to maintain workflow within their chosen specialism, with all its complexities. Work will be distinguished by the ability to prepare, to near-professional standards, strategies and personal marketing materials.

Assessment

In order to be assessed for this assignment you must complete the following work and submit it by the required time. Below are the stages with the corresponding assessment criteria as outlined in the unit specifications.Task (s)Grading Criteria

Pass

Merit

Distinction

1P4 prepare a strategy to maintain workflow in a chosen freelance specialism in the creative media sector with some assistance.M4 carefully and competently prepare a strategy to maintain

workflow in a chosen

freelance specialism in the creative media sector with only occasional assistance.D4 prepare to a quality that reflects near professional standards a strategy to maintain workflow in a chosen freelance specialism in the creative media sector working independently to professional expectations.

Sources of work:

In this section, you should think in quite general terms about different sources of work. Use examples to help with your explanation but dont worry about sticking to just one freelance job. You will develop your own more specific plan later one.

Websites

Specialist websites are efficient and good to find work because these are websites people go onto to promote their job to clients across the world for you to find and become a part of. I believe it is easier to find work this way. Non specialist websites like social networking sites could be another way to find work, by promoting your job role and let people find you. Advantages of this are that the internet is easy to use, so this could be a good way of finding work; the only equipment needed for this is the use of the internet, which is easy to access. The process on the websites are easy in that you attach your cv and press send or fill out a application form, another good thing about the websites is that they keep your CV on the system so employers can actually find you. It is also a very fast method of finding jobs, much faster then having to look through newspapers years ago, on the internet there are jobs uploading every hour.

The disadvantages of using the internet are that because it is fast and easy a lot of people are doing the same thing and uploading their CVs and application forms, which means you have little chance of getting the job. A lot of the adverts for jobs on the internet are often uploaded by recruitment agencies, which mean signing up with them and if they do not thing you are suitable they will not put you forward for the employer to see.

Agents and agencies

Agents and Agencies get work in from clients and pair it up with workers, this is an easy way of getting work because you are not the one finding it, recruitment agencies do all the work for you to find jobs for you. You need to make sure you are making a good first impression with a cv to make yourself look the best above the other potential people wanting the job.

The disadvantages of finding work through agencies are sometimes you could be lead to signing a contract with hidden things you did not know about like payment and the length of the job, it is important to ensure yourself that you read the contract thoughrally. Sometimes recruitment agencies also sign you up for jobs that are not right for you, you need to ensure that it is right for you and if it is not say no.

Trade journals

Most traders have their own industry magazines, whether this is a photographer magazine or an electrician magazine, this is often a good place to find jobs for your specific role. Advantages of finding work in magazine are: it is easier finding work in a magazine that is targeted at people in your job industry then it is in a newspaper. Magazines are all over the place from doctors rooms to trains, which make it easier to find the job roles. Disadvantages of this method are that the advert may have been in the magazine for a long time, which is likely so they may have all the job roles taken. By using this method you would need to get the magazine on its release date to look for the jobs and start applying straight away.

Trade events

Trade events/shows is where people get together within a certain industry to promote their latest products and/or services. People can attend these shows to look for work and projects, it is an advantage that it is in your specific industry so you are likely to find something you are wanting to participate in. it is important to make a good impression at trade shows, as there are many people their looking for the same thing, you need to stand above everyone and look better, this is done by having a good attitude towards your job.

Networking

(What is networking, how could you do it and why would you do it)Networking Is when people get together to discuss opportunities. Successful networking can help build strong relationships with your client and lead you to good opportunities for your business. All other business opportunities discussed are usually time consistent and also are costly, networking doesnt usually come with many overheads and doesnt take up a lot of time. Networking is a good strategy that is cheap and an efficient way of getting work. A good strategy to talk to people is by rehearsing your spiel this means that your mind will not go blank when it comes to a point where you need to impress someone that could potentially give you a lot of work, this could be someone who works for a big company. Practicing what you need to say in a short summary can be very good, this means talking about your best skills and previous work, this way it will be permanently in your mind, which makes it easier to talk to people and impress them. Face to Face networking is a good way of actually building a relationship with your client, whereas through email, social media and other written things your just a name on a screen, whereas when you see people in person or meet them then youre actually a real person, and can help you hugely to get work, this means you need to be a very polite and well mannered person when meeting clients.

