Episode Recap Patrick and I talk about what it’s like to work in the freelance animation industry, his experience networking inside and outside of jobs and self-publishing his illustrated book.
Getting Started in the Industry Patrick attended Rochester Institute of Technology before receiving his first job with Fisher Price. After Fisher Price, he went to work for Disney in digital publishing.
When the digital publishing office changed locations, he had to opportunity to move to Los Angeles. From there Patrick looked for new opportunities with DreamWorks digital publishing where he worked for several months before being one of 500 who were laid off.
That’s when he started a new chapter of his life as a freelancer.
His #1 networking skill Being nice and easy to work with.
“If you’re not good at what you do, be funny! And get a joke book”
Listen to Episode 17 to hear the inspiration behind this.
Is there one thing you would change about your career? Patrick suggests that students consider moving out of state if they are certain of the type of industry they would like to work in and have the opportunity to move where the industry thrives. Your teachers and classmates play a big part in networking after school, so the closer you can be to your industry the better education and opportunity you might have.
Estimating Freelance Projects Deadlines are the number 1 motivator for any artist or designer. Patrick stays extra motivated by utilizing Google Spread Sheets to lay out a project step by step. This helps him estimate a project for clients – a seemingly endless problem for freelancers.
Networking Without Feeling Slimy If you’re not into networking for the sake of networking, Patrick suggests looking up meet ups around your area using social platforms like Facebook or Instagram (we also suggest Meetup.com).
Live in LA? Check out @Sketchparty and Melt-thology
In terms of strategy, Patrick says, there is none, get to know everyone! The people who you are targeting might be targeted by everyone and may be busy. You never know when you are going to make a valuable connection with what some entrepreneurs call the b-list.
Self-Publishing the book You Can’t Be Anything Self publishing, Patrick says, is no easy road, “be ready to work for it if you believe in it”. Creating the book? That way the easy part, he loves drawing and writing. He published the book, You Can’t Be Anything through Amazon publishing and spent $75 to create it. He doesn’t have to keep stock in his house because Amazon publishing prints on demand. When someone buys it, they print it and mail it.
So what’s the hard part? MARKETING. It’s said that on average 10% of your followers will buy a product that you produce. If you have 1000 followers, that’s only 10 people. Patrick’s advice, gain a following before you publish, or have a strong plan set out before you release it.
Connect with Patrick PatrickIanMoss.com
@PatrickIanMoss
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In our episode we also reference the beautiful DreamWorks campus.
Episode by Creative Market – the best place for design resources online