Where do you guys go to find new Archviz clients and how do you go about it? To my knowledge, Cold Calling is forbidden in the EU, theoretically I’m not even allowed to actively ask anyone if I may offer them my services in, say, another email.
Freelancer platforms? Are there any “hangouts” or typical platforms where these people (real estate etc) are looking for people like us? Or are you actively approaching potential clients?
Why I’m even asking here:
I’ve been doing Archviz since 2021 and always had enough clients which I mostly got referred to by a financing business and from these people I got more jobs.
Since the middle of last year, that entire market has pretty much collapsed here, the European central bank raised interest very fast, and my country’s government has imposed strict regulations on banks to give loans to a segment of people who are suspected to default on their payments, but most likely to take loans. So nobody’s buying, thus none of my clients are building/renovating/juggling, like they used to. Prognosis: probably another year for evaluations.
BUT I still see construction everywhere, there are hundreds, thousands of real estate businesses in the tiny country I live in, I have to find that tap. Even if there’s a massive post-C0v1d insolvency wave sweeping across the country. There must be work, hidden somewhere
Have you asked your previous customers (the ones most happy with your work) for referrals and suggestions? They might be glad to help. Usually the very best way to a new client is though someone who already knows you.
As far as freelancer platforms, my suggestion is to avoid those for the same reasons I just mentioned here:
Also, you can start looking outside your country where there is more activity. Here is Calgary where I live, there is lots of activity at the moment.
One more thing, you may want to look for people who SELL projects (not build), as they are often the ones in need of visual aids. When builders start building it is often past that stage.
I did so half a year ago. They all just seemed totally crushed. But I’ll try again!
I got my own site, I operate since 9 years and put a lot of resources into getting into Archviz, so I want to use them.
So in Calgary, where would you go and how would you apply? The rules may be different here… I never searched for clients, I just got them, that’s probably my main problem now.
That’s what I mainly did. An architect drew a few lines (literally…) and the rest was up to my fantasy. Then the entire thing got resold.
I also did small houses, renovations, baroque facade, loft conversions/extensions), housing communities and larger residential projects. But mainly wor for financing and reselling purposes.
You’re well experienced then and tried all the best ways. Send me a PM of your info and I’ll pass it around here. I’m not in the architectural business but I’ll take a look. There are no rules for cold calls or emails here (if there are they are not enforced).
Maybe LinkedIn is a good place to promote your work? You can then target some firms here in Alberta if you like.
I dug into Archviz business advice on YT (I’m always wary of YT advice though…) and LinkedIn is always mentioned as the place to be. Learn writing copy and post stuff every day, talk to people. Not exactly my thing, but there’s no other way, apparently.
I’ll message you a little later. Thank you very much.
I also did a lot of archviz back in the day, but with the rise of 3D architectural design software, separate apps like Sketchup, or apps like Lumion with animation tools as well, I saw this market shrink significantly.
In the end I decided to step away from it completely, as it was more hassle than it was worth.
Also, the bigger the project, the more chance of it going to dedicated firms that do archviz all the time. And those are almost impossible to compete with as a freelancer.
But maybe it’s different in the UK, no idea tbh.
And 3D/VFX has always been ‘up and down’ workwise.
I feel it is worse after 2020 when Corona hit imho…
With real estate people being busy hustling, that market is probably still quite OK, as long as there are no financial impediments. They simply can’t do it themselves - at least from my experience.
What did you end up doing instead of Archviz? I was looking into VFX, but that won’t help me right now and I invested a considerable amount of money on assets, addons etc.
I can do small projects. I don’t care. I don’t have a lot of headroom, I don’t need a house, car, dog etc. As long as the volume is there, the bills are paid, I’m OK.
These days it seems everything is an “up and down”. If I had really ever specialized in any of my areas, Corona would have killed me off immediately, diversifying kept me afloat. But now it seems literally everything is breaking down.
The helicopter money during Corona, the “generous” loans given to businesses to be able to overcome what the governments knowingly ruined with their Lockdown policy (official, unredacted documents in Germany etc. have just been revealed a few weeks ago, there was no “science” to most of this, science was willingly ignored, it was merely politics) are coming due and thousands of businesses in my tiny country will most likely default, and the government won’t extend the loan. This looks like planned destruction to make way for “investors”.
