Tag Archive for: business

The Photography Business, It’s Not about Photography

Why do I have to keep telling people that the photography business is not about photography, it is about business. Photography is just the product that the business is built around.

 

I am tired, very tired, of new “professional” photographers that can’t understand the idea that photography is a business. At least, it is as soon as you say you are a professional. I constantly hear from these people: “I can’t charge the same rates as my competition. I’m new and I just don’t feel right doing that.” or “I’m not good enough to charge the full rate for this job. I don’t have the experience.” The hell you aren’t!

 

If a new McDonald’s opens across town do they charge any less than the first McDonald’s in town? It’s a new franchise owner and they have never owned a restaurant before so I guess we should go to the new one because they will be cheaper. No they won’t!  They charge the same price as the other one for the same service and the same food. So if you are the new photographer in town and you have the skills and the talent to do the job, why are you afraid to charge for the same service?!

 

I understand that new photographers may not have the experience that some clients want, and that is fine. However if they have the talent to get the shot, they have the ability to do it in a professional manner and they deliver the results the client wants why are they charging less than they are worth?

Sure there is a variable in rates from the inexperienced to the seasoned pro to a reasonable extent. The new photog in town is not going to command the rate that a Joe McNally, a David Hobby or a Helmut Newton (if he were still alive)would but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth the same amount that the other photogs in town are worth. If the end result is the same and the service provided is the same (excluding individual artistic style), why not get the same fee?

 

Then there is the client that loves to exploit that. That client is always going to go for the cheapest rate he can find because his images only have to be good enough to get by. Guess what? There are always going to be the bottom dwellers that can feed here, but when I see a talented photographer damn near giving their services away it gets me angry.

 

I have been shooting professionally for years and I have raised my rates over time but they have always been near what my competition is charging too. This does a number of things for me and for the business itself. For one it keeps all of the pro shooters in check. Our clients know that when they come to us they are going to get XYZ service for ABC cost. They also know that the quality is going to be of a certain professional level. This means that if Joe Blow over on the other side of town is charging twice what I charge, he better have an added value of some kind that I can’t provide. If he doesn’t then the client will go to someone else in town.

 

Another thing consistent rates do is show a commitment to servicing our clients. We can’t survive in the business world without being our clients’ advocate, at least to some extent. To do that is to provide that added value.

 

When these new photographers come along they often haven’t been taught much about business. This means they may not be aware of the cost of doing business. Do they understand that there is a cost every time you press the shutter?  “But it’s digital so it’s free!” No it isn’t!  There are only so many times that shutter can be pressed before that camera has to be replaced or repaired. Then there is the cost of the computer they will upload the images to, the time processing them in the expensive software they purchased and the desk all that stuff sits on. Plus there is the cost of insurances that protects us and our clients.

 

I can go on and on and on but I think you get my point. If you are a pro, act like one. If you need to hire a pro, hire one, and pay them a fair rate. After all the old saying is true; if it seems too good to be true…

My Client’s Advocate

 

Every once in a while things don’t go as planned. I was recently contracted for a shoot for an advertisement in a rather high end magazine. My client is the advertiser and not the magazine but the magazine is who connected me with the client. My client wasn’t sure he needed a professional photographer; he was one that thought he had a camera, and he could take the images himself and they would be ‘good enough’ for the ad. After a long consultation and some negotiation, he was willing to “give me a try.”

 

The shoot went well and the images were more than the client had anticipated. He was very happy with the results, in fact I would have to say that he was actually impressed with the differences between what a professional photographer could do compared to what he himself could produce. That was when he realized that ‘good enough’ probably wasn’t.

 

All is going well, I was paid, the images were delivered to the client and the magazine. My part was basically done; so I thought.
Now let me take a moment here to clarify; although the magazine had referred me to the client I had never done any work for the magazine before; in fact they had found me via my website and some referrals. I did not have a relationship with them prior to this project.

 

This past Friday evening I get a call from the client and he is furious!  He is almost screaming on the phone telling me that he had received a box of copies of the magazine and his ad looked horrible!  The images were all dark, lacking detail and did not represent him as he intended. He was ready to call his lawyer and have the contract voided and start a legal battle to get his money back, which I might add wasn’t a small amount.

