Napoleon famously said, “An army marches on its stomach.” The same is true for photographers, clients and everyone else on a photo set.

When you’re called to shoot something, even if it doesn’t span a mealtime, food can make the difference between a good experience and a bad one.

Put It in Your Estimate

I’ve had more than one corporate client complain about working with photographers who neglect to include catering in their project bids. The client isn’t looking for that line item — but when they get to the shoot and there’s no food, they definitely notice.

Even if the client isn’t planning to attend the shoot, don’t skimp on food. If you’re doing a shoot where you have a three-assistant crew, two makeup people, two subjects, and four handlers, have food there.

Otherwise, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself for the grumpiness and irritability that ensues, particularly if the day runs longer than expected.

Prepare in Advance — and Don’t Be Cheap

So, how should you go about catering a shoot?

Even before the cameras and gear are in place, I like to have the arrangements made. Check with everyone in advance to see if there are food allergies or restrictions to accommodate.

Don’t even think of making the food yourself, or using Subway or Quiznos. Shootdigital has a list of other no-nos, including:

• Only offering vegan or sushi
• Themed food (BBQ, Mexican, etc.)
• Anything smelly
• Corn on the cob
• Super spicy food
• Leaving out a healthy option
• No dessert!

For me, a good choice is a chain that makes gourmet sandwiches, cookies, and so forth, like Corner Bakery.

Have the food and beverages on the set, in full view, before anyone arrives. Your subject/client will grab a bottle of water and a cookie before heading off to a corner with BlackBerry or iPhone in hand, starting the session in a contented mood.

Remember: in photo shoots as in life, there’s no second chance at a good first impression.

On LinkedIn’s Photography Industry Professionals discussion group, Brooke Fagel recently asked: “What’s it like to be a freelance photographer?” These select responses provide a comprehensive picture of what a photographer faces.

Tim Norman • Rough. I just started as a freelancer, and I’m trying to figure out where to begin. I was a staff photographer until my job was eliminated and I’m trying my hardest to keep my dreams alive.

Matt Dunn •. 30% is shooting (pre- and post-production as well as the shoot itself) and 70% is trying to get the job.

Mike Shipman • Mostly it’s doing a lot of things you would really rather not do (but are necessary – hey, who else is gonna do it?) and not enough of what you’d hoped you’d be doing the most of when you decided to work for yourself.

John Trifiro • Like the rest of the arts and entertainment industry’s it’s the A-list or the No-List syndrome…The middle sucks!

Leni Johnston • Great when there is work, sucks when there isn’t. Networking and word of mouth is key. Get out there and get noticed. I just picked up The Wealthy Freelancer. It has some good advice.

Deborah Hart • It’s all about hurry up and wait. I am always networking, and thinking of a new way to promote myself. And then there are times I’m so busy with shooting and processing, I look forward to a minute to do billing, so that someone will, later rather than sooner, pay up.

Eric Lucero • I love my job, but I hate waiting for payment from clients, not knowing when my next job will come, and long hours. But, no matter how much sleep and hair you lose, it will always beat sitting in a cubical all day watching the clock.

Roel Loopers • It is about the love for photography and the hope you can make a living out of it. I have been free-lancing for nearly 42 years. I had fantastic years financially and have had many rough years as well. Sometimes I have longed for a well-paid constant job, but then I would have to turn up every day at the same time and at the same locations. I rather keep taking the financial risks and remain independent, free, creative and love what I am doing.

Alan Rosenberg • Never forget you are only as good as your last job.

Colin Cooke • I’m in my hot office attic with fans blowing on my computers to keep them cool. I’m downloading 290 tiff files for Stockfood. I’m hot. That’s an afternoon in the life of a freelance photographer.

Dallas Allbritton • It’s constant hunger for me and not in terms of food for the body but the next opportunity, the next network connection or opportunity. I am constantly looking at and developing new niche’s and examining what others are doing. Personally, I would not have any other life. I would not change for anything in the world except to have more opportunities to do what I do.

Greg Premru •  It is possible to make a living being a photographer. I’ve been doing it for 15 plus years. It’s without a doubt gotten harder in this economy. Photography has gone through a huge transformation in the last five years and the game has definitively changed. Just like many other professions, technology has changed how our product is not only produced but viewed by potential buyers. Photography is now more of a commodity than ever. There are too many photographers chasing after the same work. That said, the internet and social marketing craze allows you to get in front of more potential clients then ever before. What we have to avoid is the race to the bottom in terms of pricing, or the new economy of free. The world is more image-driven then ever and everyone is a contributor. It’s art, yes, but it is really a business more than anything else.

Sandy Hechtman • The key is it’s a business. Your goal is to develop a clientele that regularly uses your services. A lot of your time is spent looking for that next job. It’s important to be professional and by that I mean follow up on your phone calls and emails. Let that client know he or she is the most important person on earth. You’ll be surprised how much business you can generate by just being professional. The bottom line is that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Todd Beltz • Being a freelance photographer certainly has it’s ups and downs and as I’ve been doing this now for the last 3 years, I would never go back to a full time job. It’s not easy at times though, especially at my age to get jobs as a lot of them go to the younger and most times, cheaper photographers. I started my career late as I had lost my job and just fell into what I loved doing most. While I love every minute of it, it’s not an easy life. I realized that I’ll never be rich being a freelance photographer and starting a family is a pipe dream for me. I lost a relationship due to my career choice as sadly the woman never saw a future with someone whose monthly income is never stable. Not an easy life for sure but one that does bring happiness to my heart.

Sebastien Saykowski • I have a full time job in photography, but those I hire are all contractual and outsourced freelance photographers. From what I gather it’s brutal, up and down, and not easy to live with, depending on your life situation. You gotta love photography to be a freelancer and succumb to seasonal work. Most of my team have part-time jobs in other fields.

Andrea McLaughlin • My clients are photographers who tell me daily about the ups and downs of the freelancer’s life. Right now the marketplace is saturated with too many photographers. In a slow economy people are getting laid off and fewer new jobs are being created. People who always wanted to go out on their own become freelancers. New photographers charge less than established photographers and the market becomes a buyers paradise, but not so lucrative for photographers.

Keith Hern • After 25 years in corporate sales freelance photography is another world. If I ever get really down I just go stand at the commuter train station early in the morning with at least an hour’s journey packed in like sardines just to get to an office…. that’s a great way to remind myself why I do something freelance and creative….and not be answerable to some jumped-up opinionated ‘manager’……

Dallas Allbritton • I hear you. I am in Nashville and we don’t have the commuter trains but we have an interstate and we have a big state government work force. I cringe as I watch them drive to a parking lot with there packed lunches and climb on a bus that takes them 300-500 yards to an office building.

Todd Biss • I just wrapped 10 days in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Haiti was brutal! Outrageous heat, depressing situations, garbage everywhere… but mingled in the mess… people who were full of hope, happy to be alive and living for the day they had been given. Actually… kinda like being a freelance photographer. Not that I’m comparing my situation to those in Haiti! But so much of what I have to do is not what I want to do. Then there’s that small percentage of time that I’m actually shooting… wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Bryan Lowry • Just returned from six days and nights documenting a new lava flow heading towards my friends house. Maybe one hour sleep a day with flowing lava only 50 feet away and a large brush fire across the street as we sat eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in the house; large methane explosions everywhere. Now I’m home on the PC sorting out 1400 photos and looking for the winners. It’s periods like this followed by periods of inactivity. I do lots of hiking over and around lava. I live a strange life.

Michelle Chaplow • Without a shadow of a doubt its a privileged field to work in, you have to totally love photography to endure the course. Flexibility adaptation and change are the ingredients needed for the freelance field. Sometimes I´m bored out of my brains with the computer calibrations, however the travel, the thrill of creating and capturing new imagery, that satisfies both myself as the photographer and meets the clients brief makes the whole venture a delight. Every so often it’s good for freelance photographers to remind themselves that we have the choice and I for one feel that I have chosen well.

Frank DeSantis • I love my work, I love being behind the camera. I love shooting. I started out as a freelance graphic designer and then art director and now photographer. There have been ups and downs. You learn to live with it, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I photograph homes, I photograph corporate people, I photograph dogs, I photograph product and I photograph women. I enjoy every minute because it’s mine; I made it, I’m responsible for what I do and how it plays out. I have a great studio that looks out over downtown Portland, Oregon. I can choose to look out the window all day or choose to do my work all day or both or nothing at all. There’s beauty in it. Imagine free falling but with wings. It’s not for everybody.

Marilyn Angel Wynn • After a week of shooting along the west coast (for free), visiting friends and family along the way, living inside my truck camper and then this morning selling 5 images to NGS, life is just too good! The stock sales trickle in these days but the ride is so well worth it still. Happy shooting.

Abigail Harman • I love being a freelance photographer. Each day is a different challenge and you never know what is going to happen next! I meet wonderful people who often become friends. It’s nerve wracking sometimes but exciting and fulfilling at the same time. We get to create something and have fun at the same time. How many professions have that?

Scott Stahl • You have to love people and the rewards of great photography to stay with it.

Jim Pickerell • It is survival of the fittest, but the fittest is the best marketer, best communicator, best financial manager, best adapter to new technology, best business person not necessarily the most creative or best photographer.

John Trifiro • Like any business, if you don’t do it for the money, then you shouldn’t expect to make much of a living. Luck is a lot of blood, sweat and tears!

I recently came across two job postings that say a lot about the state of the photography market today. And while the news is not altogether surprising, it still might stick in your craw a little bit.

The first listing, on Craigslist, was flagged by John Harrington. A New York PR firm had posted an ad online looking for a photographer to take pictures for a “High Profile Client.”

Full Credit and Future Work

The ad reads (italics ours):

Photographer Needed for High Profile Client (Indianapolis)

New York City based Public Relations Company is seeking a photographer for a small photo shoot with a well known professional tennis player. Great way to add photos to your portfolio and work with a great company. Photos will be used in a marketing campaign geared towards the US Open.

Although there isn’t any financial compensation for this project, full credit is given as well as an opportunity for future work with a magazine. We will work to create a great credit package for the right photographer!

Please email us for details ASAP, as this project would be taking place within the next few days.

John figures the PR account rep “billed $150 for the time necessary to create this craigslist ad,” and will “spend another few hours culling through the idiots that respond to this ad.”

Then, “the studio you have to rent will get paid, the car service that brings the pro athlete will get paid, the cell phone bill that the account exec has for all the calls related to the shoot will get paid,” and on and on.

