Creative Business Essentials:
9 Tips for Finding Success as a Freelancer
Start your creative business. Or take the one you have to the next level.
OUR top tips for freelancerS
How to find your niche, land and keep clients, price your work, and build income that doesn’t depend on your next project.
9 Video Lessons | 75 Minutes of content | 6 Downloadable Worksheets
The question we get asked most…
“How did you make the jump from a day job?”
We’ve heard it hundreds of times, so we put our answer into a class.
Nearly 20 years ago, we were two designers with a hobby, a garage full of screen-printing gear, and no real plan. Today, DKNG is a studio that’s made packaging for Heinz and Cliff Bar, posters for Dave Matthews Band, and work for studios like Disney and Marvel. Nobody handed us a roadmap, so we built our own, one lesson at a time.
This class is that roadmap.
About the course
Creative Business Essentials reveals how DKNG, a two-person team, built a thriving creative business. Each lesson focuses on a single topic with real company and portfolio examples showing how we applied the ideas.
You’ll learn how to:
Find your niche and refine your portfolio. Figure out what to specialize in, and build a portfolio that attracts the work you actually want.
Land new clients and nurture existing ones. What’s worked for us (and what hasn’t) when it comes to finding clients and keeping them coming back.
Price your work with confidence. Hourly vs. value-based vs. usage-based pricing, and how to negotiate without devaluing your work.
Diversify your income and make your own products. Build income streams that don’t depend on your next client project.
About the course
Creative Business Essentials is a peek behind the curtain at how DKNG has built a thriving creative business as a two-person team. Each lesson covers a standalone topic, using real examples from our own company and portfolio, so you can see exactly how we’ve put these ideas to work.
You’ll learn how to:
Find your niche and refine your portfolio. Figure out what to specialize in, and build a portfolio that attracts the work you actually want.
Land new clients and nurture existing ones. What’s worked for us (and what hasn’t) when it comes to finding clients and keeping them coming back.
Price your work with confidence. Hourly vs. value-based vs. usage-based pricing, and how to negotiate without devaluing your work.
Diversify your income and make your own products. Build income streams that don’t depend on your next client project.
What you’ll learn
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Why specialists often get hired more and paid more than generalists, and how to find the overlap between what you’re good at and what you love doing.
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How to edit down to your best, most current work, show it in real-world context, and even create the portfolio pieces you wish clients would hire you for.
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How process videos and case studies show the value behind your work, and how a passion project became one of our best marketing tools.
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Why we prioritize channels we own (a website and a newsletter), how we use social media, and what we’ve learned from skipping paid advertising.
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Real stories of how we landed dream clients, plus practical tips on outreach, gifts, relationships, and saying “yes” to work that’s a little out of your comfort zone.
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Real stories of how we landed dream clients, plus practical tips on outreach, gifts, relationships, and saying “yes” to work that’s a little out of your comfort zone.
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Teaching, licensing, physical and digital products, and other ways to build more stability.
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How self-initiated work grew into art prints, enamel pins, and digital downloads, and led to major client projects. Includes
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How to structure your time, break big projects into manageable pieces, avoid burnout, and keep yourself on track.
What you’ll learn
Lean Into Becoming a Specialist. Why specialists often get hired more and paid more than generalists, and how to find the overlap between what you’re good at and what you love doing.
Refine Your Portfolio. How to edit down to your best, most current work, show it in real-world context, and even create the portfolio pieces you wish clients would hire you for.
Provide Insight Into Your Process. How process videos and case studies show the value behind your work, and how a passion project became one of our best marketing tools.
Our Keys to Marketing. Why we prioritize channels we own (a website and a newsletter), how we use social media, and what we’ve learned from skipping paid advertising.
Land and Nurture Clients. Real stories of how we landed dream clients, plus practical tips on outreach, gifts, relationships, and saying “yes” to work that’s a little out of your comfort zone.
What Should I Charge? Setting your rates, asking about budgets, handling lowball offers, and knowing when to raise your minimum.
Diversify Your Income. Teaching, licensing, physical and digital products, and other ways to build more stability.
Become Your Own Client: Make Your Own Products. How self-initiated work grew into art prints, enamel pins, and digital downloads, and led to major client projects. Includes how to price products for both retail and wholesale.
Be Your Own Boss: Time & Accountability. How to structure your time, break big projects into manageable pieces, avoid burnout, and keep yourself on track.
75 minutes of video content, broken up into 9 easy to digest lessons. Watch them all or revisit just the relevant tips at any time.
Video Lessons
Six lessons come with downloadable PDF worksheets so you can apply each idea to your own business right away:
Specialist Venn diagram: map your skills against what you love to find your niche
Portfolio checklist: audit and refine your portfolio
Case study checklist: plan how to show your process
Income diversification checklist: find the income streams that fit your creative role
Product development worksheet: brainstorm your own product line
Project task worksheet: break big, daunting projects into manageable steps
Worksheets Included
Worksheets Included
Six lessons come with downloadable PDF worksheets so you can apply each idea to your own business right away:
Specialist Venn diagram: map your skills against what you love to find your niche
Portfolio checklist: audit and refine your portfolio
Case study checklist: plan how to show your process
Income diversification checklist: find the income streams that fit your creative role
Product development worksheet: brainstorm your own product line
Project task worksheet: break big, daunting projects into manageable steps
Meet Your Instructors
Dan Kuhlken and Nathan Goldman founded DKNG in 2005, bringing together a shared love of music and design. They started by making gig posters for LA’s Troubadour, and built a studio known for poster art, packaging, brand illustration, and icon design.
Their client list includes Heinz, Cliff Bar, Dave Matthews Band, Paramount, USA Today, In-N-Out, the US Open, Disney, and Marvel. They’ve also taught thousands of creatives through Skillshare, workshops, and one-on-one sessions.
As a two-person team, they’ve had to get good at the business side of creativity, and they’re sharing everything they’ve learned.
You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a good first step.
Get the lessons that helped us rip off the band-aid and build a career on our own terms.
In this class you’ll get a peek behind the curtain to see how DKNG has built their business, sharing real world examples from their own company and portfolio to demonstrate how they've put these lessons to use in their own work.
Got questions? We’ve got answers…
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Yes. It was designed for creatives who are curious about striking out on their own, as well as those who already have.
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Likely so. Lessons on pricing, diversifying income, and making your own products are especially useful if you’re looking to level up.
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No. The examples come from design and illustration, but the tips apply to many creative careers.
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No. Each lesson is a standalone topic, so you can jump to what you need and come back anytime.
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About 75 minutes in total, in short lessons you can watch in one sitting or spread out.
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The assignment is to apply the tips to your own freelance work, using the worksheets as a starting point.
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Lifetime. You’ll have access to the class forever, and can view it on any device.
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If for any reason you’re not satisfied, please contact us and we can provide a full refund.