In this edition of Ask the Photo Business Coach, I break down what you need to do (and how long it takes) to make it in the photography industry. Take a look at the steps I lay out in this video.

Blogging is a great, free way to promote your photography business. Its benefits include targeted local traffic and networking opportunities with other vendors and venues. There’s the free promotion when your clients share your posts using social media, not to mention the happy client testimonials collecting in the comments.

Websites with blogs get 55 percent more traffic than those without, according to Hubspot.com. More traffic means more leads, and that adds up to more money. There’s just one problem: What if you’re not a “writer?”

You’ve got great photos to show off, but it’s not enough to post pictures. If you want all that good SEO mojo, you need to have at least 100-200 words of text containing the keywords your clients are searching for. All that amounts to a lot of work if you get blogger’s block every time you sit down at the computer.

Lori’s Lazy Blog Strategy

One of my wedding photographer friends came up with a brilliant strategy for writing a blog post. Lori is an extremely talented photographer, but she’d be the first to admit that she writes like a fourth-grader.

Every time she sat down to blog about a recent wedding, it gave her an instant headache.  Yet she’d experienced the benefits in traffic, leads and booked weddings first hand, so she knew she had to do it. One day, Lori had an idea: What if she could get her brides to write their wedding blog post for her?

She knew brides just love to talk about their details, show off their colors and theme, and tell the story of their engagement. She figured they’d do it for her blog if she gave them the opportunity. That’s exactly what they did, and she’s blogged happily ever after.

4 Steps for Lazy Blogging

Here’s how Lori’s Lazy Blog Strategy would work for a wedding photographer:

1. At your final meeting before the wedding, give the bride a list of questions. Ask whom they hired for entertainment, flowers, catering, makeup and hair, and transportation. Ask about the venue and dress designer. Then ask her about her colors and theme. Why did she pick them?

2. When you’re ready to post the photos on your blog, copy and paste the names of the vendors and details provided, and links to their websites.

3. Copy and paste what the bride wrote about her theme, tweak it for readability, add a sentence or two of your own about the wedding itself, and hit Publish.

4. Give your blog post an extra boost by sending the link to the bride and all the vendors you’re promoting, inviting them to share it with their network.  Your clients will no doubt share it with their friends and family.

Strategy Can be Easily Adapted

This strategy works for any type of photography blog post.  Simply ask your clients to include details about the clothes or accessories the kids have on in their portraits, or where she found that amazing maternity outfit.  If you’re blogging about your commercial work, ask the client about the message they’re trying to convey or the story of the product they’re featuring, and credit all the major players of the photo shoot.

The fans following your blog will eat up those little details, and come back for more. Meanwhile, you’re getting great content that pumps up your SEO without having to do any extra work. With the Lazy Blog Strategy, writing a blog post doesn’t have to be a challenge.

How do you come up with client-attracting content for your blog?

We are so used to getting things for free – online newspapers, magazines, even books — we expect everything to be free.

Some people think photography should be free, and there are those in the marketplace who have done substantial damage to the value of images and assignments. It’s becoming all too common for images to be free, or next to free.

Sadly, we are perpetuating a cycle of free that is now bleeding over to our own bottom lines when the reality is that photography is worth something — a lot.

Mass Media Runs on Photography

Our images make or break magazines, advertising campaigns, and so on.

A pair of jeans sells on the strength of a photograph.

A president is elected on the strength of the photojournalism surrounding his campaign.

Public opinion is formed on our wars overseas by the images that come out of those events.

Weddings are deemed a success after the dust has settled and the wedding album is fabulous.

But magazines are not paying rates commensurate with what they paid even 30 years ago. If photojournalists continue to be paid $200 an assignment only to lose all their rights, that business model can’t be sustained.

What about photography licensed with huge rights being granted at $1? This is horrible for the profession.

Change Has to Start with Us

We as a society need to understand and recognize the value of photographs, and those who create them. Now is the time for a sea change, and it has to start with us. If we don’t recognize the value of photography, no one else will.

Most freelance photographers spend much of their time looking for new business, which can come as a surprise to new graduates entering the marketplace.

“Basic courses in photography cover equipment, processes, and techniques,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. “Learning good business and marketing skills is important and some bachelor’s degree programs offer courses focusing on them.”

Some? Seriously? I can’t imagine the irresponsibility of a school sending a graduate off with a diploma without a skill so key as business. Perhaps this is why we find our markets diluted with hungry, idealistic photographers being churned out only to find there isn’t a market for them.

They’re educated, they’re smarter, more savvy, and by default, artistically talented. But having the skill and passion to create visually stunning images is not enough to survive as a photographer. There is a critical need for business savvy – contracts, accounting, marketing, etc.

Setting the camera on Program and hoping for the best isn’t the solution, nor is ignoring that pile of bills and thinking elves will pay them and send out your invoices.

Business Skills Must Be Emphasized

So, what’s to be done? The school of thought at some point was that starry-eyed students would flock to institutes of higher learning under the promise of education leading to higher dollars in our profession.

But look at these numbers from the Labor Department: “Median annual wages of salaried photographers were $29,440 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $20,620 and $43,530. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $16,920, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $62,430.”

New Generation Must Embrace the Challenge

There is a critical need for a new generation of photographers, visionaries who can make a difference. Whether they come to us through an institute of higher learning or as an apprentice of an experienced photographer, they are a necessity.

Even newly graduated freelancers are professionals and are worth the money they make in the same way that a young lawyer charges for his or her time.

We are business people, part of an industry. We want a good standard of living. That’s why it’s vital that schools teaching photography recognize their responsibility to teach the business skills necessary for their graduates to succeed.

Fourth in a series.

In the first part of this series, we introduced you to an Ottawa photographer who, when asked about getting paid, joked that “baseball bats work wonders.” In this last installment, we’ll discuss how to swing the legal lumber: namely courts and collection agencies.

Freelancers in all sorts of businesses seem to be in agreement that going to court may be throwing good money after bad. But there seems to be plenty of advice out there about what you can do first.

The Freelancers Union, the industry group that counts more than 150,000 members, says the first step is sending a formal demand letter requesting payment. “We are writing to collect the past due amount of …” begins the sample letter on the group’s web site.

A Tough Situation

Professional copywriter Dean Rieck has some realistic advice on how to handle what’s admittedly a tough situation.

Writing on his blog ProCopyTips, he says, “Ask for immediate payment. Say you want to avoid any hassles like legal action. This is difficult to do. You won’t like it and the client won’t like it. But it has to be done. Still, be professional and don’t say anything you’ll regret. It’s at this point, you may lose your client forever. But then, a client who doesn’t pay is not a client you want. And a client who owes you money will never hire you again.”

After that, Rieck advises, “Pick up the phone one more time. Have a last conversation with the client and try to work things out. Offer a payment plan. Ask your client how to resolve the issue. And if this doesn’t work, your next call should be to a collection agency or lawyer.”

Choosing a Collection Agency

“If you opt for a collection agency,” he says, “try to find one near your client. This seems to have more impact. If you opt for a lawyer, try to find one who specializes in collections and who can follow through with a suit if it comes to that.”

The Freelancers Union’s web site has the name of a firm that gives members a 10-percent discount. It also advises members to seek out other members who are lawyers.

Here, Rieck urges caution. “Be realistic,” he says. “In the end, if clients don’t want to pay, they won’t pay. Collection agencies can work, but not always. And if you file suit, remember that clients can always file a counter suit and claim you didn’t do the work you promised. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not, you can sue anyone for anything. So consider the pros and cons carefully before you begin any legal action.”

Outing Non-Payers

But plenty of freelancers seem to endorse “outing” the non-payer. Freelancers Union has its Client Scorecard. Others have similar offerings. But Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can work too.

In the end, the best defenses against nonpayment aren’t letters and lawyers, but well-written invoices, frequent communications, and a polite but businesslike approach. Being selective about whom you work with helps too, according to one photographer.

He says his secret to getting paid is choosing good clients and being flexible about the definition of “on time.”

Third in a series.

When it comes to getting paid for her photography, New Yorker Giovanna Grueiro has a system. You should too.

In this installment of our series, we’ll explore how having a plan to get paid for each job will keep your businesses — and your client relationships — healthier.

For Grueiro, it seems to be about staying on schedule.

“Typically there is a deadline for each payment,” she says. “The deadline is usually a month after the project has been completed and ready to deliver. There are reminder e-mails with the invoice and statement attached.”

Sending Reminders

To make payment easier, she says, she includes information on paying online through services like PayPal.

Her reminder e-mails go out three days after the deadline, with a warning about her late fees if payment is five days late. At five days after the deadline, another e-mail goes out, with a new invoice that includes the late fees.

“So on top of not receiving the photos right away there are penalty costs,” says Grueiro, who adds, “I have never gone so far as to take a client to small-claims court.”

Blogger Erin Russell, writing for Biz 3.0, also reminds us to amend contracts to reflect changes.

“Changes will happen in every job you do. People change, project goals change, contracts get bigger, contracts get smaller. You should address these changes in the contract. Ideally each change should cost the company or client money.”

Her sound advice takes us through the entire process of obtaining payment:

“Stay on top of your bookkeeping, and if certain clients aren’t paying their bills, politely let them know service will be discontinued. While this only works for ongoing projects, it will prevent a customer from racking up a debt they’ll never be able to pay. In other words, it prevents you from pouring time and effort into a project you won’t be compensated for.

Rising Concern

“Have a letter written, saved, and ready to send for this circumstance. Using the same letter every time will take away some of the situation’s stress and allow you to respond quickly. After a week of nonpayment, a short reminder letter is appropriate. Within this timeframe, the bill might have slipped a client’s mind or there may be a holdup with their financial department.

“Five days after sending a polite reminder, pick up the phone and call the client if they still haven’t paid. You should have obtained contact information for the person who would be paying you at the outset – this is when you use it. Ask your contact about the status of your invoice, and be sure to get a specific date when they plan to send payment.

“If no one answers, leave a message and follow up with email. Your communication should show rising levels of concern as time goes by, but maintain a professional, objective tone.”

Russell concludes, “If you regard yourself as a professional then you and the companies you work for should treat you that way.”

Second in a series.

Having a hard time getting paid for your freelance work? You’ve got company.

Some 44 percent of “independent workers” had difficulty getting paid for their work last year, according to the Freelancers Union, the industry group that counts more than 150,000 members nationwide. It says three out of four freelancers are paid late or not at all at least once in their careers.

