Seminar: Making and Maintaining Contacts

How do you make a contact?

• Networking events/awards
• Mutual contacts
• Email or phone
• Social Media
• Write a letter 
• Competitions: judges
• Portfolio reviews

How do you find an email address?

• Websites
• Business card
• Social Media
• AOP, sites where contact details are stored
• Magazines/catalogues: Mast Head
• In person

When is the best time to contact people, email and phone? Tuesday-Thursday seems to be the best time to contact them. You're more likely to catch them when they're less busy and may have more time to respond. 

How do you create a database of your contacts?

• Address book
• Excel: spreadsheet
• Phone

Business card holders would NOT be a good database of your contacts. They are small and easy to lose, but also people may change their contact details.

Google Sheets is a database to consider. You can access it wherever you are via online. 

What details do you need?

• Mobile number/company number
• Name
• Address/company
• Social media
• Email
• Job title
• Website
• A note section showing the date of when you last emailed them

What are the most important aspects of a first email?

• Spelling their name right
• Introducing yourself
• Why you are contacting them
• Make it personal to them, more interesting for them besides their generic emails
• Good spelling and grammar
• Use of language: formal/informal
• Length of the email. Only important/relevant information. You don't want to bore them
• End the email politely, i.e. thank you for your time
• Make it stand out
• Signature
• Maintain professionality
• Subject line: Don't capitalise each start of a word. They may think it is spam and ignore it. 
• Include a PDF of relevant work for them to look at alongside a link to your website

By including a PDF of relevant work into your email it shows effort and breaks up the generic email they would normally get. It's another way of grabbing their attention. Also the work on your website may not lead straight away to relevant work and therefore they may not continue to see what else you have to offer. 

What do you include in a first email?

• Other contact details in the Footer of the email
• Why you're contacting them
• Introducing yourself
• Compliment them
• Links for social media 

When sending multiple emails at once, make sure you put their address' in the BCC section of the email address'. This way it will be blind and they won't see that you have also sent it to others. Also some people may not want their email address shared and won't look professional. CC gives them the option to see everyone you have emailed. 

How do you maintain a contact?

• Send updates, e.g. leaflet if you're exhibiting 
• Phone call
• Arrange a meeting
• Make them remember you, be polite and friendly. Someone they want to be around.
• Social media

By sending them work you've had commissioned or published shows you are keen and reliable. They would be able to trust you knowing you are in the right mind set to work. 

Work to do outside of lesson...

Year3phocontact@nua.ac.uk

Send an introduction email to this email address as if you were emailing a photographer/stylist/magazine/client that you would like to make content with. Treat it as a real life email considering the discussions this morning. It will be replied to based on the content and appropriateness of content. Remember to use a professional email address! Complete by the end of the week (16th March). Use the name of the person that's relevant.