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Where does your book go?
I've been pre-occupied with this as of late... I'm about to start the latest campaign of self promotion, with never fun tasks of compiling lists of art directors, agencies, printing postcards, and doing portfolio drops... Looking around I see all sorts of people shooting for their portfolios, models, photographers, make-up artists, and no discussion of what they are doing with them... who sees your work? Are people being passive, using web portals, and source books ads, and then mailing it out to people as they ask for them? Or are people proactively scouring the streets dropping of books left and right? How is it that clients come to your work out of the ether? Feb 26 06 12:00 pm Link As mine nears completion (well, its current phase anyway), I'm worrying about this stuff too. It will be hitting much the same venues as yours. I just got my new business cards back, but still need to design a promo mailer to leave behind after someone sees my book. And for that I'll need a signature shot.. I have two more concepts to shoot, and out it will go. I really want them in there as I need more editorial-type stories in the book, and less one-offs. Both sessions will cost me a couple hundred, and that's with testing! lol Location permits, lunch, clothes... but they need to go in. I don't see my Web presence as anything but a secondary promotional tool. My book's gonna travel the frickin' country more than I have by the time I'm done, lol. I may eventually print a second one. Once I have my portfolio together, my next step is hitting the agencies for testing. Once I start getting paid to do that, my next step will be hitting up the local editors.. and on and on. I wish I would have done this years ago, but then I didn't know then what I know now. Almost forgot: Your portfolio is one of the best on here. It's dripping with style and feeling. I'm glad you're in NYC because I'd hate to have to compete with you locally  Feb 26 06 12:12 pm Link i keep two copys of three distinctive books... they are delivered to and shown to the commerical clients i am hoping to do work with..  Feb 26 06 12:14 pm Link Oh come on... how can only 2 people be interested in this? Feb 26 06 02:15 pm Link My book goes with me or gets dropped off overnight. I prefer to go with it so I can see the immediate reaction of the reviewer and answer questions. I have two copies but one is less maintained at the moment. The first contains only fashion images or fashion-look models. The second is more of a mix with commercial hardly used at the moment, but I intend to convert it to fully commercial soon. They have different sized covers by the same company, so I don't get them mixed up but there is still uniformity. I have a very very nice Kenneth Cole messenger bag that only the fashion version fits into and is a little too feminine for me on a daily basis but good for walking into Wilhelmina, Next, etc. for a meeting. The front sleeve of both books contains a small image and my contact information, printed to 9x12 by the same lab that prints my images. The back of both books is the tear sheet zone, for which I am presently and rabidly persuing expansion. I'm not going back to any agencies until I have three really solid unrelated tears. I'm a big fan of letting other people sing your praises, self-promotion is not very classy. I think $500 on a good pubicist every time you have something new go to print is a very good idea. BTW, Nice work, Jackson. Loving this one:  Where do I want my book to go? I want it to stay home. I'd rather people already know my work when I go meet with them, but that's a ways off. I think of it as a talking point, I don't want it to be a sales tool. Feb 26 06 02:54 pm Link J. Stakeman wrote: Like I always say: "hey, it's the Internet. What did you expect?" Feb 26 06 04:30 pm Link My book goes everywhere with me, whether I'm going to castings that day or not. Feb 26 06 04:30 pm Link I no longer have/use a RL portfolio since I seldom seek commercial clients. Most of my clients nowadays are referrals or find me on the internet. - Denoy Feb 26 06 04:34 pm Link Success as a photographer isn't so much how "good" or skilled you are...but in the people you know in the business and whether or not they like you. You have to have the required skills to PRODUCE the work needed...but unless the people who are in the business (editors, agencies, etc.) know and like you/your work, you will not get anywhere. This is why many successful photographers hire a rep to help get them "known." Others just happen to be in the right place at the right time... Still...others struggle and hit the pavement until they become "known." - Denoy P.S. Many "celeb" photographers aren't necessarily the "best." They just know certain people...who in turn give them access to other people... This business is mostly about RELATIONSHIPS. Feb 26 06 04:46 pm Link My old commercial porfolios are under one of my bookcases. The misbegotten fetish portfolio is there as well. My new 16x20 art portfolio is on top of the same bookcase where I'm hoping it will avoid being completely covered in dust. When I was doing commercial work, I carried the damned book averywhere, dropped it off at ad agencies, model agencies, clothing retailers, whatever. Then I went back and picked it up the next day. Repeat. Repeat. Etc. The art book is going to go visit a few galleries and if it doesn't impress anyone, then it will go under the same bookcase. -Don Feb 26 06 05:00 pm Link book? Feb 26 06 05:05 pm Link Hmm I'm going to watch this thread really closely. I need to learn how to market/network myself. College doesn't really teach you that. Feb 26 06 05:14 pm Link Hi, I would suggest target directly the market you want to go for. I targeted the Urban market I have been doing well because I did not jump all over the place by going any where they may need a photographer. Feb 26 06 05:29 pm Link nevermind, responding by PM Feb 26 06 05:58 pm Link Robert what do you mean by target?... target with what....? What exactly are you focusing on that you think has been working for you? Ad agencies with urban fashion clients, art directors of urban magazines, ads in source books that either of the 2 previous groups would read, urban designers themselves. Simply attending parties which these people would be at? Dating their friends? how do you decide which urban people to pursue(let alone how to pursue them), or construct mailing lists, or even find out about new potential clients(I just discovered a new urban magazine called unleashed yesterday... randomly in a magazine stand) And Deboer has a good point that being known/liked by editors and art directors at some point overcomes skill, but then how exactly is it that you go about being known/liked by editors and art directors. I think Ched is on to something with publicists and press, but then I guess the trick is to do something press worthy in the first place. So other than success and then subsequent press in a parallel medium... who do you try to get to see your work on how? Feb 26 06 06:09 pm Link J. Stakeman wrote: Yeah, more or less. Feb 26 06 06:35 pm Link J. Stakeman wrote: Sometimes it's simply LUCK, i.e., they stumble upon you, your work or a previous client. Feb 26 06 06:37 pm Link Any thoughts on Adbase? Or any other mailing list services for art buyers? Feb 27 06 11:01 am Link |
