Turning a hobby into a job doesnt mean flipping a switch labeled make money.

It takes years to ramp up, and you gotta make and promote your work strategically.

The work that you share is the work youre going to get.

You cant count on future clients or hiring managers to figure out what work you might like best.

You have to make it obvious.

Maller thinks it was those agencies who first found him.

A lot of the time, Maller sees his own work in these mood boards.

After all, thats what had already appealed to the client.

Figure out how these decisions are made in your field.

Who actually needs to see your work for you to get noticed?

Narrow your target audience as much as possible.

Aim for one reader toloveyour writing.

Youll only find them if youre promoting the work you actually love and stand behind.

He believes that the reason he got so much work is because he made himself very easy to find.

Again, you cant count on potential clients to think about you and what you want.

If you dont keep updating your work (and your portfolio), it will start to look dated.

This applies more in fields that rapidly change with fashion and technology.

This doesnt mean selling out and trying to fit in.

you should probably bounce your ideas off other people.

Dont sell out your work just to get anyones attention.

Instead, look for the curators who like art similar to yours.

And put more attention into less centralized communities, like forums, message boards, and subreddits.

Thats where many curators find the best stuff anyway.

You cant necessarily rely on these communities to tell you whether youre any good.

(Sometimes, you know youre on the right track when a certain kind of personhatesyour work.)

Dont make work that you dont want to, just because you think someone important will like it.

Build a face-to-face community too.

Get involved in workshops, meetups, group shows.

This, Maller says, is especially important when you freelance or work for yourself.

Solo work gets lonely, so its useful to talk to someone experiencing the same joys and struggles.

Again, look at schools of painters; they frequently built their first exposure through group exhibitions.

Musicians form bands, writers put out anthologies, comedians put on showcases.

Both results are valid and healthy.

A common one, says Maller, is project scope.

When you first agree to do anything for money, you better talk about scope.

In art and design, this often comes down to revisions.

Unless you specify how many rounds of changes the client can ask for, theyll never stop asking.

No one has to be a dick for a project to go south.

Sometimes youll get a true problem client, who avoids paying you or demands extra work.

The work will suffer, and no one wins.

Setting up expectations helps good clients form good relationships, and it scares off a lot of bad clients.

(The client is responsible for lowering their risk.)

In customer work, spell out what youre selling and what youre not.

And plan for the extra expenses and legwork you might not have considered.

You might notice a lot of talk about shipping and handling, or substitutions, or customization.

Ask people in your community about the extra work that isnt as obvious to customers.

Expect your work to change

You cant turn a hobby into a job without things changing.

Its not a flip you switch, from do for free to do for pay.

The very nature of the endeavor changes, says Maller.

This will affect your personal work as well as your paid work.

(And you really need to keep making personal work, says Maller.)

It can sound quite daunting, he says, but its not necessarily negative.