“Collecting payment is a big issue that’s been compounded by the economy,” Gary Swart recently told The Wall Street Journal. Swart is chief executive of oDesk, a freelance-management web site that acts as a liaison between freelancers and clients.

Applying Pressure

He told the paper about an especially worrisome tactic: companies trying to negotiate lower prices from freelancers — after the work has been delivered!

As we discussed in the first installment of this series, a good invoice may be the best protection against nonpayment. Getting partial payment up front helps too. Freelancers Union also suggests being prompt sending out invoices and late notices, following up oral agreements with e-mail confirmations, and keeping records of all communications.

But how do you prod a client who’s slow to pay?

The Wall Street Journal story advises: “Get over the embarrassment. Don’t be uncomfortable with asking about money — everyone works with the expectation of getting paid.”

But there are strategies to encourage payment. Find out at what interval the client would like to be invoiced and follow that schedule. Smaller balances can be less daunting, another argument for more frequent invoicing. Offering proof of your time spent in the form of a timesheet may also help convince a doubter you deserve your money.

The Imaginary Accountant

If you’re feeling like a pest, blame your imaginary accountant. If the company is local, offer to drop by to pick up your check. Face-to-face meetings are harder to ignore than an e-mail or phone message. If your primary contact isn’t helpful, find out who is actually responsible for getting you paid.

A quick call to the company should reveal that person’s name and contact information. Remember, people in accounting have little or no knowledge of the work you did or any creative differences you may have had with the client. Accounting people live to pay bills, and your unpaid bill is for them a problem that needs solving. A polite letter to the business manager can include the details of the job and copies of the invoices sent.

Keeping Things Civil

In dealing with the business manager, you can get creative by offering to forgive late charges or accepting a payment plan. Just be sure and keep things civil – this is the person who can pay you, or not – and follow up any phone conversations with a written note or e-mail.

If all else fails, the advice goes, withhold delivery of further work – politely, of course.

The trick, clearly, is handling the situation in such a way that you end up with your money and a client who will call you again. Having accomplished this, it may be time to ask yourself: When that client calls you again, do you want to answer?

Next: Using a reminder system

(Editor’s note: In today’s uncertain economy, freelance photographers are waiting longer than ever to receive payment from their clients. Following is the first in a series of articles by Brandon Cotter, founder of ZenCash, offering tips to accelerate your cash flow.)

When it comes to getting paid for freelance work, Ottawa-based photographer Younes Bounhar quips, “baseball bats work wonders.” But for the less athletic among us, the most effective instrument is still the invoice.

Invoices are even more important these days with studies showing that in this economy, customers are taking longer than ever to pay small businesses — an average of 48 days, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

Requiring Prepayment

The simplest of invoice terms, of course, is prepayment. Dallas-based Rachael Ellis, who specializes in wedding and custom art photography, insists on it. And don’t give her a check. It’s cash or a money order.

Withholding work until payment is delivered may be the next-most-popular approach. But most invoices aren’t so simple, and freelancers have to get more creative. Many insist on at least some part of the payment up front. It’s collecting the balance, of course, that gets tricky.

Plenty of freelancers use late fees. British photographer Bruno Conrad learned them from his father, a freelancer for 30 years.

“He said to me that you should state, on your invoice, that the payment must be made within 30, 60 or 90 days, and then add a 10 percent charge for each week that the payment went over the stipulated date.”

Conrad says, “It might not make any difference to being paid on time — especially with bigger companies — but at least you’ll be making money off them when they do drag their feet with payment.”

Offering Discounts

Californian Lara White says her company added a $100 late-fee policy just this year because so many payments were late. Others turn the late-fee idea around, and offer discounts for paying on time. In Florida, photographer Ken Hayden promotes discounts for “quick payment.”

Regardless of the terms, photographers seem to agree that another key to getting their money is offering payment methods customers will use. PayPal is a favorite, along with others like Square, the credit-card processing service.

“Nothing like being paid instantly!” one Square fan raves.

There is plenty of help online with invoicing with companies like FreshBooks, Harvest, Blinksale, ShootQ and others. The FreshBooks website boasts, “You’ll actually enjoy invoicing!”

“I get paid sometimes when I completely forgot a client owed me money,” says Texan Jonathan L. Golden. “It’s great.”

Staying Vigilant

A last area of consensus when it comes to getting paid is one very familiar to freelancers: vigilance.

Says Canadian photographer Paul Ritter: “Don’t procrastinate! I start post-processing as soon as I get home from a shoot.”

But it all starts with the invoice, a lesson Stijn Swinnen learned the hard way.

Four years ago, he says, he joined a cooperative photo exhibit in Belgium. One of his works was a large panorama of the city’s main square. The photo attracted the interest of a potential buyer, who wanted to display it in his downtown building. The sale never went though, and the work was damaged – accidentally, but beyond repair.

“They didn’t want to buy it or refund for the damages, so it was worthless for me,” he says.

“My mistake? We never set anything on paper.

“No agreement, endless discussion, no money for me.”

Next: Prodding the slow-paying client

In May, Peter Phun published an article on Black Star Rising entitled “It’s Time for Pro Photographers and Hobbyists to Call a Truce.” The article has received a lot of comments. I would like to weigh in with my thoughts on the difference between professionals and non-professionals.

First I need to define the word “professional.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines professional as someone, “a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career.”

My definition is someone who earns his or her entire living from producing images. An amateur may earn some money –- even a lot of money — from the images produced, but photography is not his or her sole means of support.

Image Quality

In photography the question of whether a person is a professional or an amateur says absolutely nothing about the quality of the work. Among professionals (those earning their living taking pictures), the quality of the imagery varies greatly.

Some professionals are able to earn good livings by producing very mundane images because they are exactly what their customers want. Customers are often much happier with a simple, straightforward image than an artistic masterpiece.

Images produced by amateurs can also vary greatly in quality, but it is undeniable that some of the images produced by part-timers are of outstanding commercial and artistic quality. The numbers and range of top-quality images produced by amateurs is increasing.

Most professionals have a bad day and produce weak images now and then. Some amateurs produce great images now and then.

Education and Training

Some professionals point to the training and time devoted to learning their craft and argue that this is a reason why the images they produce should be worth more. This is a false argument.

All that education and experience will not guarantee that the images they produce will better supply the needs of the customer. This is particularly true when purchasing stock images. The customer sees the image and determines whether it meets his or her needs. The education and training of the creator is not factored into the stock photo buying decision.

Another factor that plays into this is that, given how technology has changed the business, much of a photographer’s previous training and experience has little application today. Knowing how to make a color print in a darkroom is of little value in today’s market — but the professional had better be an expert in using Photoshop.

Marketing

Professional photographers are required to devote a lot of time and energy to activities other than actually taking pictures in order to make photography their sole means of support. This includes marketing and general business management activities.

Once an image is captured, there is a huge amount of effort required to get that image to a place where it can be seen and purchased by customers.

Among the things that tends to discourage amateurs are all the work required in preparing images for marketing and in determining the subjects that are most likely to be in demand in order to know what to shoot. Amateurs and hobbyists got into photography for the fun of taking pictures and seeing the results.

They have very specific things they enjoy doing and like to photograph. Money is not a goal.

If they can earn a little from the endeavor, that’s fine, but there is a limit to how much energy they are willing to expend to earn a little extra money or get the satisfaction of knowing that someone liked their images enough to use them.

The money earned from photography is secondary. It is not a sole means of support.

Supplemental Income

Based on the research I’ve done, very few photographers are currently earning their entire living from producing stock images. The number has declined significantly in the last few years.

I also believe that, of those earning their sole living from producing stock, about as many are licensing their images through microstock sites as through traditional RM or RF strategies to license their work. An increasing number use all three licensing strategies.

The growth is among people who look at the income they can earn from stock photography as a supplement to some other primary source of income.

In some cases income earned from stock photography may supplement the income earned doing assignment work, shooting weddings or working as a staff photographer for some organization. In such cases the income from stock photography (RM, RF or microstock) might only be $5,000 to $10,000 a year.

If an individual is earning all his or her income from engaging in various aspects of photography, then I would define that individual as a professional photographer — regardless of whether they are licensing some or all of their images through microstock sites.

Equal Footing

Amateurs or hobbyists do not expect to earn enough from the images they produce to support themselves or their families. They have another job or profession that supplies the primary income for their family.

That income may come from being a teacher, lawyer, administrative assistant, cook, carpenter or any other career you can imagine. If they can earn a little extra from something they enjoy doing, that leads to an improved lifestyle regardless of the actual amount.

In many cases, amateur photographers are willing to expend as much energy learning about photography as their professional counterparts. The improvements in equipment and technology have made it possible for amateurs to participate in the market on an equal footing with professionals.

Professionals simply need to accept this — and adjust their business strategies accordingly.

It seems like photographers are always arguing these days about how they should market their work, and how much they should charge for it.

As we contemplate this question, I thought it might be useful to look at other types of businesses for insight. Here goes:

Car Dealerships

Have you ever seen a 30-foot inflatable gorilla in front of a high-end car dealership? How about a clown holding a sign and waving at the passing traffic?

Probably not — but I bet you have seen these things in front of a used car dealership.

Step back and think about those scenarios and ask yourself, “Which one am I?”

Are you lowering your prices to attract bargain hunters at all costs — or are you focused on building a customer base that will value and be loyal to your brand?

Retail Stores

How retailers present and package their products says a lot about how they value them — as well as how much we are expected to value them.

Have you ever walked by a dollar bin at a retail store? It’s obvious that the retailer doesn’t think the items inside are worth much, which is why they are stacked up and left to be picked over in a messy pile.

Are you packaging your photography to be the equivalent of the exciting, desirable product in a retailer’s window display — or just more fodder for the dollar bin?

Are you producing high-quality photography, and packaging this in a context that communicates your value, from the very first email you send a client to the final delivery of images? Or are you just doing enough to get by?

Landscaping Services

A lot of professional photographers like to complain today about how amateurs and hobbyists are taking away their business by charging half their rates.

Let’s say that instead of being a photographer, you ran a landscaping business.

If your business plan is threatened by a middle school kid offering to cut neighbors’ lawns for $20, is this the kid’s fault — or yours?

The successful landscaper doesn’t worry about the kids with lawnmowers, because the clients who choose their service are seeking more than the kids can offer. They expect a higher level of professionalism, consistency, and the availability of additional services (such as planting the flower beds, tweaking the backyard sprinkler system to provide better coverage, etc.)

