The main question is what works?
STRONG WORK.
GOOD PROMOTION.
The hierarchy works like this:
A good promo gets them to your website.
A good website calls in your book.
So really then it becomes a need for strong brand, a foundation to remember you by. I always tell my clients, the two most important things that anyone takes away from the brand we build is your name and your work. The design just allows those things to be notices first.
So what do we recommend to our Brand Envy clients?
Strong Brand
Yearly Marketing Plan
Promos
E-Blasts
Strong Image Selection (Suzanne Sease or Amanda Sosa Stone)
applied to:
Website
Portfolios
PROMOS
Spend the money on a unique, well designed promotion campaign over ads that anyone can purchase... The promo should have a unique design that works with the works with the brand, and makes the work memorable. Pair printed promos with e-blasts, the cost of the blasts are so minimal and allow for a year of consistent face time with creatives. (I love working with Agency Access for lists and e-blasts.)
WEBSITE
Getting them to your website is a good first step and you need to keep their interest once they get there. The best way to do this is not with an overly tricked-out site that is so complicated to navigate it overpowers the work.
There are several ways to get a site that is simple to use and update. We design and develop html sites, that load images dynamically (that means a new webpage does not need to load for each image view) Added bonuses to having an html-based sites are that you will have better search results with engines like Google, Yahoo, and Ask. Another option we offer is template sites, this is a fast and simple solution, we work directly with companies like Neon Sky and LiveBooks to make sure their templates represent your brand in the best way possible.
Also avoid the 10+ portfolio sections that say I can do anything: weddings, food, family portraits, corporate work, etc. This again is not a viewpoint, and creatives get confused. This is when I recommend photo consultants to pair the work down and create visual hierarchy.
PORTFOLIO
The website and their connection with the work calls in the book. It often comes down to their connection with the printed portfolio, getting the job. We hear it and see it all the time, the scramble for a portfolio. Today, so many photographers think they do not need a portfolio in an electronic world, and then last minute their portfolio gets called in and they scramble to send out a book. Interestingly we have seen our greatest growth with our portfolios these last five years, in the "digital boom". Our average order of portfolios: 3-5, Busiest photographers: 5-10, and believe it or not, we have a handful of photographers who have 20+ books; of course they have reps worldwide. The trend today with portfolios - Custom or customized books, that works with the brand. This paired with a great selection of images and layout is a winner! Check out many of the custom portfolios we've designed...
Click here to view some custom portfolios by Lost Luggage
"Suzanne Sease Says"
The other day one of my clients received a call from a very prestigious magazine- you know the type of publication that launches you in your category of work. They wanted to see his book the next day; a request not untypical at all in this industry, there is virtually no time between the request and the delivery. He had spent the past year on mailers, e-blast promos and updating his website but forgot to edit the book. He scrambled to get a book out the door and in his haste, had no time to work with me to make sure the submission was right. The book was received and returned with no note, no indication of like or dislike, nothing- the “thrown together” book fell flat. This was to the publication that could have taken him to the next higher level of his career. I asked him why he hadn’t updated his work in so long, “no one really calls in a book anymore”, he replied. “Oh really”, I replied, “and who was it who just called and you blew it”. Needless to say, he is burning a disk and sending it my way to review and edit his new upcoming portfolio.
Before a portfolio gets called in, you need to get the attention of the buyer- but how?? I remember when working at the Martin Agency and that special promo would arrive, I would find it the only piece the art director had opened and filed in his “special folder”. Sometimes when the piece was that special, it would create a buzz at the agency- “Have you seen this one?” they would say. That special piece got our attention, and the simple postcards or tri-folds that followed only reminded us of that special piece and the name of that photographer. I do want to caution you, that consistency wins the race here- you send out a special piece, it gets put in the special folder for that project down the road- it may not have a return immediately but ultimately, it will. The postcards or tri-folds are to remind them of that special piece in that special folder.
Now you’ve done your mailers, you’ve done your e-blast and you’ve finally gotten them to your website, congratulations, I hope! This is where you can lose them so fast, you never saw them even come in. You have about 5 seconds to win them over- yes, just a mere 5 seconds and if it takes that long to load- bye, bye, they are gone!! This is one of the main reasons I prefer either LiveBooks or Neon Sky. DO NOT get so caught up in bells and whistles that take away from your work. Be careful of how you title the work- even if you have portfolio 1, portfolio 2, make sure the work in each portfolio is different. I reviewed a site with a client the other day where he had five portfolios all with the same genre of work and no rhythm or reason why they have been separated. Some of his best work was buried in portfolio 4 would not be seen if the viewer didn’t like portfolio 1 - click, click and they are gone.
The whole process of your business is a complete branding of your company. If you fall short in one area, you fall short in getting the work you want. When mapping it out – review all your images; select the best for your portfolio; select the best, and then some, for your website. Maybe the portfolio is a montage of categories where the website has the categories divided. As you are finishing up this area, start with your “kick off” special mailer, to get them to the new designed web site, to call in the new designed portfolio. Now you have a consistent brand that gives you a better chance of winning the assignment!
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