 

The client went into detail about how the images were not representing him well and in fact he felt I should be angry too as they didn’t show my talent to capture the feelings he felt the original images did. He knew that I did not have a relationship with this publication prior to this project and felt that I should be as angry as he was because how was I going to get more work from this magazine if my images “looked like crap.” He was right too; if my work is the ugliest in the magazine it is highly unlikely that I would get any further referrals from the magazine.

 

The fact that my client was not happy is more of an issue for me than anything else. A positive review from him is likely to do more for me than how the magazine feels. More importantly, my client is pissed and that is just not acceptable to me, period.

 

But I am just the photographer, what can I do? This is an issue between the client and the magazine. In fact I could do something.

 

I had the client overnight a copy of the publication and I took a critical look at the ad and yes, the representation sucked. The images were dark, fuzzy at times and just generally looked horrible. So I did what I thought would be the next right thing, I called my contact at the magazine and I asked them what happened.

 

My contact had not yet seen the printed version and referred to the soft proof that she could see on her computer. She forwarded me a copy of the proof while we were on the phone and I let her know that the files she sent me in fact did not in any way represent what I was seeing in print. She then in turn referred me to the manager of their production department and my questioning began all over again.

 

To make a long story short, or at least not so long, After comparing files, computer profiles, processes and anything else we could think of it was finally agreed that the print version didn’t match the electronic version and that something needed to be done to make it right.

 

I offered the magazine an additional 30 images to choose from and my time and knowledge to work with them to create a new advertisement for my client. I would be the advocate for my client and I would use my print experience to help create a new ad. They in turn offered to run an editorial about my client’s product next to a full page ad that we would compose together. This would give my client greater exposure than originally planned, gave him a discount of more than 60% on his previous contract, and should override any negative exposure that may occur from the copies that were already on the street.

 

My client wasn’t sure how to negotiate with the publication when the project was less than expected and was put in a place where he was not sure how to proceed. He was about to do what he thought was right and bring in legal counsel. Instead he reached out to the person he thought might have an idea on how to handle the situation, even if it was more to assure him that the ad looked bad. In doing so, he brought in an advocate for himself and his business.

 

I didn’t charge the magazine or my client for any of this. I wanted to do what was right for my client and for everyone involved. In doing so I was able to help my client; I took a bad situation and made it a Win/Win/Win. The client gets a second ad with a two page spread for the cost of a half page ad, the publication gets a happy client and a minimal financial compromise, and I have two happy clients.

 

Being my client’s advocate is for me, just smart business.

The Handshake

I recently shot a home in the Poconos and the owner, a self-made man, had built his business on handshakes. He had learned early in life how to read another person and know if the person was a person of their word. If he felt they were he would make a contract sealed with a handshake. If he said he was going to do the job, he did the job and he did it on time and at least at the level of quality promised.

The gift this man had was not a sixth sense or some magical ability. This man, we will call him ‘Al’, knew from an early age that a promise and a bit of hard work could take him far. It is questioned if he ever broke a promise or if it was even possible for him to do anything that was anything less than honorable and ethical. No one I have met has been able to remember a time that Al didn’t keep a promise.

Over time, Al became known for his word and his handshake. He would get business simply because if he said he would do the job you knew it would be done right and done well. Every time on every job he did whatever it took to get the job done right, on time and to a level of perfection few others could achieve. Al is a man of ethics.

Ethics. Corporations teach it to their employees; Some even make it a core value and insist that every employee live ethically. Yet not a week goes by that you don’t hear about someone that is arrested, fired or disciplined for acting unethically.  But how many people, companies or governments are truly ethical? Can they live up to it if they have the chance to benefit from relaxing the ethics a just a little?

Our guy Al never compromised his ethics. He came from a humble background in a large city and never compromised. By sticking to his beliefs and doing the right thing Al made himself into a wealthy man. He is a man that lives as an example to others.

It is my belief that you have to trust people. You have to work an honest day’s work and not be afraid to admit errors, and be willing to correct them when they happen. You have to be willing to do the next right thing no matter what. Perhaps doing the next right thing is going to cost you some business today but in the long run it will get you more business.

One of the most powerful things in business today is a referral from a previous or current client. But a referral that speaks to how ethical you are speaks even louder, and to more people. We are all human and we all make mistakes, what separates us is how we handle mistakes and what we do with them. Do we overcome them or do we let them bring us down?

