Ready for the fame and fortune you deserve? Set yourself up for success and create a marketing plan to share your online portfolio. Gain new clients and grow your career as a creative professional

1. MORETRAFFIC MONEY MOREMORE FAME
How to Market
Your Online Portfolio

2. © 2015 Ideaform Inc. Format® is a registered trademark of Ideaform
Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without
the prior written consent of Ideaform Inc. All company logos used are
trademarks of their respective owners—no endorsement is implied.
03 Introduction
09 Setting yourself up for success
21 Connecting with an online community
36 The 10 secrets to social media marketing
47 Why you should collaborate to cross-promote
51 The biggest mistake you’re probably making
55 Conclusion
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EYEEM

3. INTRODUCTION 03
INTRODUCTION
After graduating from college, illustrator Sabrina Smelko
knew she had talent but she didn’t have any clients yet.
It’s a common story for anyone starting out as a creative
professional. You spent years developing your skills and
now you need someone to take a chance on you. That first
client is your magical fairy godmother.
But your career is not a fairytale. You can’t wait for your
fairy godmother to show up. How did Sabrina land award-
winning campaigns for Cadbury, Mozilla Firefox and Inc.
Magazine? She put her talent out into the world. Sabrina
created the 365 Days of Type project and posted daily
content to her social media platforms. “I’ve received at
least 25% of my jobs because someone found me on
Behance, Dribbble, Twitter or Instagram. I personally think
anyone trying to make it as a freelancer should be present
on social media,” she said.
To showcase her entrepreneurial spirit and keep things
fresh, Sabrina makes a habit of updating her Format
portfolio as soon as new client work goes live. She’s
growing her personal brand by selectively curating
everything on her portfolio. In this way, Sabrina says she
uses her portfolio to find dream jobs and new markets.
Have you heard expression, “Good things come to those
who wait”? When it comes to marketing your online
portfolio, nothing could be further from the truth. Even
with a perfect online portfolio, you need to have a
marketing plan to attract attention and potential clients.
According to photography marketing expert Lara White,
“A successful photography business is 20% photography,
80% business.”
The same 20/80 ratio can be applied to other creative
disciplines including illustration, design, fine art and
modelling. It’s simply not enough to make good work, you
need top-notch business skills too.
Furthermore, there’s no cause-and-effect when it comes
to quality of creative work versus quality of marketing.
Great work can suffer from bad marketing. Read that
sentence again and let it sink in. Here’s the opposite: Bad
work can get undeserved attention because it has great
marketing behind it. If you’ve ever been frustrated by a
less talented person getting more acclaim, you know what
we’re talking about.
“A successful photography
business is
20% photography,
80% business”

4. INTRODUCTION 04
Have you heard the
expression,“Good things
come to those who
wait”? When it comes
to marketing your online
portfolio,nothing could
be further from the truth.

5. INTRODUCTION 05
It’s likely that we all know someone who’s insanely
talented but doesn’t get nearly enough recognition, and
we all know someone who needs to spend less time on
social media and more time in the studio. So what can we
do about this marketing injustice?
To begin with, keep reading this guide. You’ll discover
easy strategies to get your work in front of an audience
without sacrificing your reputation as a talented creative
professional. Today’s artistic milieu demands creative
producers to not only make good work, but also get it
out there with an entrepreneurial spirit. This can be
problematic for those of us who are not natural marketers
or used to hyping up our own stuff, but it’s a necessary
part of commercial success.
Luckily, there are a few simple steps and many strong
social media channels for photographers, designers,
illustrators and visual artists to get work in front of
new eyeballs. However, before you start marketing your
portfolio, you must first understand your target audience
and the power of community: Whom do you want to work
for and what kind of contracts would you like attract?
Where are potential clients going online? What kind of
community exists in your field already—and where is
there room to collaborate?
© Nicole Dee
Knowing how and where to market
your portfolio is the key to driving your
content,gaining recognition in your field
and establishing connections to clients.

6. INTRODUCTION 06
The Internet is vast, but creatives can survive (and thrive)
online. Just ask Karan Singh, a designer and illustrator
who is a strong advocate for repping your work on the
web wherever possible. He says he’s flourished from the
healthy competition an online community provides.
“Having an online portfolio along with a presence on
microblogging platforms like Twitter and Tumblr is
essential nowadays for self-promotion, especially for an
illustrator,” said Singh.
But he’s also selective about what work goes where.
“My most polished work goes in my portfolio,”
he explains. “It’s also the work that I’d like to be
commissioned for.” Personal projects and photography
are more suited to Tumblr and Instagram, where he has
built a substantial following.
IN THIS GUIDE, YOU
WILL LEARN:
1. How to set yourself up for success
2. Where to connect with an online community
3. The 10 secrets to social media marketing
4.Why you should collaborate to cross-promote
5. The one major mistake almost everyone makes…

7. Creative success
lives here.
Within 48 hours of posting
images to his Format portfolio,
photographer Michael George was
contacted by National Geographic.
Build your professional online
portfolio in minutes without
learning to code.
No credit card required
Get Started
Featured in:
Photography by Michael George

