How to raise your profile and get noticed on and off PurplePort

Promoting yourself and getting exposure is one of the most important things you can do. For simple, practical tips you can use right now to help get you started, check out How To Get Noticed & Raise Your Profile - Our Top 9 Essential Industry Tips posted on The Purple Blog.

For anyone new to the model-photography industry, we have some great tips for aspiring models who want to know how to become a freelance model and for photographers who are new to working with models. 

Post in the groups

The Groups are a central hub of activity. Whilst posting in the groups can be a little hazardous, the adage "if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing" holds true in the groups on PurplePort just as much as it does on other forums.

When posting in the groups, make sure you take the following into account:

• Don't argue - you may be right, but nothing good will come of it
• Opinions vary
• Ensure you always leave a good impression - no one wants to work with a grumpy model or photographer!
• It's always got to be Unicorns and Rainbows :-)
• Posting interesting and thought-provoking questions is a great way to get noticed
• Posting argumentative and controversial topics should be avoided!

At the very least, why not post and say "hi" in the Everyone Welcome group? Check out Article bundle - Groups for guides and articles about the groups. 

Collect images

Creating an image collection such as "awesome images" and adding images to it is incredibly flattering and is sure to attract positive attention. Make sure such collections are public, and then the person whose image you've added will get notified. See The Guide to PurplePort Image Collections for more information. 

Create lists and add people to them

Creating public lists such as "awesome models" or "fabulous photographers" and adding people to them will certainly help with networking. If you also make them Want to work with (WTWW) lists, then whenever you add someone to the list it sends a clear message to them that you wish to work with them! See The Guide to PurplePort Lists for more information. 

Love and comment on images

Whenever you see an image you love, click the little heart on the image. The owner of the image sees this and may well reciprocate. And maybe even message you to say thank you. And that might lead to a shoot!

The same can be said for image comments. We all love positive reinforcement that we are doing well and a nice image comment. Go ahead and say something nice about the images you love.

Tag other people in your images

Member tags are searchable on PurplePort using the Image Search feature. And, whenever you tag someone in your image, that image is added to their Credited photos page on their portfolio page (another way to get more exposure!). 

Add keyword tags to your images

Keyword tags are searchable on PurplePort using the Image Search feature. By adding relevant keyword tags, other people can more easily find your images. Check out A Brief Guide to Image Tagging for more information.

Create a casting call or an event

Casting calls are a sure way to get noticed and find collaborators or work. They are dead simple to create, and once created, anyone in the same area as the casting call will be notified about it. There are some helpful guides and articles about casting calls in Article bundle - Casting calls.

Events (similar to castings) are for studio days, group shoots, tuition days, workshops, exhibitions, or social meet-ups. 

Create an away notice when travelling

When travelling away from home and you are available for work/collaboration, create an away notice in the calendar by clicking the first day you are away. Be sure to specify the location and tick the box saying you are available for work. Then, whenever someone in that area sees your group posts or views your portfolio, they will see you are available in their area.

Pay attention to the Account Health page

The Account Health page is there to help. This is accessible to VIP members and can be found next to the grey cog on your Portfolio stats page.

While it only offers observations about your PurplePort account, many of the things it provides advice on apply equally to other similar websites and services.

Share your images and portfolio on Facebook and Twitter

Sharing your images and portfolio on Facebook and Twitter can dramatically impact how you are perceived on PurplePort, especially if you have a lot of PurplePort members as contacts/followers on Facebook and Twitter. You can via your Social Media page.