Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours… Ronald Reagan.
Times are tough right now in the architectural world. No one is building and no one is investing in architecture. You drive down the street and see the four office buildings that have your 3drenderings in front of it, empty. Is this the beginning of the end?
I think not. Even though development is slowing down, why should the need to market it. I would think just the opposite. Doing architectural illustration in Phoenix, Arizona for the past 7 years, we’ve seemed to have our work handed on a silver platter. There was so much construction going on that we never needed to do anything to get more than enough work to keep a zillion people busy. I would say now would be a good time to strike. Just because someone isn’t handing you work left and right, doesn’t mean that there isn’t any. I think we just need to be a little more aggressive. Here are a couple pointers to get you though a recession.
Stay focused, stay positive. I know in a recession people get really negative. You hear talk, your colleagues get laid off or go bankrupt. But seriously, does a negative attitude really help. Better yet, maybe we shouldn’t spend 23 out of 24 hours blaming the government. Lets be proactive people, not retroactive. Keep a positive attitude, no one has ever succeeded with a negative one.
Use Connections and networking. I found networking to be the most useful tool in a business. People aren’t going to freak out if you call up and get the 411 on there company situation or if you ask them if they need any 3d renderings, 2d graphics, elevations or colored site plans.
Maybe you should give a discount. Seriously, $3000.00 for one 3d rendering. We all know it doesn’t take that long for architectural illustration, and if you have a high overhead, maybe its time to cut back. Ive seen what some people charge in architecture, and although that seemed reasonable in 2001, its not so reasonable now.
Bottom line, if you have a good 3d rendering that is realistically priced, you should be able to keep afloat in a recession. Put some elbow grease into marketing, pride into your work and a positive attitude.
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