» 2010: The Year I Make Content
posted on February 1, 2010
I know it's already the end of January as I type this, but I wanted to get this spelled out while I'm thinking of it: 2010 is going to be a big year for me.

I've got big plans and big goals for the year, but they all share one common goal: to become completely self-sufficient on only illustration work. This means covering all of my expenses, my monthly bills, rent on my workspace, any new equipment, supplies, or software I need to purchase, while still being able to set money aside for taxes.

For too many years I've simply had ambitions to become a professional illustrator. I tried to do as much illustration as I could in whatever job I held, but until now the only really marketable skill I've been able to capitalize on is my familiarity and comfort with Flash programming (at least in ActionScript 2). Since I lost my job in 2008, the bulk of my income has been earned through Flash programming while picking up a few small illustration jobs here and there throughout the year. My number one goal for 2010 is to flip those percentages, and to end the year as a full-time illustrator.

To that end, I'm detailing my monthly plan:

• January: New Portfolio and Blog
  I spent the whole month redesigning Lunarbistro.com to make the portfolio the more prominent part of the site, and the blog secondary. My old portfolio was small, out-of-date, and hidden deep in the site. Not a good way to attract potential clients!
• February: Developing Better Habits
  I need to start drawing every day. This simple act would help me develop my style a bit better, and would provide me plenty of new material to show off in my shiny new portfolio. I'm going to make it a goal to do daily sketches which I'll post to my twitter-feed, to participate in Illustration Friday for the entire month of February (that's only four updates, so it's a modest goal), and to design and produce some new business cards.
• March: Building a Bigger Client-base
  One of the hardest things for me to do has been attracting new clients through self-promotion. Part of my reluctance to approach people has been the lackluster presentation of my old portfolio. I'm hoping that, with the bright, shiny, CURRENT work I'll be showing on the new site, that I'll be a lot more likely to be showing it off. This is a portfolio I am proud of. I want to put together a promotional postcard mailer and send it to everyone I can think of, including my opt-in mailing list.
• April: Balance my Portfolio
  Take a look at my gallery pages and see which of the two is looking less robust. I'm guessing that the Black & White gallery will have fewer pieces, and older ones at that. Focus on doing new work for whichever gallery needs it most. Continue self-promotion through Illustration Friday if I've stopped participating already.
• May: Release new Merchandise
  I'm honestly hoping to do this throughout the year, but if I haven't been able to come up with at least one new t-shirt design, or some socks, or something relating to my comics that I can add to the store before May, then I'm definitely going to want to focus my attention here for the month. I have plenty of ideas, it's only a matter of making the time to execute them.
• June: Take a Vacation!
  Vacation is at least as important in creative professions as in any other career, but it's the one area where most self-employed folks fail. Most of the illustrators and cartoonists I know never manage more than a weekend away from work every couple months, and they all consider traveling to conventions to be at least part-vacation. This year, though, I'm going to push myself harder to make sure I can take a solid week or two away from home, to go someplace I've never been before, and to bring my sketchbook.
• Ongoing: Ellie Connelly
  This project is going to require a lot of attention and care from me, on top of everything else I'm doing. So far, I've been keeping it fairly separate from my professional-illustration ambitions (in that I don't try to sell my illo-services on the Ellie Connelly site), but that needs to stop. I'm open for commissions, so I need to start marketing that a little bit through the comic, which has more regular viewers than my blog and portfolio. I need to view the comic's site as a tool to address more people because, really, money made from personal commissions is just as handy when it comes time to pay the bills! But at the same time, recognizing that I DO have more people reading the comic, I need to do whatever I can to make sure it stays current and updates regularly. One of my goals for 2010, then, needs to be scripting and laying out the rest of the book, so that I don't get bottlenecked again.
• At the end of June, I hope to revisit this list and be able to list out goals for the remainder of the year. I'll evaluate whatever my current situation is, try to see the effects of each of my self-promotional efforts and find out why they may or may not have worked. I'll use that information to build a plan for the latter half of 2010, and maybe even for 2011.

So, that's the plan! I'll also be using this blog to help keep me on track, updating periodically on my progress, talking about my plan for the week, and then later, to say how I did.

My first plan for this week is simple: Do an Illustration Friday entry for the week, to be completed while Ustreaming, and also to finish coloring page 21 of Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex. Also, I need to layout and start work on page 22, which can be done pretty quickly. I've got other ideas I'd like to get to, but these three pieces are my only real goals for the end of the week. We'll see how I do!

Wish me luck!