Since the invention of the wheel, man has been looking for better and easier ways to create tools, weapons, transport, and other means to make life better and easier to live. In time, new materials and technologies opened up a new frontier that enabled creative and resourceful people to put their minds to work and design versatile constructions. However, a designer’s work is not easy and making certain ideas to come to life is a difficult milestone to achieve. In truth, these days, designers are facing more challenges than ever. Although there are various online platforms, hundreds of companies or private investors to look for, selling a 3D design is not an easy thing to do. So let us take a closer look at some of the biggest challenges in selling 3D design.
The cruel competition
Human population is a creative species and we really enjoy our ability to imagine and build. To be honest, it takes a lot to be a good 3D designers but the wonderful thing is that there are many astonishing people that continue to amaze us with their solutions. Nevertheless, creative as they might be, designers do not go easy on each other when work comes in. In order to sell their design many designers will go below the price, thus undermining the competition. This forces others to lower their rates, which is unacceptable for most designers. In order to sell their work for a price that remotely honors the amount of work and talent invested, designers have to undergo serious marketing and fight their way through the competition.
Staying visible online
The internet made it easy to look for new clients and share your ideas with the world. Online social networks, forums, and freelance platforms are an excellent way to promote yourself and sell your designs to anyone, anywhere in the world. However, there is a catch, you are not alone on the internet and millions of other people are trying to do the same thing you are doing. Staying visible online means updating your portfolio, publishing regular status updates on social network and keeping in touch with leads and prospects. Even if you do everything “by the book”, there is still a chance that in a single day your online visibility turns from spotlight to a dark and lonely corner.
Finding the clients
This might seem unusual to some people, but finding a client is not just about finding someone who will hire you. Not all the clients are the same and not all of them are good for your career. Finding a client that will honor your creative skills, set reasonable deadlines and understand you completely is a task most difficult to complete. In addition, it is not enough to find a client that will buy your design and terminate your contract; clients should plan long-term cooperation with you. One could argue that if a designer is good enough, the clients will stick around and plan long-term, but it all depends on the client, and that is why finding valuable clients is one of the largest challenges designers have to face.
Building a reputation
The goal of any professional is to build a reputation in order to get a continuous, well-paid workflow. This is a long and painful process that eventually puts you in the spotlight, free to pick your next project and sell your designs at a higher rate. It takes time to go “from zero to hero”, one has to start doing lesser work for pennies and build reputation from scratch. This also includes the input of past and current clients, which greatly affects how you rate with others. Some clients are difficult to satisfy and, even if you did your best, the reviews would show a low level of satisfaction. Nevertheless, with the right platform, talent and devotion to work always come to surface.
As we can see, it is not easy to sell design in this modern day and age. The competition is vast, the clients are demanding and care about the profit more than they would care about your needs. In order to face these challenges, designer should arm with confidence, patience, and learn to adapt. This means self-improvement, and keeping in touch with the latest trends.
