How to Succeed in Commercial Photography : Insights From a Leading Consultant

PART1 / VALUES

Please! Here is the truth. A mailer may be an introduction

or reminder, a Web site may be a deep first glance, but your

book, your print portfolio is the physical manifestation of your

vision and service. It is what most buyers ask to see when they

are ready to assign work. It is your “product.” If you do not have

a finished portfolio yet but have built a Web site or designed a

direct mail campaign, you are wasting time and money. Many

decisions to buy are made in committee with folks sitting

around a conference table. They are not all hunched over a

computer scanning Web sites. With this in mind, your best-case

scenario can become your worst nightmare. Your marketing

tools, including the Web and direct mail, may attract clients and

get your book called in, but if your portfolio does not exist or

does not tell prospects why they should hire you, all is in vain.

In short, your product will not sell.

In order to avoid this all-too-common trap, look at your

portfolio through the eyes of a prospective client. Ask your-

self the following questions and, most importantly, answer

honestly.

1 Does your portfolio tell prospects what you do (subject)

and how you do it (style)?

2 Do your visuals have market application?

3 Are there many different applications or are images geared

within your vision to specific markets?

4 Is your book well edited and do the images have relation-

ship to one another?

5 Do the images flow well as the viewer progresses through

your portfolio?

6 Have you chosen a paper that enhances your images?

7 Is the physical housing of your book in sync with the images

within?

Now, take another test. Pretend you are a buyer. As you look

at this book, what type of assignment would you give this talent?

Does the product sample (portfolio) build trust in the photo-

grapher to deliver? Based on this product, should you trust

them with your annual reports? Your national ad campaign?

Now, move back into the role of photographer. Take the

last test. Is the type of assignment that you chose to give this

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