By Wayne Cosshall

Painstakingly crafted traditional portfolios were fine for a slower world when you had the time to physically take them around to prospective customers or agencies, or courier them over. A stunningly presented portfolio can make an immediate and lasting impression.

But with 24/7 working hours, shorter deadlines, and new business opportunities from unexpected sources, the digital world offers two attractive alternatives: the web portfolio and the photo book. Both can be useful options for those of us who don’t usually carry a portfolio with us everywhere we go.

Web Portfolios: I don’t know about you, but I find that work often comes from some unexpected sources. A casual contact at some event, party or dinner sometimes leads to a great opportunity later. This is where a web portfolio comes in handy.

A web portfolio lets you give potential clients an immediate look at your work. Then you can identify which clients are worth time pursuing by saying: “Have a look at myportfolio.com and if you are interested I’ll arrange to bring over my portfolio book.”

You will want to follow up with printed versions of your work. Let’s be honest, in many ways, a web portfolio doesn’t compare favorably to a physical one. The images are low resolution. You have absolutely no real control over how the images will look on someone else’s computer and screen. There is no physical sensation of the paper you handle. And sometimes Internet speeds can get in the way. Plus, we have all seen online portfolios where the site design either interferes with or overpowers the images being shown.

Getting the design right for a web portfolio is not easy (just as with a physical portfolio). The site must load quickly, show your images in a good light, and have a presentation that is consistent with your style and image. (For more details on setting up an online portfolio, read the article The Essentials of Web Sites for Photographers, Artists and Designers on my Digital Imagemaker site.

Photo Books: Digital printing technologies can produce very short runs of books that can be great alternatives to a traditional portfolio. Bound books give a different impression than an elaborate portfolio. Many companies can produce these for you, offering web interfaces for design, image upload, and ordering. Other companies will provide you with the covers and binding technology you need to produce your photo books in house. You can choose from dozens of combinations of cover shapes, materials, and sizes as well as numerous paper types, including some lovely double-sided papers that you can use on either a desktop or large-format inkjet printer.

Low-cost digital photo books of your work open up all sorts of new possibilities. For instance, you can afford to have a few copies stashed in your car and in your partner’s car, so you are covered at all times. You can also afford to send books out to several prospective clients simultaneously. Or, you can use photo books as special promotional items or give them away to your best clients and prospects.

Photo books can be used by all types of photographers and digital artists. Indeed, in the fine-art market, short-run books can become art objects themselves, giving you an alternative product to sell online, in your studio, or at exhibitions. Some people may love your images but simply can’t envision them on the walls of their homes or businesses. But they just might buy a book of your images, either for themselves or as a gift.One practice that separates the most successful photographers from less successful ones is the willingness to make full use of all of the potential provided by the available technologies. When it comes to creating portfolios of your images, digital technologies offer some exciting new possibilities. Make use of them.