So, which kind of landscaper do you want to be?

What kind of retail display does your product deserve?

Which kind of car dealership do you want to be?

The answers to these questions are in your control. Don’t sell yourself short.

Many years ago, my wife and I operated a small ad agency from our home in northern Vermont. Since this was before the Internet, we relied on word of mouth to find local talent to help us, including printers, photographers, and copywriters.

While searching for a copywriter for a particular project, one of our colleagues recommended a guy who had just moved up from New York and was looking for work. The colleague said he had heard that the writer was really good, so we called him and set up an interview with him at our home at 2 p.m. the next day.

He never showed up.

Not a Good Look

Well, I guess I shouldn’t say never. Around 9 p.m. that night our doorbell rang. I opened the door to find a man in a ratty leather jacket leaning against the door jamb. He had his hands tucked in his pockets and was sporting a three-day growth of beard.

“I hear you’re looking for a copywriter,” he said.

I couldn’t believe that this guy would show up seven hours late, unapologetic, with such an attitude. After overcoming my initial shock, I invited him in and my wife and I gave him a quick 10 minute interview, just to be polite. But of course, we never followed up with him.

I later spoke with my colleague to tell him what had happened, and he laughed and shook his head. He had been thinking about hiring the guy himself, but changed his mind when I recounted my story.

We never heard another word about this copywriter, so we figured no one else in the area was hiring him, either. He had vanished into the abyss of the unemployable.

His writing samples, by the way, were excellent.

Relationships Come First

My experiences as an ad agency principal, graphic designer and photographer have taught me one basic truth:

Professionalism trumps talent every time.

Creative people who achieve success generally do so because they know how to build and maintain good relationships with their clients. Everything else, including creative ability, is secondary.

Of course, clients and agencies ideally want to work with people who are both talented and professional. But when they have to make a choice, they choose the latter.

There is nothing more poisonous to a project or work environment than a talented but difficult person. They will endlessly tantalize you with their gifts while never failing to disappoint with their prima donna attitudes, lack of respect for the client, and other relationship killers.

Avoiding the “Difficult” Label

So, how can you — as a photographer, graphic designer or copywriter — avoid the “difficult” label and establish good working relationships with agencies and clients?

I’d start by following six simple rules:

1. Show up on time. ‘Nuff said.
2. Produce on budget. No client ever wants to hear, “Um, dude, this is taking more time than I thought it would. I think I have to raise my fee on this.”
3. Don’t nickel and dime your clients. It is always better to absorb unexpected costs than to annoy the client. I once paid a photographer $5,000 for a job and then he called me a week later to tell me he would be sending me a separate, $50 bill for an expense he had forgotten to include. I paid it, but never used him again.
4. Dress appropriately. It’s generally OK to dress casually these days — just not too casually. Know what’s expected before you show up.
5. Back out nicely when necessary. If things don’t work out with the client or agency for whatever reason, don’t throw a tantrum or “tell them what you really think.” Word gets around. And the smaller the town, the faster the news travels.
6. Don’t go behind your agency’s back with clients. If you are working for an agency and the client tries to bypass them and work directly with you, politely tell them no. You’ll maintain your relationships, and the client will respect you for it.

Oh, and one last piece of advice: Don’t show up at someone’s door looking for a copywriting job at 9 o’clock at night.

It used to be said that the divorce rate for National Geographic photographers, with their frequent travels, was close to 100 percent.

I’m not sure if that was ever true, but I’ve read and heard plenty of sources that confirm the divorce rate for professional photographers is significantly higher than the national average.

I’ve also noticed that quite a few of our most famous photographers have never married or had children.

Balancing Work with Family

None of this should come as a surprise, considering how many photographers not only travel, but also work weekends or unpredictable hours for their jobs. And the most well-known photographers are often the most prolific, with the most demanding schedules.

I’m not married and don’t have kids — yet. But I do find it sad that so many photographers seem unable to balance career with family life.

When I come across photographers that are successfully striking this balance, I sometimes ask them how they do it.

While their strategies differ, the one constant I’ve found is that they put their families first. Their life starts with family, and everything else grows from that foundation.

Five Tips for Striking a Balance

Based on what I’ve learned from these conversations, here are five ideas for balancing your photography career with personal relationships:

1. Set aside at least an hour a day and one full day per week for family. I’m talking about uninterrupted time — no stepping away to do some Photoshop work on Saturday. If it was that important, you could have gotten it done on Friday. Sometimes we work on weekends simply because we aren’t disciplined enough with our work schedules during the week.
2. Keep in contact while traveling. With improved cell phone reception and Internet access, there is no excuse for not keeping in touch with the people in your life. Take your mind off the work for a few minutes to call or text.
3. Travel with the important people in your life as often as you can. One photographer I know is required to travel frequently for his job. However, he makes a point never to be gone more than two weeks at a time. And when school’s out, he takes his whole family along on assignments.
4. Find a photography niche that keeps you closer to home — or to the ones you love. Two of my photographer friends are stay-at-home dads while their wives work corporate jobs; they find time to work in the afternoon or late in the evening. Two other couples run husband-and-wife photo businesses and travel during the winter months by RV.
5. Be there (and be engaged) on big occasions. Sorry, but there’s no excuse for skipping birthday parties, parent-teacher conferences, anniversaries, graduations, holidays and other red-letter days. This is a no brainer.

Finally, tell your family you love them and that you appreciate their understanding — and do it often.

Sometime back, Martha Zlatar, art business consultant and founder of ArtMatch, offered 10 sure-fire tips for those interested in pursuing the romantic lifestyle of the starving artist.

They are:

1. Don’t set goals.
2. Never ever think about money.
3. Keep your artwork to yourself — don’t show it, don’t talk about it.
4. Don’t tell anybody you’re an artist.
5. Spend all of your time in your studio. Don’t bother marketing — let your art stack up.
6. If people are bugging you to buy your artwork say it’s not for sale — it’s not priced — that will deter them.
7. Go at it alone — don’t get any help.
8. Stay away from artists earning money.
9. Expect instant success.
10. Wait to be discovered.

Not Much of a Goal

It’s not much of a goal to be a starving artist when you think about. Anybody can do it. So if that’s the extent of your ambition, go for it.

As I wrote in my post, “12 Excuses for Shooting Photos for Free — and Why They’re Bogus,” I don’t believe in romanticizing the lifestyle of the starving artist. It may seem nice when you’re sipping a chai tea latte with your beret in the local java house listening to slam poetry, but other than that, it’s mostly a good way to remain starving.

There is no honor in starving yourself, unless you’re Gandhi. There is no other profession where the term “starving” has a pleasant connotation. Try “starving accountant,” “starving mechanic,” or even “starving teacher.”

If you hear a teacher doesn’t have enough to eat, you don’t react with a wry smile; you bemoan a society that doesn’t adequately value those who are educating our children.

Top Ramen Forever?

When I started out, I didn’t have much money. I ate so much Top Ramen, I began figuring out ways to make it taste better — my own recipes. I had cupboards full of it, when I could buy it at 10 for $1.

I didn’t live off ramen noodles because it was whimsical, charming or adventurous; I did it because I had no choice.

I didn’t live off ramen because I had decided to try to live off $50 assignments, either. I knew that to make a decent living, I needed to land assignments for $125 an hour with a four-hour minimum.

At first, I could only find a few clients at these rates — hence the ramen. But at least I was properly valuing my work.

And when I did the math, it made a lot more sense to do three assignments for a total of $1,500 in a given month, rather than three for $150 (or 30 for $1,500) — even if I had to spend more time marketing myself to land the higher paying jobs.

Settling for low-paying and no-paying gigs doesn’t make you more of an artist — it just makes you hungry.

A Life of Self-Expression

There’s a book, The Starving Artist’s Way, that promotes the starving artist lifestyle as something to aspire to. The author is described as “a child of Starving Artists [who] grew up in the SoHo section of Manhattan when it was still an epicenter of bohemian life.”

Today, of course, living in SoHo costs an arm and a leg. There may still be artists there — but they certainly aren’t starving.

As for the “bohemian” lifestyle, I would argue that you don’t have to be starving to live it. Wikipedia defines it as a lifestyle “where self-expression is the highest value [and] art is a serious and main focus of … life. ”

So, here’s my question to you: Would you rather have a career focused on self-expression for a few months or years – or a few decades?

Sustaining Yourself — and Your Art

As a starving artist, you’re always in a precarious position, financially and otherwise. You do yourself (and maybe even the world) a disservice if you end up, say, getting evicted and having to find a job — any job — to get by.

Most people who start out with the “goal” of being a starving artist end up in a cubicle farm somewhere bitching about their fate.

Those who endure know that they must build a career that sustains them physically and financially as well as artistically.

Ansel Adams is a great example of an artist who funded his most famous works by building a strong business — charging as much as the market would bear for his commercial work.

As a result, his career endured, and his art lives on today.

That sounds a lot better than a life of Top Ramen.

Most of the articles I read on photography websites offer advice on things like how to master different techniques, how to price your work, or how to market your business. But sometimes I think it’s important for us to take a step back and ask ourselves a bigger question:

Is photography adding to my quality of life?

In other words, are you getting what you want out of photography — or is something missing? Are you on a path to accomplish both your personal and professional goals, or are these goals at odds? Are you pursuing a direction that will let you live the life you envision — or have your choices or habits been holding you back?

Writing It Down

If you haven’t really thought about these questions, take a few hours to focus on them. Sit down with your spouse, or business partner, or by yourself to make a list of goals.

Start by writing down your personal goals. What is it that you want out of life, exactly? For the moment, don’t think about the possible implications for your business.

Now add in your business goals, and see how all your plans fit together. Are they a good match — or are there internal contradictions that will require you to make difficult choices?

I’ve found that spelling out my goals in this way has been a real eye-opener.

Choosing a Destination

We all have dreams in life. Perhaps it’s traveling the world with your camera in hand. Perhaps it’s having a flexible job while the children are young, so you can spend time with them. Perhaps it’s creating art or becoming well-known within your field.

I used to think I wanted to be a destination wedding photographer. That was a big goal.

But when I stopped to think about the quality of life I wanted, and to compare my list of personal and professional goals, there was a disconnect. More than anything, I wanted to have a family and raise children — which didn’t jibe with plans to focus on destination weddings and the travel they entail.

