Advice: Dust off your portfolio - inside and out.

Three weeks ago, I began a discussion on "How to Land a Big Account”.

Three professionals from national advertising agencies responded. Each had a slightly different take on how they hire commercial artists.

Glen Wexler suggested it takes the Three T’s: Talent, Timing, and Trust.
Tommy Steele’s advice was to be unique, personal, and artistic.
Damian Fulton emphasized building a relationship with the art buyer and concentrating on getting your work noticed within creative circles. He also suggested being really honest with yourself about the quality of your work prior to approaching a tier one agency.

As I write this blog I’m reminded of a story about a new hotshot photographer trying to break into the industry.

Early in my career I shared a studio with a few other photographers and one of our partners would never go out and show his portfolio. He was fairly comfortable financially because he managed a few buildings and made his money off of the rents he collected. Regardless, he was frustrated at his lack of photo work so we encouraged him to get on the phone and make some appointments.

A few days later he had landed an appointment with the owner of a small agency. On the day of his interview he dressed in solid black because that’s what creatives did back then. He dusted off his portfolio case and headed out for his appointment. An hour or so later he showed up back at the studio, completely dejected. The interview was terrible.

Apparently, what had happened was the owner of the agency called in several of his art directors and they all gathered in a semicircle to review the work. Although my friend’s case was clean on the outside, when he carefully unzipped it a huge cockroach sprung out and crawled onto the desk of the President of the agency. He spent the entire interview trying to kill the cockroach. Talk about a killer career move – NOT!

After we finally quit laughing, the rest of us studio-mates made a serious mental note about preparation.

Funny, I don’t think that this was the type of “getting noticed within creative circles” that Damian had in mind, or what Tommy Steel meant when he mentioned “bringing something unique”.

Now for my two cents: establish yourself uniquely. Good is no longer good enough. It is so easy and inexpensive today to showcase your work with personalized Web sites, Internet Blogs, and showcase forums like You-tube. You’re creative! Use your creativity to get attention. Sure, you can always use the reliable source books promoting yourself – just like everyone else does. You should probably always be in the tried and true spots but don’t stop there.

Never be intrusive with spam emails. Always get permission before emailing.

Be respectful of people’s time. Be selective as to what you put in your portfolio and display on your website. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good impression. When you finally land your big interview, dust off the outside as well as the inside of the case and be careful to show work that applies to what the client is seeking. Check out their Web site prior to the interview, have an understanding of the type of accounts they hold and what their mission is as a company.

The next big question is aimed at you: are you willing to invest your time and talents and work really hard to keep the big account? It’s a vicious cycle but can be very rewarding.