Professional Portfolio Building
Now you’re
ready for real jobs. Well, kind of. This step is where you really learn. You
will learn what it’s like to work with real clients, photographers, producers
and work as a part of a project team. You’ll also learn how to work on
different types of projects. This time is not only going to be spent building
your portfolio and resume but networking will be key. Get those business cards
out because you’re going to need them.
You will
find out during this part whether you have what it takes to be a makeup artist.
This step will be the hardest because you will need to learn to travel, give
your time and energy just for the experience to build your resume and
portfolio.
Building
your portfolio is very important. Every job you apply for and every bride you
meet is going to want to see your portfolio.
I want you
to think about what goes into building a portfolio. A professional portfolio
could potentially be very expensive. You would need models, photographers, a
studio, etc. These things would cost you a ton of money. Good photographers are
expensive. You pay for the session and then you pay for the prints. Models are
expensive. You pay them per hour and you can only do one look every 35-45
minutes. We’re just talking photo shoots here but you’ll also need to show and
put on your resume that you’ve worked on other projects. You’ll want to do
runway shows and TV/film projects. How do you get them to hire you without a
portfolio?
Trade For Print/Trade For CD
(TFP/TFC)
This is how
you build your professional portfolio and resume for free. Trade For
Print/Trade For CD means that you are working as a makeup artist in trade for
prints or images for your professional portfolio. These images are normally
very expensive and so are the sessions. The model wouldn’t be cheap either. I
want you to think of it like this: I am making about $100 per hour. That’s
about what these images, photographers and models will be worth.
Typically,
the photographer, model and you have something in common. You all need a
portfolio in your profession. Usually, with TFP jobs, you are all getting paid
the same way. TFP.
Now, I’m not
saying that you won’t find paid jobs right away but if you do it won’t be for
much until you have a professional portfolio and resume.
How long you
have to do this will vary quite a bit. I did this portfolio building stage for
about a year. There was the paid job and wedding in there too but it was about
1 wedding every 3 months and I don’t think I got paid for a project until the 9th
month.
How To Find TFP Jobs
There’s
pretty much only one place where these jobs are advertised and that’s
Craigslist. The photographer’s offering this type of work is not making any
money so they’re not going to pay to advertise it.
You’ll want
to be looking for paid and TFP jobs every day. New ones will be posted
frequently. Do not make the mistake at this point of paying for a service or
agency. You’ll just be wasting your money.
Every day
you will need to go onto Craigslist in your area and search both main category
“Jobs” and the main category “Gigs”. When applying to these jobs, you need to
make sure you’re catching their attention right away in your email but also,
remember, less is more. These people, whether it’s a paid job or a TFP, get a
lot of responses. Here’s your best bet:
Subject:
Original, Creative Makeup Artist! (Get their attention. They might not even
open your email.
Body of
email:
I’m emailing
in response to your ad on Craigslist! I am super-exceptional at what I do and
would love to be part of your project. I’ve attached my resume and have also
included a link to my portfolio below.
www.myportfolio.com
I can be
reached by email or at the number listed below.
Make sure to
include your signature with phone, email, website and Facebook. Everyone has
different ways that they like to communicate. Someone that only talks on the
phone and never texts will want your telephone number, whereas, other people
only email. Including your website address and Facebook shows that you are big
into social networks and that’s only going to benefit them when you put their
photos up. Your website is going to show that you’re serious about your
business. What business doesn’t have a website? You’d be surprised. Many of the
people that respond to their ad won’t. Too bad for them, good for you.
Don’t be
surprised if you apply to 40 of these and one responds. There are a lot of
makeup artists out there trying to do the same thing.
“I Got The Job!”
Good for
you! Slow yer roll though. First, we have to make sure that this is going to be
worth your time. There’s 4 types of photos; Great, Good, OK and Bad. The Bad
one’s you’d just have to throw away. The OK one’s you’ll put in a shoe box. The
Great one’s will go on the left side of the page in your portfolio and the Good
ones will go on the right.
