Michelle Daly-DeSchryver spent years trying to get her freelance photography business off the ground in her native Reno, Nevada. She knew she wanted to be a photographer from a young age when her mother took her into the desert on camping trips and brought her camera along.
Together, they once caught a wild coyote on film. From then on,Michelle Daly-DeSchryver was hooked. Now with children of her own, she supports her family solely from her freelancing business. She has goals for the future and hopes to start selling more of her original photography as her career widens. Here are three tips for new freelancers or those thinking about starting their own freelancing business in any art:
Together, they once caught a wild coyote on film. From then on,Michelle Daly-DeSchryver was hooked. Now with children of her own, she supports her family solely from her freelancing business. She has goals for the future and hopes to start selling more of her original photography as her career widens. Here are three tips for new freelancers or those thinking about starting their own freelancing business in any art:
- Find ways to sharpen your art. No matter how talented you are as an artist of any kind, if you’re not sharpening your skills regularly, you’re losing them. Michelle Daly-DeSchryver found this very important early in her career because she had to refine her skills to get clients to pay for her work. Sometimes an unpaid internship or an entry-level job at a photo lab is the best way to do this.
- Network. Even when you’re just starting out and no one knows who you are or what your work is like, one of the best things you can do early in your freelancing career is to show your work to as many people as possible and get to know other professionals in the area. These people can open doors for you in the future.
- Don’t forget you run a business. Michelle Daly-DeSchryver learned early on that she had to treat her freelancing work like a business, investing in the right equipment and always trying to make her operating budget work for her.