CREATIVE FREELANCERS

MIKE DE SOUSA

Creative Freelancers

THE CREATIVE FREELANCER

OUTLINE

My conviction is that exploring our creativity is the world's best hope for peace, cooperation, and constructive communication. Creativity is also a major force in contributing to happiness. My focus now is to support these aims at Art Lover VIP.


Creative Freelancers are independent creative professionals who provide services to a diverse range of clients, from individuals starting up a new business, to established companies who are looking for a unique and fresh approach. They have a varied workload throughout the year, and they choose what specialisms most inspire them. This leads to an emphasis on quality, and attention to the fine detail that can sometimes be lacking in work from larger companies.


The Creative Freelancer develops a personal working relationship with their clients and devotes their time to produce a bespoke solution. As Creative Freelancers generally work alone, their focus remains on those one or two projects under commission.


The Directory of Creative Freelancer's served the needs of those searching for, and offering, creative services (for example, artists, photographers, illustrators, graphic designers etc.).


The online service was developed so that it was easy to use. Searching was straight forward and members were helped through their listing setup via their control panel.


Visitors to the site were never distracted by banner adverts, affiliate links, or hidden costs, and there were no referral or commission fees.

HISTORY

I developed and ran an online directory of creative professionals between 2000 and 2004 that also encouraged and supported creativity by hosting over five hundred free resources, articles, and online creative activities. The site enjoyed many millions of visits.


The directory was provided without charge and required a lot of manual intervention, and this eventually led to the closure of its doors to accept new members.


In 2014 a secure, highly scalable, and far more powerful directory emerged. Members enjoyed a free professional company listing including the ability to present photos and images of their work, and unlike many creative directories, they could link directly to their website and social media networks improving their website's SEO footprint. Again, I developed this single-handedly, and the service was offered free of charge.

Screenshot of Creative Freelancers website

Those who completed their profile enjoyed membership options that provided the ability to upload a CV/Brochure/Artist Statement, Video, Article & Blog Postings, and a lot more.


The directory did not act as an agency. Commissions were not received on any work generated as a result of the directory, and it did not represent Client's interests to creative professionals with the exception of allowing them to contact members. This ensured Clients and Members enjoyed the benefits of an introductory service without being tied into an agency levy.

CLOSURE

My hope was that a community of creatives would support their opportunity of free exposure by contributing a little effort by spreading the word.


Despite the opportunities and potential of the directory and a solid listing on Google, the service was sadly underused. Without devoting a further significant amount of my time and resources, the service would have little lasting impact to engage creatives in large numbers.


I therefore decided to close the directory at the end of November 2019, and I am now wholly focused on creating music, art, and poetry which you can enjoy on this site, at 100 Artworks, and elsewhere. My work on this and other projects is supported by Art Lover VIP.


I hope those who used the directory found it valuable, and that their ongoing creative journeying is as satisfying as mine.


Mike


"Bold and innovative…" Picador


All Content © Mike de Sousa 2024 | Art Lover VIP