8. IMAGE BY EYEEM.COM/DIARYOFZACH
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AUTHENTIC IMAGES
ON EYEEM.COM
AND GET DISCOVERED
BY OUR CLIENTS

9. 9© Maya Fuhr
Setting yourself up
for success
CHAPTER I

10. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 10
So you have great work and an online
portfolio to share, now what? It’s time to
make a marketing plan and catch new clients.
Benjamin Franklin wasn’t wrong when he
said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to
fail.” A marketing strategy will help you focus
on the platforms that make sense for your
craft and your business, putting you in touch
with prospective customers, communities
and contracts.
The first step to every marketing strategy
is a personal audit. Do you fully understand
who you are and what you’re looking for?
You might be surprised to discover that
your mission is not entirely clear. Before you
turn your gaze towards an audience, take a
second to look inward. Find a piece of paper,
or turn on your phone’s voice recorder, and
answer the questions on the next page.
photo by Maya Fuhr

11. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 11
/1 Why do you want to improve
your marketing?
Make sure you’re not marketing for marketing’s sake.
There should be a distinct goal or purpose to your
marketing efforts. Do you want to get a larger social
media following? Drive more traffic to your online
portfolio? Connect with potential clients one-on-one?
This goal should be the end result and your marketing
strategy will be the roads that lead to that destination.
Questions for a
Personal Audit
©SamuelElkins
/2 What makes you and your
work unique?
Everyone is looking for something different.
Because you’re a talented creative professional,
you have many skills that set you apart from
the crowd. How would your friends and family
describe your work? If your work was a movie,
what would be on the poster? Do you fill a gap
in the market? Is there a problem that you’re
solving? The answer to this question shouldn’t be
pages and pages. It should be a few sentences
or bullet points that anyone off the street can
understand in a snapshot.
©AundreLarrow

12. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 12
/4 Who are my ideal clients?
Who are you looking for? These people will identify with
your brand and connect with your creativity.
Think about your current clients. What do they have in
common? Do they fit your ongoing direction or
do you want to break free and find a new clientbase?
Creating a personality profile of your ideal clients
will help you find them. For example, in general, younger
audiences prefer Snapchat and older audiences prefer
Facebook. If you’re seeking high-income middle-aged
clients, putting all your energy into a Snapchat strategy
might not be the best idea.
/3 What is my voice?
Your voice is a natural part of your creativity.
Sometimes it’s so natural that we forget to stop
and define it. There’s a big difference between a
goofy, playful voice and a serious, reserved tone.
Because you’ll communicate mostly in writing with
your audience, the tone needs to be consistent.
Readers will be thrown off if your social media
is authoritative but then your website is self-
deprecating. In general, you want to keep your
audience informed through friendly updates, but
avoid oversharing irrelevant details.

13. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 13
Before you start marketing,double check that your
website and images are in their best condition.
1
Be Design Driven
A professional portfolio should be built in a way that
best highlights your work, not distracting or difficult
to navigate. Here are some Format Theme options for
inspiration.
2
Brand your voice and vision
Your website is a reflection of you and your work. All
fonts, colours, images and logo should be consistent
and cohesive across all marketing materials. Be sure to
consider your overall “package” and “personality.”
© Haley Koehn © CW Management
See Format Themes

14. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 14
3
Hit Them with Your Best Shot
The high-resolution images you put online should be
the best examples of what you do. It sounds obvious but
it’s worth repeating: Hit them with your best shot. Pro
tips can be found in the Format Guide: Design, Curate &
Attract.
4
Keep Them Scrolling
Clearly label all photo galleries and ensure they are
easy-to-navigate. You want users on your site as long as
possible.
©Jessie Andrews © Studio Artoholic

15. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 15
5
Be available
It might sound obvious but make sure your “Contact” or
“About Me” page is one click away. Command attention.
Be easy to find and get in touch with.
6
Be responsive
Your site should work across all browsers. In 2014, mobile
overtook desktop as the primary device people use to
access the Internet, and Google gives websites lower
rankings when they aren’t mobile-ready.
© Jakob Lukosch Format Themes

16. SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS 16
Now that you’re on the market, remember:
You can have bad marketing with good work
and good marketing with bad work. Marketing
doesn’t reflect the quality of the work. The
magic happens when good marketing meets
good work.
The cornerstone of good marketing is correctly
identifying your target markets. A “target
market” is the group at which your products
or services are aimed. Matt Lawson, Director
of Google’s Ads Marketing advocates for a
customer-centric approach. “The first thing you
have to do is really understand your customer,
identify their needs, and identify types of
moments they have where they reach out for
information,” he told Marketing Magazine.
For creative professionals, your target market
can have a big effect on your online portfolio
design as well as marketing.
The magic happens when good
marketing meets good work.
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHERS
Giacomo Fortunato
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Frances Morency
EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Nicole Dee

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