When being a freelance photographer it is nice to meet that photographer in person, as you could be seeing them at your wedding/ christening/ family photo shoot etc, this means that you need to have a good relationship with them and like the work they do, by meeting them you get to see this and they will also do practise shoots for you at your chosen venue, this is an important way of work for freelance photographers.

Maintaining contacts

(Why is maintaining your contacts a good idea? How could you go about it? What strategies could you use? Think about the positives and negatives of this)Keeping in touch with contacts and maintaining them is a very good way of getting more work from them, or even contacts from them, for example if they think that you were good at your job they could pass you along to other people or business for you to do work for them. This is a good way of getting more work out of people you already know, and in general keeping a good reputation.

For Example:

Every month I send out an email to existing and old clients that just gives a snapshot of what Ive been working on that month, along with links to recently finished projects. It lets them know Im still around and reminds them of the range of projects I can help with.

Ian Collinge, Graphic and Web DesignerIan Collinge keeps in contact with his clients by sending them emails of previously done work to remind them of his potential and his skills to see if they want more work from him.

Another Example:

'I worked for a newspaper before going freelance, so I was careful to maintain good contacts with my old employer.

'Not only are they a possible source of future work, it helps to keep up to speed with what is happening in the industries I cover, and they might know about other freelance opportunities.'

Bill Hall, JournalistAdvantages of maintaining contacts:

Use of future work

Help keep up to speed with what is happening in the industry

Builds a good reputation

They may know about opportunities for you

Builds your profile up to make you more known

Keeps your name in their inbox

Disadvantages of maintaining contacts:

All your work could potentially go on them and if you do not have a reliable income of them then it could lead to less money for you and bad reputation if you decide to move off from them.

Ways of maintaining contacts:

Through social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (very popular for freelancer), instagram

Email: emailing them regularly to talk about industry or other work. This could also be for showing off your latest work.

Phone calls

Face to face

Christmas/Birthday Cards

Letters

Putting your email address/biography/summary of yourself onto freelance websites (photography)

Word of mouth

Word of Mouth is speaking to people directly about your business/job. This could either be you speaking to potential clients or past clients talking about you to other potential clients, this is another example of why maintaining a relationship with contacts is a good thing, because they could spread good words about you.

Marketing yourself:

In this section you can think about ways freelancers and go about marketing themselves. As before, you can find specific examples from a range of different jobs to help with your explanations.

Business cards

A business card is a classic way of marketing yourself, it usually contains contact information and a bit about your business, this is a good thing to always have because when you are leaving potential customers, giving them a business card can remind them when they find it to ring you. This is an easier way of getting yourself out their then writing down your number to potential clients every time you meet one.

Creative ones are always good to show off your creative side to them and impress clients by simply having a good business card. They make you look like an interesting person and it shows that you car about your job. Here are some examples of interesting business cards: This business card is for a fitness trainer, this shows when you peel of the larger man a more toned man underneath, this shows that he is creative and is obviously very good at his job as the results of it are below the image.

This business card is for a photographer. This is interesting because it has used a transparent cover in the middle so it looks like a screen on a camera, with the details in black above it so it is clear to read.

You can make business cards on all types of software; they usually have a setting that already have the measurements for a business card.

Developing a website

Making a website is a very good choice when freelancing, this website link could be used on business cards and spread through social networking sites, the website can store all of your work and include information about yourself, this way when people are searching the internet for people to do a job for them, for example a photographer at their wedding they can see all your previous work to make a decision, this is why it is important to make your website good and show all of your best work to persuade this person to choose you, all of your contact information should be on this page so they can get hold of you easily. This is a good way of getting jobs, especially when youre a freelance photographer, because this is usually the first place someone looks to find you. By making your own website, or getting someone to do it for you, can increase your sales.