Everyone but you, the creative talent making the project a reality.

Doing More with Less for Less

The second ad, a job posting for a photo editor at Time Inc. found by Paul Melcher, demonstrates that similar pressures exist on the editorial side.

Qualifications for the ideal job candidate at the world’s largest magazine publisher include (again, italics added):

• Excellent editorial judgment and eye, must generate story ideas and identify topics to cover, must react to news.
• Edit and build various online photo galleries, notably never-seen LIFE archival content and LIFE.com’s weekly feature: The Weeks Best Photos
• Oversee and perform the digital restoration of LIFE archival photos (basic retouching and color correction)
• Experience negotiating and managing usage rights and rates for digital, mobile and video content
• Assign, produce and direct original photo essays
• Liaise with Editorial, Legal, Sales and PR Teams in the execution of featured content packages
• Manage freelance staff
• Strong eye for young talent
• Must be creative in terms of doing more with less for less and must be ready and willing to do so

As Paul translates that last bullet point:

Must be capable of getting the best images for peanuts and not complain about it. Ever.

No Magic Bullet

In other words, in both commercial and editorial photography today, the squeeze is on. And don’t expect it to end when the economy improves.

Now, is there a magic-bullet answer to these challenges for today’s pro photographers? No, there isn’t.

But one thing I do know from reading and editing the contributions of Black Star Rising contributors is that the qualities that make for a successful photography career have evolved markedly over the past several years.

The photographers who make it today are more than picture-takers, more than artists even. They know how to brand themselves and market their businesses. They know how to communicate their value in no uncertain terms to clients and prospects. They are savvy negotiators.

They know a bad deal when they see one, too. And they have no qualms about walking away from it.

Remember that the next time a low-balling PR firm or publisher tries to hire you for little or nothing.

It’s hard to turn down help in building your photography business, especially from friends and relatives. But a few years ago, I realized that the assistance I was receiving actually had become counterproductive. To grow my business, I had to learn to say “no.”

I had moved to a new city, where I was fortunate to have a number of friends and acquaintances. Knowing that I needed to establish a clientele in my new surroundings, several of my friends were kind enough to send work my way. Some of the jobs were corporate assignments; others were family portraits.

A Job’s a Job — or Is It?

The problem was, neither of those were my speciality. I focus on cultural photography, from traditional festivals and customs to modern, urban subcultures. So while I accepted some of the jobs sent my way at first, I ultimately decided that these assignments were preventing me from developing my business in my chosen field.

As soon as I started saying “no” and referring the portrait and corporate jobs to other photographers, I began unearthing opportunities in my own genre.

I know what you may be thinking: in today’s economy, a job’s a job — and it’s crazy to turn one down, especially from someone who cares about you. When you’re invited to photograph Cousin Ernie’s wedding, your natural instinct is to jump at the chance.

And why shouldn’t you?

The reason is that it can turn your photography business into a rudderless enterprise that veers from opportunity to opportunity without ever charting its own path. And that is a formula for financial failure — not to mention creative frustration.

So it’s OK to say “no,” even to friends and relatives, when an assignment isn’t a good fit. “No” is a very powerful word; it’s a word that offers you the freedom to succeed on your own terms.

Single-Minded Determination

I can count on one hand the photographers I know who are employed by someone else; the great majority of us are small business owners. And in a world where fewer than half of new businesses ever turn a profit, spending time, money and resources photographing something irrelevant to your business is simply not a smart move.

Especially when you are just starting out, you need a single-minded determination to establish yourself in your chosen genre. You need to shoot new work for your book; you need to create or otherwise source a database of prospective clients; and you need to develop a targeted marketing plan. And that’s just the beginning.

All of this takes time — time you lose if you spend it taking random jobs to make a quick buck.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if everyone loves those baby photos you shot, if your goal is a career as an adventure photographer. It just becomes a distraction, pulling you further from your dreams.

Stay focused on your goals by learning to say “no.”

When you are a self-employed photographer, reaching the level of earning enough to support yourself and your family is difficult. There are thousands of struggling and aspiring pro photographers out there, all searching for that elusive key to success.

Some commentators will tell you that the key is simply to shoot great photos. For example, here is what Marco Oonk of Fast Media Magazine recently said:

I firmly believe that despite the “democratization” and “commoditization” of the stock photo industry, there will always be more reward for great images. By “great” I mean images that fill a need and do it superbly … There is still, and always will be, plenty of money to be made.

I totally disagree.

Certainly, as a photographer you should try to produce the best images you know how to produce, and you should always be striving to improve the quality of your images.

But just because an image is judged to be “great” by your peers, or because it wins awards, that does not mean customers will pay more for it, or that you will sell more of your work.

Photographers may spend more time in pre-planning, use better models and more expensive sets, and generally spend more money to produce a set of images. But that does not mean customers will pay more for them.

The Agenda of Stock Agencies

It is in the interest of stock agencies to make you think success is all about producing more and better photos. They constantly ask for “more and more” and “better and better.”

Do they do this to help you be successful? No, they do it because it does not cost them a thing. They have no investment in the production costs.

Following the advice of stock agencies may or may not increase your sales — but it will certainly increase your costs, and quite possibly reduce your profits.

Photography Business Realities

So before falling for the line that shooting lots of “great” images leads to commercial success, keep in mind these six basic principles of the photography business:

1. Customers always want the best image they can find, at a price they can afford. A stock picture has to be exactly what the customer needs — including the right price. The price they can afford is always a major deciding factor.
2. If the image you are selling is a stock image, the price the customer is willing to pay has absolutely no relation to your efforts to produce it. No one cares what it cost you to produce an image or what you had to go through to get it.
3. Prepare to be constantly surprised at what the customer thinks is the right picture. Customers seldom pick the images you like best. No matter how great you think your image is, how many awards it has won or what your colleagues tell you, it is the customer who determines value.
4. Customers don’t care whether your fees cover your costs. If you are doing an assignment, you can establish a fee upfront to cover your costs and profit, but many potential customers may be unwilling to pay what you ask. The value of any image is based entirely on the customer’s perception.
5. The amount customers pay is based entirely on the value they will receive from using the images and what they feel they can afford at the moment. Since the end of 2007, the average price Getty Images receives for the images it licenses has dropped 30 to 40 percent. That is not because the images are of poorer quality than they used to be, but rather because the prices agreed on are all the customers feel they can afford to pay in these difficult economic times, and because there are other easily available options that satisfy customers’ needs.
6. The price a photographer decides to charge for his work limits the number of potential customers. If the photographer sets a high price, fewer customers will consider the image. If the photographer sets a low price, more customers may consider it, but that is no guarantee there will be enough buyers at the lower price to equal what one might have earned at a higher price.

Despite growing demand for images, still photography as a profession is taking a serious hit — and not just because of the current recession.

Those in the industry who say that the photographers who continue to produce “great” images will succeed are just kidding themselves. Or, as in the case of the stock agencies, they are telling you what you want to hear because it benefits them.

The truth is, those considering entering the photography profession today need to carefully weigh their options. The pictures you produce have to be good, but that alone is not nearly enough. Beware of the temptation to spend more and more and work harder and harder without a corresponding financial result.

Second in a series.

The first step to successful project management is to develop what I call a “project toolbox.” This is the foundation that enables us to take consistent approaches to the wildly different situations we come across in the projects we embark upon as photographers.

Your project toolbox is a standard set of tools and techniques you can use and apply again and again. They can be as narrow or wide-ranging as you wish, and can also evolve over time as you come across new methods or software, for instance.

Getting on the Same Page

The first item in your toolbox should be a terminology and definition breakdown that ensures that everyone involved in your project is on the same page. You can develop this as a simple spreadsheet, listing tasks, techniques and tools relevant to how you like to work.

Your document might include entries such as:

• Mindmap: a diagram of related thoughts used to identify and develop ideas and concepts.
• Stage: a collected series of tasks and duties that must be performed before subsequent sets of tasks can be completed.
• Stakeholders: anyone who provides input or is affected by the outcome of the project. This can include the client, those funding the project, the team working on it, etc.

These are just three examples of terms to include in your definitions document.

Change Control Procedures

Another important tool for keeping everyone on the same page is a change control procedure. This is a standard format for how items and pieces of information you produce will be labeled, so the most recent version can be found.

For example, a document in your photography project might be labeled “Shot list d1a.”

In this case, “Shot list” is the title of the document, “d” shows it is a draft, “1″ is the issue number, and “a” shows there have been no amendments made as yet.

Subsequent items might be d1b, d2a, and so forth — all the way up to i1a, representing an issued document with “i” indicating “issued.” We will revisit change control in more detail in a subsequent post in this series.

Templates and Task Management

Next up are templates and tasks. As a time-saving measure, adding a range of standard templates to your toolbox is invaluable.

You can set up templates for reports, project timelines, initiation documents, work package descriptions, and equipment lists. This saves having to create such documents for each project you take on.

Everyone has their favorite method of task management, whether it be a series of notes in a calendar, a GTD style email inbox or a full blown software package with mobile sync. Your key considerations should be ease of use, how well you can involve others in the tasks, and the level of detail you require.

Planning Tools

While some people use their task managers as planning tools, they are not the ideal way to develop an overview plan for the completion of a large amount of work.  

Gantt charts and dedicated project management tools are excellent solutions here and worthy additions to your toolbox.  As with most software these days, there are both commercial and open source tools available to fill these roles.

You could also create your own planning tool using databases, spreadsheets and calendars. This might take a little time, but it can provide you with flexibility not inherent in a structured software package.

Your planning tool should be able to track resources (e.g., people, equipment, locations, props), deadlines for individual project components (e.g., set building, location scouting), review dates for progress, and any unbalance or slippage in the workload over the course of the project.

Spending the time upfront to develop your toolbox can bring consistency and structure to the wide range of projects we take on as photographers.

I recently had a distinctly unpleasant conversation with a client who called me after his subordinate had contracted me for an assignment. The contract included a standard rights package.

The client began the call by referencing the agreement and asked, “We do own all rights to these photos, right?”

Preserving Your Rights — Worth the Hassle?

“No,” I explained. The contract included the standard rights I give when I cover a press conference, which was the assignment in this case.

I also, of course, couldn’t grant the client rights that I didn’t have. For example, I did not plan to obtain model releases from all those attending the event, which meant that the photos could not be used in marketing materials.

So no, I couldn’t convey “all rights” to him.

We did the assignment as planned, successfully deflecting the client’s last-minute rights grab.

