The other day, I was browsing through the October issue of Communication Arts, one of the design industry standards. In it, I came across a column by Barbara Gordon, pointing out the importance of knowing one’s area of expertise. While this lesson could be applied to any number of fields, Barbara had a special group in mind - freelance artists. In her words:

As I look through the volume of inquiries I receive from artists and photographers looking for a representative for their work, one thing stands out - a lot of freelancers don’t have a clue about the product they have to sell.

I get a lot of inquiries from freelancers who tell me that they can do everything well - advertising, editorial, packaging, medical, scientific, architecture, portraits, Web design, digital imaging. And, indeed, there are one or two who are probably brilliant in all of those areas. But if the advertising clients operated the way some freelancers do, they’d be out of business in months.

Freelancers can learn a lot about the product they have to sell from the way advertising clients determine, develop and promote a product. Read the entire article…