"No one can discover you until you do. Exploit your talents, skills, and strengths and make the world sit up and take notice."— Rob Liano, Author & Sales Strategist

In this day and age of technology, video content is becoming more renowned—from companies using animated videos to establish their brand identity to consumers learning about a company’s product and service through animated explainer videos.

A survey from Wyzowl, an animated video production company, supports this idea wherein an enormous percentage, 96%, of businesses see video content as an essential fragment of their marketing strategy. 

From the same survey from Wyzowl, 55% of companies opt for animated video content for their businesses.

Wyzowl’s findings suggest that the animation industry offers a clear path for career growth for artists and animators. Also, a career in animation allows you to express your artistic self through your work, and with every project, you continuously learn about your craft. 

But sometimes, starting a career as an artist or an animator can be challenging. You can have the skillset and software needed to become one, but beginning your journey can be quite overwhelming. Knowing how to start and where to find animation clients are the first steps to thriving in the animation industry. 

Worry not! Kickstarting your freelancing career will be easy, as many freelance sites are now surfacing online. 

In this blog post, we have filtered five of the best freelance sites for artists and animators to save you time and energy.

Freelance Sites Artists and Animators Should Explore

Animatedjobs.com

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Animatedjobs.com is one of the leading freelance sites for artists explicitly made for animators, artists, and designers. Animators established this freelance site for their fellow artists, believing that animated content creation is the future of digital marketing. 

This freelance site exhibits countless jobs for 2D animators, 3D animators, and storyboard artists. Big companies and animation studios like Laika, Sony Pictures Animation, Skydance Studios, and Rockstar Games have listed jobs and internships on this freelance site.

One good thing about animatedjobs.com is that each job posting consists of an overview of the nature of the job and the offered salary. You can filter which job and company to apply to according to your skills and needs.

The only downside of animatedjobs.com is that you can't see who and how many competitors you have in a job you are applying for. 

Animatedjobs.com also lists internships perfect for animators and artists starting their careers. They also have many job tips to help you set your foot on a good start!

Freelancer

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Freelancer is one of the largest freelance sites for artists and animators with over 65 million employers and freelancers worldwide.

To build your presence on Freelancer, you can start by completing your profile, noting down your skills, expertise, and experiences, and from there, you will be able to hunt for various animation jobs. 

Once you have found a job matching your skills, you can set your foot forward by bidding and writing a pitch that catches the animation client’s eye. One tip here is to write a different pitch for each project you apply for. In other words, customize your brief according to the job that you wish to land.

One good thing about Freelancer is that onsite and remote jobs are available, wherein animation clients are willing to pay you either at a fixed price or an hourly rate.

Another notable thing about Freelancer is that they have a job alert system that would keep you updated once new projects fit your skills and expertise. With that, you can apply and bid whenever you are ready!

But since Freelancer is somewhat saturated, it may be hard for starting freelancers to compete with artists and animators who have already established their names on the site.

Guru

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Guru is one of the top freelance sites for artists and animators that provides a secure and flexible environment for freelancers and employers globally. 

To get started as an artist or animator on Guru, you must sign up, verify your identity, and build your profile by showcasing your skills and portfolio to help you stand out. Creating a strong profile will boost your chances of being hired. 

Guru provides an enumerable list of freelance jobs, and at the same time, you can also get job recommendations based on your skills on their Top Match and Good Match job features.

Guru also offers paid membership for freelancers, where perks include the capability to contact employers directly, boost your profile ranking, get more bids, and more. 

But the fact that you need to pay a certain amount to get the best out of this freelance site puts you at a disadvantage as an artist who is still starting a career in animation.

On the other hand, Guru has a free feature called WorkRooms, where you can collaborate and communicate with other freelancers on the site, thus, increasing work productivity and efficiency. 

Guru’s feature, WorkRooms, will promote growth for artists and animators who are just kickstarting their freelance careers since this will allow you to connect with people who share your passion.

Upwork

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Upwork is one of the most well-known freelance sites in the world, where small and top companies hire and work with talented and skilled individuals.

It has an infinite list of job openings that are constantly updated, and it’s no secret that Upwork has been a place for seasoned artists and animators to find work. It can be challenging to contend with them as someone still starting a career.

Since Upwork is one of the most competitive freelance sites for artists and animators, you must create an eye-catching, client-centered profile showcasing your quirks and accomplishments to stand out. It would also help to write proposals that will hook your prospective animation client’s attention. Sure, crafting a perfect proposal will take some time, but your efforts in polishing one would be greatly rewarded.

One thing to note about Upwork is that they care for the freelancers on their site. They send emails containing free training and tips to help you build a stronger foundation as a sprouting freelance artist or animator.

In Upwork, once you have built a connection, gained good rankings, and established a name for yourself as an artist or animator, animation clients will be the ones to send you job invites. 

The Last Freelance Sites for Artists on our List is Behance

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Unlike the four previous freelance sites for artists and animators on the list, Behance is a social network for creatives. Artists and animators worldwide utilize this website to build their online presence, create portfolios, and share their creative work with the community.

Behance is one of the best freelance sites for emerging freelance artists and animators, for it promotes social connectivity with people who are minds alike. This freelance site allows you to leave artistic feedback on others’ work and vice versa. You can follow other artists on the site, and they can also follow you. 

How Behance is designed allows you to discover freelance animation work opportunities. It also offers a job list customized for every artist and animator by tweaking the filters below the job search bar. Additionally, every site member will receive a personalized job recommendation according to their skill sets and expertise.

Summing Up the Best Freelance Sites for Artists and Animators

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We talked about five of the best freelancing sites for artists and animators, namely Animatedjobs.com, Freelancer, Guru, Upwork, and Behance.

Truly, kickstarting a career in animation is never easy, for it takes a lot of work, effort, and knowledge for you to thrive in the industry.

If we look at how the world is advancing, technology and the emergence of various freelance sites for artists make it less daunting to land a job as an animator. But establishing your name on these freelance sites can be demanding as you compete with veteran artists and animators.

Looking on the positive side, you can always learn from your competitors, especially those who have already built a strong foundation in their freelance careers and be one step ahead of them.

Also, most of the freelance sites mentioned on the list above charge fees but on the other hand, they offer an excellent place to grow your animation client base.

To kickstart your career in animation, create a compelling profile, showcase your skills, and create a portfolio of your best works on as many freelance sites for artists and animators as you can. 

You may find a single place that works for you by utilizing many freelance sites. From there, you can invest your time in building your profile and finding more animation clients on that freelance site.

Ready to jump from being a freelancer to becoming an animation studio owner? Read our blog on “How to Start an Animation Studio” and get some valuable tips or perhaps start our FREE TRAINING and make over $10,000 per month in the animation industry.