While clients may be introduced to your style via a direct mail
or e-mail piece, it is your print portfolio and online gallery that
are the strongest evidence of the product that you have to sell.
The old paradigm spoke to your portfolio as your sales tool.
The new paradigm raises the stakes and positions your print
portfolio and online galleries as the product samples that you
offer prospects.
To get their attention, to interest prospects in hiring you,
your portfolios must be well thought-out and be complete
examples of what you visually offer. A finished print book and
main Web gallery must speak to the type of assignment for
which your talent is appropriate, and it must contain different
applications of your visual approach to the subject area.
Clients need to trust that you will deliver on a specific vision.
As in any other business, if you want your “product” to sell, it
must meet the needs of your buyers! Portfolio as “product.”
A new concept? An old truth! Your book should encompass
all that you will deliver on each assignment. It is the tangible
form of what is otherwise a very intangible bill of goods. If your
“product” is well developed and catches the eye of a buyer
through effective marketing tools, your portfolio will be called
in when an appropriate assignment is pending. Your “product”
will be requested, and it is this step that gets you to the bidding
process.
But what is the reality for most photographers?
Most photographers go to market without a finished prod-
uct. They do not have a portfolio that gives buyers what they
want. If a book exists, it’s likely to lack a clear, deep, and
identifiable vision. If it has vision, it may not contain depth
(examples of the vision as applied to different industries). Most
likely the physical format was decided without considering the
images within. Rarely does a photographer spend the time,
effort, and money needed to fully develop his or her “product.”
With the exception of commercial builders, I know of no other
industry where suppliers would dare market a product that has
yet to be fully built.
Yet photographers do it every day. As I travel the country
presenting workshops I often hear the comment, “I don’t need
a portfolio, I have a Web site.” Such comments drive me crazy!
I also hear, “Why do I need a portfolio? I just use direct mail.”CHAPTER2 / DOYOUHAVE APRODUCT TOSELL?Chapter 02.qxd 6/27/07 9:00 PM Page 13