You need to
do your research and try to determine where this photographer’s photos are
going to go. You’re still spending your time, gas money and product on this
shoot so are you getting paid adequately?
If you don’t
already know it, ask them for their website. This should have their portfolio
or the start of it if they are committed and a serious photographer. Heck! You
have the start of a portfolio and a website and you’re serious.
Check out
their work. What do you think? Don’t expect an absolute artist if they’re
building their port but do they have potential? If they do, they might be worth
networking with and exchanging TFP.
Going To Your First Job
So you’ve
got your first job, now what? Whether it’s TFP or paid, you have the
opportunity to gain a lot. You have the opportunity to network with a
photographer and a model. Both will be doing more jobs and will need a makeup
artist in the future. Both will know other people in their industry. Either of
them could actually end up being successful in their field. You’re also going
to gain experience, a resume builder and portfolio pictures.
What to Wear
In this
industry you need to dress professionally but also follow industry standards.
If you walk by a salon, a spa or any other place that is related to your
industry, you will find they are wearing either black or white or both. Most
will be wearing black.
Your best
bet is to wear all black. This will also make you stand out from the other
people working on a job.
Stay away
from pants that slide down in the back or tops that are too low cut; you’ll be
bending over quite a bit to get things out of your kit if there’s no table.
Wear
comfortable shoes because you don’t know how long you’ll be there. Creative
people such as photographers and producers are not a good source to find out
how long a project will last. They are often going to get more ideas or stop to
brainstorm. Expect delays.
Introductions/First Impressions
When you get
to your job, be aggressive with introductions. You are there to network and
need to take on a professional, friendly and secure appearance. Introduce
yourself to the others on the project, offering a handshake right away with a
smile on your face. Immediately ask where they want you to set up. This will
show that you are familiar with what needs to be done and are eager to work. It
will also get you out of feeling uncomfortable standing around wondering what
to do.
When they
tell you where to set up, go to it. Set up the things you need but while you’re
doing it, ask them questions. Being busy while you’re asking them questions
will show them that you’re confident and comfortable on a job but will also
give you an idea (since you have none at all) of what’s going to happen next.
Get to work.
You need to take your time but stay on schedule. That’s tough on your first
jobs. You need to do the best you can and if you think something’s off, you
need to correct it. Don’t worry about what the model thinks because usually the
photographer is in charge because he’s set up the shoot.
Usually, the
photographer or producer will expect that you stay during the entire shoot to
do touch-ups so expect that.
When you’re
finished, clean up should be quick. Put dirty items or items that need to be
sanitized in a zip lock bag or a container and put them in your kit. You can
clean them at home. When a job is done, everyone wants to leave. If you’re
working with a bride, she’ll be immediately leaving to go to meet the
photographer so get used to fast clean-up now.
Do not leave
a mess. Pick garbage up and put things back if you’ve moved them. No one is
going to think good thoughts of you in the future if they had to clean up after
you.
Before you
leave you need to ensure your future relationships. Make sure to say goodbye to
everyone on the project even if it’s someone that was insignificant on the
project. You need to give them your business card, shake their hand and ask for
their business card. If they don’t have one ask for their info to put in your
phone. Those business cards are going to be put in a database in your computer
for future networking.
After the
job, you’re going to want to keep checking on your photos from the
photographer. Sometimes it can take a week or two for the photographer to edit
the photos. Most photographers just starting out will also have other jobs so
are just doing photography on the side.
Put the job
on your resume. Also, when you get the photos put them in your online portfolio
and your physical portfolio.
Here’s what
you’re going to do with the business cards and information you’ve collected at
your jobs. Make a spreadsheet with their information. Also, include dates and
project highlights so you remember them later. Include little notes like, he
said he was going on vacation in June and was taking the wife and kids.
For reasons
mentioned earlier, you are going to contact the model, photographer or whomever
you met on a job once a month. Note this in your appointment book the day after
the job, writing a note to call them one month from then.
