Do websites help you get business?

[Wired]

I've been doing a few commissions on the side lately to bolster my income, but most of it has come from people I've "known" for some time through web forums or from jobs I've taken up from the "Requests" subforum. What interests me is - for those of you who do this to finance themselves fully or at least to a significant degree and do have a website - do you get most of your business from here/elsewhere or through your websites? I'm comfortable doing what I do through the Guild and via my showcases over at DeviantArt, but I'm curious about whether a website makes a difference for you guys?

[Gamerprinter]

Honestly, I had a website for a while, but it got almost no traffic at all. Yet I still get a ton of commissions, mostly from people viewing my Facebook and Google + pages more than anything else. Though I do participate on the Paizo Message Boards, ENWorld Forums, and the Cartographers' Guild, which gets me more commission inquiries than any of my websites ever did. Most publishers seem to find my Facebook and G+ pages though, and that is where they find and contact me. I've done more commission maps in the last 10 months than the previous 7 years, though I've been doing professional commissions since 2008. I've never had a DeviantArt page, so I have nothing to say regarding that. In my experience my own websites just don't generate enough traffic nor commission requests to make it worth paying for all that. Facebook and G+ costs nothing. Consider that I started my G+ page in June of 2013, and now just over 2 years active, my G+ page has gotten over 5.2 million views.

Last year I did multiple map commissions for a video game strategy guide publisher (for the Brady Games, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare strategy guide), and they found me through my G+ page, I think they said they found me through a Google search to find my G+ page, then they contacted and hired me on the spot (for the largest commission payment I've ever received which was $8,000 for 13 maps.)

Google + has been my best commission generator, seconded by Facebook, then probably here, ahead of all other sources. My website, I don't think ever generated a single commission.

[Wired]

Thank you for the input, Michael! Seems I've been rather oblivious to the power of G+ so far.

[Midgardsormr]

I don't attempt to make any income from cartography or freelance illustration, but I have had a few people contact me for use of existing maps or for small commissions through my website. That is odd, since there aren't actually any links to my map or illustration work on the site at present, although the files are still there. I guess they're still indexed on Google.

I don't view a website as a passive way of getting work. Putting it up and hoping people find it is akin to throwing a box of business cards off the roof of a skyscraper and hoping that someone who finds one decides to call you. Rather, you put your link in all of your correspondence and deliver it actively to people you think might want you to hire them.

As someone who might eventually hire an illustrator, I consider putting up a web page and registering a domain name to be the minimum level of effort necessary to sell yourself as serious enough to be worth hiring. I personally wouldn't hire someone on the basis of only a DeviantArt gallery unless they were really outstanding. I'd probably still want a reference.

[Gamerprinter]

Another consideration that I didn't mention is that I am constantly working on personal maps between commissions, and I update my FB and G+ pages with a new map practically every week, sometimes 2 in a week, also sometimes I post works in progress, so that I post 2 or 3 versions of the same map at various stages of creation. I believe this constant activity and additions of new content is what causes such a large following of my pages. Just like any website, if you don't constantly update the content often, the traffic will slow. Interestingly, over the past 7 years, I've created a couple hundred maps and just now I am attempting to monetize all my old maps, turning them into printable PDFs and VT-ready maps. My hope is to have 50 to 100 products in my DrivethruRPG publisher page by the end of the year. Right now I have only 13 products, but sales are constant, so I know if I had 100 products available, I would greatly improve my revenue stream.

Additionally, I've been invited to become an blogger to a staff of RPG bloggers at Tabletop Terrors. Every place that I can gain another platform that points to my G+ and DTRPG publisher account will increase traffic, and no doubt gain more commission opportunities. Right now, I regularly do maps for EN Publishing, Stormbunny Studios, Legendary Games and many others.

[Chashio]

I have had some people find me on DA, some on FB, some I've known a long time, and some I have found here in Map Requests. People look at my website when I direct them to the portfolios there, but I don't know as I've ever been found directly through it. Maybe once. Yeah, there was one. But I haven't exactly kept it in trim and used it for all its worth either... I've had a site overhaul in the works (design and testing stage) for... two years? Wow. Other work has taken precedence.

I think a website is (or can be) a good tool for getting business, different than forums, etc. and with less traffic, but definitely with plenty of possibilities for getting and growing business, and not just commissions. It's still just one part of the whole, though, and it doesn't even have to be that if you have a system that works better for you.

[Groondor]

Hey Wired I tried e-mailing you about a possiable map, however I keep getting and error to your e-mail. If you are interested e-mail me at JTinkey78@gmail.com

[Wired]

Hey Wired I tried e-mailing you about a possiable map, however I keep getting and error to your e-mail. If you are interested e-mail me at JTinkey78@gmail.com

I've sent you a mail.

[Wired]

Thanks everybody for your input. I've decided to set up a website in the near future (I still have an unused domain somewhere...) and also try and get active on Google+ with some regular map output. Thanks again for the insights you've provided from both sides of the issue.