Some photographers argue that these kinds of discussions aren’t worth the hassle. Just sell your services for as much as you can up front, they say, and don’t worry about saving rights to monetize later.

This point of view usually comes from photographers who don’t want to deal with negotiations, contracts, accounting and spreadsheets. They just want to take pictures — all the way up until their business closes its doors.

A Great Deal — or So It Seemed

I once had a magazine call me to photograph 60 portraits of individual attorneys in the Washington, D.C. area. The prospective client wanted to pay $1,000 per portrait.

It sounded great at first. Upon reading the contract, however, I learned that the client planned to take all rights, including reprints.

I decided to do a little investigating about the project.

It turns out the portraits were to be included in a “special edition” of the magazine called “Washington’s Best Lawyers” and that each of the featured firms would be asked to advertise in the publication.

The magazine would also sell the attorneys reprints of their profiles, with photos, for $3,000. For an extra charge, the publication would even create a special version of the magazine’s cover showcasing the lawyer or firm.

In other words, the “special edition” of the magazine was thinly disguised advertising, and the reprints were essentially marketing brochures for the paying firms.

Oh, and for an additional fee, the law firms could buy the digital files — presumably to use for whatever other marketing purposes they wished.

I decided that the magazine should pay more, considering all the planned uses of my work. But they wouldn’t budge. So I declined the job.

Would they be able to find a photographer for this assignment? Yes, of course.

But it wouldn’t be me.

The Wisdom of Arlo

Sometime back, I got a chance to shoot the folk singer Arlo Guthrie. He said something that day that has stayed with me:

The art of doing nothin’ is probably one of the most profitable things you can do, because it sets you up to be doing something.

When you are thinking about accepting an assignment where the fees will barely cover your costs, or giving in to an excessive rights grab with the justification that “it’s better than doing nothin’,” that’s a good time to reflect on Guthrie’s advice.

Rather than take a job from a client who undervalues you, why not spend that day seeking out better-playing clientele who don’t casually tell you that they expect “all rights” to your photos?

Clients who respect you, your work and your rights are out there. You just need to go out and find them — and then consistently demonstrate why you deserve the professional respect you have been given.

Today’s photography market is flooded with functional images that wash over us without impact. They may do the “trick” for cash-crunched art directors and editors — but they have no magic.

They are “good enough” images at a time when being “good enough” seems to be all that matters.

The Economics of “Good Enough”

It’s simple economics, I suppose. When people are asked to perform the same work for less compensation, they try to crank out more product in less time to make up the difference. Volume becomes more important and quality less.

So it is for photographers today.

When amateurs entered the commercial stock market via microstock, they were lucky. There was a big, unmet need for low-cost, “good enough” images, and these amateurs were just good enough to produce them.

But if you wanted to make real money, as opposed to lunch money, microstock was all about volume. The more “good enough” images you could upload in the shortest amount of time, the better your chances of making a buck.

And so now the Web is flooded with these images. And budget-constrained image buyers seem quite satisfied with that.

This mentality isn’t confined to stock photography, however. Photojournalism, celebrity, sports, portraits, weddings — every aspect of the photography world has been affected.

Look at Time and Newsweek, for example. They once took pride in the images they published. Now, they are chock-full of photos from wire services, the supreme masters of the “good enough.”

Web sites, of course, use images by the pound. Quality is an afterthought, if it is thought of at all.

This land of the “good enough” is a comfort zone for everyone. Deadlines are met, budgets aren’t busted — and expectations are diminished.

What We Lose

So, what’s so bad about living in an era of diminished expectations?

Well, quality suffers, obviously. Since it is not rewarding anymore for photographers to spend a lot of time on images, no one really does. If someone is happy with a half-done job, then that is great.

Perfectionist photographers pay the heaviest price, as their market is quickly slipping away.

The audience for images suffers, too. Consumers simply don’t get to see great pictures anymore. They are served up illustrations that fill a need, functionality and nothing more.

For photography lovers, this is a real loss.

But for everyone else? Who knows, maybe today’s audience figures it gets what its pays for — especially online, where all the content is free. Diminished expectations all around.

We can hope that when the economy improves, we will see a resurgence of the exceptional, an opening in the market for great photography.

For now, though, it looks like we will have to settle for “good enough” and dream of a more interesting future.

(The following is excerpted from the new book The Successful Wedding Photographer, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

When viral campaigns work, they can be extremely powerful — but they don’t work all the time. Even professional marketers can struggle to get a viral campaign off the ground, and they often work best when you least expect them to.

In 2009, Pollenizer, a Web promotion firm, was asked to create a viral campaign for Photo Art Gallery, a new photo-sharing site.

The site had created a video that aimed to show — in an amusing way — the lengths to which photographers will go to capture a great picture. The video showed a photographer repeatedly falling out of a tree as he attempts to photograph a colorful bird.

Pollenizer, in a deliberate attempt to make the video viral and help the new site to grow, tried to use that video to encourage the site’s users to contribute clips of their own, some of which they would try to push virally as well.

No Guarantees

Pollenizer created a page on their client’s site that asked six questions and invited members to pick up their video cameras to create an answer. They ended up with about 10 videos, most of them contributed by the site’s employees.

Those videos went up on a YouTube channel, were linked to on websites and promoted through social media. After about six hours, they had still only picked up about 100 views.

If you’ve never heard of Photo Art Gallery, that’s a pretty good sign that that particular campaign didn’t work.

As Mike Liubinskas, a founding partner of Pollenizer, wrote on his blog about the viral photography campaign, there is a difference between viral promotion — in which a company tries deliberately to provoke people to talk about it — and intrinsic virality, which requires more than one person to participate.

Unpredictable Power

The most famous example of viral power in relation to a wedding wasn’t photographic. It also wasn’t deliberately promotional, but it did have a strong effect on one person’s career, leading to a burst of valuable extra sales.

When Jill Peterson’s father uploaded to YouTube a video of his daughter’s wedding on June 20, 2009, in St. Paul, Minnesota, he had no idea how far the clip would spread. He just wanted relatives who couldn’t make the wedding to see what had happened.

The “JK Wedding Entrance” showed the ushers closing the church door before Chris Brown’s “Forever” begins to play. The ushers, groomsmen and bridesmaids then dance down the aisle, followed by the groom, Kevin Heinz, who tumbles through the group. Finally, the bride dances down the aisle to join the groom.

Within 48 hours, the video had picked up more than 3.5 million views. In less than a year, that figure had risen to 45 million views and the dance had been copied by the U.S. TV show “The Office” as well as dancing shows from Australia to the Netherlands.

Helpfully for Chris Brown, the video also pushed sales of his song to No. 4 on iTunes and No. 3 on Amazon.

Worst or Best?

In theory, then, viral content linked closely to a wedding photographer could have a similar effect on business, spreading the photographer’s name widely and making him or her well-known enough to find new bookings easily.

Certainly, there’s no shortage of suggestions. Mat Siltala of 97th Floor, an Internet marketing firm, points out that photographers often take plenty of amusing pictures at weddings that aren’t as romantic as the couple would have liked.

The photos might show the groom receiving a face full of cake, the best man trying to hit on the maid of honor or children doing the kind of cute and irritating things that children do at weddings. If the picture is entertaining enough, people will pass it along to friends.

But your clients might not take kindly to a wedding photographer who’s ready to capture (and spread) the worst moments of their day as well as the best. Potential clients may also end up wondering whether the outtakes from their wedding would end up littering the world’s email boxes as well.

So while using your worst or funniest wedding photos might seem like the most obvious virus bait, a better option might be to disseminate your best photos. The trick is that they still must be interesting enough to share.

Take a look at the most shared wedding-related photos on Digg, for example, and you’ll find not only many bad or embarrassing images, but also an assortment of wedding photographs that went viral because they are impressive, creative and fun.

Take incredible pictures, send them to friends and relatives, post them on social networking sites — and chances are, they’ll be shared. Worst case scenario? Only a few people will see your best work, rather than the thousands you might hope for.

And who knows? Those photos you’re most proud of just might go viral, too.

(The following is excerpted from the new book The Successful Wedding Photographer, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

Julie Kim has been voted one of the best wedding photographers working in the U.K. She earns over £2,500 for a full day’s shoot, including album and files, and covers about 30 weddings a year. And she’s only been shooting professionally since 2006.

In building her business, Kim has had success with Facebook ads as well as with referrals from past clients. But her biggest source of referrals might surprise you.

It’s other photographers.

Colleagues, Not Competitors

In 2008, Kim made a conscious decision to contact other photographers and begin networking within the industry. Instead of looking at other photographers as competitors, she started to see them as friends, colleagues and sources of information about technique and business strategies.

The “referral networks” she forged as a result now generate the “bulk of my bookings,” Kim says.

That other photographers can be sources of referrals might come as a surprise to wedding photographers more used to seeing other professionals as competitors. But a photographer who works alone might only take 20 or 30 weddings a year and receive many more inquiries than that each year.

They might also receive those inquiries at inconvenient times, with potential clients hoping to book the same photographer for the same date.

That’s an opportunity for smart photographers to become sociable, to get to know other wedding photographers in their area — and their work — and to create a professional network in which support is provided and excess work is shared.

Building Your Network

Like any form of social interaction, making first contact with a photographer you don’t know might be a little tricky — especially for shy photographers more comfortable shooting parties than attending them. But a quick email that contains three kinds of information should be enough to begin forging a relationship:

• a note saying you admire their work;
• a question about technique;
• and a mention that you’re looking for a way to help your leads when your schedule is full.

All of those things help to pull the photographer toward you and persuade him or her to write back. Other photographers will appreciate someone telling them that they admire their photography — as you would — and genuine respect is a foundation of any kind of relationship.

Asking them about technique gives the photographer an opportunity to talk more about their work, something most photographers enjoy doing and rarely get the chance to do — at least unless they’re in the company of other photographers.

And saying that you’re looking for a place to send your overflow makes your approach a valuable offer with no obligations but plenty of possible rewards. It also makes it very likely that the person you’re contacting will reciprocate, opening up a series of potential channels to good quality clients.

The Real World

This kind of individual contact was how Julie Kim began building her network.

Kim didn’t settle for email and Internet communication, however; she also meets members of her network in person for chats and coffee.

Online contact is a good first step, but real relationships need to be built in the real world. They can make you part of a community of photographers that is rich in support, information — and referrals.

tomorrow: going viral

(The following is excerpted from the new book The Successful Wedding Photographer, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

Whenever a former client discusses your work and passes your name onto a friend, she’s doing you a huge favor. It’s the kind of favor that puts money in the bank and provides the foundation of a successful wedding photography business.