Advantages of making a website for your business include:

Easy to set up

Easy access to the internet (everyone can find your website easily)

Usually free to set up

Easy to update and add extra things

A good way of storing your work into one place

Shows of your work

Builds a reputation

I cant think of many disadvantages of starting up your website, as it gives you a lot of opportunities for work. There is a lot of competition out there but as you build and develop your web page to your best potential, this shouldnt be a massive issue.

This is a freelance photographers website called Oscar May who is based in London, through research I have found that many of the websites are very simple with a slideshow of their recent work on the front home page, these photographers are usually portrait and fashion ones, who like to keep it simple. The more creative ones are usually experimental and wildlife photographers.

CV

A CV (curriculum Vitae) is an essential personal marketing tool; it is for employers to see what qualifications you have, see who you have previously worked for and your skills and personal comments. CVs need to be professional and always kept up to date with your previous work, skills and qualifications you have completed to make sure you have the best possible chance of getting the job you want. Things that should be included in your CV are:

Contact details: this is important to make sure that you are easily reached, this will be your telephone number, home address, and email address

Employment History: this should include any past jobs that are relevant for the job you are applying for, if you do not have much employment history however you should include all of it.

Education and Qualifications: this should include all your qualifications from GSCEs to Alevels/btec qualifications, if they are not relevant to the job they will still needed to be added because the employer will want to see them.

Skills and strengths: this part is where you add what you are naturally good at and the skills you have gained through experience and practise. It is important to add anything here that you are good at, and why the things you are good at will help you in this particular job role.

Your personality: it is important for you to show of your professional side in a CV but still stick to your personality, this is more shown when you are having an interview but it is still essential to add parts into the CV and talk a bit about yourself so the employer knows you a bit before an interview.

The layout: the layout of a CV depends on if you have a lot of experienced or whether you will be adding more about your skills and qualifications, if so, your strengths, skills and qualifications should be added before your work experience to impress the employer before seeing you do not have a lot of experience, think carefully about the layout.

Simple: keep your layout simple, this is not a document for fancy fonts or images, this takes focus of your important information, however if the job role is creative, here is a chance to show a bit of creativity.

Spelling and grammar: this is one of the most important things on your CV, if any of this Is incorrect it is highly likely going to go any further then this. Getting your CV checked over by different people can help you with this and also spell check.

References: usually these are not included in your CV but people add available on request at the bottom, this saves a lot of room and sometimes they are not always needed, but you should keep their contact details for if they are.

Cover letter: sometimes cover letters are added with your CV to show of your personality and any queries that are needed explaining about your CV. Graphic designers are usually the people to show off their creative side, whatever the document is. This is an example of a graphic designers CV. This is a lot more creative then CVs usually are and could stand out towards some employers but look unprofessional to others, sometimes keeping it simple is playing it safe but other times it doesnt stand above others enough.

Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of your work, achievements, experiences and accomplishments, it is important to keep this up to date because it could be a good marketing tool for yourself to help you get jobs you want or to get into university or college. Having a good portfolio could make an employer choose you above other people, If yours is to your best potential then it could be very useful for you to use. It also is a reminder of all the best work you have done.

Why have a portfolio?

Having a portfolio can set you aside from other people you are competing with to get a job, it can make you look for eager for the job and look more professional

It showcases your work to potential employers and clients

It can bring up your self-confidence and show you what you have achieved.

It is a useful collection of work to take to an interview in a well-presented layout, to show your skills and work you have produced as proof you can do the job they are asking you to.

It can be useful for educational purposes of how far you have come

It can be a good use of proof of wanting promotions or a raise.

There are different types of portfolios and can be used for different purposes, it is up to you to decide which one that you want to use.