I had to think about what was most important to me, and to adjust my plans accordingly.

Breaking Bad Habits

Sometimes when we take a close look at our goals, we realize that some of our work habits are preventing us from reaching them.

A lot of photographers — myself included — are the type who want to do everything ourselves. We want everything to be perfect, and we fear that someone else won’t do the job as well as we could. So we are hesitant to outsource work, or hire an intern, or bring in the part-time office help that could give us the breathing room to grow.

If we can’t trust someone else to do our paperwork, enter our bills and cull or edit our photos, we may be setting ourselves up to fail. Everything revolves around us. We’re the center of the wheel — and the faster we turn, the sooner we may burn out.

If your goal is to grow your business, you’re going to have to identify and break free of the habits that are holding you back.

Planning for Profits

Writing out my goals has also helped to ensure that I’m making enough money from my photography jobs to be satisfied with the financial return.

If I have the goal of making $100 per hour after costs, for example, I make sure that I factor in all the time and expenses that go into a shoot — driving, shooting, editing, meeting with clients and so forth — in preparing a proposal. If a one-hour shoot is going to require six hours of my time, I have to charge $600 plus my costs to achieve my financial objectives.

Now, I’m sure that if I charged less I could have more clients — but I’d also have to work twice as hard and twice as long for not nearly twice the money. By establishing and sticking to my pricing goals, I’m adding to my quality of life as a photographer.

The most important thing is to be honest with yourself. Don’t be afraid to make some hard choices, and start working on your business rather than working in your business.

In this edition of Ask the Photo Business Coach, I answer the question, “Should I get a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) designation?” I have a strong opinion on the subject.

I’m a professional photographer. I also recognize that, increasingly, this designation seems to be losing its impact.

Besides being able to deduct equipment purchases on your taxes, what else does the title bring you?

How many of us are making it solely from our freelance photography income today? And what prevents someone who earns their primary income as an accountant or chiropractor from also calling themselves a photographer?

Let’s not get so hung up on the labels. I think it’s time for pros and hobbyists to call a truce.

Emerging from the Darkroom

Yes, I understand the reasons that traditional pros resent hobbyists, amateurs, “mamarazzi” or whatever you want to call today’s prosumer photographers.

Let’s look at the photographers with roots in film. I am among those who cut their teeth shooting film — miles and miles of it.

We’ve only recently emerged into the light, with our pasty-pale complexions, after spending a good portion of our careers “souping” film or developing and printing in the darkroom.

We had to learn contrast control, film latitude and exposure the tedious way. We shot, took notes on the settings we used, processed the film, made prints and confirmed what worked versus what didn’t.

Then we’d go out and do it again.

We spent a fortune in film, paper and chemistry, and we had no shortcuts in learning how to expose. We had to reconcile what our meter saw, what our eyes saw, what the camera recorded and, finally, how to make a good printable transparency or negative.

So you can imagine our annoyance when we see a newcomer show up with the latest, greatest DSLR that exposes 95 percent of the scene perfectly. It’s only natural to feel a little resentment at those who haven’t paid their dues.

Camera Owners Aren’t the Same as Photographers

It’s also true that, while having a DSLR makes photography easier, it doesn’t make you a good photographer. It only makes you the owner of a good camera.

A lot of hobbyists don’t seem to recognize the distinction.

Most DSLR owners, from expectant parents to vacationers, start with the objective of documenting events. They almost never make enlargements bigger than an 8 x 10 print. Most of their images live online, to be shared with friends and family on social networks.

Gamut, resolution, color temperature, file size and pixelation are meaningless to their online viewers, because at web resolutions, those flaws aren’t noticeable.

When I compliment the images I see on Facebook, I’m generally complimenting the photo’s subject on how good they look. I’m not complimenting the photographer, because at 72 pixels per inch, it’s just too difficult to tell if it’s actually a good picture.

But I’m sure there are many camera owners who, after hearing compliment upon compliment on their photos, start to believe they should be doing this professionally.

So they hang up a shingle online. They have invested in photo equipment, a suite of Photoshop plug-ins to mask their mistakes, maybe the magical one-touch skin softening software. They have not spent time learning the ins and outs of how to light, work with makeup artists, and all the other skills of established professionals.

And because it’s so easy, and because they make their living doing something else, it’s only natural to charge a fraction of what the pros charge, right?

Calling a Truce

So here we are. Now what?

First, you should realize that whether you’re a crusty old pro or a DSLR newbie, you can’t be everywhere to shoot everything. There are plenty of pictures for all of us to take.

So how about this for a compromise:

If we old pros promise not to snicker when we see you shoot on program mode and light a group of 20 people with your built-in pop-up flash and kit lens, will you newbies stop telling photography customers that you can do everything we can do for half the price?

Sounds fair enough to me.

Throw $41 million at a photo-sharing app and it’s bound to lure competitors. One week after the much-ballyhooed debut of Color, a rival developer has introduced an app called GreyScale — at least according to this press release that hit our inbox just after midnight on April 1:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GreyScale Reinvents Loneliness

Startup Raises $41 to Celebrate Isolation and Withdrawal in a World That’s Just Not That Interesting

DALLAS, April 1, 2011 — Introduced today, GreyScale™ is a miraculous, free application for iPhone and Android that allows people who spend most of their time alone to capture and have real-time access to monochromatic photos and videos of themselves — created by themselves, for themselves. GreyScale is the best way to experience life’s everyday moments without having to share them with people you barely know and could care less about – or anyone else, for that matter.

“GreyScale is the most advanced and intuitive way to enjoy your smartphone, even if you don’t have many friends and rarely get out of the house,” said Alexander Muse, GreyScale’s CEO. “While some high-profile apps, such as the recently announced Color, encourage users to share everything with everybody, we find this very annoying. We are happiest when we don’t have to pretend to lead exciting lives, since most people today actually lead lives of isolation and withdrawal.”

“Let’s face it: it’s not just losers who are alone a lot – it’s most of us. And most of us don’t look that great in color, either,” Muse added. “That’s why we like to say that GreyScale is ‘Color for the rest of us.’”

“Just as the iPhone changed everything about mobile phones, so GreyScale will transform the way people work and play with themselves,” said Jeff Clavier, Founder and Managing Partner, SoftTech VC. “Once or twice a decade a company emerges from Silicon Valley that can change everything. While not actually based in Silicon Valley, GreyScale is one of those companies.”

GreyScale has raised $41 in financing from an all-star cast of angel investors including Jeff Clavier, Mark Cuban, Dave McClure, David Cohen, Jay Adelson, Gabriella Draney and Aaron Patzer. Proceeds will be used to develop GreyScale’s pioneering technology and provide service on a global scale, particularly in Eastern Europe, where it is expected to be huge.

GreyScale is a Visual Diary

Every photo and video captured using GreyScale is stored on the Web for immediate enjoyment. Capture every experience without worrying about using up memory; GreyScale has infinite capacity to capture even the most mundane moments of the most monotonous lives. Each day is monochromatically displayed as a series of thumbnail images. Tap on any image to go back to the day when it was originally captured for full contextual information. You can see all your visits to the bathroom, living room couch or mailbox during the past day, week or month. Looking back has never been so detailed, easy or unsparingly honest.

Availability and Pricing

GreyScale is available from various places arguing over who owns the name “App Store.” It is free to download and use.

About GreyScale

GreyScale is advancing the Post-VC revolution by inventing new applications for about $41 each. Founded and led by a team of no-name engineers and entrepreneurs, GreyScale is based in Dallas but conveniently located in the area code of Palo Alto, California. To learn more about GreyScale, please visit http://www.shopsavvy.mobi.

Links to Graphics

GreyScale Logo

GreyScale Icon

Website Screenshot

iPhone Screenshot 1

iPhone Screenshot 2

Android Screenshot

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The other night, I was looking through some old files to find a low-light photo to illustrate a book I’m working on. While doing this, I happened upon two folders of pictures I had shot of jazz great Sonny Rollins.

I had completely forgotten about them. Now, the memories came rushing back.

I shot the pictures years ago on the New Haven Green one beautiful summer night. Seeing Sonny live was amazing enough; photographing him while he was blowing his horn was a shift in consciousness that I can’t begin to describe.

I was so close to him that I could hear his breath when he inhaled, and I could hear his foot tapping time.

How could I have allowed these pictures, important to me if no one else, end up lost in a folder somewhere?

Time to Dig Out

OK, I’ll admit it. I’m not the most organized person in the world when it comes to filing my photo collection — digital or film. That’s why I misplaced those photos, and have lost thousands of others over the years.

I’ve shot some of the greatest musicians alive — Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Johnny Cash, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Count Basie, Eric Burdon — to name a few.

Where are those pictures now? Heaven only knows; somewhere either in boxes or in my vast array of hard drives.

I’d love to take a year off and dedicate it to organizing my hundreds of thousands of photos, but unless I happen to marry a wealthy heiress or win the lottery, that ain’t gonna happen.

I haven’t thrown up my hands and given up, mind you. I’m gradually digging out and beginning to organize things, but it’s going to take a long time.

Don’t Be Like Me

So, all of this is to say, don’t be like me — particularly if you’re early in your career and don’t have so many photos to manage and document. It’s easier to get organized as a photographer if you start out that way.

I suggest two investments if you’re serious about getting organized:

• Buy a copy of The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers. It’s worth more than the $50 asking price ($32 on Amazon).
• Buy Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 software, which is an organizational tool (mainly for RAW images) that interfaces nicely with Adobe Photoshop CS5. It will help you develop a system for your photography life.

I’m thrilled I stumbled upon those photos of Sonny. I just wish I knew where my Jimi Hendrix negatives were, or those cool slides of Johnny Cash I shot at Toad’s Place. Oh well — one thing at a time, right?

From Netflix to Pandora, Zipcar to cell phone plans, more and more businesses are offering subscription or membership service plans — and consumers are embracing them as a way of simplifying their lives and budgets.

It’s time for independent photographers to consider this business model, too.

Look around. Photo agencies have already moved to subscription billing that offers monthly or yearly packages that provide a limited number of images for a flat fee.

Why not you?

How the Model Would Work

Here’s how it would work:

1. You decide how much money you want to make for the year.
2. You offer “shares” of your time to numerous clients who would want to ensure access to your services throughout the year at a predictable cost.
3. Once you’re hired by enough clients (maybe 50, maybe more or less than that number), you’re done selling shares.
4. Clients book you when they need you, using an online calendar as with Zipcar.

