Guide to Freelance Retouching: Finding Clients and Building Your Career
Introduction
Starting a freelance career in retouching can be challenging, especially when it comes to finding clients. This guide aims to provide strategies and insights to help you establish yourself in the industry.
Most freelancers start out their business like this:
- They decide to pursue their passion and try to get great at what they do.
- They build a website that talks about their expertise or started building a portfolio of work.
- They set up their social media profiles and started promoting themselves.
- They wait for clients to come to them.
If you are serious about retouching, I would look into freelancing for retouching studios/houses.
Strategies for Finding Clients:
1. Work with Retouching Studios
Consider freelancing for established retouching houses to gain experience and build your portfolio. Some reputable studios include:
- Touch Digital (http://www.touchdigital.co.uk/)
- Upper Studio (upperstudioinc.com/)
- LoveRetouch (www.loveretouch.com/)
- Studio Invisible (https://studioinvisible.co.uk/)
- Silhouette Studio (https://www.silhouettestudio.com/)
Many studios offer remote work opportunities, but top-tier studios often prefer in-house talent.
2. Research and Network:
Identify photographers or companies who have hired freelance retouchers
Reach out to them for advice (not job opportunities)
Contact industry educators for insights
Key questions to ask:
- Why did they choose their current retoucher?
- How did they discover the retoucher?
- What results do they expect from hiring a retoucher?
- Do they prefer individual freelancers or studios, and why?
3. Utilize Freelance Job Boards:
Explore platforms such as:
- Upwork
- People Per Hour
- Freelancer.com
While not retouching-specific, Craigslist can also be a source of work.
4. Additional Strategies:
- Leverage existing industry contacts
- Connect with other freelancers and retouchers
- Use professional networking sites like LinkedIn
- Create diverse content (blog posts, YouTube tutorials) to showcase expertise
- Consider pro bono work initially to build your portfolio
- Explore teaching opportunities or creating online courses
- Collaborate with a retouching partner
- Compile a list of dream clients for future outreach
Conclusion:
Building a successful freelance retouching career requires persistence, networking, and continuous skill development. By implementing these strategies and remaining proactive, you can increase your chances of finding clients and establishing yourself in the industry.
Thanks Dylan!
Glad, you liked it, Mike.
What is your main takeaway from the post?
And what did you find that helped you?
- Dylan
It's an approach that I've never heard before. The notion of reaching out to someone who's sought out another professional in your field to learn ways to improve your own method of finding business. It's a really great concept and being in the "portfolio building" step of freelancing myself, I don't want to fall into the "...wait for clients to come to them" phase :)
Main takeaway? Go out and find clients, don't wait.
Thanks again!
Great Article!
I live in Norway, where the market is that much smaller than say, the us.
Fact is, i've been very lucky and have worked with probably the best food and stillife photographer in Norway , and i have gotten to meet big time clients face to face many times, even made them lunch and taken care of them (as an assistant would do) and that has helped me with some retouching jobs. But even with that, those same clients will not come to me without me taking the initiative. And that is probably one of the hardest things about this job. "you have to be hungry"
good points, but on a sidenote is this your writing??? very strange, while googling this subject there is an article that is almost word for word similar...
http://lifehacker.com/an-experienced-freelancers-guide-to-finding-client...
Sorry, my comments keep deleting themselves, thank you for sharing this link. I have not seen this before and it does look similar.
- Dylan
This is a great article. Thanks for sharing, Dylan!
That's what every newbie is looking for! Great content! Thank you, Dylan!