As you build up your portfolio there are things that should be included which are: Letters of reference

Resume or Vitae

Lists of accomplishments

Samples of work (e.g., items

produced on internship or co-op

experiences, class projects, items

produced from previous job)

Memos and/or reports (optional)

Designs and Photographs

(optional)

Transcripts

Licenses or Certifications

Evidence of specific skills (e.g.,

writing, graphic design, public

speaking, leadership, event

management)http://careercenter.cofc.edu/documents/portfolio.pdf

it is important to keep your portfolios professional and up to date to ensure that it is up to your best standard, when having an interview it could be wise to create a smaller portfolio with photocopies of documents in your original portfolio. This way the interviewer can keep the portfolio to show other staff in the business and for records. Your original portfolio should never be given out and should contain all your work not just parts of it. Portfolios should not contain numbered pages because this will not allow you to move your work around or add parts in.

By creating another portfolio that is smaller to hand to your employer will be a good way of just adding parts that are specific to your job role, otherwise it could include a lot of good work that is not necessary for them to see.

Press releases

If you can create an interesting story about your business then sometimes this could be featured in a newspaper or magazine. By marketing yourself through a press release this could act as an advertisement for you and your website, the link will stay on the internet for weeks and have a link towards your website to point it out to people who would like to use you for their projects.

A good publication for myself to post in would be York press, this would give me an opportunity to find work in my surrounding area. If people wanted work from me they would be around the York area if they were finding the publication in the York press. Another would be the pocklington post, because that is another close town from where I am from.

Promotional material

Promotional items could be stress balls, T-shirts, Business cards, bags, baseball hats etc. Promotional material can be seen as really good now because flyers and newspaper advertisements are seen to be ignored or thrown away now because they are seen as a waste of time. Promotional materials are seen more of a gift now then an advertisement for your business. Promotional material is seen as tangible to customers, unlike billboards and newspaper articles, these are common and not original and creative. Another good thing about promotional material is that it isnt expensive if you do not want it to be, billboards and other advertisements cost a lot of money, however promotional materials can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes which can depend on price, so if you didnt want to spend a lot on creative advertising you could settle with key rings, which are always kept and will show of your logo/brand name.

Promotional material is used to spread brand awareness. Customers love free samples and little gifts, which can spread the word about your business easily, they can be recognised if distributed a lot across your area.

Another reason people use promotional material is to say Thank-You, when you have completed a large job for a company you could send a thank you key ring or desk calendar, which is a reminder of how good your work is and this could also be another way of getting a repeated job (maintaining contact).

Ways of distributing your promotional items could vary. Mailing is an option, but this is usually thrown away when addressed to current residents, finding out potential clients names and address could help you put your job in their hands. Another method is trade events and shows, you could show of your merchandise and give it away for free their, so people remember you when they see their free gift rather then a leaflet they would pick up forget about then finally throw away.

The most obvious disadvantage of this scheme is failure. You could invest a lot of time and money in creating the best merchandise to give of for free to get clients to come to you for business only to see moderate results. The money you put into this could also not offset the costs of the business in the long term.

Exhibitions

Marketing your work in exhibitions and getting it into festivals is another good way of getting your work seen by a large audience. Exhibitions build up your name and image, especially as a photographer. It gives you a chance to show your work of in the exhibitions, it doesnt have to be costly if you are selling your artwork. It is important you find a good small place to exhibit your work, like a small art gallery you could ask to work with. It gives you a chance to invite, family, friends and other photographers to commute that you are a photographer and how good you are. This could bring future work towards you if they like what they see. You would need to create a group of images

Maintaining workflow and marketing yourself

This section requires you to focus on your freelance career. Picking a specific role will be beneficial here. This will allow you to consider the positive and negative aspects and consider how you would do things. It will also allow you to find others working in a similar way so that you can add some specific, real world example to your work

What sort of freelance job will you have?

