This is a 3-part series on marketing yourself in the furry fandom, each part will be released on Sunday this July, this is the first part of the 3-part series – enjoy!
Introduction
I’ve been a business person for a number of years now. Before I went into business for myself, I worked in the hotel industry, it took some time before I decided to become self-employed. That background in being able to sell something (a hotel room or a place to visit, or a piece of artwork or a fursuit costume) has helped me get where I am today when it comes to marketing my work to a fandom audience. I am a self-supporting artist, that is to say, I do not have a 2nd job or another person to support me, but rather my income from the things I create supports me fully in life. Sometimes you see that written as “full time”, but my hours definitely vary.
It never was my dream in life to be a self-supporting artist, but it has definitely been a long-term hobby turned fun business to be involved with. When I finally decided to go into business for myself, I made sure I was already in a good spot. I worked by saving up money at my job, I had my debt paid off, and I had money in my savings account so I could buy supplies for my business without worry. I also did not start with a blank slate and practiced while I worked my previous jobs– I concurrently illustrated and made costumes for myself on the side after work, and my hobby revolved around the sort of things I shared as tutorials on my website. I really tried to be prepared when I got started, and did not dive into taking custom work right away (saying “no” to people who want to give you money is a difficult thing that I’ll talk about more in this article). I dipped my toes into things while I had a stable primary job to build up my repertoire and worked on the projects that excited me. It took me a long time to be ready to take custom work for other people.
In my years building up my business I learned a lot of things, and while these things worked for me, it may be different for others, but I do hope this article helps offer clarity for those looking to get into selling their work in the furry fandom.
Getting Started
Presenting yourself online is a big part of your image, especially when it come to how your audience sees your work. Sign up for all the social media websites you are comfortable maintaining and maintain a username consistent throughout those sites so your audience can recognize you between spaces. If you are an illustrator or artist, posting frequently is key. The more often people see your work, the more they will recognize you. You will build an audience slowly but surely this way.
When it comes to picking a business name, keep it simple. I kept my business name the same as my username and website URL (Matrices.net) so people could find and easily associate my website with me, and me with my website. Name association is more important than you may think, since it takes effort to build your audience back up under a new name.
Pricing
Look over my article on pricing, You can find that article to read here: http://matrices.tumblr.com/post/138592633528/article-timing-and-pricing The most important takeaway is: Keep track of the time you spend working and don’t price below minimum wage in your region – you can work any number of less-specialized jobs for the same amount of money. I want to make it clear: The furry fandom exclusively deals in luxury items that are often custom made, artists and creators deserve to be paid fairly for such specialized effort.
You are just not benefiting yourself or your audience by undercharging. If you wish to sell to an audience like the furry fandom, get comfortable pricing your work at a fair price to you. Undercharging breeds an environment where clients are conditioned to expect too much from low-priced work. Not only does this not benefit you as the artist, but it doesn’t benefit the market as a whole because it is unsustainable in the long run. Burnout is a real issue and seriously affects artists who overwork themselves for low wages. The furry fandom is a place where “if you build it, they will come” is still a valid mantra, if you aren’t finding an audience you need to either practice and hone your craft more, or expand where you market yourself. I talk more about advertising tactics later in part 2 of this series.
What if I get complaints on my prices? Learn who your clients are. Ask yourself – Are those people truly clients you want? I don’t want a client who is going to doubt my pricing or second guess me on my work, I want a client who will admire and respect the work I do. You will receive a lot of critique on your pricing often from people who are not clients you want, find the audience who can respect the effort you put in your work.
What it comes down to is the question of who is best to take pricing advice from. If you are timing yourself and deciding a fair wage for your efforts, it’s a question that is already answered. However, there are always going to be people in your life who want to guide your decisions for different reasons. Among them are: Your friends – they are good to stick ideas to, but aren’t always going to be the buyers of your work. Your family – often they are either supporters or doubters, not always the best for price sense within the furry fandom, however. Your colleagues are good to take advice from, people in the same industry (those actively selling art or costumes in the furry fandom). Ultimately be choosy on who you take advice from, with a grain of salt so-to-speak. If you are seeking advice, find it from those who also work as self-supporting artists – while part timers who have something or someone else to support them may still offer decent advice, it is other colleagues who are self-supporting and live off their work that are the best to take advice from.
i hope youre all lying and hyping your cv/resume’s up
i have never gotten an interview and not been offered a job position after it
I mean lets be honest if everyone else is gassing theirs up like no tomorrow and you’re being as honest as you can who th are the recruitment team going to be more interested in
There’s people working in my banks head office with me WITH MUCH MORE EXPERIENCE than me BUT ARE GETTING PAID LESS
we’re doing the exact same job role
the point I’m trying to make here is if you’ve handled finances for a company you’re now what i would call a treasurer my g, if you’ve done admin work you are now a secretary (or as I’ve put Management secretary)
you help some kid with his homework? you’re a private tutor.
keep your bullets points for the job role as concise and important sounding as possible AND ALWAYS EMPHASIS THAT YOURE A TEAM PLAYER IF YOURE GOING TO WORK IN A TEAM.
go into that interview room and get your story straight the night before and remember that interviews are two way conversatons yes they might be grilling you but at the end of it make sure to grill them BACK. do you have any hesitations about my qualifications? my suitability for the job? any feedback on my cv? how long have you been working at this company? do you like it here? whats the work environment like?
