Luc Latulippe

Wow, Luc, this is great (and utterly thorough) advice. And here I was trying to get up the nerve to ask you who your rep was…

Everything you say makes a lot of sense, although I might hazard that one must have the chops/cred/cv to back it up.

I need to get me a licking service.
——-

I am one of those who doesn’t believe in the “call the client” campaigns. I think that the best way of starting a business relationship is when the client calls the Service Provider.

Stuart:
Do not suggest a “licking service” to someone with a mind as dirty as mine. :)

As for having the chops/cred to pull this off, I think it just boils down to a few minutes of faked confidence on the phone. I definitely need to warm up a bit first, and work up the nerve. I sometimes script a little intro (which I should share here too) and try to follow it.

I have often stumbled and said some really stupid things (like the time I couldn’t understand an AD’s British accent, and kept asking him to repeat everything.. four or five times.. oy vey), and NO work came from those attempts! But after a while I was surprised at how easy it can be. And I’m NOT a phone person.

Still, I wouldn’t want to do it every day either. :P

—-

Respiro:
Thanks for your comment. But do you really believe the best way to start a business relationship with a new client is to wait for them to call you? How do they find you in the first place? There are hundreds of thousands of illustrators and designers out there.

I wish you the best of luck with that strategy! There’s some truth to what you say—that a happy client is a repeat client—but only as long as you’ve made the effort to start a solid relationship with them in the first place. And to do that, you have to take the first step and contact them.

If waiting around for the client to call you worked as well as you claim, illustrators the world over would be busy and happy. I know many incredibly talented illustrators, but most of them are having trouble paying their rent!

As I’ve outlined above, sending out thousands of postcards can yield zero work. And that’s a case where you took the effort to do something about putting your name out there. Unfortunately, it’s about as effective as tossing flyers off the top of a building.

Being good isn’t good enough; the cream does not always rise to the top. Persistence and effort always get attention.

Here’s one of my favourite quotes, from former US President Calvin Coolidge:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Great tip, Luc.  I’m not very experienced at all, but I tend to agree with your logic.  Now if I could just work up the nerve to actually do it.  Perhaps you don’t have to share your script specifically (unless you want to,) but I’d be curious to see some guidelines you follow.  Or at least how to start up a conversation.  Just a thought.

Heya Luc,

As you know I recently changed my email for the first time in 8 years, and I made a point of contacting all the clients of worked with to let them know about it. I got one direct job from this, and 4 additional jobs withing a week and a half. I can see your point how cold calling can really help.

Can you give us a sense of what you say when you call a client for a “warm call”?

Hi Luc.

I’ve been working up a little “script” for warm calling so that I won’t feel quite so chilly when I call. I did a bunch of research on the web on what people used for their scripts and was fairly nauseated by the weird computer-speak that I found embedded in there. (I mean, honestly, who wants to hear “What solution would we have to offer that would motivate you enough to explore working with us?”) Ugh.

Maybe the idea is to use the script *lightly*, or not at all. It’s more natural. We’re illustrators, not market research assistants.

What do you think? 

**

hello, this is __ , the illustrator, calling from __ .

is this a good time to talk? i’m sure you’re busy, so i’ll keep it brief.

i sent along the deyoung products to you, and wanted to make sure you got ‘em.

listen, i have a hole in my schedule for the next few weeks, and i’m wondering if you have any projects on the table which you think might fit my style.

i’ll email you a few images soon. (check their email address)

let’s keep in touch.

**

xm

Michael that’s perfect! It’s essentially something like that that I use. As you said, one shouldn’t stick to the script too closely, but instead keep it light and natural.

You hit the key points:
- Introduce yourself, tell them what you do;
- Let them know your call will be short;
- Inquire as to whether they need your services*;
- Ask if you can send them samples;
- Promise to follow up.

That’s all there is to it!

* One way of doing this (only if it’s true!) is to say something like: “I see you use a lot of illustration in your layouts; I think my style of drawing might fit in well with the artists you currently use. Any chance you might give me a shot in an upcoming issue?”

Basically, imagine what you’d say if you were repping an artist and trying to get someone to hire that artist. Pretty much the same thing. Selling someone on an idea CAN sometimes sound a little like begging, I know.

I totally agree with the concept. I’ve never actually cold-called, but my entire career has been built and maintained by cold-emailing.

I go through the same key points: quick intro personalized to be relevant to the client, maybe a short client list to show I’m legit, and perhaps a couple samples or just a link to my site. It works. When first starting out, I’d get a 40% response rate and a few new clients each time.

I prefer email because it gives me a record of correspondence and is a bit less confrontational and time-intruding. Also, they can keep coming back to my email over time or can forward it on to other people within their organization.

I’ve gotten lousy responses from postcards in the past, and they’re too time consuming and can be costly. No-cost and low-cost advertising is just as effective, and often more so.

Great tips Arthur! Thanks for sharing this information!

The more illustrators know, the more it helps everyone, I think. It’s important for us to all realize we can get work on our own, and that it’s not as difficult as we think. Admittedly, for some artists, because of their styles or their reputations, may have an easier or harder time than others, but it’s not impossible.

What’s up Luc?

Luc said:

Do not suggest a “licking service” to someone with a mind as dirty as mine. :)

I concur.

That’s some really great advice you gave. I’ve always heard the opposite. Not to cold call. But, screw that. I tried the waiting around for them to call me and it hasn’t worked very well. I get calls but they are very few a year.

So I’m going to try the cold call and be pro-active. Thanks dude.

hey luc,

this IS a good idea! i always heard NOT to cold call. when i started looking for illustration work, a few art directors told me so specifically, “never call. i’ll call you.” since then though, i’ve noticed that most people ~ past clients specifically (“warm calls,” i guess) ~ don’t mind. especially when i keep it brief and make it clear that i’m just excited to work with them again.

anyway, thanks for the post. i’m gonna try some COLD calls also. ~ r

Great advice, I really appreciate you posting this here. I’ve been doing illustration for a while on the side and I’m looking to push it up a bit.

Wish me luck!

Hi everyone. I’m just starting out. I don’t have any commisioned work (apart from a little from a few years ago with my first attempt at being an illustrator)
If I cold call art directors, should I let them know that I’m starting out? Or will that put them off. How should I approach this? Thanks for any advice!

@ Francesca:
That’s totally your call. For some clients, the fact you’re new in the field might be an incentive to hire you (new artist = new ideas, fresh talent). While for others, it may signal a red flag (inexperienced, not up-to-speed, etc…).

Another way of looking at it is that, newbie or veteran, you’re “new” to them anyway, because they’ve never worked with you before. It’s relative.

The most important thing is that you’re hoping to engage them in a brief conversation in which you are attempting to start a relationship with them.

It needs to be short and sweet, and it should leave them with a desire to at least want to hear from you again. Not everything needs to result in an immediate job.

I’ll soon be posting a basic sort of “script” (for lack of a better word) of what I usually say when cold-calling new clients. Stay tuned.