To make this work, you would have to stop thinking in terms of jobs and start thinking in terms of annual revenue. You might lose money on some jobs but make it back on others; everything would level out to generate a nice profit. And your clients would be happy, since they would be able to manage their photo budget on a yearly basis instead of per job.

Example: the Wedding Photographer

So, how might this work for, say, a wedding photographer?

Most wedding photographers have hit-and-run operations. They try to extract the most money they can from a client they expect to see one time only.

In a subscription/sharing model, the wedding photographer would not only offer wedding pictures, but baby pictures, family portraits and so on. He would offer his photography services for a set fee for, say, five years. During that time, he would be on call to shoot whatever the wedding couple needs. In exchange, he would receive steady income.

The couple, excited about all the things they have to look forward to (and record with pictures) in the years ahead, would be attracted to simplifying this part of their lives. And they would receive the added benefit of paying less upfront for their wedding photography, as the photographer could spread his fees over the next several years.

Multiply this by 50 clients and the photographer could live comfortably and stress-free, with far fewer financial highs and lows.

Time to Get Creative

A corporate shooter could use the same model. Replace wedding couples with companies and there you go.

Obviously, you would need some incentive for the clients to sign up for the share/subscription model. Free unlimited online storage of images? One hundred free prints a year?

The options are wide open. Be creative, folks.

[Jim Pickerell's new e-book “Secrets To Building A Successful Photography Career” is available at a discount to Black Star Rising readers. Just enter the coupon code “BlackStarRising” to get $5 off.]

An open letter to photography student Emily Chow:

After reading your story, “To Succeed in Photography, Today’s Students Must Chart Their Own Course,” I have mixed emotions.

Determination in the face of overwhelming obstacles is admirable. But it saddens me that photo schools are preparing students for a hobby, not a career.

A Hobby, Not a Career

You say that photographers are advising you to “Stay out of the business,” but they are “still taking photos” and that gives you some comfort that you too can build a career in photography or photojournalism. Keep in mind that the reason many photographers are still taking photos and still hanging on is that they haven’t been able to identify any better options for making a living. They were trained to do one thing and aren’t prepared to do anything else.

This leaves them with two options. Get new training in a totally different field and then try to get a job in that new career, or try to hang on as long as possible at what they have been doing, hoping they’ll be able to earn enough to support their families before all the jobs disappear or they are ready to retire. Many are choosing to hang on because the other option isn’t easy or a sure thing either.

In the case of young people just starting out, “adapting to change” should mean recognizing that the demand for professionally produced still photos is declining, and then figuring out how you will earn a living doing something other than photography.

I’m assuming that earning a living is your goal, rather than just having a hobby that you enjoy. A lot of people get satisfaction from doing photography part-time and earning a living at some other full-time career. If that’s your aim, you probably should be focusing on plans for that full-time career.

Like It or Not, Things Change

Sure, you can invest time in your photography, too. You’ll be able to sell pictures occasionally and probably earn enough to cover your expenses; just don’t expect much more than that. There’s only a small chance you’ll be able to earn a living from still photography in the future.

There always will be exceptions, of course. There will be a few people who do well, but their numbers will be a lot less in five years than they are today, or than they were 10 or more years ago. As a career, photography is in serious decline.

If you think this can’t happen, think about aerospace engineering and what a big deal it was in the 1960s (I know that was before you were born), and how many of those who devoted their careers to it lost their jobs and wound up doing something else entirely.

Or think about all the photographers who used to make a good living just doing darkroom work. They were in the dark all day with their hands in developer and fixer. Dodging and burning were real skills. Where are they now?

Beyond Camera Work

If you are still determined to be a photographer, then look to video and storytelling more than stills. Develop all the necessary skills including writing, graphics, gathering appropriate sound, editing and story development. Don’t just focus on camera work.

Our society is moving rapidly from a period where the still image was king to a point where virtually all information and entertainment will be on video devices that need motion, sound, narration and a compelling story to communicate information.

The producers who can bring all these elements together and sell, or find funding for, such projects will be the future winners. Everyone else will be technicians — small cogs in the production machine — and earning technician wages.

Get educated on what is happening with iPads and other tablet devices and consider how they are going to impact the kind of visual information that will be needed. Photography is just one aspect of the communication business, and a declining one.

What skills will communicators need in the future? Look at the education business and the use of electronic whiteboards, for example. How will they change the demand for visual materials in education?

A Look at Your Career Options

If you can find one — and they are rare — look for a staff job with a guaranteed salary. Most photographers are self-employed, and that provides very little security.

If your goal is to somehow work with pictures, consider the support services rather than shooting. Be one of those who takes the raw material (photographs) and turns them into a marketable product. Many people supplying support services to photographers earn more than the photographers themselves.

If you are trying to make photography a career, then it is an absolute necessity that you study business and marketing. Most successful photographers spend 80 percent of their time in marketing, business development and operating their business. They are lucky if they spend more than 20 percent of their time behind the camera.

You say your friend is taking photographs for Shop Evanston. How much is he being paid for those pictures? What are his expenses? How many hours does he spend producing those images and what is he earning per hour of actual work? Assuming that Shop Evanston can’t afford to pay any photographer a full-time salary, how easy will it be for him to get other part-time work that enables him to earn enough to support himself?

You will find that even very experienced photographers who have one or two good part-time contracts find it very difficult to string a lot of small projects together so there is no down time between jobs. Down time is the killer. It is possible to make good money on certain jobs for a limited amount of effort. But the down time between jobs eats away all that extra profit.

It is relatively easy to find people who want to use your pictures, so I’m not surprised that some of your friends are shooting headshots for theater and film students, shooting for a student fashion magazine or covering fraternity and sorority events. The question is how much are they being paid for these services? My bet is not very much.

Yes, they are doing it to polish their skills and build a portfolio. But it is a huge leap to go from receiving little or no money for your work to getting paid a reasonable fee for what you do.

Timing Is Everything

The major problem still photographers face is that technology has advanced to the point where virtually everyone can produce acceptable pictures for their needs, without the aid of a professional photographer. That’s why people hire professionals less often and want to pay them less than they did in the past.

I was one of the lucky ones who entered the photography business when the demand for professionally produced still photography was on the rise.

My first major image sale was a Life Magazine cover on the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam. Back in 1963, a Life cover was a big deal (Black Star, incidentally, negotiated that sale.) There is nothing like being fortunate enough to start at the top.

Looking back, I’ve had a successful career. But timing is everything, and this is not the time to launch a still photography career.

Study photography business trends. It’s not just about the technical skills, as important as they are. Check out my e-book “Secrets To Building A Successful Photography Career.” Analyze the statistics and you’ll understand what’s really happening in the photography industry.

One last thing. Don’t show this story to your mom or dad. They may wonder what they’ve been paying for.

With 10 percent of Internet visits and 25 percent of page views going to Facebook these days, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has emerged as more powerful than even Google.

What are the implications of this? For starters, it means you should worry a little bit less about search engine optimization (SEO) and a little bit more about social media optimization (SMO).

Meaningless Clicks

Sure, you can spend your days optimizing your website for Google search results until you are blue in the face, or until Google tweaks its algorithm again and you have to start all over.

You can read or hire search gurus for thousands of dollars to show you the “hidden” tricks for SEO.

Thing is, since they show everyone else, including your competition, those tricks aren’t so secret anymore. It’s like everybody trying to climb the same ladder, at the same time, to be the first on top.

For what? Lots of clicks? And does that bring business?

Just because you throw your kite up in a lot of wind, that doesn’t mean it will fly.

Social Media Optimization

Google’s problem is what Google is: a search engine. It’s not a reference tool, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks.

Every day, millions of people are on these networks sharing what they like, and dislike, on a huge scale. Friends, colleagues, and family are sharing links, telling each other, “Look at this.”

Why can’t the photographs on your website be among these links?

While your competition is still trying to climb the SEO ladder only to fall off a few weeks later, you’d be much better off focusing on SMO — social media optimization.

I’m not talking about starting a Twitter account and tweeting about what you’re having for dinner. Besides your mom, no one cares. I’m not talking about simply launching a Facebook page about your photography, either.

No, what I’m talking about is becoming the fuel of social media. Generating the links that people want to share.

If You Move Them, They Will Share

Yes, there are established techniques for SMO. Blogging, commenting on other blogs, posting relevant status updates, adding social news and sharing buttons to your site, and on and on.

All of these tools can stir up the wind, but like SEO, they can’t make your kite fly.

No, your photography has to do that. Your photography has to shock people, inspire people, anger people, touch people. It has to move them.

And when you move them, they will share.

In my last post, I wrote about the difference between what I call “amateur” and “professional” clients. Some people thought the post was snobby and harsh, and suggested that — rather than avoiding amateur clients — photographers should work harder to educate them.

Here are two of my war stories with amateur clients. You can be the judge as to whether a greater devotion to client education could have made these experiences more rewarding.

Amateur Client 1: The Runaway Boss

Amateur Client 1 manufactured nutritional products, and my company published their newsletter. One day, our contact, Donald, the client’s chief science officer, called to ask for a marketing brochure. Based on his input, we produced some layouts. Donald then referred us to Rod, the owner’s son, to go over the layouts. Donald said he would not be attending the meeting.

Our meeting with Rod took place in a conference room without heat, in Vermont in February. I would estimate it was about 35 degrees in the room. During our meeting, Rod excused himself several times to take phone calls to discuss the delivery of his snowboard, his upcoming vacation plans, and other personal matters. My colleague and I sat there shivering while this went on.

After the third or fourth “you were saying?”, we decided it might be best to reschedule, and Rod agreed. On the way out of the office, we ran into Donald, who said that Rod probably wasn’t the best person to meet with after all, and that it would be better to meet with Rod’s father, who was two hours away in Montreal. Donald promised to set up and attend that meeting.

Two weeks later, we drove up to Montreal for the meeting. Donald was waiting for us, and he introduced us to Rod’s father. This time the office had heat, but we quickly discovered where Rod had inherited his gnat-like attention span. Every few minutes, Rod’s dad would get up from his desk and leave the office to do something or other. When the phone rang, he picked it up and discussed business in front of us as if we weren’t there.

During these various interruptions, we looked to Donald for guidance. He gestured to us to keep talking, so we did. Literally, we kept talking to Rod’s dad, even when he was on the phone or not in the room at all. Finally, as I continued with my presentation, my colleague looked out the window and saw Rod’s dad get in his car and drive off.