My goal in life and in business is to be honorable, ethical and trustworthy. I treat my clients the same way I treat my friends and I try to never make a promise I can’t keep. I am human and sometimes I make mistakes but I try to own up to them and I try to make them right no matter what the cost. Something I learned from Al and others like him is that …every handshake has meaning and every handshake has value.

Hiring Well

I don’t know a single business person that hires the cheapest candidate available. Each candidate is hired based on their qualifications, knowledge and (perceived) abilities.  You review resumes and references and then you start the interview process. If the best fit is close to the salary range you have reserved for the position, you hire them; if not you negotiate to see if a compromise is possible. After all, you are going to be working with this person for a long time and you want them to fit into your business culture and atmosphere. It is the smart thing to do.

 

So why not use that same business sense to hire a vendor?  In many cases vendors are chosen strictly by the price of their bid. In many cases business owners/managers are so concerned about the immediate spend that they miss the value of the proposal and product offered. Does this mean that the cheapest is always the best deal?  In fact most of the time the “best deal” is not a good value at all.

 

In my last post, ‘The Value of Quality,’ I used the automobile business as a scenario to make my point. To carry that forward let’s look at another vehicle, the Yugo. Yeah I hear all of you groaning. The fact of the matter is that towards the end of the Yugo’s life in the US there was a deal where you buy one and get one free (BOGO).  It was a hell of a deal but was it of any value? Not really. Parts were almost impossible to find, the company was obviously not going to be around long and the cars didn’t have a good reputation at all. If you went for the BOGO your only hope was to use the second one to keep the first one running.

 

So why is it that many still go for the lowest price?  If I am going to fly to the moon I don’t want the cheapest rocket, I want the safest and most reliable. I want to come back too! There may be water on the moon but there isn’t much to eat.  Now if that rocket also is the least expensive, bully for me! But cost is not the major factor; quality of service and quality of product are.

When thinking about your photography needs, or any service for that matter, you need to consider the ROI and what is going to give you the best return on your investment. That is not calculated by just price either. Just a few of the contributing components are: lifespan of the resulting products, customer service, delivery schedule, quality of the service and product, etc. Let’s face it: if you don’t get your images on time and you miss a deadline what is the resulting cost of that mistake? If you are using the resulting images for advertising and they don’t convey your message properly what good are they? If your competitors have a similar product or service and their images shine a more professional light on them who is going to win the majority of clients?

 

Now if your images are more professional, better looking, of higher quality and have a longer usage period then you are getting a great deal!  You spread the cost out over a longer period, you gain more business during that period, you give your company a better presence in the market and you will probably get more clients.

 

Overall you have to decide what the best value is and you have to make compromises. When hiring that candidate you probably won’t negotiate a salary that is out of your total budget. However, if the candidate is going to increase cash flow, chances are they are worth a little more than you plan especially if you can more than recoup that investment in the long term.

 

So the next time you are going out to bid a vendor, especially a photographer, give them a call, interview them, check their references and see what the real value is and I will bet that you will work with the one that gives you the best return on your investment even if they aren’t the cheapest.

Ask Not…

 

Fifty years ago tomorrow one of the most well-loved presidents of the United States said, “Ask not what can your country do for you but what can you do for your country.” It is a matter of debate as to if John F Kennedy was the first to say those words. Cicero said something very similar in the first century BC; similar quotes have been uttered ever since. Credit most likely belongs to Oliver Wendell Holmes who said, “Recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return” in 1884.

 

So what does this have to do with you or me today? More than we all can imagine. It is time, as it always should be, to give back to our society and to our fellows. We can do that by joining the armed forces, giving to charity, working for a common cause, helping those less fortunate than ourselves; we can even give back by just being honest on our taxes.

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The question is not how; that is as different as each reader of this blog. The true issue is why should we give back to our country? Aren’t the politicians and the government here to serve the public? In fact they are here to serve the country as well. (Someone should remind them of that BTW) But you want to know what you get in return for all this giving. The answer is simple; Security.

 

By giving back, by helping our friends as well as our foes, we create a country and a world that is secure in its own growth. By taking time from our lives to give to the whole we begin to support the network that holds us together as a society. You see it in nature all the time. No single honey bee can make a hive, nor can it make the honey. It takes thousands of bees to make a hive and more to create the honey. Ants work together to build a colony; monkeys, chimps and gorillas build complex societies to assure that all can be safe from predators and have plenty to eat. Even predators form prides to support each other.