I’ll try abroad, not in Europe - doing that seems legit. In the UK, you can allegedly charge up to 1500 pounds PER IMAGE. That probably means 10% for me, plus a lot of “business grower’s” advice…
Like I said, most architectural BIM software can do 3D imagery very easily, even with animations.
Sometimes very basic, but enough to get approval on a design.
And with easy exports to e.g. Lumion, it’s very simple for a small architectural studio to create even better visuals. No need for a 3D artist here.
Most of the architectural firms here are small, and don’t have big budgets.
LOL, you’re a lucky person
Yes, a lot of people I know were royally screwed by this, and had to close shop afterwards.
I always had a diverse portfolio, from 3D/VFX for commercial work (TV stuff), to product renders (print/web), interactive stuff and website related things.
As Rob says, CG is always up and down and archviz is quite saturated in some areas.
I’m thinking it might be worth seeking out under served markets where there isn’t so much competition. There is nowhere near the level of work being done here as there probably is in the UK for example.
Also, industrial animation is under served and often very poorly done. There is a market there as I’ve done quite a lot of it. It’s not flashy or exciting but it helps pay the bills.
Another option is to sell printed artwork which I did successfully for over a decade. The advantage of that is that you do the work once and get paid over and over. I still make money from work I did nearly 20 years ago. It’s a slower start but gets you off the treadmill a bit and evens things out a bit.
I posted here a while back of what worked for me. Everyone will have different experiences but this is what I found worked:
That’s why my (former) clients came to me. Those Lego visualisations just didn’t cut it for the banks, many of those architects could not do any better. The ones I was in contact with were 70% “old” like me and don’t have time to acquire those skills. Of course younger people will do that with ease.
I don’t necessarily need Archviz work only, I also run a diverse portfolio, otherwise I’d go crazy!
Depends. Me and my wife are resourceful. I live in a city where having a car is stupid and expensive, so many things don’t apply to us. Of course, to most people this isn’t “living”. Since we apparently have an average per capita income of 60.000 €, me and many of my friends have asked ourselves if we have so many billionaires raising that average
That sounds very good to me. I’ll research that a bit, I know what you’re talking about, I’ve seen horrible stuff!
I’ve seen your work, it’s great - I’ve been very much into this topic as a kid, so it definitely touches that nerve!
I have looked into the gallery business a few years ago, I used to live in an “art district”, 90% of the galleries were only selling their own work and of those, 80% closed after a year. But I didn’t look properly. I was doing fine art photography and never made a dime from it, I should definitely get off my booty instead of languishing around here
And since you mentioned “forget about online”: that was my main point not to proceed in that direction either. An oversaturated market.
BUT there are quite frequent public business meetings around here. It could be a doctor, whatever. I’d just need to have stuff printed and framed, stick on a QR code and well… we’ll see.
Thanks for lots of positive input. The mind often plays evil tricks, you guys helped clear a lot of fog here!
No problem, sometimes it just takes some new insight, best of luck!
For short term needs, I would suggest industrial animation. Every engineering firm and most manufacturing companies need it and like it. Getting them to pay for it is the challenge but it’s not all that hard compared to other VFX work.
Long term I would recommend selling art. You can do the work once and benefit for ages. That has huge advantages. See the other thread for more on that.
Unfortunately, you are right, most galleries have no idea how to stay in business, don’t go to the “art district”, they’re the worst. They don’t know how to run a business and their customers have no money. Go to very high traffic malls. There are some galleries that know what they’re doing. Seek them out!
Business meetings could also be good, I never tried that. In person is always the best so do that if you can.
I’ll create a road map during the next days and see what I can do. You definitely popped that heavy lid off of my mind.
I must polish my technical animation skills though, it’s been a while. My last product visualizations were done in 2020/21. But the art thing from the other thread is also very intriguing. There sure are old renditions around to use for reference purposes. “Art & Coffee”, “Coffee and Purses” and “Fashion & Coffee” were 3 locations within about 50 m reach. You know what I’m talking about.
There’s a tech meeting location I’m regularly shooting networking meetings at. That might be a starting point.