But that’s not why she does it.

Clients recommend photographers because they want to do their friends a favor.

Finding the right photographer for a wedding isn’t easy. Competition is tight, portfolios can start to look similar, and a 20-minute consultation can only tell the wedding couple so much about a photographer’s personality and the way they’re likely to behave on the big day.

If a friend says they’ve used a photographer who produced great pictures, that’s one difficult task that can be crossed off the wedding planning to-do list.

Which raises an important marketing question: Since the desire to help a friend is usually the biggest referral incentive for your satisfied clients, is it useful for you to provide additional incentives in an attempt to generate additional referrals?

And if so, should these incentives include cash payments?

The Cash Incentive

Magic Eye Photography, a U.K. family photography business, chooses to reward its referrers in cash, giving them a 10 percent commission on the value of the order they bring in. The new clients just need to mention their referrer’s name and, interestingly, they have to come within four weeks of the referrer receiving their own order.

The Bauer Gallery, which calls itself a “photography & fine art company” in Dallas, does something similar. The company has a page on its website entitled “Cash Back for those New Couple Bills.” The page promises to “lessen the overall financial burden of the whole wedding experience with The Bauer Gallery’s cash back program.”

The deal is this: refer a friend to The Bauer Gallery and the studio will pay the referrer $100 in cash. It will then pay $50 for each additional referral. The gallery even goes so far as claiming that the value of the commissions could cover the cost of the referrer’s own wedding photography:

Is there a limit to how many referrals you can give? No! Refer enough people and your wedding photography could be FREE!

It’s true that The Bauer Gallery’s wedding packages begin at just $1,099, but at $50 a referral, the company’s former clients would still need to do a lot of referring to generate enough commissions to cover their own wedding photography.

Missing the Point

While offering a cash-back reward to former clients is certainly the easiest way to incentivize referrals, it misses the point. Clients almost always make referrals — particularly in the case of wedding photography — to help their friends, not out of self-interest.

That’s why non-cash rewards, or even rewards that go to the client’s friends rather than the referring client, can be more effective. Incentives presented as gifts rather than payments help maintain the real connection that made the client want to refer you in the first place.

Peter Yamasaki, a portrait photographer in Orange County, California, offers referring clients two different kinds of rewards.

First, the new client receives a discount on their initial sitting fee. And second, the client who provided the referral receives a credit toward a complimentary 5 x 7 print. They can either cash in that credit immediately or they can hold out, wait for a second referral and receive an 8 x 10 print. Four credits are worth an 11 x 14 print, and five credits win the referral an entire photo session for free.

While Yamasaki’s rewards might work well for a portrait studio, they wouldn’t be sufficient for a wedding photographer. The idea of creating bonuses that can be held in reserve and grown in order to receive bigger bonuses is useful, however. It’s the same principle that guides the use of air miles: the greater the loyalty, the greater the rewards.

So a wedding photographer who wanted to reward a client for providing a referral could offer a sliding scale of incentives that started with a DVD of images, perhaps, but which grew into a website, an album or even a free maternity shoot, if appropriate.

Whatever rewards you choose, by inviting your former clients to put off claiming them, you keep your business fresh in their minds and give them a reason to continue recommending your services.

Matching the Referrer’s Motivation

But while Yamasaki’s rewards to referring clients are smart, his decision to provide a discount to the new client is even smarter.

It’s a smarter form of reward because it matches the reason that former clients tell their friends about photographers — not because they’re hoping for a prize, but because they want to help their friend by providing them with a photographer they can trust.

By offering referred clients a substantial discount on your services, you are helping your formers clients help their friends even more. According to one study, around 40 percent of couples overspend their wedding budgets, sometimes even doubling the amount that they’d planned to spend. Anything that can help relieve some of that budgetary pressure is going to be welcomed.

For the former client, a recommendation of your services could be a wedding gift worth several hundred dollars — and one they didn’t even have to pay for. That’s the kind of incentive that makes everyone happy.

Tomorrow: earning referrals from your competitors

In reading through the 70+ comments on last Tuesday’s post, “12 Excuses for Shooting Photos for Free — and Why They’re Bogus,” I found two complaints interesting from the “will work for free” crowd.

The complaints are, to paraphrase:

1. I don’t owe anything to pro photographers; they’re just whiners who can’t compete anymore.
2. How come pro photographers don’t help “noobs” like me learn to get paying work, instead of just criticizing me?

So you don’t owe anything to pros, but they owe you something? OK.

Let me be clear. In debunking excuses for working for free, I am not trying to discourage young photographers from breaking in to the business. I am not a bitter pro photographer fearing encroachment on “my domain.” To the contrary, I have long been committed to helping people become successful photographers with a sustainable business.

The key word here is “sustainable.” That means not giving away your work for free, and not selling it at rates that don’t make sense financially.

So, for a moment, let’s stop using our obvious verbal skills to debate one another on Black Star Rising, and let’s focus them where they may actually yield a financial return: our prospective clients.

I Will Gladly Pay You Tuesday…

Anyone who hangs up a shingle as a photographer will soon get a call that goes something like this: “I don’t have much (or any) money, but if you’ll do this job for me, I will make it up to you on the next one.”

Stay in the business long enough, and you’ll hear this promise a thousand times.

I am reminded of Wimpy J. Wellington, who said to Popeye, “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

Or to quote Oscar Wilde, “While a first marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence, second marriages are the triumph of hope over experience.”

Over two decades, I have never experienced the promise of future work by a lowballing client as a promise kept. Therefore, I have given up hope. And you should, too.

Here’s how to handle a client who tries to sell you short in this way:

Client: Boy, am I glad to find you. We often have assignments in [enter your city here] and really like your work. The thing is, we only have $400 for this assignment. But I can make it up to you in the future, as we frequently have a need in [enter your city here] and would love to work with you on an ongoing basis.

You: Wow, that’s great. So you’ve had a lot of shoots in [enter your city here]? Who were you working with before finding me?

Client: Um, er, different people. I’d rather not say who.

You: Hmm. Well, you know, your offer sounds enticing, but $400 is a little low. How about this: since you’re going to have a frequent need for my services, let’s assume that you’ll have 10 assignments for me per year. That works out to $4,000. So, what I’ll do is charge you $500 for the first eight, and then the ninth and tenth ones will be free. That way, you’ll be able to stick within your budget for the year, and I’ll be assured of a continued relationship and a revenue stream I can count on.

Think I’ve ever been taken up on this? Nope, and I’ve proposed it easily a dozen times. Yet, were I able to find a client willing to make that commitment, I would uphold my end of the bargain.

Getting the Price You Deserve

Notice that in the example above, I did not say “no.” I just wanted a firm commitment rather than a vague promise.

In the same way, all aspiring professional photographers should have a firm game plan for their business, rather than vague, romantic goals.

When I speak with prospective clients, I ask them, “What budget are you trying to work within?”

In most cases, they are straight with me. But even when they state a figure that is unreasonably low, my response is not “no.” Instead, I say something like, “Let me look this over, and I will send along what I can do for you.”

And then, in short order, I do. And, guess what? I often get the assignment.

Not only that, but the client makes a point to tell me that I am the only one they talked to who bothered to present my position, contract, fees and expenses, and to provide a reasonable justification for them.

So rather than twist yourself into pretzels trying to rationalize doing work that doesn’t pay the bills, why not focus on valuing your own talents — and learning how to communicate their value to clients?

Ninety percent of small businesses fail within the first two years. With few exceptions, working for free is the fastest way for freelance photographers to become part of this 90 percent.

Here are a few excuses I’ve heard for working for free, along with my responses:

1. I’m trying to get into concert photography, so when bands have called to ask about pricing, I’ve told them, “It’s on me.” It’s a great way for me to break into that market.

It’s a great way to break into that market known as “free.” How many times do you think musicians have screwed themselves over and given away the farm to music labels? Too many to count. Don’t make the same mistake.

2. I just did a free shoot for a young actress trying to make ends meet, like many starving artists. It helped her and was an opportunity for me to practice my lighting techniques.

Romanticizing being a “starving artist” isn’t really a good thing. It’s nice when you’re sipping a chai tea latte with your beret in the local java house listening to beatniks recite their slam poetry, but other than that, it’s mostly a good way to remain starving. Doing a trade-for-prints/trade-for-CD deal is for C-grade models and photographers who almost never become pros. And while you may think that it helps you with your lighting techniques, it doesn’t help you grow in the area that matters most — the confidence to know that your work has value.

3. I offered to shoot free family photos for all my neighbors for their holiday cards. It’s a good way to promote my business.

It’s nice to be a good neighbor. Then again, you might soon be getting lots of invitations to weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, with the suggestion: “Hey, why don’t you bring your camera? We’d love to have some photos, and you would really be saving us some money.” So now, you’re an even better neighbor than you intended to be — and you’ve knocked some local wedding photographer out of a paying gig. Or, if you respond with, “Oh, those holiday photos were a one-time thing; I charge to shoot events,” you’ll probably get something like this: “Come on, neighbor, you’re going to be there anyway!”

4. I got some valuable event-photography experience shooting one of my company’s employee celebrations for free. I got to shoot an event for a Fortune 500 corporation, and my pictures received excellent exposure on the company Web site, with over 25,000 hits. I was even given a free photo printer for my effort.

A free photo printer? You mean one of the dozen printers your company got for free when they ordered the last batch of CPU’s from Dell or HP? As someone who has shot for over half of the Fortune 500, I can tell you that I’ve earned $1,000 or more per assignment shooting company picnics, holiday parties, and so forth. It’s not glamourous, but it helps pay the bills. That is, unless you have someone willing to do it for a free printer. By the way, who insured your personal gear against spilled sodas or any other accidents? Let me guess: no one.

5. Every photography job I’ve ever gotten has been through word of mouth — often because I did something for free first.

Right, word of mouth. As in, “Hey, I know this photographer who will shoot for free…” Congratulations! You’ve just become known all over town as the guy who doesn’t expect to be paid for his work. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll even get a client who offers to buy you lunch.

6. I’ve been doing some free portraits of friends for fun, to use as their Facebook profile photos. When people see my pictures on Facebook, I’ll expand my network and it can lead to jobs.

No, it will lead to more requests to take pictures “for fun” — from friends, then friends of friends, then people who just don’t want to pay to have their portraits taken. And you’ll be making lots of new friends among the professional portrait photographers whose livelihoods you are damaging. Happy networking!