 

So why is it that we as the most developed species are always asking, “what have you done for me lately?” Perhaps it is time to stop asking what is different about each other and start asking what is it that I have in common with him or her or them. Perhaps when we see the similarities and let go of the prejudice, greed and fear, will we all see that what each of us has to offer.

 

Where do we start? How do we do for our country and our fellows? It can be as simple as opening the door for the person behind you; giving a coworker the benefit of the doubt and helping them complete their work. The point is that each of us doing a little will result in all of us doing a lot.

 

Today I challenge you. Take a few moments to see the similarities between you and the person nearest you. Then say to yourself, Ask not what this world can do for you, ask what you can do for this world.

Integrity

Integrity – from Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; incorruptibility

 

Heck of a word.  It’s not the word though, it’s everything it stands for and everything it doesn’t. Many people and companies say that they live by a code of integrity. I won’t say that they do or don’t; I will say that it is a tall order to fill.

 

I am a firm believer in everything that this word stands for and all that it means I strive to be integral in everything I do every day not just my business. Do I succeed? I feel that I do; I feel that the reason is this is just a part of the ‘code’ I live by. In my life I try to live in a honorable fashion and that honor is at the core of everything I do. As long as I am quoting dictionaries…

 

Honor – also from Merriam Webster: a: a keen sense of ethical conduct, integrity <a man of honor>
b: one’s word given as a guarantee of performance <on my honor, I will be there>

 

The part that means so much to me is “one’s word”. I am a firm believer that if I tell you I am going to do something I am going to do it. For me that leads to doing things with integrity, a code of especially moral and artistic values.

 

So why the heck am I writing about this today? Because I was re-reading the ASMP’s Code Of Ethics and I was proud to be able to read that and find myself saying “yeah, well that is obvious”, which it apparently isn’t or they wouldn’t have found it necessary to A) write it down and B) send it to all the members like me.  Granted, for most if not all of the people I have met through ASMP it is second nature and the way they live every day. But it would seem that many don’t live this way and that is what kind of gets me.

 

I mean, how can you live in a way that is less than honorable and expect others to treat you with integrity?  I know that the only way I know how to treat people is to treat them as I want to be treated. Wasn’t that the golden rule once upon a time?

 

Maybe that is what people, and especially businesses, need: a return to the old fashioned common sense of honor and integrity, back to treating everyone you meet with respect. However when I say a return, perhaps I am being a bit misleading when in reality we need to move forward to this level of mutual respect. In the past a façade of respect was presented to anyone that was like us; those that were different were ridiculed or discriminated against. Some were just plain shunned.

 

Let’s make a step into our own future and treat everyone that we meet with integrity. Let’s all start to live in an honorable fashion. Perhaps we can live by a solid code of ethics. I think that we can and I feel that the best way to start it is to just do it. Be the best we can be in every way.

 

For me the idea of integrity isn’t just a bunch of words that I use for business. For me it is a way I live my life that spills over into my business.

Alternative To The iPad?

 

I have been debating the iPad for 6 months but I wanted to hold out for a non-Apple tablet PC. It isn’t that I am anti Apple, I just feel that their products are overpriced in many cases. In the desktop and laptop area you can get a PC with the exact same hardware for half the expense. As a friend of mine once put it, “But you are getting the Mac experience.” Personally, I don’t need an experience. I need to get work done and I am a cheap bastard.

 

I spent many of those months reading and studying all the tablets that were supposed to come out this year. Everything I read sent me back to the iPad. It was by far the best, and only, tablet available. I was going to buck up and pay the bucks for an iPad. Then by chance I was at the local Office Depot getting supplies and I asked, what is coming out? What to my surprise did they have? The new Viewsonic G-tablet.
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Where Does Networking End?

 

Where Does Networking End? The short answer: it doesn’t.

 

I went to and ASMP event last night and met with a number of models, photographers and representatives. For some of the people I spoke with it was just the beginning of our relationships, with others it was a continuation. I spoke with a number of people and with most, I probably won’t do direct business.

 

In speaking with other photographers I was able to help them find the types of models they want or need for projects they are involved in. With others I was able to introduce them to some of the representatives there and put people together.  Sometime in the future I hope that they will do the same for me, introduce me to the people I want or need to meet to complete my projects. Networking.

