Selling yourself seems to be the most important part of becoming an animator in the industry whether that’s in studio or as a freelancer. You have to be your own advocate. Maybe someday I’ll have an agent or manager who can help me with new work, connections and the like. I do know of many studios who actually run agencies so freelance animators have representation, they also host profiles of animators to show off their work. Having that stamp of approval is doubtless incredibly useful.
Steps I have already taken so far have included designing and printing out business cards (got to spend money to make money I suppose), editing together a showreel, emailing contacts at studios and creating a website. I am continuously editing my website to make it have a single theme. I want to create my own font for it, though I am not sure where to begin- do I want to go graphic? Cursive? Bubble?
I also have ideas of “shorts” animations for instagram reels and potentially Tiktok if I create an account there. I don’t like playing the social media games, especially as companies steal our artwork for AI development, but it must be done!

I don’t have a signature style, which is a gift for studios as it means I am adaptive, but I think it is a real tool for branding online. It’s good to be ‘recognisable.’ It pays to be a product!