I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS GET THE SAME FEEDBACK WHEN THEY GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH ME
“ive never been asked those questions before” / “you were one of the strongest candidates”
throughout the interview emphasise that youre about progression, that you want more responsibilities than you did at your previous job, tell them the hours here are more suitable for me than my last ones were, AND WHEN IT COMES TO SALARY NEGOTIATION its all about continuity. tell them again that it boils down to progression. make up a reasonable figure for how much you were paid in your last role (do your research for how much the industry youre applying to or the role youre applying for pays, base it on that) tell them you expect more than you were previously paid. do not give them a figure. progression is your primary focus, tell them if youre progressing youre happy. leave it at that.
LIE THROUGH YOUR TEETH AND GET THAT MONEY
I had an interview yesterday, at the place I’ve been temping, where I busted out the “is there anything about my skills or background that makes you concerned about my fit for this job” question for the first time.
Neither of my supervisors had never gotten it before either. They had to think for a while, and then it turned into them telling me how great I am and what they love about me.
This stuff is real. I would also say: none of it is lying. This is taking experience that you normally downplay and write off, and putting it in accurate words they’ll understand.
It’s hacking the capitalist system. Why ISN’T helping a kid with homework “tutoring”, when the only thing missing is a paycheck?
It’s especially important for anyone who isn’t a cis white man, because many of us are so thoroughly trained to feel like we are not good enough.
Privilege tells people they can fake it, and that they’re good enough just as people and can learn the skills on the job. Abuse and oppression tell people they aren’t good enough as people and that even their high skills are probably below average, and that unless they had the specific job title or were using certain skills officially, nobody will think it counts.
The goal is to at least fake the confidence of a privileged person, to give the employer a chance at seeing the skills that you’ve been trained to undervalue.
I would also say to answer any query of “Have you done [X small task] before?” with “I have, but it’s been a while.” Or, “I have, but it was a slightly different program.”
100% THEY WILL GLADLY WALK YOU THROUGH EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, and I stress ‘gladly’ because claiming prior knowledge boosts their confidence in your abilities and any slips you make are already covered by your caveat.
blackstoic may have deactivated their account but this advice is fucking gold and all y’all looking for jobs or who think you might one day need to look for a new job PRINT THIS SHIT OUT AND STAPLE IT TO THE WALL.
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay: stories about WOMEN in the (mostly) midwest + everything you want in a hard-hitting short story collection…you can just tell how committed she is to her characters and their stories and god it was wonderful
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee: THE HERO. THE ICON. HE DOES IT AGAIN!!! Alexander Chee gets to The One Man Who Wrote A Good Woman Character. like, only him. he’s the only one I give permission to. god this book was like an opera and a myth and a poem at the same time.
The Leavers by Lisa Ko: I have nothing to say about this book except READ IT. also, white people suck.
Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn: first of all, WHAT A TITLE. second of all, this book reads like a fever dream + soap opera + multigenerational super literary saga. like, all those things at once. this is an *asian american classic* for a reason!! it’s fragmented (*like the diaspora*) and harsh and so so vivid.
The Border of Paradise by Esme Weijun Wang: this book is fucking weird in the best way. the *messed-up family* novel to trump ALL *messed-up family* novels (and that’s a lot!!) I am always searching for books about taiwaneseness and mental illness and female pain and this is all that!!
Crystal Boys by Pai Hsien-Yung: speaking of taiwaneseness, THIS BOOK. the humor, the ache, the character studies – like, how is this not a queer classic in *the west*?? it should be!! the reincarnative/multiple-lives feeling of this book really haunts me.
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez: it’s been forever and I’m STILL THINKING about these stories. there’s magical realism and decay and dystopia and if you’re a fan of yoko ogawa (like me!!) this is just as dark and treacherous and captivating
Red Sorghum by Mo Yan: how have I never read this book before?? this novel is just a gutspill. it’s brutal and unrelenting and bloody. it’s grueling to read this. I know I’m not selling this well but it’s so difficult to describe?? I just love how excessive it is, how generous it is with details and language. it’s also just like, unsparingly violent and gross and unstoppable.
China Menby Maxine Hong Kingston: another *classic* I’m so glad to have read!! it’s like prose poetry + myth-making and SO experimental!! why do we never consider Maxine “experimental”?? bc she’s too chinese?? too “ethnic,” too “immigrant” to be innovative? she really defies genre and basically everything else.
Kinder Than Solitudeby Yiyun Li: she’s just one of my favorite writers ever ever ever. she’s so unashamedly philosophical and grand and generous. there were times I had to put down the book and be like FUCK THATS ME. it’s sold as a literary thriller but it’s really really character-driven (which is why i think the reviews aren’t that great?? so be warned, it’s not really about plot.)
things english speakers know, but don’t know we know.
WOAH WHAT?
That is profound. I noticed this by accident when asked about adjectives by a Japanese student. She translated something from Japanese like “Brown big cat” and I corrected her. When she asked me why, I bluescreened.
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