When you send an artistic dossier to a promoter or digital media, there is no doubt that you want to be chosen. However, sometimes lack of time or lack of knowledge can play tricks on you, and your dossier, with great content, goes unnoticed due to its form.
As it is a very important tool to present our work, we have to take care of the details and in this post I am going to talk about the 7 mistakes you should avoid before sending your next artistic dossier.
1.-
Structure and content. Apart from the case of missing information, one of the most common mistakes, it is important to emphasise that you must be organised and make it easy for the person who will read it to find the information. Therefore, although it is clear that each professional project is different and has its own qualities, whatever the project, the dossier must not be lacking:
– Cover page.
– Statement and photo
– Updated C.V.
– Index of the projects you are going to present
– Project: Title, year, description, images, technique and format.
2.-
Updating the content. The dossier, like the statement, is a living file that must be updated with information on the latest relevant projects. It is also important to eliminate those milestones, however good they may seem to you, that do not add to the objective of sending your dossier. You can always add that if they require a longer version you can send it to them at any time.
3.-
Download file. Once you have reviewed your dossier, which contains all the necessary information, it is time to prepare the file you are going to send, usually by email. The download file should have a title (reference and date) and should not be excessively heavy, because if there are problems downloading it, it will not make a good impression and, worse, it may be left aside. Do not forget to specify what the file contains, because you cannot force anyone to open an unknown file.
There are different formulas that can help you:
- pdf format, it is the most common and you can host it in drive or other cloud storage to have it always accessible.
- Google Slides presentation format, its main advantage over the previous one is that you can include links and multimedia. It will also allow you to have it hosted in the cloud.
- Landing page format of your website. In this case you will not send a file, but you will share the link that will redirect the user to your website.
4.-
Email subject. We all receive hundreds of emails a day and it is normal that we don’t have time to open them all, process them and reply to them. The subject of the email allows you to make a first filter and that is why it is important. If your dossier responds to a call or application, indicate the reference as indicated in the terms and conditions. Likewise, if it is for a promotion in a digital media, you must show that it is personalised and is not a mass email.
5.-
Short presentation. You should include an introduction where you explain the reason for your dossier, not only as a matter of strategy, but also as a matter of courtesy. As important as the information you send in your dossier is to capture the attention of the person you are addressing, an aspect for which a little prior research always comes in handy. Also, following on from this, greet the person you are addressing by name and thank them for their time – most people send their dossiers without bothering to write a couple of lines.
6.-
Contact details. I have come across many proposals that did not specify at any time how to contact the sender. It is normal that nowadays, when we are so aware of the Data Protection Act, we are more aware of the permissions that must be requested for sending an email, but that does not justify not including a section in the dossier where you indicate how you want to be contacted. As an additional note, so that the person is not looking for it in the file, also use the footer of the email to provide this information, it will give more authority and confidence.
7.-
Follow-up. Sometimes it is not enough to send your proposal and wait. It is true that ideally the other party should respond to you in time, depending on the case, even if it is only the automatic message “we have received it”. However, this is not always the case. Asking if they have received the information sent or if they have received it after a few days without a reply can unblock any incident or even provide an interest and professionalism that increases your chances.
If we look at it from the perspective of the person who receives your dossier, along with many others, the question to ask is why should they spend time on a file if the person sending it has not spent time on it? Make it easy for them.
I encourage you to review your dossier with everything I explain in this post. You will make it professional and effective to achieve your objective.
