Making Money

[Kidney BeanClock]

I've put hours and hours into learning flash and making music and I'm looking for a way to actually make some money with these skills. Do you gentlemen have any recommendations?

[peyoteclock]

get a job, although i think you'd need to go to school first so you have something to put on your resume.

as for places to apply, design houses, advertising firms, media companies in general...

[AC Slater]

Look for internships in your nearby area. That could help you get a job (if you're still in school). It'll help you out a great deal.

[WrenchClock]

Hey Kidneybean!!!!

[Kidney BeanClock]

Hey Kidneybean!!!!

hey mang. Long time no see

[LeekClock]

Make a portfolio of work that demonstrates the scope of your ability. Then apply for internships. Or, if you can afford to, you could apply to work for free at a nice studio to get experience, contacts and industry knowhow...

[RenegadeClock]

Go to college, you can make money later.

[Thunderbolt]

You could work for armorgames or some of the other flashsites.

[SageClock]

College might be a good idea, but it's no longer affordable, so make sure you feel like it's worth it. Tuition has gotten out of control (in the U.S at least... I know college is dirt cheap or free in some countries) over the past decade. I went back to finish up last year, and I'm paying three times as much as I did a decade ago. I might have thought twice if I was just starting school now, because it's so ridiculously expensive and the loans I'd have to repay would be crippling once I graduated.

Really, you probably shouldn't even be considering doing anything but an in-state public college, and you might want to seriously consider getting an associates at a community college and then transferring to it after two years to keep your costs somewhat reasonable. Because there's currently no way to get out of paying back these loans once you accept them, and there's no guarantee you're going to get/keep a good job in your field once you get your degree (as a lot of people are discovering right now).

But a strong portfolio and networking are very important, as well as having the discipline to teach yourself new tools and techniques on a regular basis. Knowing Flash is nice, but you'd be even better off if you knew HTML (and the upcoming HTML5), CSS, Javascript, some PHP or some sort of content management system (right now Wordpress or Drupal), Illustrator, InDesign, 3D modeling software, video editing software, etc, etc. There's pretty much no end to how you can expand your skills in this field, and the industry will keep making new things for you to learn as well.

[F U Clock]

Flash is a big plus if you're going into the design field. Espeeecially Actionscripting. My agency is putting more and more Flash work my way, which in turn is bringing me off the more mundane clients and into more interesting stuff, simply because I'm one of the few there who knows how to do it. Definitely consider advertising. Web programming knowhow in general will help you, though I don't personally do too much with that. As for whether or not to go to school for it... eeeh, up to you. It's a good way to hone your craft. And of course some people won't even look at you without at a degree. But really when it comes to fields like advertising people care a lot about experience, so whatever you do make sure you take plenty of opportunities to do internships/take work where you can.

As for music, beats me, man. I do music too but on the side... Though if you're interested in recording maybe think about being a studio technician. To be honest though I've heard that doesn't pay jaaack squat.

[Flounderpa]

If you want some easy money, you can place adds in animations, but you have to follow some guidelines on what and whatnot to put in the animation.

But for the I want a job in the Industry, is more like getting iron abs, practice and knowing where to go to practice

[PowerGloveClock]

print money in your basement, no but really i second the portfolio and college arguments above. an associates degree from a community college is better than nothing and if you qualify for scholarships it can come rather cheap. also hosting can be really cheap if you're willing to do research and find good deals (or you could even get it for free if you know someone who owns a server) and domain names come pretty cheap too. the only thing that'll hurt is taking the time to make a nice portfolio, well unless you love making flash and it doesn't frustrate the hell out of you (like it does with me sometimes).