7. I like my day job in IT, but at night I am passionate about photography. I don’t mind self-funding my work because it gives me more creative freedom.

Guess what, IT guy? When India’s night work takes over your day job, don’t call me crying about it. Also, don’t bother trying to make a living from your “passion,” because you’re already doing all you can to undermine your chances — as well as everyone else’s.

8. I’m a young amateur photographer, close to graduating from college, so I’m focusing on building a portfolio I can be proud of. Money? Later.

Excellent. One more student photographer who doesn’t care about money. I predict that when Sallie Mae comes a callin’ for payback on those loans that funded your education, money will become much more important to you. And I assume you’ll have things like rent, food and clothing to worry about, too. Unless Mommy and Daddy are still paying for everything — which is really nothing for you to be bragging about.

9. I did some high-profile assignments for free, and now I’m published in major magazines with a photo credit.

“Will work for photo credit” is one of the more asinine mentalities among photographers today. You’re helping no one, including yourself. All you’re doing is killing editorial opportunities for others.

10. I recently graduated from photography school and have been shooting like crazy, mostly for free. I’ve been getting very good experience. I’m also making contacts, and once the economy improves, I’ll be in a much better place than had I sat around waiting for paid assignments.

That’s some photography school — where you didn’t get experience! Your problem is that you just want to shoot pictures rather than earn assignments. You don’t “sit around waiting” for work; you market yourself to people who are willing to pay for your services. Those contacts you’re making are worth about as much as your photography is worth to them.

11. It’s different now because of digital photography. Ten years ago, shooting for free meant eating the cost of film, processing and Polaroids unless the client paid your costs. Today, all a free shoot costs you is your time. Pixels are free!

No, actually, pixels are not free — but thanks for playing. Cameras and camera shutters have a lifespan of a few hundred thousand frames. Divide the number of frames you shot for free by the cost of the camera, and you’ll begin to get a sense of how much that shoot cost you. That doesn’t count the cost of Photoshop for post-production, storage of the raw files, burning them to CD for your clients, and on and on.

12. Once I stopped worrying about charging for shoots, I have had offers and requests coming at me from all directions. I want my photographs to benefit the world and to help other people. It’s not about the money.

Of course you have “offers and requests” coming at you from all directions. So does the drunk girl at the club who hops on the slippery oak bar-top with a short skirt and no underwear and says, “If you see anything you like, I’ll be in the back offering it for free.” You’re surprised that a line forms immediately? So, you want to “help other people.” How about helping those who earn a living producing photographs by not undercutting them? That’s the best way to ensure that great photography continues to benefit the world.

Since most professional photographers are sole proprietors, we are used to doing everything ourselves — shooting images, processing, answering the phone, keeping the books and so forth. Just because we do all these tasks, however, that doesn’t mean we are the best suited for them. That’s definitely true of graphic design.

Because we are creative professionals, it is tempting to design our own marketing collateral, business cards and Web sites. In doing so, we run the risk of looking amateurish or cheap — which is not a brand image that will help your business. If you’ve seen a colleague’s business card crowded with too many photos or printed in size 16 font, you know what I’m talking about.

We are also too close to our own businesses to be truly objective, and this is where another creative person with a trained set of eyes can really help. The fresh perspective can do wonders for your brand.

A Creative Partner

I’ve always had the desire to collaborate with a graphic designer on my marketing materials, but it took me a while to find the right one. I recently took the plunge and contacted a former art director colleague, Kaleena Tucker, to create a new business card and stationery for my photography business.

Because Kaleena and I had worked together, I knew we would have good professional chemistry. All I asked up front is that the design have a clean, minimalist style consistent with the look of my Web site.

Once we agreed on the basics, she sent me multiple layouts, and we subsequently went through several rounds of revisions. I always asked for her opinion during each step of the process, which helped to influence my decisions.

Worth the Cost

We ultimately decided to make separate sets of cards to represent the three types of photography I do — landscape, travel and photojournalism. Below is the card design for landscape photography, with my logo and contact information on the front and a photo on the back.

I’m very pleased with how the project turned out. For me, the benefits have far outweighed the costs. If you’re worried about your budget, though, keep in mind that hiring a graphic designer doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Many talented freelance designers have very reasonable rates. You can also find full-time designers who freelance on the side to stretch their creative muscles and earn a little extra money.

I’m curious to know how many other photographers out there have hired a graphic designer. If you have, please share your story in comments.

First in a series.

“Photography” — the process of capturing a split second in time on film or in a digital file.

“Project management” — the process of managing a project from beginning to end.

For many photographers, the second of these processes is an afterthought. But to produce your best work and create and maintain a successful photography business, a disciplined approach to project management can make all the difference.

In this series, I will demonstrate how the practices, processes and software packages employed by top project managers around the world can help you as a photographer.

Photography Meets Project Management

First, let me share a little about my background. I have managed several extensive photography projects of my own, including A Bann For Life, 1/365 and Hidden Newcastle, each of which have involved countless hours of development, shooting and research.

Additionally, I currently have a second job in which I provide project management to public-sector recruiters throughout the United Kingdom. I have studied and used the PRINCE2 methodology in this role. PRINCE2 was initially developed as the U.K. government standard for IT project management, but its use has since spread beyond the IT environment and to more than 50 countries.

Combining what I’ve learned from these experiences, I will cover a number of topics in this series, such as:

• initiating your photography project;
• developing your project plan;
• organizing your project into stages, such as planning, design, shooting and post-production;
• tools and techniques for each stage of your photography project;
• controlling risks and external factors;
• identifying the best project management software for the needs of your photography business.

Why Project Management Is Important

In beginning this series, I suppose the first question to answer is this: “Why do photographers need to care about project management anyway?”

After all, anyone can run a project, can’t they?  You just need to make a task list, set a budget and produce a final deliverable — right?

While you might be able to get away with this approach for a while, as your business grows and your projects become more complex, your work — and in all likelihood, your client relationships — will suffer.

Most of us have personally experienced the effects of failed projects, both on a large and small scale. The world is littered with overblown, costly mistakes that were originally promised to be the best and shiniest buttons in the box.

In almost every case, these failures are the result of poor project management.

Project management isn’t about having a rigid, inflexible structure for everything you do. It is ultimately about studying all factors associated with your project, planning for those you can influence and preparing for the potential impact of those you cannot.

This is the best way to ensure we deliver final products that meet client requirements, are produced on budget and avoid unnecessary risks and errors.

Last August, I began contacting photographic agencies to seek representation, and among those I reached out to was Black Star. I wasn’t asked to be a Black Star photographer — but the interaction did change my photography.

Here’s the story.

About a year ago, I asked a photographer friend who had moved to Georgia how his business was surviving the relocation. He said it was going well because he had a photo rep that was helping him get jobs — mostly local sports and celebrity-type gigs.

While those assignments weren’t my cup of tea, I decided to look into representation, too. I had started my photography business four years earlier and thought I might be ready.

Seeking Representation

So I found an old edition of The Photographer’s Market and began sending out e-mails. In all, I contacted a dozen companies; all but one of them responded.

In every case, I was told that I didn’t have the right kind of photographs on my Web site. At that time, my portfolio consisted mainly of weddings and portraits. Not really what agencies are looking for, I learned.

One company did more than swat away my e-mail, however. It was Black Star.

The person I contacted sent me a copy of an e-book, When to Use Assignment Photography, that showcased the kinds of corporate photography the agency sought.

I absorbed it like a sponge. In fact, that e-book has guided my photography like a road map ever since.

I committed to trying to grow my business in the direction of the commercial photographers represented by Black Star. To do that, I would have to do more research, make new contacts, beg, plead, borrow and do all sorts of other things, too.

I set a goal: to build a portfolio worthy of agency representation within a year.

Building a Commercial Photography Portfolio

So what did I do first?

I researched. I researched what other commercial photographers do, what they charge, what equipment they use, how they take their photos and how they make their photos into lasting images. I scoured the Internet; I read books and magazines; I made lots of phone calls.

I called rental houses to supplement the equipment I already owned.

And then I began calling on businesses — looking for work.

By the middle of September I was on site with a heavy industry client, taking photos of an ethanol production facility that was under construction.

I kept going. I shot portraits and an exterior panoramic photo for a local hospital. I shot photos for a local food additives and spice company. I did a number of assignments for a major steel company, including images of employees on the job, one of their production processes, and an exterior photo of the local headquarters.

I also teamed up with an established commercial photographer in my area, which gave me access to other opportunities to build my portfolio.

Am I There Yet?

It’s now nearly 11 months since that first round of agency inquiries. I’m close to getting up the nerve to try again.

Will an agency want to represent me? I don’t know. Success isn’t a destination; it’s a process. So we’ll see where I am and go from there

From time to time, the good people in the bowels of the Googleplex decide to tweak their algorithm to improve search results. It happened not long ago, and rest assured, it will happen again. If you care about marketing your business online, you had better be paying attention.

When Google fiddles with its formula, I always hear from a number of photographers whose Web sites have fallen off the radar. It’s akin to a rolling blackout, where a power company shuts off the electricity for some customers in a coordinated manner to reduce the load on the power grid.

Make no mistake; losing “Google juice” — say, by dropping from page 1 to page 5 in search results — can turn your business’ lights off, too.

In my case, my Web site generates anywhere from two to six assignments per month, and that is a substantial amount of money. It’s good reason to take SEO very seriously.

Keep It Fresh

So, how do you stay on the first page of results for your top keywords, if you’re fortunate enough to be there? Or how can you move up consistently from “beyond page 3″ purgatory?

First, we can never predict what Google will do — so there’s no use obsessing on the ins and outs of SEO arcana. Instead, focus on the fundamentals, which never change.

Create fresh content. Switch out your images with new ones. Blog. Use social networking. Do whatever you need to do to build quality inbound links from relevant sources.

And understand that what you are creating is transitory, not carved in stone.

Inbound links come and go. The same link can be relevant one day, less so the next. For example, let’s say a photography site that Google likes links to your photography site; that’s good. Then let’s say this site drops in standing in Google’s eyes. That means the inbound link you earned — the currency of SEO — has dropped in value.

You wouldn’t expect one advertisement or one e-mail campaign to bring you new clients indefinitely. Why expect it from SEO?

No Shortcuts

Finally, don’t use the too-good-to-be-true tricks espoused by some SEO “experts.” Google knows what you’re up to, or they’ll figure it out eventually.

