Sources of Work
Find three sources of work for you as a freelancer
*Click on the titles of the sources of work to go to their websites
1. StarNow.co.uk
What is StarNow?
StarNow is a website that allows people who are looking for work to sign up and use it for free to browse and audition for jobs in acting and other areas for people of all ages and people with different levels of experience. Upon signing up to StarNow, people are automatically a basic member and can create their own basic profile to upload photos, videos and audio to give people that view the profile an idea of what that person has done previously in terms of work and where their skills mostly are.
While people who sign up are able to use the website for free to search for jobs, these users are basic users, meaning theyre limited to only applying for jobs that are labled ‘apply free’ on their icon. However, for a £4.99 /month subscription, basic users are able to upgrade to a full membership, which will enable them to apply for any job that is listed on the website and not just be limited to certain available jobs. As someone who doesn’t have a full membership yet, I am only able to apply for the jobs that have ‘apply free’ on their icons, but there are still a good amount of jobs in that category as they offer chances to people who are looking to get experience, which I am.
How could I use StarNow to ensure that I receive regular work as a freelancer?
People post new jobs on StarNow almost daily, so there will always be new work opportunities popping up that I could go for. Currently, I am a basic member on StarNow and this website is the number one website I use for searching for jobs that I could potentially apply for. I have my own profile on the StarNow website, and I have linked my own freelance website/digital portfolio on there so that people who visit my profile on the site can also visit my website/digital portfolio and browse through what projects I currently have been part of and what my role was in that particular project. I have also uploaded a photograph to my StarNow profile that I took while working one of the projects to show people who visit it that I have worked on the set of an actual professional production. Uploading photographs of the projects I have completed from the jobs I applied for through StarNow will also help me to get more regular work as people will see the work I have done for other people and potentially want me to do something similar with their projects. When I have filled in the sections on my profile on StarNow, there are two places that I can go to and find jobs. I will be able to go to “Matching Jobs”, which will automatically take the options I have filled in on my profile and then use them to search for jobs that will suit me the best. The second option is where I can manually search for jobs by searching via a key word and putting my age, location etc and jobs that match my search will appear.
If I upgrade my account to a full membership by paying the monthly subscription of £4.99, then I will be able to get more regular work as there will be more opportunities for me to apply for and this will ensure that I have regular work coming in as I am would not be restricted to just applying for free-to-apply jobs, I would have a wider range of jobs to go for.
On StarNow, there is a section titled ‘Talent Dictionary’, which is available to full members to have them listed and made public for people to view their profiles. By being listed on the Talent Dictionary, it makes it easier for freelancers and other people to get noticed by people who are looking for someone with a particular skill. If I upgraded from a basic member to a full member on StarNow, I would be able to be featured on the Talent Dictionary and it would would ensure that I could get regular work as people would be aware of me and the skills I have.
2. Mandy.com
What is Mandy?
Mandy.com is a website that allows people to sign up and look for jobs, as well as companies being able to post jobs to it too.
How could I use Mandy to ensure that I receive regular work as a freelancer?
I can use Mandy to ensure that I receive regular work because there are jobs that are posted on the website that I can apply for whenever they become available. The fact that Mandy is updated with new jobs, which can be seen by the ‘New’ tag on the left side of the job. I would check on Mandy to see if any new jobs for film or TV are available for me to apply for.
3. Guru.com
Guru.com is a website that I have recently found that would allow me to look for freelance work that I can be hired to do.
How could I use Guru to ensure that I receive regular work as a freelancer?
There are many categories on Guru, ranging from Design, Art & Multimedia, to Engineering & Architecture. The Design, Art & Multimedia category is the one that would most appeal to me and the line of work I want to go into eventually.
When on the website, there is a menu, and one of the tabs say “Find a Job”, which allows people who are look for work on the website to find jobs that are available for the line of work they’re in. This section of the website is updated with new jobs, sometimes every hour, so there are always new jobs that are popping up to apply for from people who are looking for people who offer the skills they’re looking for.
If I applied for a job using Guru and I completed a project for a client, then the finishing product I would be able to use as portfolio material, both for my personal website/portfolio, and the portfolio I have available on the profile on Guru. This will allow clients I apply to work for in the future to look through my previous work before they accept my application to the job.
Identify at least 3 agents or agencies that deal with freelance clients. Assess how you would use them to ensure work at regular intervals.
