Showcasing You: Why You Should Create a Printed Portfolio

Creating a printed portfolio of your work is just another tool to help you promote your wares!  This is already a common practice for photographers, and it can also be quite beneficial for the rest of the creative community.  It creates yet another avenue to draw attention to your work.  Imagine you enter a conversation with someone who isn’t familiar with you or your work, but they are intrigued to learn more about it.  You don’t have any access to a computer to show them your shop or online portfolio nor do you carry around samples of what you make.  Rather than just leaving them with a business card, how great would it be if you could whip out a small book that you carry around with you (in your purse or wherever) and share images and descriptions of what you do and why you are so passionate about it. Especially within the creative community, people love hearing the story of how you evolved as an artist.  Oftentimes, these stories are what convert people from being interested onlookers to buyers.  By creating a physical portfolio, you’re doing the following: Being Professional: You’re letting the viewer know that you mean business and that your creativity is more than just a hobby.  Showcasing Your Work: You’re displaying your talents with your best "foot forward."  A portfolio should include your handpicked selections of your best products, not everything under the sun.  This way you can pick and choose what you want them to see. Going the Extra Mile: Most people don’t go through the trouble of creating a printed portfolio, but if you do, you’ve done something to distinguish yourself from the crowd.  I highly recommend reading 6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book on Mashable to get a thorough overview of some of the best online publishing services out there.  Here is a highlight of a few that are very appropriate for creative entrepreneurs:  Blurb Blurb produces high quality books and you can download their design tool (Blurb Booksmart) on your desktop to get started.  You can see a preview of Tony Williams's artist portfolio using Blurb and you can also consider joining forces with others in your trade, such as the Handbook to Handmade, where a group of Etsy artists gathered together to create a book promoting their stores. Lulu Lulu is a very easy to use online platform for books or digital creations.  You can self publish your work very quickly and they have a wonderful online tour so make sure you check that out.  One great part about Lulu is they have several ways to get help with your book creation via forums and their blog which is loaded with information to help you if you need it. Picaboo Picaboo is another great online service for creating your portfolio book.  You can easily download their software to your computer and search through their idea center for great tips on they type of book you want to create.  One added benefit is they have wonderful access to their customer support team through email, phone and even live chat online.  Whatever the method or service you choose, it's definitely worth it to create a printed portfolio of your work so you can share with family and friends or art galleries and retailers.  Good luck and let us know if you have a favorite online book and portfolio service that you use...we'd love to hear about it!                                        

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