Illustrator promo services/mailling lists

[Geoff K]

Does anyone use promo services to get clients?

I've been looking around for information on this.

I did find this one:

http://www.hireanillustrator.com/

Is it worth it to pay for a service like this to find clients?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Maidith]

I've used this one last year, for about 12 months. (My profile might be still on the page, but the subscription is already cancelled)

I got no work offers from this. Even if they indeed mail out a lot of promotion pieces (I sent them a pack of postcards once), it will be inefficient if they mass-mail it to all of their client list indiscriminately.
Matching up an illustrator to a client takes actual research on who needs what.
You have much higher chances of success by figuring out which clients might need work and a drawing style like yours. Who publishes what and where? Targeted promotion, when done right, can be much more cost efficient.

[Qitsune]

I'd rather pay 20$ to enter Spectrum.

[QueenGwenevere]

Most of those general promotion services seem to provide very little bang for your buck, from all I've heard... They don't do anything you can't do better yourself with research, targeted mailings and taking advantage of sites like CA, CGHub, Behance, Facebook, etc.

If you want a service that really gets clients you might not get on your own, try a real agent instead. An agent doesn't get paid unless they get you work, so they'll actually be motivated to do so (and if they fail, hey, it's no loss.)

[sone_one]

Most of those general promotion services seem to provide very little bang for your buck, from all I've heard... They don't do anything you can't do better yourself with research, targeted mailings and taking advantage of sites like CA, CGHub, Behance, Facebook, etc.

If you want a service that really gets clients you might not get on your own, try a real agent instead. An agent doesn't get paid unless they get you work, so they'll actually be motivated to do so (and if they fail, hey, it's no loss.)

and because (in most cases) they earn a fixed percentage of what you get paid, have an interest in you getting the max. amount out of it.

[vineris]

You may have to split some of the advertising costs with the agent, though, so take that into account.

[Geoff K]

Really great replies guys. Very valuable info. I was pretty skeptical about the promo service sites. I'm looking for ways to get my work out there, and find some projects suitable to my abilities.

Any recommendations on where to get an agent?

[Elwell]

These sorts of sites generally do better for editorial-oriented illustrators than anybody else.

[Qitsune]

Tristan, I notice you post more editorial work lately. Is it because you have gone that way or because you just can't post the rest?

[Elwell]

Probably a combination. Editorial work is quick turnaround, so you don't have to deal with NDAs, waiting months/years for something to be published, etc. But I've also been doing more editorial jobs recently than I have in many years, because I've developed some new semi-regular clients. I don't think my work is particulary "contemporary editorial illustration style," however. There's precious little realistically rendered painted work used these days for that market. It's pretty much Tim O'Brien and... Tim O'Brien.

[bcarman]

Don't forget Tim O'brien Tristan. Sam Weber plugs a few in but I don't see as many from guys like Parada and he's a little more stylized I guess. And guys like Mattelson and Liepke have gone gallery. Is there much of a hole there for you?