So when does the networking end? Never. Networking is a continuous process where you meet people, introduce people to others and generally just help others. That is the beauty of it, it is giving. In the spirit of the season giving is always a good thing. By giving, some day that karma will come back to you and you will be introduced to the people you need to meet.

 

Many people think that networking is just doing their pitch and hoping to land a deal or at least generate interest in their product or service. That is sales not networking.

 

The idea of networking is to take the time to help others. In time as you build your network you become connected, by degrees, to others that know of you and your business and therefore can ‘advertise’ for you. The process builds upon itself and you start to generate a buzz about you and your abilities. But how?

 

If you go to networking events expecting to land a deal or get direct leads the chances are you will get a reputation as a person who pushes and sells themselves. In networking the idea is to build a web of connections that will become a larger net that can be cast out into the world and eventually be drawn together and capturing those leads. These nets as they are, are made by reputation.

 

To grow your reputation, I have found that it is best to be helpful to others. To give selflessly by introducing people to others than can mutually benefit builds my reputation as a person that is helpful, respectful and generally easy to work with. That is a reputation that I want to precede me when I meet potential clients after the events I attend.

 

The drawback, as it were, is that I don’t often get direct prospects at events like last night. I do however invest in the long term and I may get a result in a month or a year, or even longer. But the word is out there and others know that I am there to help. They know that when it comes to photographers I am one that is helpful, responsive, and willing to do what it takes to help others achieve their goals. That is what my business is based on too. I want to help you achieve your goals. My specialty is to do it through imagery.

All This Networking. Now What?

 

How about family networking?  It is the season. In fact here in the US it’s almost Thanksgiving and although many people think it is a time to eat and watch American football that is not what it is all about. In fact it’s not even really about the food either.

 

A few hundred years ago people new to the continent gave thanks to a bountiful harvest after a drought earlier in the year. They were grateful that they had managed, mostly due to the assistance of the native people, that they would have food throughout the coming winter months. This is said to be the first Thanksgiving; the year was 1621.

 

Over time we have learned how to grow and harvest food that can sustain millions through the winter months. Although we are still grateful for a bountiful harvest; that is not the true reason we should be grateful. At least, it shouldn’t be the only reason.
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Value Added – Buzz Words Or Real Service?

 

It seems of late I am constantly hearing the term “Value Added”. To get the upper hand on your competition you need to have a message that shows your Value Added proposition or something that helps you stand out from a crowd. So is this just a new buzz word or is it a new way of doing business?

 

For many it is a new way of doing business. For far too long you got what you got and that is what you paid for. Photographers, writers, advertisers, suppliers, whoever always gave you what you ordered or contracted and that was that. The value was in the service or product they delivered. Today the idea is to add more to what you are giving your clients hence adding value to your service or product. For me this seems like customer service.

 

I was raised in a family business, a seafood restaurant, my first tasks were gutting fish and peeling potatoes and it was all I did all day. My father instilled the old adages of “the customer is always right” and “take care of your customers and they will take care of you.” In a family business you are expected to do twice as much work for half the pay and none of the glory. But it teaches you a lot. (That is my father in the image below. Hey it is a photography blog.)

 

I swore a long time ago that I would never gut another fish or peel a potato. I never stopped giving customer service though and I never will. I’m not sure how often the customer is actually right but they will take care of you if you take care of them.

 

I do my best to promise the right service in my photography business and I try to over deliver whenever I can. I want my clients to be not only happy with the quality of my work but impressed with how I do business. For me that is customer service.

 

Is customer service a value added proposition?  I wish it weren’t but it seems that in today’s world it can be. Going the extra mile (another of my father’s sayings) is not a bother or even a choice for me. Doing the extra is what my clients deserve. They are paying for quality and quality comes in many forms. Quality is in the images I deliver, it is the service I give and it grows into the partnerships I have and will have.

 

Taking the time to grow and foster a relationship with my clients does what my father taught me; take care of your clients. In turn I hope my clients stay my clients for a long time to come. I want to build relationships with them and get to know them and their businesses so I can give them more the next time I work with them. I want them to value my skills and services as much as I value their business.

 

Does all this become a “Value Added Service”? Beats me. For me it’s just good old fashioned business.