The business side of photography
Many photographers fail to understand that a client’s budget determines their work. In an ideal world, it would be the other way around. But sadly, the ideal world and the real world don’t often intersect.
Don’t confuse “work” with “effort” or “creativity”. The latter two should be independent of the client’s budget. Whether the budget is $1,000 or $10,000, the photographer has to put forth the same effort and creativity.
Continue reading →
From time to time, newer professional photographers ask what they should do when a client is late to pay. The answer is easy: remind the customer to pay.
Okay, maybe it’s not quite that simple although it can be.
When a client hasn’t paid within the time period set by the photographer, often the reason is that the client has lost or misplaced the invoice, or they’ve simply forgotten to pay it. (Yes, it would be nice if we could “forget” to pay our bills.)
Continue reading →
The previous post, directed towards business customers, was also indirectly aimed at photographers. It was pointing out that most customers don’t hire photographers for their pictures! Or to rephrase that: purely providing perfect pictures doesn’t please the paying people.
Some photographers will stress over whether to move a light a few inches this way or that way. They will agonize over precise white balance. They’ll suffer great pain if every pixel isn’t razor sharp or if the depth of field isn’t just right. But in most cases, customers don’t notice or even care about these things.
This is not to say a photographer can be sloppy in their work but that customers have different priorities.
For many customers, it’s more important that a photographer shows up on time, dresses and behaves appropriately, completes the photography efficiently and competently, and returns their calls or e-mails promptly.
A photographer’s business practices are more important than their photography skills. Yes, the photographer must be at least competent in their work. But good business practices can trump great photo skills. As the cliché says, running a photography business is 90% business and 10% photography.
Remember your three R’s: responsible, reliable, respectable.
Chasing a dream can sometimes turn into running from a nightmare if you’re not prepared.
Sometimes a potential client will ask a photographer, “What day is good for you?” or “When are you available next month?”
The photographer should never answer with something like, “Oh, any time is good for me” or “I’m open on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 20th, 21st, 25th and 28th of next month.”
Both of these answers suggest that the photographer is sitting around doing nothing. While this may very well be true, there’s no need to broadcast that business is slow. If a restaurant has no customers, something must be wrong with its food, right?
Continue reading →
Most photographers don’t want to be a salesperson selling photography. Many hate to advertise or promote themselves. Most don’t want to call attention to themselves by yelling, “Hire me!”
Photographers generally just want to go out, make some nice pictures and then have a cheque magically arrive in the mail. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. You must show loud confidence in your business. If you’re not confident about you then the customer won’t be confident about you.
In the previous post, I wrote about advertising, marketing and being remarkable. In that post, it was suggested that advertising isn’t always the best option when marketing a business. But other forms of marketing are possible and even required.
Many years ago, professional photographers would often state that they used Nikon, Hasselblad or Sinar cameras. By pointing out that they used these highly-regarded brands, the photographers were hoping to be seen as being more professional than photographers who used other camera brands.
If a commercial client knew the photographer was using a Nikon, Hasselblad or Sinar, that client would be more confident that the photo assignment would be a success.
“Ingredient branding” is when an ingredient or component of a product or service has its own brand identity. An ingredient brand adds its own brand value to a business, product or service. Ingredient branding can help differentiate and elevate a business or product from its competitors. This can influence customer preference and help support higher pricing.
Well-known examples of ingredient brands are Gore-tex, Intel, Teflon, NutraSweet, Shimano, Lycra, Kevlar and Dolby.
Continue reading →
