For the first few years of my freelance career, I had a strategy.
Do great work.
Post it online.
Wait to be discovered.
It felt like the right approach.
If the work was good enough, the right people would find it.
Getting in front of clients felt like something that would happen naturally, once I was ready.
It didn't work.
Not because the work wasn't good.
But because discovery doesn't work the way I thought it did.
The clients I wanted weren't browsing Behance at midnight hoping to find someone like me.
They were busy.
They were stressed.
They were hiring people they already knew, or people someone they trusted had recommended.
The shift happened when I stopped thinking about getting discovered and started thinking about getting known.
Getting discovered is passive.
Getting known is a choice.
It means showing up consistently in places where the right people can see you thinking, not just see your renders.
It means having conversations before you need something from them.
It means being the person who is easy to remember when a brief lands.
None of that requires a huge following.
It requires being deliberate about who you're visible to and what you're showing them.
I wish someone had told me that in year one.
It would have saved me about two years of waiting.
– Moritz
Tiny tactical tip:
Identify three people (art directors, studio owners, or potential clients) whose work you genuinely respect. This week, leave one thoughtful comment on something they've posted. Not to get something. Just to be present. Do this consistently for a month and see what changes.