This is a common problem - you are willing to work for cheap, to build the portfolio, but you still want to get some income from the work you are doing. So you go and shoot for free, hoping that it will pay off in the back-end. Unfortunately what happens is that lots of people think that the skill of a photographer should be cheap (or free) and don't commit to paying for prints after the event.
Unless you are shooting a wedding, or some other big event, its difficult to convince people to pay for prints, especially once the eupohoria of the event has passed. I suggest getting an advance up front, which will be discounted once the subject buys X amount of prints from you. While this may put some people off using your service, you need to eliminate jobs that will return zero dividend.
Its easy enough to agree to a shoot, asking for £50/$50 up front for costs, and agree that the first ten prints they order will be discounted by 10%.
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