Looking for some advice from those of you who have made a career out of content creation.

JAlps

JAlps

Member
Hi friends,

As the title says I was looking to hear from some of you on here who professionally create (or manage people who create) media specifically for the ski industry. I would love to hear how you got started in your career and any advice you could give.

TL;DR of why I'm asking is that I'm 20 and would love to professionally create content in the ski industry (either for a resort, company, or production company) but I'm not too sure where to start. At the moment I'm just networking through small jobs and getting time behind the lens however I am quite scared these things will not pan out into a solid career regardless of my effort. I have considered going to college for a marketing or business degree as well but I'm not sure if that is something that would help me along my path in terms of getting jobs.

Thanks!
 
Recently faced the same issue as the author. I am the owner of an online ski shop. To become more competitive, I needed to update my website design and the logo itself. I went to many agencies, but none of them wanted to do this kind of design. Also, I wanted to hire a very expensive designer, but he could not meet the basic criteria that had to be included in the design. Then I was very discouraged and had already lost all hope. But I recently contacted a website content agency. I presented them with the whole idea of ​​my design and asked them to translate my idea into reality. They did a great job with it!

**This post was edited on Mar 19th 2021 at 8:50:37am
 
I feel ya dude sort of a dream job for lots of people around ski hills all over the world. Trouble is... there’s just not that much money in skiing and the market is over saturated w banger content... it’s super hard to monetize.

my friends and acquaintances who have been able to monetize it have been HUSTLING for sometimes decades. Mostly the successful ones treat it like a traditional career... education, internships (often working for free, but under somebody you can learn from) and then finding placement in legit jobs ie w a resort or brands outerwear company. It’s even harder to make it as a freelancer, but if you’re really good at the networking/business side booking gigs then you could be in the money billing out 100+ an hour

LOTS of painful self promotion... like emailing your portfolio and resume to HUNDREDS of companies for YEARS and still maybe never getting a call for paid work...

Jamie Walter did some awesome stuff and made a name for himself while working as the head Photog/marketing guy for Sugarloaf, and a lot of my friends out west who are freelance photo/video folks do a lot of contract work with big resorts like Jackson Hole or Alta, in addition to linking up with outerwear/hardwoods/food/drink companies.

Some have full time benefited in house positions, but those are hard to find and again don’t necessarily pay as much as other industries with similar hours/demands.

However, Once you have a relationship with those companies and their athletes the work comes more and more. Trouble is getting that first paying gig... takes years of networking in the ski/outdoor world and lots of free work.

start w the passion and the art. Build a portfolio and get as much time as you can behind the lens shooting your friends doing whatever, build that portfolio, show balance between action sports, landscapes, portraits, and architecture.

If you’re still in college or thinking about what to study take some art/photo/video classes but also marketing/entrepreneurship classes for the business side. If you truly love it your work will speak for itself, but even so you may ultimately decide that it’s a hobby/passion and not your career... and that’s ok too!

some of my favorite skiers/creatives that I look up to are just like “nah I don’t want it to be my job... I want it to be my escape” you can always just do it for fun... maybe someday you can get paid for it if that’s what you really want
 
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