As we got up to leave, visibly flustered, Donald stopped us to say, “It looks good. You got the job!”

Runaway boss or not, our drive-by meeting had been termed a success.

Hello, Are You There?

Against our better judgment, we continued with the project. The next step was copy for the brochure, which Donald promised to supply us. A week, then two weeks, turned into three months. After much nagging and many phone calls from us, he finally delivered some copy. We edited the copy, put it in the layout and sent it back to Donald, expecting an answer in a few days.

Weeks passed. We heard nothing. Finally, he got back with us to say it looked good, but he hadn’t had a chance to look at it in detail yet, and would need more time.

Three more months passed. Donald had decided that the brochure should no longer be aimed at corporate clients (the original plan), but instead now be aimed at the general public. He said he would rewrite the copy to reflect this and get back with us.

We would call from time to time to ask about the project. He said he was planning to get to it at some point. We billed them and they paid, but Donald never did get to that copy.

Amateur Client 2: The Endless Back Story

Amateur Client 2 manufactured large medical diagnostic equipment; each machine was about the size of a refrigerator. Sam, the VP of marketing, asked us to design their sales brochure and to manage the photography for the project.

Sam had ideas about the brochure’s cover photo that included a rather elaborate back story. As Sam described it:

I see two physicians sitting at the machine. There is an older, senior doctor — a graduate of Harvard — and his young protégé, also from Harvard. The young man is looking up at his mentor in awe as they discuss the merits of our product. Outside the office, their patients wait for them to begin diagnosing them with this new unit. The two doctors are oblivious to the people waiting outside as they marvel at this magnificent device.

Sam stopped for a moment before continuing:

The two doctors are actually not very close. The younger one is very jealous in a way of the success achieved by the older doctor and cannot wait to attain that status. He is hoping that this device will help him achieve his goal. The older doctor is watchful of the younger one, and although he is anxious to help his protégé, he is also vary wary. The only thing that binds them together is the fact that they both attended Harvard.

I stopped Sam at this point to remind him that we were only talking about one photo. We could show the two physicians with the product, but the cinematic back story he had concocted could not be communicated in a single image on the front of a brochure.

He ignored me.

Sam wanted the shoot done right away, so I booked the photographer but told Sam I would be a few minutes late that morning because of a prior commitment.

When I showed up on set, all hell had broken loose. The photographer approached me immediately with a desperate look on his face.

“You’ve got to get this client under control, David, or else I will cancel the shoot,” he said in frustration.

I looked up and saw the product sitting on a strip of seamless. It was lit up and the two models were sitting on lab chairs next to it.

Sam was in a corner yelling.

The Blue Socks Disaster

“Blue socks? F—— blue socks! Nobody who went to Harvard would ever wear blue socks with grey pants! This is so unacceptable! So f—— unacceptable!”

The two models were sitting there in white lab coats. They were both wearing grey slacks, but when the younger one took his position to look up at the older doctor, there was a slight hint of one blue sock beneath the cuff of his slacks.

“This is a mess,” Sam shrieked. “A f—— disaster!”

I walked over to try to calm him down.

“It’s just a cover shot on a brochure, Sam,” I told him. “Nobody knows where he went to school.”

Sam shot me a look of disgust. “He looks like he went to Boston Medical School, not Harvard!”

After a few more minutes of this, I finally had had enough. I took Sam aside and said:

Here is the deal. We will proceed as planned. If, when you look at the transparencies, you believe that the blue socks are still unacceptable, we will send it out for retouching at your expense. Otherwise, the photographer will cancel the shoot. You have managed to embarrass me with this photographer, and I won’t allow you to jeopardize my relationship with him.

Retouching wasn’t cheap in those days, before Photoshop. It would have cost a few hundred dollars to change the socks from blue to black. Nonetheless, Sam reluctantly agreed.

I did continue to work with Sam after that. But I never allowed him to attend another photo shoot.

Education or Avoidance?

So, back to the question of whether to educate or avoid amateur clients.

Education is nice when possible. I suppose I educated Sam enough to make doing business with him tolerable.

Other times, as with the runaway boss, education is probably not possible. At the very least, it’s certainly not worth the aggravation.

As both a graphic designer and photographer, I used to think that working with clients was no fun.

Then I realized that all clients weren’t the problem — just a certain type of client.

I call them “amateur” clients. This is to distinguish them from the clients I do enjoy working with — “professional” clients.

Here are the two client types as I see them. See how these descriptions compare with your experiences.

The Amateur Client

Amateur clients are usually entrepreneurs, businessmen, store owners, etc. They require your services only on rare occasions.

Because they have little background or experience in what you do, they don’t understand your work. But because their business is so important to them, they feel compelled to micromanage you anyway.

Amateur clients lack professional distance; they are too close to the product. With them, business is personal.

Here are four characteristics that most amateur clients share:

1. They are terrible at briefing you on their needs or what they expect from you.
2. They are slow at making up their minds or on giving you feedback on your work.
3. They frustrate you and waste your time by changing their minds frequently.
4. Even though they run you in circles, they resent paying you for your time.

The Professional Client

By contrast, the professional client has experience working with photographers, graphic designers, writers and other creative people. They understand the nature of what you do, and they are clear about their role and yours.

They respect your time. They are also busy themselves, so they don’t have time to micromanage you. They give you excellent creative briefs and trust that you know what to do with them. They know what they want and rarely change their minds.

Professional clients tend to be employees of large companies; they have budgets and deadlines, and as long as you meet them, they won’t haggle with you over every penny.

Most of us have to work with amateur clients early in our careers; it’s called paying your dues. Once you have some success, you graduate to a more professional clientele.

Fortunately, that’s what happened for me.

But I do value the lessons I’ve learned in my dealings with amateur clients — principally, patience.

I have worked in Italy and across Europe, as well as the United States. I can tell you from my travels that the virus that has infected the photography industry is a global epidemic.

I’m not sure we will find a cure anytime soon.

I am writing this article as an addendum to Paul Melcher’s recent post, “Photographers and Publishers: End of a Love Affair.”

I could add a long list of examples to amplify the points in Paul’s article. I won’t share all of them here; instead, I’ll offer three salient snapshots from the Italian photography market.

Great Images, No Outlet

A few weeks ago I stopped at a friend’s house near Rome. He is an accomplished photojournalist, now in his 60s, and he had just returned home from Afghanistan, where he’d been embedded with the Italian army.

I was enthralled by this photographer’s stories and his knowledge of the political intricacies of Afghanistan. He had brought home amazing photos and video from his time there.

A couple of days later, I spoke with a mutual friend and casually asked where the photojournalist planned to publish his photos. The answer was shocking: nowhere.

The photojournalist not only had been unable to find a buyer — he couldn’t even find an outlet to publish them for free. One of the newspapers he had worked for in the past told him there simply wasn’t any space.

No More Travel

One of my colleagues is a travel photographer. We met at a photo lab a long time ago, before developing film became the nightmare that it is today.

This friend always took great pride in his work, and it showed in the enormous attention to detail in his photographs. He captured all the light, shadow and colors in glorious, remote locations that most of us only dreamed about.

The last time we talked, I learned that things weren’t going well for him. He had recently been turned down by virtually every publication or editor he had worked for in the past. The best gig he had gotten lately was a trip to Cuba that paid only $500 on top of his expenses.

No Time for Quality

A friend who is a commercial photographer recently finished an assignment for an Italian company. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as she had hoped it would.

She had been excited to get the job, because she admired the words of the company’s entrepreneur owner. The entrepreneur had espoused the premise that products from Italy should be differentiated based on quality, because Italian companies can’t compete with the scale or other advantages offered by bigger economies.

After waking up to begin her preparations at 5 a.m. on assignment day, the photographer showed up to shoot some of this entrepreneur’s new machinery. She had loaded her car with all sorts of lights, stands and light modifiers to be able to capture the best possible images of the equipment.

But before she could get started unloading, the entrepreneur stopped her. “I just want a few pictures for a little brochure,” he said. “Nothing fancy.”

The businessman who liked to talk quality cared nothing about it when it came to this photography assignment. He wanted it over quickly so he could pay my friend less.

These three snapshots should come as no surprise to photographers in the United States, Europe or anywhere else.

Like I said, I don’t have a solution and I’m not sure there is one at the moment. But if we continue down this path, we are being shortsighted — and we will all suffer, photographers and audiences alike.

Sometimes it doesn’t take long for friends and colleagues to make the connection. They realize that “Hot Shoe Digital Photography” is me.

And when that happens, a question often comes next: “Will you take my picture?”

Substitute “my daughter’s” or “my dog’s” or “my band’s” and that just about covers the gamut. Once, it was a request to photograph a ferret.

An Awkward Dilemma

And then what? I love capturing people. I love making portraits.

But how do you quote a healthy rate to a family member, a neighbor or a co-worker? Especially if you want to stay friendly?

So, I recently came up with a novel pricing structure for family, friends and friends-of-friends.

Free.

Free of charge, that is. There is still compensation involved, but not to me. To others.

I ask some of my portrait subjects to “pay it forward.” It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done with a camera.

A Non-Traditional Photo Company

I run a very non-traditional photo company. And by non-traditional, I mean one set up not to make money, not to shoot $50,000 weddings, not to fatten a retirement account.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to do all that. Because eventually I do.

The truth is, I am a 20-year journalist who has worked the past dozen years as an investigative reporter for a Norfolk, Va. television station.

When I started in newspapers, I shot my own pictures and wrote my own stories. But one day at The Virginian-Pilot, they told me to cut it out. Put in photo requests, they said.

Still, I never put down the camera.

And a couple of years ago, during a rough patch at work, I decided to start my own photography business. I soft-launched “Hot Shoe Digital Photography.”

Researching the Market

It was the proverbial toe in the water. Since I was something of a public figure in my hometown, I didn’t attach my name to it. I wanted a little separation.

I didn’t hide that I had started a photography business, but I didn’t advertise it, either.

I researched the going rates for portrait work. It was eye-opening. I found highly talented photographers charging a grand for a portrait, and the results showed they were worth every penny.

But I also found photographers charging hundreds of dollars for hack work. Limbs oddly cropped off, trees growing from heads, blown-out backgrounds, soft and murky images poorly composed and devoid of contrast.

I found out what talented professional photographers already know: There are too many “semi-pros” out there who switch the dial to auto, click away, and still get paid.