Trading links doesn’t work. Link farms don’t work. Using tiny or hidden text to load up your Web site with keywords doesn’t work, either.

So many photographers rest on their laurels when they reach the search position they want. If you do this, you have no one to blame but yourself. Sooner or later, the rolling blackout will hit.

(The following is excerpted from the new book The Successful Wedding Photographer, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

It should be clear that when it comes to pricing, there are a range of different approaches, each with its own set of advantages and weaknesses.

Fixed vs. Flexible

Fixed packages with the price and contents clearly stated tell clients exactly what to expect. A range of three (or sometimes four) packages enables studios to provide services for clients with different-sized budgets, ensuring that they can serve as much of their market as possible.

This is an ideal approach for large studios that outsource work to other photographers, allowing them to create specific products easily understood by both photographer and client. When there are a lot of jobs coming in and being passed on to other photographers, keeping those jobs as similar as possible makes the pricing, communication and expectations clear.

The downside to this way of pricing is that it makes the price as important (or perhaps even more important) than the photography or the photographer, and it appears to allow little room to match the package to the client’s specific needs.

Flexible packages, on the other hand, allow clients to build the shoot themselves, adding albums and other extras from a la carte menus, while still communicating the price range the photographer is willing to accept.

This allows the photographer to minimize time spent holding consultations with leads who are unlikely to convert to clients, while still offering deals for a range of different budgets.

Finally, some photographers prefer to save pricing until the end of the sales process, choosing to create desire in the client before hitting them with a price tag. That final price may be package-based or constructed according to the very specific requirements of each wedding.

An Opportunity for Upselling

Packages make it easy for photographers to serve clients with different budgets. A la carte menus enable them to adjust those packages to suit the clients more closely, but they also provide an opportunity for upselling — persuading clients to spend more than they had anticipated.

One of the reasons Chris Leary prefers to hold back on his prices, for example, is to create enough desire in prospective clients to persuade them to increase their budgets, if necessary, rather than walk away.

Additionally, being able to choose from a la carte products such as better albums or more images permits the photographer to sell more items — and more expensive items, too.

Not all photographers are willing to do this. Even some photographers with marketing backgrounds say that they prefer simply to lay the options in front of clients and let them choose the products they want without any further pressure.

But flexible pricing options do provide opportunities to stress the extra quality of more expensive albums or to offer discounts to encourage additional purchases.

For photographers who are willing to do a little selling during the consultation — either before or after the shoot — a flexible pricing system can enable them to earn more from each sale.

(The following is excerpted from the new book The Successful Wedding Photographer, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

We’ve seen that the price a client pays for a wedding shoot always includes a number of different elements. Those elements range from the time spent taking the pictures to the number of prints the client receives to the type and number of albums the photographer prepares.

By juggling those elements — by increasing or reducing the amount of time you spend shooting, by offering to print fewer pictures and by providing albums at different levels of luxury — it’s possible to avoid the question of whether to charge “low,” “medium” or “high” prices, and instead offer a range of different prices to suit everyone.

That’s the beauty of creating wedding photography packages. Let’s look at some of the ways photographers approach packages in their pricing.

Instant Memories: Clear and Precise

Instant Memories is a collection of nine wedding photographers working in the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta. The company offers four packages that list precisely what the client will receive.

The Bronze package, for example, costs $1,500 and includes “three hours of service,” formals, unlimited digital photography, and no prints.

The Silver package, which costs $2,200, includes 275 exposures and promises photographs of the ceremony as well as indoor and outdoor formals.

For an extra $400, clients can order the Gold package and keep the photographer right through the cake cutting and the first three dances, and look through 400 pictures.

Finally, the Platinum package at $2,800 provides another 50 pictures and starts at the bride’s house.

It’s a pricing model that makes things very easy both for clients and for a photography business, and especially a business that hires other photographers to do the shooting. When clients are buying packages, rather than choosing from a menu of different items, the expectations are clear and there’s little chance of the photographer forgetting a shot that the client requested or having to create a unique item.

Choosing a wedding photography package becomes almost as straightforward as buying off-the-shelf, with content, pricing and expenses all clearly covered.

Danny Steyn: A La Carte Extras

Danny Steyn, a South African-born wedding photographer now working in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, takes a similar approach.

Steyn offers three packages with shooting times that range from four to eight hours and from 150–200 to 325–375 images. Clients who take his Gold and Platinum packages also get an assistant, and Platinum clients get a second photographer as well.

However, Steyn’s Web site also stresses that these packages are flexible, and he offers a range of different a la carte extras, such as albums of different sizes, canvas prints and DVD slideshows.

The result is a clear guideline for clients to the amount that they can expect to pay for their wedding photography — and an opportunity for Steyn to offer some extras that add to the price.

Julie Harris: Quoting the Minimum

Other wedding photographers take a different approach, reducing the amount of pricing clarity they give to clients in favor of the flexibility that comes by allowing clients to pick and choose the features they want.

Pricing the shoot becomes much more complex. While leads who visit Instant Memories’ Web site can see immediately how much they’ll be paying for their photography, leads interested in hiring photographers with no packages and only a la carte offerings won’t know exactly what they’ll be paying until after they’ve actually met with the photographer.

Julie Harris, a wedding photographer in Boulder, Colorado, declares on her Web site that commissions begin at $4,250 and that there are a “variety of wedding packages and options” available. The site then lists a number of features that clients may ask for in their package, including:

• Digital files, and permission to print and distribute copies;
• Black and white/color photography;
• An engagement portrait session;
• Online viewing (and purchase);
• A range of different albums and products, such as flush-mount albums and coffee-table wedding albums;
• Post-production image editing;
• And a lifetime discount on future portrait sessions, including maternity, infant and family photography.

Harris doesn’t provide a final price until consulting with the potential client. This requires a little more effort from the photographer; she has to meet with the client and explain the options on offer, personalizing each package to suit each lead.

But quoting a minimum price of over $4,000 also allows Harris to filter out those clients she’s less interested in serving.

Teri Bloom: Getting the Specs First

Another option is to not give clients any pricing information at all until meeting. Teri Bloom’s Web site, for example, simply states:

Pricing is flexible and a la carte. Packages may include prints, digital files, engagement photos and a wide range of wedding albums. Online photo galleries are available so the wedding pictures can be shared with friends and family around the world.

Explains Bloom:

I don’t believe in putting prices on your Web site or quoting prices without knowing the specs of any job, because it locks you in a box and to me, it’s unwise in a business sense. If your price is too low, you aren’t leaving room to charge more for a difficult job, and if your price is too high, you’re automatically eliminating a client who may have a short, easy job in the middle of off-season.

The flexible pricing for “difficult” and “short, easy” jobs is important, and Bloom will quote one price for a wedding with 60 people with the ceremony and reception in a small restaurant, and a very different fee for a larger wedding with 250 people and a 45-minute drive from the church to the country club hosting the dinner — a freedom not available to a photographer with fixed packages.

Many of Bloom’s weddings, too, are “destination” weddings. Clients will come to New York just get married and will only need one to three hours of photography. Her consultations then become more important. They’re not just opportunities to pitch her services, but chances for Bloom to understand exactly what the job will involve, and decide the appropriate amount to charge for it.

That makes the questioning important, and questions that Bloom asks during the consultation stage include the location of the ceremony and the reception; the times they’ll take place (“sometimes there’s a three-hour gap between the ceremony and the reception,” she explains); the number of guests the couple is expecting; and whether they want table pictures, as well the usual questions about whether they want digital files, a Web site, prints and an album.

Says Bloom:

The answers to these screening questions will help you understand how challenging the job will be, how much post-production is required after the shoot, and also give you a sense of their budget. It’s smart business to quote prices after you know the specs of a job, and you’ll also have a better sense of the personalities you’re dealing with after learning more about them.

Chris Leary: Constant Adjustments

Bloom isn’t the only photographer not to exhibit any prices on her Web site. Chris Leary, who also shoots in New York, constantly adjusts his prices and packages to reflect what has sold in the past and what people are asking for today. Each update is based on the questions clients ask him about pricing and is intended to be as simple as possible.

Leary, however, doesn’t put those prices on his site, arguing that placing the fees online can frighten clients who are already juggling quotes from florists, disc-jockeys, caterers and event halls.

Worse, he says, when faced with a price, leads stop associating the photographer with the images in the portfolio or the personality and style he or she brings to the shoot, but with the number on the page.

Says Leary:

I don’t want to be a number. I want the couple to make an emotional connection with my images first. I want them to think about if they like the moments that I capture.

If they do like the images, Leary meets with them and tries to assess whether they share the same outlook and vision about wedding photography, and whether their personalities match. He will, after all, be with them throughout the most important day in their lives.

If he’s done his job, he says, they should feel that no one else can deliver the kind of wedding images that he creates.

It’s only at that point that Leary tell the leads his prices.

He offers three different packages. The most expensive, at $6,299, is for couples with large budgets who want extensive photography and custom products. His mid-range package costs $3,999 and includes eight hours of coverage, all the pictures on a disc and a wedding album. It’s the package, he says, that’s geared towards what most couples want.

The last package costs $2,399 and is aimed at people who want to save money or are willing to take on the post-photography services, such as printing and album-making, themselves.

All of the packages can be customized to suit each client’s needs — and provide maximum flexibility for Leary to close as many clients as he can.

Tomorrow: flexible pricing and upselling opportunities

(The following is excerpted from the new book The Successful Wedding Photographer, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

The problem with pricing wedding photography is that there is no single average price for a wedding shoot because there is no single average wedding shoot.

Just as there is no standard rate for a car — old wrecks cost $500; new Ferraris a lot more — so wedding photographers with lots of experience, awards and big name recognition will be able to charge above average rates, while new photographers with no reputation, an empty schedule and no marketing budget will be willing to accept lower amounts.

And that’s without factoring in the different packages that photographers can offer clients, or the effect that location has on prices. A new Ford might cost the same in New York as it costs in Miami, but wedding photographers, whose expenses are more closely linked to the real cost of living, will generally charge different amounts in each region.

From $1,000 to $20,000 and Beyond

Coming up with the right price list for a photography business is far from straightforward. According to a survey of more than 21,000 new brides by leading wedding Web site TheKnot.com in 2009, the mean amount spent by U.S. couples on their wedding photographer was $2,444.

