I slacked off a bunch over the last couple years, because I had so much good work coming in. I didn’t really have to show my portfolio, because I was already getting enough people calling me! Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed that things aren’t the same as they used to be, thanks to the economy.
I don’t have the luxury of sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring. I have to send out promos and portfolios. I have to knock on doors and actually market myself again. It’s not that bad, I guess. It’s just part of the business.
I will say this about today’s marketing: Things have changed over the last couple of years. Everyone I ask about seeing my book says, “Do you have it on PDF?” Everyone I call about sending over a portfolio says, “Can you send me a PDF?” Everyone that says they would love to see something from me, follows up by saying, “Send me a PDF.”
When/why did things change so fast? Is it the ability to view work from laptops, PDA’s, and cellphones? Is it the ability to ignore the bad/boring books without a face to face meeting or a follow-up call to pick up a physical book? Is it the ability to glance through several submissions faster than flipping through real pages could ever do?
Whatever the case, I’ve sent out several PDF’s lately. I guess it saves me money of printing costs, but it just seems less personal. Touching a page, thumbing through images, stopping and looking at a beautiful image as light hits the paper…
I say all this as I listen to a vinyl record and wrap up my business day to take my boys outside to actually play and run around. I’ll send those virtual pictures, but I will mourn the death of the printed portfolio.
By he way, I started sending this basic promo as a PDF, but I guess I’ll need to build a full portfolio to email out. Hopefully, this gives potential clients enough of a taste… maybe enough that they’ll actually request an old school printed portfolio?