I would become a freelance photographer. It is the thing I have most being interested in when it comes down to media. It would be interesting to actually have a career in something I enjoy to do daily. Starting of I would create my own website and keep a daily blog on it, which would also include my portfolio. Create my own workspace to work in and then go out and find work.

Which websites would you use?

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Freelance-Photographer - this website is about becoming a freelance photographer, it Is pretty obvious how you become one and what to do, but there is some good tips within this website that would help you achieve the bet results out of being a freelance photographer.

http://www.indeed.co.uk/Photographer-jobs - this is a good website to find jobs where people need a photographer for a little amount of time to complete a project. This is good way of keeping an eye on potential work.

https://freelanceuk.com/photographers/index.shtml - This website is full of advice and articles on keeping up with the latest photography news and about the industry itself. It tells you how to get the best work of being a freelancer.

http://www.photographyjobsfinder.com/jobseekers/Freelance%20Photographers.html

http://www.photographers.co.uk/jobs/ - this website is for freelance photographers, there are ads posted on these websites for what type of photographer they are looking for and what they will pay you for the job, this way you can keep an eye on the website and scout through the jobs and pick and apply for them.

Could you use agencies to find work?

I could use agencies to find work, this is an easy way of finding work and is good for starting of in freelance work to build up your reputation and experience with clients, although I do need to remember some of the disadvantages stated above.

http://www.pressphotoagency.co.uk there are different websites that are about agencies that you could work for.

Which trade journals are produced for your specialism?

These are the top 3 photography magazines. There are a lot of photography trade journals out their but these would be the best to feature in as theyre the most popular. These are magazines that I could use for advice, to read about photography and the industry and also find work.

Which trade events could you attend?

Photography trade events are there to benefit you, and will help you run your business better. Photographers are happy to share their experiences with you and give you advice and share their photography knowledge with you. Another good thing about attending photography trade events are that it helps you network with other photographers who could help you get potential work and share you with their clients etc.

+ 14-18: Society of Social and Wedding Photographers in London (UK), convention and trade-show-+ no longer: Focus on Imaging in Birmingham (UK)- The three day Trade Show spanning the Friday to Sunday is a gathering of the whos who in the photographic industry, with the big guns present and eager to show you the latest in technology and design. Attending this event would be a good decision if I wanted to gain a lot more knowledge in photography and get a lot of help from professionals. This event hosts workshops and classes on becoming a better photographer and knowing the industry better.

How could you network?

Networking can be done through trade events; you can meet a lot of photographers here who are professionals and at the same level as yourself. So this would be a good way to start meeting people and talking about job opportunities with them, they can share with you how they found work and also if they know any jobs open that are suitable for you and not them. It is a good thing to keep in contact with a lot of photographers because although you are sort of in competition you can actually help each other with work opportunities as well. There are also websites you can go onto as well that are to do with photography networking and are there for photographers to sign up and help each other with.

Red Eye is an example of a website that brings photographers together and hosts events for you to meet.

Redeye is all about networking, support and information for photographers or anyone interested in photography. Come along to a networking event to find out more about us this is something I could potentially attend for a way of meeting people at the same level as me and higher.

You can also meet through social networking sites, this is a more digital way of networking then in face to face, however it can be easy to meet people on the sites and then go to meet them in person. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, AOP (association of photographers and Flickr are popular social networking sites for photographers.

What strategies could you use to maintain your contacts?

By maintaining contacts I would use a bit of promotional material and send of a desk calendar to everyone I have worked with, this would show of beautiful photography in the calendar and remind them that they can easily reach me for work. It would have my details on the back of it and be a nice small size. Another way I would do it is emailing them every other work with the latest work I have done, to again show them how good I am and how good I was at completing their previous job. I would also send them Christmas cards if it was a large job I did for them, and hopefully stay in contact in a more personal way if I was working for them for quite a long time, to hopefully get used for other jobs they would need photography for, for example modelling, this is something that happens regularly for a retail business.

How would you develop your own website?

