How a Personal Project Became a Case Study I Use to Land New Brand Clients
72 Miles of Blue started as a personal project, my best friend Michael Whalen and me attempting to paddleboard around Lake Tahoe together, backed by Nike but shaped by our own vision rather than a brand's specific brief. Months later, it's become one of the most effective pieces of sales material I have when pitching new brand partners. Here's what made it valuable beyond the content it originally produced.
Why a Personal Project Sells Differently Than Client Work
Most of my portfolio consists of work commissioned by brands with specific goals and constraints already built into the project. 72 Miles of Blue was different, closer to my own creative vision than any brief could have produced, and that authenticity shows in a way potential clients respond to differently than they respond to more conventionally commissioned work.
What This Project Proves That Client Work Sometimes Can't
Because this project wasn't built around a specific brand's requirements, it demonstrates something client work sometimes obscures, what I actually choose to create when given full creative freedom. Potential clients evaluating whether to work with me can see, through this project, the instincts and judgment that inform my creative decisions when nobody's briefing document is dictating the outcome.
How I Actually Use This in Pitch Conversations
When pitching a new brand partner, I walk through 72 Miles of Blue as a complete case study, the pitch process, the actual expedition with its real difficulties and plan changes, the distribution results across the full 30-day cycle, and the ongoing content that continues to emerge from it months later. That full arc, rather than just a highlight reel, gives potential clients a much more complete picture of what working with me actually looks like from start to finish.
What Specific Elements Resonate Most With Potential Clients
The distribution numbers matter, over a million organic views without paid media, but what consistently generates the most genuine interest in these conversations is the story of the plan changing, Michael's uncertain departure and eventual return, since it demonstrates authentic problem-solving under real pressure rather than a scripted, predictable execution. Brands considering their own uncertain, unscripted projects want to see proof that I can handle exactly that kind of uncertainty well.
How This Case Study Differs From a Traditional Portfolio Piece
A traditional portfolio piece shows finished work. This case study shows process, decision-making, and adaptation alongside the finished work, giving potential clients a much fuller understanding of what a working relationship with me would actually involve, not just the polish of a final deliverable but the judgment and problem-solving that produced it.
What I'd Tell Another Creator About Building Their Own Version of This
If you're a creator considering a personal project specifically to use as future sales material, don't treat it as purely promotional from the start, let it be genuinely personal first. The authenticity that makes 72 Miles of Blue effective as a case study comes directly from the fact that it wasn't built primarily to sell anything, it was built because Michael and I wanted to do it, and the sales value emerged as a byproduct of that genuine motivation.
Why This Case Study Continues Producing Value Months Later
Unlike a single campaign that peaks and fades, this project keeps generating new pitch conversations and new content angles months after the actual paddling ended, proof that a well-executed personal project with genuine depth can continue paying dividends far longer than most commissioned work typically does once its specific campaign cycle concludes.
What Other Creators Could Learn From This Approach
If you're a creator without an extensive commissioned portfolio yet, consider what a genuine personal project could demonstrate about your own instincts and judgment that client work simply can't show as clearly. The investment of time and resources into something personally motivated can pay dividends well beyond the project itself, provided the work is genuinely strong enough to hold up as a showcase.
How This Case Study Has Evolved Since the Trip Ended
Months after finishing the actual paddling, I continue finding new angles and details from this trip worth sharing in client conversations, proof that a well-documented personal project keeps generating value long after its initial completion, unlike a single campaign that typically has a defined, shorter shelf life.
What I'd Tell a Creator Hesitant to Invest in a Personal Project
If the time and cost of a personal project feels hard to justify without a guaranteed client attached, remember that the value often shows up indirectly, in future conversations and pitches, rather than as an immediate return. That delayed, compounding value is real, even though it requires patience and trust in a process that doesn't pay off on any predictable, immediate timeline.
The Bottom Line on Personal Projects as Sales Material
Genuine motivation, not primarily promotional intent, is what makes a personal project resonate as case study material, and the sales value that eventually follows tends to be a byproduct of that authenticity rather than something you can manufacture directly by trying to build a case study from the outset.
What This Case Study Has Meant for My Overall Business
Beyond any single client conversation, this project has shifted how I think about my own portfolio and business development generally, less reliant on a constant stream of new commissioned work and more willing to invest in occasional, deeply personal projects that then support the business in ways that unfold over a much longer timeline than any single campaign typically would.
What I'd Tell Someone Just Starting to Build This Kind of Portfolio
Start smaller than a full multi-day expedition if that's what feels realistic right now. The principle, genuine motivation producing more compelling case study material than purely promotional intent, applies at any scale, not just the largest, most ambitious version of a personal project you could possibly attempt.
Why This Case Study Still Feels Fresh Months Later
Unlike commissioned work that can feel dated quickly once its specific campaign context passes, this project's personal, evergreen nature means it continues feeling relevant in new client conversations even as time passes further from the actual expedition itself.
Before You Close This Tab
What made 72 Miles of Blue valuable as sales material for you to consider, beyond the content it produced for social platforms?
Would a personal project, built without a specific brand brief, showcase your own creative instincts more effectively than commissioned work does?
How would you use the story of a plan changing or a genuine problem being solved as sales material for your own work?
What personal project could you build specifically to demonstrate your own judgment and process to future clients?
Dalton Johnson is a photographer, filmmaker, and brand storyteller based in South Lake Tahoe, California. Over the past decade he has worked with brands including Patagonia, GoPro, Arc'teryx, Four Seasons, Nike, Rivian, and Ford Bronco across all seven continents. He is the creator of the Follow The Journey distribution framework, which has produced over one million organic views per 30-day cycle without paid media. His work includes two published books, an award-winning documentary that aired on PBS, and more than fifty commercial spots directed. He runs Stories by Dalton on Substack, read by more than 34,000 subscribers.