Major Players is an agency that helps with finding jobs for freelancers. These jobs are specifically found by them based on the kind of job that I as a freelancer would get the most out of and would be able to make a difference in the line of work I enjoy. I could use Major Players to ensure that I will have work to apply for as I can enter my email address into the “Receive New Jobs Per Email” section, which will allow me to receive email notifications about new jobs that have popped up on the website, and this will ensure that I don’t miss a job update that i could potentially apply for.
Another agency that deals with freelance clients is Searchlight Freelance. They work with over 500 clients at more than 150 companies. They look for people who are interested in being represented by Searchlight Freelance and ask to be emailed with a CV and Showreel. By sending my CV to them via email, I could use Searchlight Freelance to search for jobs that I can apply for, because I am not a candidate looking for junior or entry-level roles, which is a good thing as they mention that the clients fill those positions directly. Now that I have found this website, I know where to check back for work and job updates to see if there are any jobs that arise in the areas where my skills mostly are.
Follow this link for SearchLight Freelance: http://www.searchlight.com/searchlight-freelance/looking-for-work
Another agency that deals with freelance clients is Soho Editors. On the website it said, “we take the stress out of finding the right freelance talent you need”, which means that this recruitment agency helps people who are looking for freelance editors and will pair them up with people who have the skills that client is after. When on the website, there is a menu at the top of the page which says “Jobs” and after clicking on this and entering “video editing” in the search bar, I found a few jobs in the area of work I want to go into, and I can keep checking back on this website every day so to see if any more have been added.
Identify at least 3 specific trade journals (in print or online) related to your technical skills that you could use. Assess how you could use them to ensure work at regular intervals.
Trade journals provide readers with information such as developments in technology, information on film studios and much more.
Mediaweek is a trade journal that talks about what has happened in the entertainment industry, and shows photographs that were taken of media events that have happened throughout that week in the media industry.
Another trade journal is called American Cinematographer, which is an American trade journal that includes information such as the technical developments of cinematography and interviews with cinematographers
Another trade journal is called Screen International. This is a trade journal that talks about international film industry. In addition to the print-based version of the magazine, there is also website called ScreenDaily.com that has the information about the film industry in a similar way the Screen International print-based trade journal does.
Identify at least 1 forthcoming ‘Trade Event’ (ideally in the UK) that you could attend to find out about opportunities and innovation in your sector.
An upcoming trade event that I could attend to find out more about the opportunities in the film industry is Media360. While I have missed the 2016 event as it already took place on the 26th & 27th of May in Brighton, there is another Media360 event coming in 2017.
At the 2016 Media360 event, there were a large amount of speakers, and from the turn out of that event, I can assume that there will also be a large amount of people speaking at the 2017 event, so if I attend that event next year then I will be able to learn from them when they speak about advertising etc as some of the speakers have a lot of experience in advertising for companies, so I can learn from them to come up with innovative advertising methods for my freelancing business to get more clients for my work. This will be useful for me to learn as I want to become a video editor, which would mean films too, and since trailers are a big part of film advertising, leaning how to advertise more effectively would be a good thing to learn.
What other methods of networking and use of contacts would I need to do to maintain my workflow?
I could create professional Facebook and Twitter accounts for my freelance business. This will allow me to become more known to people who are browsing on these social media sites and if people like the work I do then it can be shared around by them, which would then create more exposure for my work and could potentially catch the attention of companies that are looking for people to do work similar to the work I produce and could then offer me some work with their company, which would help me to maintain my workflow as they will become a client of mine. Once the project has been competed with this client, there is a possibility they will post the final product on their social media pages, and since I will have professional social media accounts connected to my business, that company will be able to mention me in their tweet/status and I can then retweet it, and people who follow that business on social media will potentially like and retweet the tweet/like & share the status, which would then promote and advertise my services and allow me to receive more potential clients.
Self Marketing
How could I use business cards to market my services?
Since I want to become a freelancer, I will need to look for my own work as, unless I’m lucky enough for people to hear about the services I offer through word of mouth, which would be extremely lucky since nobody knows of my services, then I would be able to get work from them. A good way for me to promote my services is to create and hand out business cards with my name, contact information such as email and telephone number on them so people know who I am, what I do and how they can contact me, while also including a url to my website so the potential clients can view my website and see the previous work I have done for other clients before they decide to work with me on projects for their company.
Changes I can make to my College WordPress Site
For my college work in Media, I use WordPress for the course work I have done and to show the products I have created.
