A few Fridays back, I answered a phone call from San Francisco-based fashion photographer Samantha Wolov. Samantha and I have had several email chains in the past, so I was excited to hear from her. She told me she was flying to New York the following Friday for about a week and was wondering if it was too late for us to schedule portfolio meetings for her. I looked at the clock. I had another two hours of my Friday workday left and an entire week ahead of me before she hopped on a plane, so I told her we’d make it work. We talked for a few more minutes about her schedule, what efforts she’d made to contact anyone in New York, and the specific people she hoped I could reach out to.
All photographers know they’re supposed to market themselves. But not everyone has the time, patience, or expertise to do it all alone. That’s where we come in!
Ultimately, Samantha ended up emailing me a list of contacts that she had been reaching out to with emailer and print promotions, and I built an additional list of people I wanted to contact based on the type of fashion work she’s been doing recently. Before I left the office, I sent about 70 personalized emails with a request for a meeting for Samantha. Within minutes, I had responses from two people – one referring me to someone else at her company and another saying she might have time to meet, but to call her when it was closer. Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed with such quick responses so late on a Friday.
Monday morning rolled around and I had a few more responses in my inbox. Several people were unable to meet, but requested PDF portfolios to keep on hand. After the initial emails go out, it’s really important to follow-up with a phone call. Getting people on the phone is the best way to solidify a meeting, as many art buyers are inundated with hundreds of emails each day. I started making the calls and confirmed a meeting with a high end fashion magazine for Friday morning. We ended the week with one confirmed meeting and two people who had requested follow-ups on Monday. Samantha got on her cross-country flight with this information and a beauty shoot booked for Wednesday and Thursday.
On Monday, I was able to make contact with both people who asked me to call back. One was unable to meet because of her workload. The other said she might have time for a meeting on Friday, but to call her Friday morning to confirm. I was a bit anxious about the last-minute nature of this. However Samantha was very excited at the prospect of meeting with this specific client (a high end fashion-centric agency) and was fine with waiting. She went to her shoot on Wednesday and Thursday. I called our final meeting prospect Friday morning and she confirmed a meeting time for the afternoon. Success!
Samantha went to her meetings and reported back that both went incredibly well. I was excited and she was too. Even with the short notice, I felt we had success with the high-quality clients Samantha was able to connect with. She had this to say about our time working together:
Jillian really went above and beyond what was expected of someone who was faced with a fairly major task in an [inadvertently, I swear] unrealistically short amount of time. It’s already difficult to work under strict, unexpected deadlines, but Jillian handled it all with grace, poise and humor— admirable traits in their own right, but especially helpful when the parties she’s trying to connect are frazzled, distracted, jet-lagged and/or just plain busy. Scheduling meetings between artists and potential clients is as much an act of diplomacy as it is one of marketing, and after getting to know Jillian, it was easy to trust her as a genuine advocate of my work. She handled my project with aplomb, but most importantly, she yielded results. I would absolutely hire her again.
All-in-all, portfolio meetings are incredibly valuable to photographers. A face-to-face meeting is often key to helping Art Buyers and Creative Directors remember your name when it comes time to commission a shoot. But getting said meetings involve some elbow grease, persistence, and quality contacts.
To see more of Samantha’s work, you can view her website!