Entry 3 of 12: July: It's All About Promotion
Ideas. Can you ever have too many? I'm finding out that you can. I have a long list of them on my desk. They all consist of creative things to make. Most, if not all, have been on the list for several months. Why haven't they gotten done? Time, motivation and inspiration. Things I feel I've had very little of this month. I've spent most of the month on promotion of which has left me no time to be creative. I need promotion but there is little to no creativity in that for me.

My site traffic has been amazing this month. I can really tell that my promotional efforts are paying off. Last month (July) I received 511 hits, this month I received 2800. One thing I am surprised about is that no one, not a single soul, has signed up for my mailing list. Not that I want any average Joe to sign up, but I figured I'd get some potential clients signing up with all those hits. So that was a little disheartening.

At the beginning of the month, my site was featured on Netdiver. The day after my feature, I received about 450 hits on my site. Pretty impressive given that I usually average 8 hits a day. Mid-month, I sent out around 100 postcards to magazine publishers and ad agencies. I have decided to hold off sending them to publishers until I can get more samples together that reflect children's book illustrations. I have mailed out only 3 promo pieces with reply cards, but have yet to get them back.

I've updated my free listing on Folioplanet, my free listing on Creative Hotlist, my free portfolio on Portfolios.com, and added a free portfolio listing to Coroflot.com, as well as added myself to the free Google illustration directory. Do you notice a trend? I'm trying to spend as little money as I can right now on promotion since I'm just starting out in this field. Just today I received an inquiry from someone who had seen my listing on Coroflot. These listings have added to my site traffic and my search engine results. I'm constantly on the lookout for more exposure, so if anyone knows of some listing sites, let me know.

There has also been some nice people who have mentioned me in their blogs. I've gotten about 300 hits from one girl's entry. I love the idea of blogs. I frequent one of an illustrator's and it seems to be great exposure for her. I'm not a writer by any means, but I may just become a blogger one day. (I've had the appropriate URL for about a year!) Would anyone tune in?

I recently emailed some new pictures of my daughter to family and friends. I sent them to a girl I work with, and her reply included a freelance offer for a children's project in October. Who would have thought your kid could be a promo tool. Who wouldn't want to give work to the mother of a face like this? Having a child is a load of inspiration. I am constantly thinking of what I can draw for her, what can I make for her. I can't wait until she can use crayons. That will be a great day!

I found a couple of new illustration forums this month that have been helpful. They focus on children's books and occasionally a publisher will solicit illustrators. I responded to one post and prepared a quote. I haven't heard back yet after numerous emails, and the original deadline is a couple of days away, so not sure what's up with that one. Remember the project I quoted on last month and never heard back? Well, I still haven't heard back after several emails (I didn't have a phone number for her), so the project has moved to my "non-active" prospects folder. I'll still keep her on my mailing list just in case she needs me in the future. I didn't gain a project, but I did gain a prospect, so that counts for something.

Since I didn't do much illustrating this month, that will be my focus next month. I'll go through that list of ideas I have and hopefully I'll get some things checked off. See ya next month!

Click here to read Holli's previous installment.