Another rough guide suggests that a budget wedding photography job might cost $1,000 or less, and a moderate wedding shoot from $1,000 to $3,000. Upscale photographers might be able to receive $3,000 to $5,000, and luxury wedding photographers can get away with charging anything from $5,000 upwards. Some photographers have boasted of landing jobs that pay $10,000 or even $20,000.

But these kinds of figures mask huge differences in regions and requirements. The same survey, for example, found that the average wedding budget in Arkansas is just $15,073. In New York City, couples expect to spend an impressive $56,999.

Two Approaches to Price-Setting

Photographers generally use a couple of different approaches when they try to set prices. The first is the strategy used by Conrad Erb: they start low to reflect low expenses, expectations and experience, then raise prices once it becomes clear that customers are willing to pay more and that those low fees are actually hindering business growth.

The alternative is to look at what other photographers in that location are charging, calculate an average and pitch prices in the middle of that range.

This is the approach taken by Teri Bloom who, despite experience that includes photographs on the pages of the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone and Time Magazine, keeps her prices “middle of the road.”

In part, she says, that’s because wedding photography is competitive and even well-off clients are price conscious; money spent on a photographer is money not spent on the catering, the flowers or the honeymoon.

But a mid-range price also helps to ensure a steady flow of work rather than well-paid but sporadic shoots — and the anxiety that comes between them — and room to move up should schedules fill.

Not every photographer would agree with Bloom’s preference to shoot lots of mid-range jobs rather than wait for occasional high-end weddings — they might prefer to use that time between jobs to shoot other types of photography or work on personal projects. They ignore the mid-range prices and aim straight for the upmarket weddings in the hope of earning more for each shoot.

Going Upmarket vs. Overpricing

But the work has to be of high enough quality to match the high pricing, and according to Bloom, in practice high-end fees often reflect an aspect of the photographer that has nothing to do with the way their pictures look.

Says Bloom:

I find some photographers start to get an attitude about themselves. Very often, their pricing is more about their ego than about the quality of their work. Buyer beware, pricing doesn’t have a thing to do with talent or experience!

Overpricing is a mistake that’s as easy to understand as underpricing. It takes a certain level of confidence to believe that you can capture the most important day in a couple’s life, and it’s tempting to look at a set of attractive pictures and believe that they’re better than average.

And if they’re better than average, the photographer who took them should be able to charge higher prices than average, too.

But even Denis Reggie, the founder of wedding photojournalism and a photographer whose client list has included John Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, as well as Alan Greenspan, Ted Turner, Paula Abdul and a host of other celebrities, offers prices that start below $5,000.

That may be a higher price than average, but the client list, experience and Reggie’s own place in the development of wedding photography all go a long way towards justifying it.

To charge high-end prices, a wedding photographer needs to have a tangible reason. For Reggie, it’s a long celebrity client list that helps to deliver trust: if Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger were willing to hire him, then he must be good enough to justify the price.

For other photographers, it might be the market. A photographer with a studio in Beverly Hills or New York will be able to find more clients willing to pay higher fees than a photographer working in an area with low incomes.

It Takes More Than Talent

Rarely, though, can the quality of the images alone help to justify high prices — if only because clients aren’t always capable of seeing the differences between good wedding photos and the very best wedding photos.

Clients aren’t photographic connoisseurs. They just want to make sure that they hire a photographer who delivers beautiful pictures that remind them of their wedding day.

Good photography is always going to be vital for the success of a photographer’s career, but it must earn the photographer a reputation before the prices can start to rise. It’s not a good idea to rely on the wedding couple’s ability to spot a rare photographic talent as a way of persuading them to pay rare prices.

Personality can be as important an element in choosing a photographer as talent. Clients want photographers who are easy to work with and who won’t get in the way of the day’s proceedings. If they’re also fun and bring energy to the wedding, so much the better.

None of these caveats mean that you shouldn’t aspire to charge a premium for your wedding photography. But you’ll need to offer more than just great photos to justify your prices and win the jobs.

Tomorrow: Creating wedding photography packages

James Cavanaugh recently posed this question to members of LinkedIn’s ASMP group: “A client wants you to create photographs that they can use on social sites so they can ‘go viral’ to promote their company. It means potentially countless people may use your copyrighted work. How would you approach such a request?”

I suggest handling the job as an all-rights assignment. Forget about copyright. Make sure you earn enough from the assignment to cover your costs, overhead and profit. Since it is highly unlikely that your name will remain attached to social network uses, do not discount your price based on some imagined promotional value.

And do not worry about — or expect to earn anything from — residuals, but do retain the right to license other non-exclusive rights to use the images.

There is no way we will ever control the use of imagery made available on social network sites, so stop agonizing over it, accept the paradigm shift of our industry and adapt to the new reality.

You have two choices. Either establish a fee that makes it worthwhile to produce the images without any hope of residuals, or refuse to do the job. Do not factor in, in any way, a potential value for residual use of the images.

Calculating Your Fee

There is a simple formula for calculating what the fee should be. First look at all your overhead expenses to operate your business, not counting expenses specifically applicable to shooting various jobs. Assume $75,000.

Add what you need in take-home pay before taxes. Assume another $75,000.

Thus, the jobs you produce need to generate $150,000 annually.

Now, estimate how many jobs you will be able to do in a year given the pre- and post-production time and marketing time involved with each one. Let’s say 100.

Divide the number of jobs into the total you need to produce, and you get an average of $1,500 per job.

You should charge that fee per job, plus all the expenses related to the particular job. (Obviously, your own numbers may be higher or lower than these illustrative figures.)

Some jobs will take a lot longer than others. If the job is not going to take much time you might want to charge less, but when thinking about time involved do not forget pre- and post-production time, waiting time and travel. For those jobs that take a lot longer or are a lot more complicated, you want to charge proportionately more than your calculated average.

In some cases, you will want to take into account the value the customer will receive from using the images produced and add appropriate fees — for example, charging more if the images are to be used in a major ad.

Retaining Future Usage Rights

If the original customer is paying the full cost of producing the image, why retain the right to license other non-exclusive rights to use the image? Because there may be future opportunities to do so despite the wide distribution through social networking.

Do not count on the revenue such situations will bring — but do not preclude it, either.

For instance, someone may need a large file for a poster, a billboard or an ad, and you can license a non-exclusive use for such a purpose. You can also place the images into an online database where customers may find them easily. They will pay to use such images, even when the images are also available for free on a lot of social network sites, because they do not necessarily know about such sites or cannot easily find the image on them.

Keep in mind that some images on microstock sites have been downloaded more than 16,000 times — at microstock prices. Certainly, those images have been used occasionally on social network sites and your customers could find and use them without paying. But despite this fact, 16,000 customers have been willing to pay something to use these images.

The main reason they are willing to pay is that they are able to find the right image easily. But when they buy rather than steal the image, its creator benefits.

There is a good chance that any image you post on a microstock site will never earn more than a few dollars, but whatever it earns is additional profit — the proverbial icing on the cake — because you have already been fully compensated for the cost of producing the images.

Regardless of whether or not you try in some way to generate residual sales, the important thing is to not depend, in any way, on such income to support your business or your lifestyle.

A colleague specializing in travel photography recently asked me about my photography projects. I told him that one of my projects was designing and producing all the communication materials for an art exhibit: catalogues, posters, street banners, mail invitations, video, viral communication, and — oh yes — photography.

My fellow photographer reacted in awe; it was not what he expected to hear. But I think expanding your creative horizons, and broadening your business, is a smart path for many of us to consider today.

The Opportunity

In this case, I became involved with the art exhibit project about a year ago. A friend named Eva Basile — an artist and textile design teacher — had the idea to organize a touring exhibit of artist feltmakers from around the world.

The project has gathered the forces of three major organizations that deal with the medium of felt: Coordinamento Tessitori in Italy, FilzNetzwerk e.V. in Germany and the International Feltmakers Association, based in the U.K.

From the start, we used photography to set high standards for the project. A well-done photo is the best business card any venture can have. It immediately leaves the impression that you are committed to quality and that your exhibit will demonstrate the same level of professionalism.

We delivered two shots per art piece to be used in association with the event, with and without the graycard for proper white balancing and color conversion. We worked directly with the catalogue publisher to ensure the final product would be right for the exhibit.

Next, we organized the work and the schedule for a promotional video, from filming to editing.

We also managed the use of social networks, including YouTube, Facebook groups and events, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Doing It All

Many photographers have valuable skills that extend beyond taking pictures. For the most part, we are professionals used to working under pressure and tight deadlines, which makes us well suited to manage projects.

As storytellers, we have the vision to develop communication plans and implement them in ways that connect with people.

Granted, not all of us have the same skills and interests. So start by analyzing what you do well, or what you believe you would do well given the opportunity. Then, assess how these talents might fill needs for your clients — and package your offerings accordingly.

Finally, always follow your passions. That will ensure your path is a coherent, and happy, one.

As I unpacked my gear at a recent photo shoot for a local publication, I suddenly flew into panic mode: I realized I had left my card wallet on my workstation 30 minutes away.

Then I remembered that I had a 2GB compact flash card in my glove compartment. I took a deep breath as a relieved smile spread across my face.

Ah, the comfort of having a backup plan.

Five Tips for Backing Up Your Business

Back in the days when I shot film for newspapers, I always kept a couple of rolls in my glove box — just in case I had to cover an accident or came upon a newsworthy scene. Fortunately for me, I carried this habit into the digital age.

Here are five tips for creating a backup plan for your photography business:

1. Back up images during shoots. Backing up your photos while in studio or on location is good practice. I always dump my photos onto my laptop during sessions. I also make another copy on an external hard drive. This way, I have three sets of photos when I finish the shoot — one on the cards, one on the laptop and another on the external hard drive. External hard drives aren’t very expensive, so be sure to invest in one and take it on all your shoots.
2. Back up your archived images. Hard drives will crash; it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” When backing up my images, I go by the 3-2-1 rule – three sets of backups on two different media types, along with one off-site backup. There are a number of good solutions out there; options include hardware-based systems or uploading your files to server space. The key is to make multiple copies in different locations.
3. Back up your e-mail online. A few years back I set up a Gmail account to receive and archive copies of all my e-mails. It’s free for up to 7GB of server space and simple to set up. To keep clutter down, I’ve created filters that sort and/or block different kinds of e-mails. It’s a great way to keep an electronic paper trail, which is important to every business. It’s also easy to access on the go and doesn’t clog my hard drive.
4. Back up your data online. Many inexpensive services are available today to let you back up your data remotely. With most of them, you can upload any file type and then access it from your desktop, laptop or mobile device. It’s a great way to transfer large files to your clients without cutting into your bandwidth. I just upload a zip file and send the link to my client, who can then download the file. It also saves on shipping CDs or DVDs to clients.
5. Copyright your images. The ultimate backup plan — lasting, legal protection for your work. This was my New Year’s resolution, and I am happy to say I have been sticking with it. Once you incorporate the copyright process into your workflow, it’s quick and easy to do. Go here for more information about registering your photos; you’ll be glad you did.

