How I Built My Portfolio

I’m taking you back to the end of 2021 and through the top of 2022. This is when I officially decided I was going to make money doing what I love.

I’m going to be honest here…your work probably still needs work.

Or maybe your people skills do. Looking back, my editing was allllllll over the place. It’s good to be confident but it’s also good to know that you still have a lot to learn. You have to want to get better. Building your portfolio is not just so clients can see you have a large body of work. It’s also for you to improve your skillset and find your style.

Change your mindset. Understand that the process of learning is your best friend right now. Set the intention to learn more.

I decided to put myself in environments where I could learn. I started building my own website in December 2021 and realized that I didn’t have much work to show. So I began to hit up a few of my friends.

Below is an outline of how my calendar looked from January 2022 to March 2022.

• Jan 3rd: I set up a couples photoshoot with my friends. I paid for the studio out of pocket, probably like $80.

• Jan 5th: I set up another shoot with a friend. This one was in her home.

• Jan 9th: I did a photoshoot in the train station with another friend. 

• Jan 16th: I did another studio couples session with two of my other friends. Paid out of pocket. 

• Meanwhile I’m recording behind the scenes and posting everything. It probably looks like I’ve been doing this for a while. 

• I got two inquiries between the second and third week in January. One of them was a friend of a friend. I think I charged …wait I’m going to check now….okay I charged her $125 for her portrait session. 

• The other inquiry was for a product shoot. Candles. I was upfront with her and told her I never did a product shoot before. The photos actually came out pretty decent. I charged her $200.  I learned A LOT from this. Including the fact that I don’t like product shoots. This is important. 

• Jan 31st: Someone reached out to me from Fiver, a freelancer platform. I had accounts on Upwork and Fiver at the time. This was honestly my only inquiry I got from Fiver. Everything else back them, and still to this day, comes from Upwork.

• Feb 5th: I did a portrait session with the person who reached out to me via Fiver.

• Feb 10th: I went to a networking event. Met someone who booked me later that year.

• Feb 12th: I shot my friends event. She did pay me though. Paying friends are heaven sent.

• Feb 16th: I got an inquiry from Upwork. She wanted some professional photos but in March, when the weather was better. An extra $150 in March. This was great. 

• Im still posting everything. A lot. More people know about me. 

• Feb 20th: This week I got another inquiry -  an old friend from HS, but paid. Then two more, but from instagram. I don’t know these two people. This is amazing. The last week in Feb an old college friend reaches out and sets me up with a gig to record the BTS of the Hulu show “the Hair Tales” on Wed 3/2. I can’t believe this. 

• March 5th - Another inquiry from instagram. She wants me to shoot her event on March 12th. Copy. I charged her $375 for 5 hours. 
  

Do you get the picture? Does this make sense? Let’s make this simple. 

• You have friends? Use them. All of them. 

• If no one knows about you, no one will book you. 

• Put your services everywhere. You never know who’s looking. 

You have to do the labor of setting up shoots, meeting up with people, and spending your own money. You have to be your biggest fan and post as much BTS and as many photos as you can. You have to be excited.

Things will start happening. But you have to make things happen first.

Here are a few resources to help you make things happen:

How To Get Clients: I wrote this guidebook to help freelancers build their portfolio and gain visibility. It’s filled with visual examples and specific action steps for you to take.

Mentorships: I offer one-on-one virtual mentorship calls. If you have specific questions and learn more through conversation, this will be perfect for you.

My Amazon Store: Take a moment to browse through the equipment I use and my favorite productivity tools.

My Youtube Channel: Follow me along my journey as I share my top tips about photography and entreprenurship.

My Instagram: Follow my work, learn, and and get to know me a bit more.

Hope this helps <3