A full website would be the best option in website building I think, blogger is an easy thing to use but not everyone will search for photographer and prefer to look at their blog. A properly creative made out website would be one of my main priorities that I would need a lot of advice and help with. It would have my biography on and all the images I have taken on the website, obviously private wedding ones or modelling would need a password to access if the people involved do not want it public.

The home page would have a slideshow of my latest work on the front.

What could you put on your website to help market your skills?

The shows I attend and also work I do for people should definitely be on my website. For example when I start to do jobs for people whether it is volunteered work for experience or paid work. Example of the photography I am doing for them should be on their with a description of my day. I should post what skills I have within a biography of myself that should be on a tab in my website. All my best photographs will also be on my website in a gallery. Like this photographer I would like different sections of different work I have completed. Chris is an editorial photographer so his different sections are what he has done for a newspaper on different stories.

I would also like to add a link to my blog page to keep people up to date of where I am and what Im doing.

What work, relevant to your specialism, could you add to your portfolio now?

Work I could add to my portfolio now includes work I have done within my different projects. This includes Experimental photography and photography practice. Most of my photography practice is architectural which is good because I want a variety of different types of photography in my portfolio. My experimental will be another section, which is the more creative side of photography, and I have also got a group of natural photographs taken of a scenic route and a dog and its owner. I am working on doing some portraiture photography that will be natural and posed, wildlife & landscape, wedding photography (event I am soon attending) etc.

What work might you need to produce to add to your portfolio?

I would add different types of photography to my portfolio including portraiture, landscape, wildlife, occasion/weddings etc because I do not know what field I would like to work in yet and I do not know which I would be best at and achieve the best results, this way I could do multiple fields which would give me more work because I would be willing to do all types of photography and then specialise in one type after I have seen results. I would also include abit about myself and the work that is included in the portfolio.

This is the kind of portfolio I would produce, I like this style because it is professional and creative, it adds abit of text about the work and it is very colourful and different. I like the black background to make the image stand out nicely. I would also use the different headings across the book to show the different types of photography I produce.

Is a press release a good way of marketing yourself?

A press release is a very good way of getting your business out their and know, people still look for people to complete their jobs In newspapers, as it is becoming less popular as the internet is much larger and full of a lot more people for opportunity it is still good to have a press release, getting a slot In a newspaper is not common but is very good so if you do you need to make sure you have a really good press release. This is some advice I found of the internet to complete a good one. Your press release should include:

Your business name

Your contact information

The date

An attention grabbing headline

Your news story outlined in short paragraphs, with the most interesting up front

Background information about you and your company

Your press release should be about one page in length, and should summarize the overall story you are pitching to media sources. Why should the media care about what you do? You cant go with the simple or the boring here; journalists are looking for exciting, human interest stories that will be of interest to their readers or viewers. http://virtualphotographystudio.com

What promotional material could you use to market yourself?

Considering I dont think I would have a lot of money to spend on advertising and would be spending it on equipment and possibly transport I think key rings and business cards would be the best option for me, theyre small and theyre something that everyone keeps. A key ring would be good because it will be on that persons keys so every time they see it they would think of my business, this could help spread word of mouth of my business also and get it out there.

Where could you stage an exhibition of your work and how could you go about it?

A good place to stage an exhibition of my work would be at York university, they have a great area of space where you can stage and hang work up. By setting this up I would have to ask the university and set up an event, I would have to make flyers an also an event on facebook to share with people around York to come and take part in the event and take a look at my work. Emailing all my contacts that I have met through networking such as the other photographers I know would be also good so ask them to come and support me and attend my event, of which they could also show their work if theyre interested, this would spread the word around about my business and also give people samples of what my work looks like and how good I am. My work can also be sold at this exhibition.

Extension tasks:

Produce your own press release to promote your work.

Produce your own specialist CV. You can break with tradition here.

Produce your own business card. This should reflect your specialism and your own personality.

Get a portfolio of your work together.

Prepare a website or blog.

PROJECT BRIEF