Learn The Secrets to Promote Yourself with Comp Cards, a Resume, Business Cards, a Website and a Print Portfolio.

SELF PROMOTION: Getting A Return on Your Internet Investment

Written by Crystal Wright

Matt Yeandle is a makeup artist in New York. He has a website, called Beautybymatt.com, a promo card, business cards, several portfolios and he takes advantage of classes to update his makeup and marketing skills. Matt is about the business of carving out a lucrative career for himself as a freelance artist. We wanted to know how artists like Matt were making it happen without the benefit of representation. We talked to him about his strategies and tips to help you get your Self-Promotion on in 2010.

Why did you build a website? I attended Crystal Wright's Packaging Your Portfolio Workshop in New York. It opened up some new and innovative ideas about marketing myself. Having a website, being one great idea! I took advantage of the opportunity to erect a website with one of the speakers at that workshop.

At first it was difficult choosing the images, what I would write, and precisely who I would market1 it to. However, after a lot of thought and preparation, the site was up and running. And although the site was supposedly finished, I realized just like a portfolio––a website is a work in progress. The site needed proofing and took time to perfect. It really never was finished. That, of course, has everything to do with my choice of words and images2. I decided to put my résumé and a bio along with pictures on my site, because I work in TV and Film as well as print.

I learned that a site must be submitted to search engines (Yahoo, AOL, etc.) in order for anyone other than my friends––whom I had given the address to find it. More specifically, without the proper descriptive words (meta-tags) and profile (meta-description) that exist behind-the-scenes of a site, you will never get listed, no matter how many times you submit to search engines.

Here’s an example of a meta description:

Matt Yeandle is a professional freelance makeup artist working in New York. He specializes in fashion and beauty for editorial and entertainment. Yeandle has many print, television and film credits to his name. He is available for bookings. You can reach him at 212-555-1212.

This would be accompanied by meta-tags (marker or sticker—a way to find), which might include: makeup, film, tv, production, television, artist, matt, yeandle, new york, portfolio, commercials, editorial, fashion, make-up, beauty, etc. They help ensure that an art director who is trying to find a MAKEUP artist in NEW YORK who has experience in BEAUTY and TELEVISION will be able to locate you.

I initially hosted my site with a fine art hosting company in New York and entrusted them to manage it. It was a good decision and still is for someone who is not interested in learning anything about computers or websites or is just too busy with bookings. But I wanted to know what was going on. After the first year, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Once I weighed the cost of them doing my site against my desire to learn and willingness to put in the time, I found that it would be more cost-effective for me over the long haul to build my own site. I figured out how reasonable it was to take the original design I created and apply it to my web domain3 and work with it on my own while I learned more about my computer and websites.

I acquired my own domain name, basically skipping the middleman––a web manager and found a company to host my site on the Net. I made the change because I didn’t feel that my site was getting enough traffic (hits: people stopping by). After all, my purpose was to reach creatives who could give me work. After rebuilding the site myself, I strategically changed my meta-tags many times to see who would respond. Next I considered the search engines3 and starting applying to all that I could find. This is the time consuming part that is essential to success with websites along with meta-tags. It has been a journey discovering what it takes to get a site up and working. Now I am in the process of enhancing my site with movement and sound. Each day I receive more responses from the creatives I really want to reach. I am confident that the site will eventually pay for itself, increase my income and get me in some great doors!

How do you get yourself out there? I used to have an agent. I am presently seeking an agent [again], but not as fiercely as in the past, since I now have a direction and plan for my career and have educated myself on the various avenues technology provides to me, such as my website and the fax machine.

How do you attract clients in both film and television? To acquire print work, I send composites5. I have various ones that I use. Which one I send depends on the client or agent I’m sending it to. Then, my book, if requested. And, of course, I always follow up with phone calls. For TV and film work, I fax a résumé and direct the decision-maker to my website now that I have one, which is a plus and not expected for this type of work. I have developed a simple system for marketing myself with print and TV work:

1) Initiate contact to selected people.
2) Feel the response out if I’ve gotten one. I never pound on people for a response, that’s not my style.
3) Use the phone to follow-up and fulfill their requests for more information, cards, résumés, a book, or an appointment.

I usually ask questions from a small list I prepare before I call, but not always. I listen more than speak. Where does your work come from? I get a lot of work from referrals and friends I’ve made in the business. I’ve been in the business for 20 years, so experience and a good reputation brings me most of my work.

How’s the agent search going? I have sent a link to my website out to agents and gotten very good response. If their roster is full, they use me as a backup, when their other artists are booked, provided I have my actual portfolios to show to a potential client. I’m prepared. I have two sets of [11x14] books and one mini book. The two fancy leather bound books (one commercial/celebrity and the other fashion/editorial) are sent to agents and clients I wish to impress. I have another, which is a combination of excellent dupes of both my books. I use it to send out to distant places or unknown people. I follow my intuition on which book to send whom. I carried my mini book with me often before I had my website, which I love, as it is so readily available to all. But before my website my mini book was my best asset.

What’s up for 2010? I am working on my website regularly to improve its traffic. This year, I will begin to seek an agent again and some new and exciting work.

How much did the site run you? My first site cost approximately $700 and about $300 to have it managed and kept up for a year. The second site, minus the cost of the initial design, which is always the biggest investment, now only costs me $89 a year, but I manage and improve on it. Scanning new images is the greatest expense because I don’t have my own scanner. Outside scanning averages about $10 to $15 a scan depending on where and the type of scan I get done.

Any great lessons from this experience? With tow sites under my belt, I’ve learned that if I am going to have my site managed by someone, I need a company with a mutual interest in my field so that they know which meta-tags to include and which search engines are used by the people I’m trying to impress. The firm I used initially had its foundation in fine art but not creative services behind-the-scenes, so I only received a few hits. Choosing my own meta-tags and managing my own site has landed me three well paying photo shoots and many responses for hair services which is what I specialize in. I love the convenience of having some of my portfolio readily available to future prospects.

FOOTNOTES

1) TECH TIP: Commit your thoughts to paper. Treat your website like an arts and crafts project the first time around. If you start with a big poster board and a felt pen, you can turn it into a flow chart complete with images, the appropriate text and how others will navigate through the site.

2)TECH TIP: 72 hours before launching your site on the net, print out the pages from the test site on your printer at home and edit them using a red pen and a highlighter. Fax the changes to the designer and repeat the process one more time. Proofing on paper is much more effective than doing it on screen. If there are major changes, retype the information and email it to the designer so he/she can cut and paste it back in place.

3) TECH TIP: A website name can be reserved for approximately $8.99 - $10.00 per year. Try www.godaddy.com. And only another $5-10 per month to build a website. If your agency has a web page for you but you know that potential clients will search for you under your first and last name, then reserve your first and last name NOW (EX: jerrylacey.com), if it’s still available.

4) TECH TIP: Submit your site to search engines using AddMe.com for everything except Yahoo––it has to be submitted separately. It’s a free site where you can submit your website to over 24 search engines, including excite, google and AOL.

5) COMPOSITES: Comp Cards

6)TYPES OF SCANS: Flat Bed ($5-20) vs. Drum Scan ($25-100).

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