When you
call them you’re going to say, “Hey, Mike. It’s Becky. We worked together on
that shoot last month. Yeah. How was the vacation? (this says you remember
personal details and shows that you made a personal connection whether they did
or not)”
“So Mike, do
you have anything coming up that I might be able to help out with? Have you
heard of anyone looking for makeup? I’m always looking for new projects.”
Do this with
everyone on the project. These people network too and they know of other
projects going on and will more than likely give them to someone they know
rather than a new connection. If they refer you to someone, that person will be
more inclined to hire someone that was referred over someone they’ve never
worked with.
If they
don’t have any projects or know of anything going on, don’t worry about it.
You’ve done what you wanted to do. You’ve put your name back on their mind. Do
this once a month. If they don’t have a project, when they do or when they here
of one, they’ll immediately think of you because you’ve reminded them and shown
that you are excited to work in this field.
If you do
the things I’ve mentioned, you’ll eventually not have to look for jobs anymore.
People will be calling you or you’ll be getting leads from past clients.
Once you’ve
had enough experience and you think you’re ready, you can start marketing
yourself as well as looking for jobs and submitting your resume and port.
Marketing
Marketing is
going to either make you or break you. Don’t make mistakes. 35% of everything a
business owner makes goes to mistakes. I’m hoping that this information will
lower that number.
Do not
bother spending money on ads in your local papers or paying for much local
advertising. These companies don’t reach a large enough audience and people
looking for a makeup artist don’t look in the local paper, they look online.
You want to
start with as much free or cheap marketing as you can. You should never be paying
more than 10% of your profit on marketing. This is where many people fall
short.
Here’s a
list of marketing to set up at this early stage:
Facebook
advertising - This is a great one. You can tell Facebook to only show your
ad to females who are engaged and live in your local area.
Google
AdWords
Wedding Wire
Create a free Wedding
Wire account for your business and start taking advantage of those powerful
client reviews immediately.
Wedding Bee and Wedding Bee Pro
Vendors are welcome
to comment on bride blog posts, so long as your comments are not
promotions.
Bridal Tweet
Set up a free profile and and
join in Vendor Discussions, share our own blog posts and interact with real
brides.
Wedding
Mapper
If your business has
been mentioned in any wedding on Wedding Mapper, claim it to add photos and a
description to go along with your wedding reviews.
One
Wed
Create a free
business listing to receive “MatchMake” leads and reviews, answer bride
questions in the Ask the Experts forum and participate in the Vendor Chat
rooms.
Top
Wedding Sites
Create
a free listing for your business with a link to your website.
Twitter
75%
of the traffic on Twitter DOES NOT come from Twitter users. What does
this mean? Twitter is actually a search engine. Other search engines and
aggregating sites pick up those tweets and serve them up in searches.
That can equal more website visitors for you.
Google Places
Set up or claim your local business listing on Google and it
can be an easy way to get onto Page 1. Optimize with targeted local
keyword phrases, add images and contact information and you’ve got easy, and
free marketing.
Ezine Articles
Follow the Ezine Articles
submission guidelines and write an
article including local keywords in your headline and a link to your website in
the resource box. You’ll get free traffic and multiple backlinks if your
article is published by other sites.
Hubpages
Follow the Hubpages submission
guidelines and write an
informational hub about your topic of expertise. Optimize the name and
content with your local keywords and include a link to your website to attract
free traffic and benefit from Hubpage’s ranking and authority.
Squidoo
Check out the Squidoo guidelines (less strict than Ezine Articles and Hubpages), then
write a “lens” on your topic of expertise to receive similar benefits.
My Space
A lot of people have forgotten about My Space but it’s still
a great way to get traffic and backlinks. It’s worth setting up an
account optimized for your targeted keywords.
Connect with me! :)
Email Me (Business Inquiries Only)
My website with AMAZING tutorials and articles on makeup & skin!
If you've read all this, thank you! I appreciate each one of your support! I read each comment and try to respond the best I can :)
List in the comments the types of blogs you would like to see!
xoxo
Violett
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