It’s difficult to break through that clutter, for photographers and customers alike.

Paying It Forward

Ultimately, I stayed with my TV job, and I’m thankful for it. I decided to keep Hot Shoe going as a side gig, which enabled me to continue doing something I enjoy without the financial pressures.

Of course, that still left me with the dilemma over friends and family. And so I decided to launch the “Pay It Forward Photography Project.”

It’s as simple as it sounds. For friends and family, for starving college students, for people who need a headshot but can’t afford $200, I shoot them and require them to pay it forward. They reveal their good deed to me, and I post the details on my blog.

It’s just getting going, but so far the good deeds have included spending a day at an animal shelter (which the child model so enjoyed that he signed up as a regular volunteer), school-supply donations, and contributions to a charity for children with cancer.

What About You?

I understand I am lucky enough to have a day job that lets me do this on the side. I understand that many professional photographers are struggling to make ends meet today, particularly in the current economy.

But I also think the “pay it forward” concept is worth exploring, at least for those photographers who have the financial wherewithal to do so.

Could you do it once a year? Once a month? Once a week?

Maybe this year, during the holidays?

Lawyers take pro bono work. Doctors embark on medical missions. Corporations run philanthropic foundations. And tens of thousands of charity workers lend their talents to help others.

For me, hearing that a teenage boy wanted to turn his “pay it forward” day into a summer volunteer job — well, that was worth far more to me than I would’ve ever charged for the portrait.

What about you?

When the Wired app for iPad launched in June, it sold 105,000 copies — 25,000 more than the print issue of the magazine that month. The total circulation on which the advertising rate was calculated was more than double that of the print magazine.

Currently, five Condé Nast publications — GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, Glamour, and New Yorker — have iPad apps. Probably the most innovative of them is Wired, developed in a collaboration between Adobe Systems and Condé Nast. But the other publications are heading in the same direction.

And even Wired is only beginning to scratch the surface of how information delivery can be enhanced for tablets with the addition of sound, motion and interactivity.

The iPad’s Stickiness

Another piece of good news for Condé Nast is that almost half the people who have purchased the Wired app are outside the United States. This means that some magazines will be able to expand their readership far beyond their traditional market.

The iPad also appears to engage reader interest for much longer periods of time. Condé Nast has determined that GQ readers spend an average of 64 minutes a month with the print publication. They only spend an average of 15 minutes a month on GQ.com and 75 minutes accessing the magazine through a smartphone.

However, when it comes to the iPad app, readers are spending more than two hours on GQ and almost three hours on Vanity Fair.

Part of this may be due to fascination with a new gadget, but it seems clear that it’s possible to offer much greater dimension to stories by adding video and sound. With the iPad, storytelling becomes an infinitely richer experience.

What the iPad Means for Photographers

Suffice it to say, anyone who hopes to be in the business of producing or licensing photographic content five years or more from now needs to buy an iPad — or one of the other electronic tablets that will be coming on the market soon.

I would also recommend buying several of the magazine apps to understand the reader experience, and how much richer iPad offerings can be in comparison to print publications. Image producers will have to create with this market in mind.

It is estimated that by the end of 2011, there will be 25 million tablets in circulation in the United States (up from 4 million today), and 90 million smartphones capable of accessing magazine content.

U.S. readers pay $25 billion annually for magazines — more than they pay for books, spend on video games or on going to the movies. While magazine readership is not likely to disappear, electronic tablets are likely to command a much greater percentage of reader time before we know it.

Author Once, Publish Anywhere

Condé Nast’s new goal is to “author once, publish anywhere.” For the buyer, it is “buy once, read anywhere.”

Condé Nast wants its editors to select material in a multi-channel fashion and then produce both paper and electronic versions. The publisher hopes that in a couple years, it will be able to produce “smart content” that knows the kind of screen it is being displayed on and flows effortlessly anywhere onto multiple screens.

This naturally leads to a new strategy for acquiring content, because it will be impossible to anticipate how imagery initially acquired for print use might be repurposed. Condé Nast has instructed its picture researchers to make certain they have the digital rights for all content originally published in print.

The company mandates that contracts stipulate use in all media; that vendors are informed that magazines are not limited to print distribution; and that outtakes and other additional materials are available for use on the iPad without further negotiation.

Researchers must make certain that rights obtained are broad enough — even for uses that are only “possible,” not definite — so that employees avoid going back to clear additional rights.

Opportunities and Challenges

For photographers, Condé Nast’s approach, which we can expect to be replicated by other publishers, presents opportunities — but also challenges. Among them:

• Certainly, the tablet boom will mean more demand for visual content and the talent that can produce it. However, it will be strongest in multimedia and video, not still photography.
• We may see a return to publications hiring full-time staffers for visual content. Centralized production operations tend to generate enough of a volume of work to hire their own design, photo, video and programming teams.
• Even with the growth in demand, the long-term trend toward lower single-image pricing is not expected to reverse itself.
• Photographers will have to work harder than ever to secure compensation for the various uses of their work. We may be forced to turn away from the whole concept of pricing based on usage and begin looking at each sale as an all-rights assignment transaction.
• One strategy discussed among photographers is to get publishers to pay a little more for electronic uses as a way of “establishing the principle” that the extra use is worth something. However, if the amount of work the creator is required to do, or the secondary sales he is required to give up, are greater than the additional compensation, the creator could end up in an even worse situation.

An email requesting photographic work recently landed in the inboxes of eight Taiwan-based photographers. Seven of them accepted the gig. One did not.

The one who said “no” was me.

I’ll tell you the offer — and you can tell me who’s crazy.

The Music Promoter’s Email

The email was from a music promoter. He said his company was relaunching its website and that he was recruiting a select group of photographers to shoot events at nightclubs across Taiwan. It sounded like photography would be a central part of the site.

I replied expressing tentative interest and asking for a few particulars, like what events he had lined up, whether permits or passes to the events had been arranged, how many photos he wanted from each event, and what kind of licensing he sought.

His answers to my questions were a little vague, but not deal-killers. What most concerned me in his reply was that he asked where I was located.

My location is stated in the first sentence of the “About” page of my website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. It seemed that the promoter hadn’t bothered doing much research — and had instead just contacted every photographer in the country he knew about.

I responded to his email and then asked about fees. I also inquired about expenses, since I would need cab rides home from the late-night assignments. The promoter expected many of the events to go till 3 or 4 a.m.; he also expected the images to be processed and uploaded the next day.

His reply was as follows:

This is a no-budget project, and we currently pay all the costs from our private money. We’re giving ourselves time until Summer 2011 to make this profitable. Then we’ll gladly pay money to the photographers. Meanwhile, we’re willing to cover the expenses for basic things like taxis.

I was stunned.

How I Replied

I thought about how to respond for a little while. Then I replied:

I can understand the pressure of just starting out as a no-budget project. As you’re expecting the photographer to provide free images, I hope you’re also asking

• the electricity company to provide you free electricity
• the printing company to print free flyers
• Apple and/or Microsoft to provide you free operating systems
• other software vendors (e.g, Adobe) to provide free software for layout, web design, etc.
• computer hardware manufacturers to provide you free equipment
• the phone company to provide free phone calls and sms
• etc.

Photographers, who will be responsible for creating content that attracts traffic to your website and the advertisers that traffic brings, are no different from any of these other vendors.

I make my living as a photographer. I have constant, ongoing expenses including equipment upgrades, workshop fees, continuing education and development to stay at the top of my game, marketing costs, website hosting fees, the normal costs associated with running a business, and so on.

Working for free doesn’t pay for any of these things. And it does nothing — nothing at all — to advance my career.

If you can prove to me that every other vendor, service provider and contributor is offering their services free for your project, then I’ll consider doing the same.

End of Story?

The promoter wrote back, apologizing if I was offended. He talked up the free exposure his photographers would receive, and said he was sorry we couldn’t work something out.

End of story.

Except that I later learned that seven other photographers had accepted the assignment on these terms. From what I’ve gathered, I was the only one contacted who did not take the job.

Taiwan does not have a huge nightlife scene. Seven photographers shooting it for free should effectively kill off any future opportunities for paid work in this area.

Sometimes photographers are their own worst enemies, aren’t they?

The popularity of boudoir photography has exploded over the past few years. It’s not only become a fashionable wedding gift for brides to present to their grooms on their Big Day (or the night before), but it also makes a great anniversary, Valentine’s Day, and “just because” gift. Along with the tremendous increase in demand, there’s also been a huge increase in the number of photographers offering boudoir as part of their services. Some are even specializing in it. If you’ve been thinking about breaking into this lucrative market, here are some things to consider.

What Exactly Is Boudoir?

First, let’s start by defining what boudoir photography is all about. Boudoir might easily be classified as a subset of glamour photography. Both genres typically feature a female subject and have an emphasis on sensual, sexy, and flirtatious looks and poses. But while glamour photos tend to feature women in sexy outfits, exaggerated poses, and slightly unrealistic situations, boudoir is more about lingerie, seductive looks, and relatively plausible scenarios.

Boudoir, as the name implies, typically depicts a private or bedroom atmosphere where lingerie, or less, is the only dress code. However, this is only a working guideline as the glamour and boudoir genres tend to overlap. After all, if your client wants to include some swimsuit pin-up shots in her session, who are you to say no?

The Clientele

There is no one “type” of woman who commissions a set of boudoir images. And there are many reasons clients will come to you to have pictures made, other than those mentioned above. Many will acknowledge they are reaching a turning point in their lives and would like to mark it with beautiful photographs of themselves. Some will tell you they are thinking of starting a family, and would like to capture the look of their pre-baby body before it changes. Some will say they have started seeing themselves in a new and liberated light and wish to explore this side of themselves in pictures.

Whatever the reason, you should know that virtually every client will be at least a little nervous. Your client will know she’ll be center stage, attempting looks and poses that she’s not quite sure she’s even capable of. Her goal is to look beautiful and come away with amazing pictures, but she’s going to be nervous at the thought of being undressed and directed by a relative stranger, or even a familiar photographer, in front of the camera. If that weren’t enough, she, like most of us, would probably change a few physical characteristics about herself if she could.

If you’re good at putting people at ease, and projecting a friendly, confident, and professional demeanor, you should have no problem working with boudoir clients. The next question is whether or not boudoir photography is something you’d really like to offer.

Is Boudoir Right For You?