If I decided that I wanted to turn my college WordPress website into my own personal and professional website, then I would need to make some changes to its appearance first. I would need to create additional pages that showcase each different type of project, such as creating a page specifically for Photoshop work or After Effects Motion Graphics. This will allow for the people I send the URL to in order for them to view the work I have done, to find the work much easier and faster instead of them having to scroll down through different menus for a while before finally finding the page they need as it wouldn’t look professional and would be very time consuming on their end.
On my College WordPress, there is an ‘About’ section on the menu, but there is a minimum of information on there about me, with the exception of my goals I want to achieve, so another change I could make to my college WordPress site is add more about myself so that people know a bit more about me, and not just simply associate me with the work I do, as without this change, that is potentially what will happen.
How would I use my CV as a freelancer?
Since I wouldn’t necessarily post my qualifications on my website under ‘About Me’, I would need to have them somewhere. This is where I could use my CV while working as a freelancer because my CV will have my qualifications on it and I will be able to hand out my CV to potential clients that are looking for people to hire for any video editing. Sending my CV through when I apply for a job online as a freelancer would be much easier as the client will receive my application and my CV at the same time, so they don’t have to go through the bother of asking me for it. If I have a copy already printed out then I can easily give them the CV in person rather than them asking me for my CV and then not being in a position to give it to them as it will be at home on my computer, so having a copy of my CV printed out would be very useful to have as well as having a version I can send out via email.
In addition to my qualifications, my current CV contains all the work experience I have been a part of, so people I apply for jobs with will know of the experience I have with working in the work place and I won’t be walking in and doing something I have had no experience with and I’m not familiar with.
What enhancements can I make to my current portfolio?
In addition to the Wordpress site I use for my college course work, I also have a second WordPress website that is specifically used as my own personal website and portfolio to showcase the work I have done and products I have created. Since this is my own personal website for the work and products I have done, I need to make sure that it is professional-looking so that when presenting it to a client, it is well organised and informative. While I don’t have much work on my portfolio at this point, I have one already created for when I do more projects that I can then add to my portfolio when I work with clients.
When looking at my website, the name could be changed as this website isn’t just my portfolio, but my website, so a more appropriate name other than ‘Josh’sProductionPortfolio’ would be a good thing to change. When I give out my website url, the is something about the url that wouldn’t look profession, and that is it including “.wordpress.com” at the end. I could change this by purchasing a domain name that would sound more professional and give the right impression when potential clients are on my website or read it on my business cards.
Even though freelance video editing the what I want to eventually go into doing, I also have skills in using Photoshop, which could come in handy when working with some clients as I will also be able to use those skills if the client needs something doing in Photoshop. Due to this, I would need to add in additional pages that showcase some of the Photoshop work I have done. I will also need to have a page with my most recent work on it so that I can update it whenever I do new projects by added them onto my portfolio.
Since I will need to show evidence of the work I do for my portfolio, such as taking screenshots of the progress I have made for my blog posts, and also the pages I create for the project, I could create an Instagram page that I can post images to after I am finished working on a project and I can create a link to my page in the ‘Social’ section on my website. This will allow people to follow my Instagram page and also find my website, which make people more aware of what I do and the types of projects I have created. Being a social media site, people will come across it while browsing and become familiar with what I do. In addition to that, Instagram isn’t the only social media site I could add to my website for people to stay connected with what I do, I can also add Facebook or Twitter pages specifically created to be used in connection to my website/portfolio.
Photos and screenshots are good ways to prove that I have actually worked on the projects I have created and put on my portfolio, so to keep a record of the photos or screenshots I have taken throughout the duration of a project or while working on a set of a production, I could create an additional page on the main menu to include photographs I take and place them under clear headings about where the photographs are from.
How could I use Press Releases, Film Festivals and Exhibitions to showcase my work?
I have created a few short films, one of which I have created recently, that I could potentially showcase in a film festival to make people more aware of the work I am capable of producing. A film festival that is coming up soon in 2016 in England is the Raindance Film Festival. Raindance 2016 runs for 12 days from the 21st of September through to the 2nd of October 2016. I could go to this film festival to showcase my work because the completion date for the film festival says that to be eligible for the festival I need to have completed my short film after 1 January 2015, and since I have completed my short film after that date, then I am able to enter my short film in the festival, which would then allow me to gain more exposure as a film creator and will be able to get more clients if people like my work and want me to do work for them.
I could use press releases to get more publicity as if my short film won an award, then I would be written about in a press release, and this would make people more aware of me and what I do. Having me winning the award my short film written about in a press release would also help me to get more clients as people will be more likely to hire me to do work for them as they will know my work has won an award.
Joshua Sumner 