09/02/2016
Mary Edogbemi, 26, was struggling to make a living as a freelance graphic designer.
A Unilag graduate knew she had talent, but finding a way to monetize her graphic design and videomaking skills proved to be harder than she expected.
Enter Crofserv.com, an online marketplace, where creative types sell wares and services for a small fee (usually N1000 to N10,000).
After advertising her speed-coloring logo videos used for marketing businesses or as personal greetings with little success, Mary decided it was time to think out of the box.
Using only a camera phone and her playful bird, Pickle, Mary shot a series of YouTube advertisements featuring Pickle dancing around a Crofserv logo that turned her business into an overnight success story.
Crofserv customers clicked with Mary's vivid designs, and loved the idea of using Pickle in their ads. Soon, Mary was featured on Crofserv's homepage and was fielding more orders than she could handle.
"I expected nothing, but the orders started pouring in," Mary said. "Over the past year, it's grown to five to fifteen orders per day, with people spending different amounts (between N1000 and N10,000). To date, I've made N1,000,000 and the money just keeps growing."
We asked Mary to share some tips for aspiring freelancers looking to eke out a business:
Put yourself in the customer's shoes. "Think about whether you'd buy what you're selling," she said. "If I saw this, would I say it looks cool? I may see the appeal to it, but not everyone else will."
Focus on what sets you apart. In an online marketplace as saturated as Crofserv, it pays to stand out. "Even when I create a new job, I think about how the video might be promoted and why they'd want to use my logo over somebody else's," Mary said. "You have to put your own spin on something."
Stay attuned to key trends. "It's important to adapt yourself to what's going on right now," said Mary, who knew she was in business when she realized her videos could go viral on Facebook and Twitter.