Before adding boudoir to your list of services, you should consider the implications it will have on your business, and whether or not it’s a good fit for you as a photographer. Boudoir can certainly be a very profitable addition to your package offerings, and also as a stand-alone service. And there are few other types of portraiture that can have such a positive impact on a client’s self-esteem, which can make it very rewarding to you as a photographer. However, if you have moral or ethical objections to this type of imagery, or feel uncomfortable with the idea of working with clients who are wearing little or no clothing during their sessions, shooting boudoir is probably not right for you.

The availability of a studio (home or otherwise) will certainly come into play, as this isn’t the type of portraiture you would normally do out at the park. Boudoir clients will expect some type of private studio or location where they will be comfortable and not have to worry about uninvited or unknown people having access during the session. Many photographers will arrange hotel room locations for their boudoir sessions, although this will add considerably to the overall cost to the client. Many clients are okay with that and understand that they might want to invest in hair and makeup, new lingerie items, and accessories, too.

Adding Boudoir To Your Current Offerings

Once you’ve made the decision to offer boudoir photography services, you’ll want to let people know. If you’re a wedding photographer, chances are you’ve already been asked by a few clients if you offer boudoir sessions as part of your packages. New brides are typically looking to present a book of sexy pictures to their grooms either on, or around, the wedding day. It might be a good idea to design a boudoir package add-on similar to your bridal, engagement, or other wedding products.

With or without that built-in clientele, I suggest you educate yourself about the business and techniques involved in modern boudoir. You’ll need to actually shoot a few sessions in order to gain the necessary experience you’ll require to provide the quality of photography your clients deserve. You might want to start off by offering free or low-cost sessions to a select group of clients. The benefits of practice are so important, but so is getting your subjects’ permission to display some of their images for self-promotion.

Make sure your initial subjects agree that in exchange for free or low-cost images, they’ll sign a simple release to allow you to use their photos for this purpose. Then post your best boudoir photos in a “boudoir” section of your online portfolio, blog, or at the very least in your offline print portfolio. This will be key to eventually attracting paying clients by showing that you can legitimately and skillfully provide this type of portraiture.

It’s possible that it will also become a selling point for your other photography. Some brides would rather hire one photographer to handle all of her wedding-related photography. I’ve also had women start off as boudoir clients only to come back to me for every other type of family portraiture as the years go by!

If you are considering offering boudoir photography to your clients, I suggest you read my primer on the subject, 10 Ways to Improve Your Boudoir Photography Now, which discusses everything from the details of working with clients to best-selling poses, and the followup, 25 Amazing Boudoir Photography Techniques, which gives you detailed info on how to recreate some of my best boudoir looks. These books will help you jump-start your boudoir work.

Photos © Ed Verosky

In 2009, more than 2.1 million weddings were celebrated in the United States. Wedding photography and videography are a $3.77 billion business.

Sounds promising — particularly for newspaper and stock shooters who have seen their livelihoods wither. But is shooting weddings the right business for you?

Let’s take a hard look.

Dollars and Sense

First, the numbers. What can you make shooting weddings?

According to The Wedding Report (TWR), the average amount spent on weddings hit a peak of $28,732 in 2007 and dropped 24 percent in 2008 to $21,814. In 2008, 50 percent of brides spent less than $14,352 for their entire wedding. In 2009, the average amount spent dropped another 10.2 percent to $19,581.

In the first half of 2010, the average cost of a wedding increased 21.9 percent — from $19,581 to $23,867. However, spending is not expected to return to pre-recession levels before 2013.

TWR’s Paul Pannone says, “Brides are re-directing dollars to necessities rather than splurging.”

Veteran photographer Christopher Castaneda says middle market rates for photographing a wedding range from $1,300 to $3,500. The deliverables included for these prices vary widely. The average bride currently spends $1,754 for wedding photography.

$23,000 Per Year?

Looking at the average wedding photography rate and assuming the photographer is able to shoot 40 weddings per year, a solo photographer can expect to gross $70,160 annually.

That sounds OK — but what are you really netting?

According to the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) benchmark guidelines for home businesses, about two-thirds of gross revenues will be eaten up in General Expenses and Cost of Sales.

At 33 percent, the net annual photographer’s compensation plus profit from doing 40 weddings would be a little over $23,000 before taxes.

For wedding photography to be profitable, the photographer must be able to command fees that are significantly higher than the current average.

Digital Challenges

In the good old days of film, photographers would often make $1,000 to $3,000 and more selling prints to the bride, family and friends after the wedding. Now the standard practice is to include the digital files in the wedding package, so there tend to be no print orders.

It is sometimes possible to get $1,000 to $2,000 for extra album pages and parents’ albums, but that has become a hard sell. Such pages must be pre-designed to convince the customer to buy them; all the work involved in making these extra sales must be done on speculation.

It is also easy now for anyone with a little computer knowledge to produce a remembrance book using Shutterfly and Snapfish. Such books will not be as fancy as the traditional wedding album, but how often does anyone look at an album anyway?

And of course, the professional photographer is faced with the proliferation of amateurs with DSLR cameras. If a friend of the bride has had a bad experience with a “professional” photographer, or just wants to save money, the bride may simply decide to have a friend or relative take the needed pictures and dispense with the cost of a pro entirely.

A Week (and Weekend’s) Work

One aspect of wedding work that makes life difficult is that all the shooting occurs on the weekends. This can be an advantage if shooting weddings is a supplement to other work, but can be very disruptive to a family lifestyle if such work is a major source of income.

It is usually difficult to shoot more than one wedding per weekend. Shooting 40 weddings a year is a rate that is very difficult for most photographers to achieve.

Another factor to consider is the post-production work, which is done by the photographer and not outsourced in most cases. Most photographers find they spend between two and four days in pre- and post-production for every day spent shooting.

While a wedding job can become a week’s work, brides never seem to see it that way.

Spending Is Down — and Will Stay That Way

Wedding Industry Survey Network (WISN) results show that times have changed — perhaps forever.

Spending on weddings is not expected to return to pre-recession levels until at least 2013. Respondents agree that the pendulum will probably swing back when the economy does, but they also admit that due to the cultural changes taking place, the wedding business may never come back to what it was prior to 2008.

WISN’s Christine Boulton says:

The days of free spending are over and wedding vendors are going to have to up their game and provide exemplary quality and service. Customers are no longer going to accept second best; their expectations are going to continue to rise. The only thing vendors are going to be able to do to hedge is become more proficient at their craft and face the consumer with total honesty and transparency.

Something Old, Something New

An interesting new study by WE TV Network’s Wedding Report suggests older, more established businesses are finding it harder than those just starting out to accept the changes in the wedding business.

According to preliminary findings, 47 percent of vendors in business for fewer than five years said that business had been “good” the past six months. The longer respondents have been in the business, the smaller the percentage of those who are positive about the business.

Only 32 percent of those in business for 20 or more years described the last six months as good.

Established businesses may be weighted down by higher costs. They may also have higher expectations based on previous experience. These expectations may relate to what they hoped to achieve and where they expected to be at this particular stage of their careers.

Those just getting started may have fewer and lower expectations and goals. Finally, those just starting in the business may be more receptive to new technology and marketing methods than established business owners.

The Facebook Factor

Most photographers agree that the toughest part of the wedding photography business is marketing — standing out in the crowd and getting bookings. And perhaps newer photographers have an advantage here with the rise of search engine optimization (SEO) and social networks like Facebook as marketing tools.

Photographer Neil Colton says there is no silver bullet to wedding photographer marketing, but he gets a significant number of bookings through Facebook and Facebook referrals. According to TWR, there is a 25 percent chance that brides on Facebook will purchase from a photographer they follow.

In addition, Colton gets results from Google searches, both organic and pay-per-click (he started an Adwords campaign two months ago and has booked one wedding from it so far), as well as direct and vendor referrals.

Concludes Colton:

With so many wedding photographers entering the market every day, it’s important to have a diverse marketing strategy to compete successfully.

Earlier this month, the threatened burning of a Koran by Florida preacher Terry Jones garnered an obscene amount of world attention and media coverage.

Now, a French photographer, Jean-Baptiste Avril, wants other photographers to join him in burning their negatives as part of a rally protesting the harsh financial conditions facing the profession.

Avril wants to hold the burning at the steps of a statue of Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography, in the French town of Chalon-sur-Saône. The event is scheduled for January 11, 2011.

Surely, this won’t get the coverage that Jones received. But it will get some.

The real question is, is this a useful way for photographers to express their professional frustrations?

Burning Man

This isn’t the first such gesture by Avril. Earlier this year, he decided to burn his own images. As he described his reasoning:

I believe that public and private institutions don’t play their role into supporting the artistic life through the artists essential needs: money, grants, whatever you want to call it.

So my work has to be for free! All right! As it has no value I don’t see the need for it to physically exist much longer.

The back story is that Avril had worked for about a year on an architecture project on the centennial of Tel Aviv at the request of an Israeli art gallery. The resulting pictures were displayed in the gallery, released as a book, and received significant coverage in the press.

Avril was contacted by Israeli airlines, insurance companies, museums, and government institutions, as well as European magazines and municipalities, all wanting to use his photos. But none were willing to pay him for the privilege; the airline wasn’t even willing to part with a courtesy plane ticket.

Here’s the video of how Avril released his frustration:

And the Point Is?

So, what was the result of all this?

Avril was awarded some sympathetic press coverage on a slow news day and not much more. After all, if his images aren’t selling, why would anyone care what he does with them? And he conceded he scanned them all in advance, making the gesture rather hollow.

The mass burning at the Nicéphore Niépce statue, if it occurs, will be more of the same.

I sympathize with the financial challenges facing photographers today. In fact, I know of two photographers who are about to be evicted from their houses because they can no longer pay their mortgages.

Do you think these photographers are burning their hard drives in their backyards, hoping President Obama will save them?

Do you think they will march on Washington and torch their negatives in an attempt to summon public fervor — like the monks who self-immolated to protest the Vietnam War?

A Privilege, Not a Right

No. You know why?

Because they are too busy trying to reinvent themselves in an extremely difficult time.

Because they feel extremely fortunate that they have been able to make a living doing something they love.

Because they know not everyone has had this privilege, or will ever have it.

Because they know it’s not something they’re entitled to have, but something they must work for, every day.

Because they know that embracing the photographer’s life has always included its bumps and bruises, and obstacles to overcome.

And because they love photography too much to burn it.