Any other tips from your own experience? Feel free to post them in comments.

One of the toughest things for a photographer to do is to say “no” to new business, even if it’s a bad deal. Especially in today’s environment, your prospective clients have an arsenal of pick-up lines — ranging from sweet talk to coy bluffs — to make bad deals sound like good ones.

Here are some examples of client sweet talk:

• “It will be great exposure for you with the right people;”
• “If things go well, it will lead to paid opportunities with us down the road;”
• “It will add another dimension to your portfolio.”

Here are some examples of client bluffs:

• “If you don’t want to do it for us for free, I know several others who will;”
• “My uncle has a digital camera and can shoot it if you don’t want to;”
• “All our photographers give us unlimited usage rights;”
• “If you’re not interested, we can just find something on a stock site.”

If you heard the equivalent of any of these pick-up lines at a bar, you would turn them down flat, wouldn’t you? So why fall for them in your professional life?

Not a Good Trade

Recently, a publication approached me about an assignment. When we got down to talking about compensation, they said they couldn’t pay me in cash, but would give me free ad space in return for my work.

That sounded OK — until I did a little investigating and learned that this was their standard offer to everybody who shot for them. So my ad would be running next to those of several other photographers, clearly diminishing its value.

I turned down the gig.

It occurred to me that this episode is symbolic of what’s happening to the photography market today. We are being pitted against one another in a way that diminishes opportunities for all of us.

Granted, we have all felt the pinch of smaller budgets, microstock photography and a less-than-stellar economy. But you’re not helping anyone — especially yourself — by abandoning common sense when it comes to compensation.

Don’t let clients walk all over you. If the terms and compensation they’re offering sound like a bad deal, they are a bad deal — no matter how much lipstick they try to slap on the pig.

Photographers now have another option for spending their hard-earned advertising dollars. Last week Twitter announced Promoted Tweets, a service that finally moves them into the paid advertising space. Is this service one that photographers should seriously consider? And how does it compare to current advertising options such as Google AdWords and Facebook?

How It Works

Initially the service will act as a sponsored search. When you search on a keyword, the top return on the search results page (and only the top return) will be a sponsored tweet and will update as the page results do. The advertiser that paid the most for that keyword will be the one presented.

Nick O’Neill of SocialTimes has put together a quick video demo of the service:

Twitter plans to roll out Promoted Tweets slowly and monitor its performance and resonance. Future phases of the product will include a roll-out to Twitter clients, and we may see their display beyond search results into users’ feeds during the fourth quarter.

The Cost of Keywords

Twitter’s concept is for advertisers to bid on keywords on a cost-per-thousand basis, similar to other online advertising models. A slight difference is the development of a performance model that would be the basis for pricing based on resonance.

“Resonance” reflects how well the tweet is accepted by the public — how it is passed around, retweeted and favorited, as well as its click-through performance. Sponsored tweets that have high resonance will stay in the cycle, while those with lower metrics will fall out.

The Twitter revenue model is “not just about us. It’s about you if you choose to participate in that.”

– Evan Williams, Twitter CEO

We can attempt to estimate the costs Twitter will charge per keyword by comparing existing price structures on Google and Facebook.

For example, the keyword Washington DC Wedding Photographer on Google AdWords has a suggested bid of $2.60, with an average of 142 monthly searches. To target “Wedding Photography in DC” on Facebook, the site suggests a .60-.81 CPC or .28 CPM to target Washington, D.C., residents in an engaged status interested in weddings, which would reach an estimated 460 people.

One issue with this comparison is that the opportunities for ads on Google and Facebook are much greater than Twitter, at least at this stage.

Until Twitter adds Promoted Tweets to user feeds, these ads will only be available at the top of search results at Twitter.com, and only one at a time. Evan Williams reported that Twitter receives 600 million search queries a day, but no word on how many of these were served from Twitter.com or through API calls, where Promoted Tweets will not appear until a future phase.

The current implementation has the likelihood of creating major competition and increased prices for high-performing keywords.

Twitter ranking service TweetUp announced another option for keyword bidding last week.

At TweetUp, people can bid on key words or phrases to push their Twitter profile or posts to the top of TweetUp’s rankings. Bids begin at one cent, and people will pay each time their profile or a post shows up in a search. TweetUp post rankings, both paid and relevant, will appear in services such as Seesmic, TwitterFeed and Twidroid and in search bars on Web sites like Answers.com and BusinessInsider.com.

Should Photographers Buy Promoted Tweets?

In most cases, the early bird gets the worm. I expect the early adopters from the photography community will be the likes of Scott Kelby and David Ziser, both of whom obtain revenue beyond clicking the shutter. We will be able to learn from their efforts and adjust ours accordingly.

The early advertisements may not promote photography services at all, but rather products along the lines of training, books, Webinars and those that are not restricted by geographical boundaries. Twitter is making strides in improving their location functions; once this is more mature, I expect to see more advertising of photography services like weddings, portraits, etc.

As Aaron Hockley said on his Social Photo Podcast, photographers should devote their time and effort (and money) where their clients are.

A wedding photographer would do well on Facebook, where there is a large number of 20-something bride-to-be’s. A corporate photographer would probably find his best clientele online at a social network like LinkedIn. While Twitter has a good mix of clientele, it is heavily used by technology savvy people — which is a good target for photographers that provide technical event coverage or start-up marketing material production.

Must you spend money on Promoted Tweets to be effective on Twitter? No, the strength of Twitter for promotion continues to be the viral experience of retweets to increase your number of followers. It is a proven fact that a solid Twitter marketing strategy combined with a well-designed and updated blog can improve lead opportunities for small to midsize businesses.

Our goal is to make Twitter a tool for finding what people care about, not just more information.

– Evan Williams

Time will tell.

After spending a substantial part of my 20s making repeated self-financed trips to Asia from my native Australia, I made the decision to relocate for a year or two. I figured I would save money that way, while minimizing the usual travel frustrations. I chose Taiwan — for no other reason than I had a friend who lived here.

Well, it’s seven years later and I’m still here. I’m married to a Taiwanese citizen and living life as an expatriate cultural and travel photographer.

I’ll confess that living as an expat, particularly in a culture that is markedly different from my own, can be frustrating. But it also offers unique rewards that more than offset the disadvantages.

Language, Banking and Other Challenges

The biggest challenge, and one I face on a daily basis, is one of language. Simply put, my Chinese stinks. Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language and, as evidenced by my failed attempts at playing guitar in high school, I am tone deaf.

I’m fine for basic things like shopping, ordering food, travel and so forth, but for anything more than that, I’m lost. Trying to get an old rice farmer to understand what a model release is when you can’t speak the language is not exactly easy.

And that’s just speaking and listening. Reading is even harder and writing tougher still.

There are advantages in my ignorance, though. A lot of people, particularly older ones, don’t really expect foreigners to be literate and often go out of their way to help, showing infinite friendliness and patience as they do.

When I do need to be able to communicate over an extended shoot, I can always hire a university student to serve as interpreter. It’s easy money for them.

I’d love to learn the language, of course. Unfortunately, most people tell me that I’ll need to make a four to five hour daily commitment for a couple of years just to achieve basic literacy. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do that and also run a business.

Speaking of business, banking as an expat is fraught with difficulties, too. There are no provisions for Internet banking in English, it’s extremely difficult to get credit or debit cards if you’re not a citizen, and even conducting simple transactions can take a very long time.

Patience isn’t just a virtue. It’s a necessity.

Fortunately, there are ATMs in every 7-Eleven and McDonald’s, so I use these for as much of my banking as possible.

Appreciating Access

For all the challenges (and there are many others) of being an expat, there are myriad advantages, too. For example, Taiwan is very open to photographers and appreciative of the work of international photographers.

With an incredibly free press, a dozen 24/7 domestic cable news stations and as many daily newspapers in a country of 23 million, people and institutions here are comfortable with media access. Some of the images the public sees could never be printed in the United States — much less on page one above the fold.

As an expat, I’ve benefited from the desire of the Taiwanese to be reported on internationally. They are justifiably proud of how quickly their island has progressed from a one-party state under martial law to an open democracy. And so, whenever I’m at a news event, they always bring the foreigner to the front.

I’ve been able to photograph the current president of Taiwan, plus two former presidents (one of whom is now serving a life sentence for corruption), as well as city and county mayors, all without needing any kind of security check.

On one occasion, in fact, one of the security officials saw me, called me over and cleared a path through the crowd so that I could get closer. On another occasion, a bodyguard told me the route the president would walk and showed me the best place to stand before the TV crews claimed it.

I’ve received access to trade shows and conventions, backstage areas, sporting events and all kinds of other venues — simply by handing over my business card.

If only the banks were that easy to work with.

(The following is adapted from 99 Ways to Make Money from Your Photos, by the editors of Photopreneur.)

With the iPhone, you can promote your photography anytime, anywhere. Meet someone at a party and tell them you’re a photographer, and when they ask you what you shoot, you’ll be able to whip out your phone and show them, explaining at the same time how you achieved the shot and why the images are important.

The easiest way to create an iPhone-based picture portfolio is to create a folder called “portfolio” on your computer, stuff it with your best photos and upload it to your iPhone. But that’s not going to be too impressive, and anyone you show it to will wonder why you’re walking around with your best images on your mobile phone.

That approach also only works if you have your iPhone in hand to show off your pictures — rather than simply directing your prospect to a Web site accessible from their own phone.

Optimizing for iPhone

You’re much better off optimizing your photography Web site for the iPhone’s small screen. That means using big buttons instead of small text links, aligning everything horizontally so that browsers can scroll through your images by simply moving their finger, and ditching any flash-y or complex programming that might frighten the iPhone Safari’s inner workings.

A decent Web programmer should be able to do this for you — for a fee. Here’s an example of an artist who did it herself.

As Dani Jones describes her experience:

When speaking about artists’ websites, an art director recently made a comment that caught my attention – he is annoyed when he can’t view them on his iPhone … You never know what potential clients are out there, and what they are using to view your work.

The use of iPhones and other mobile phones is on the rise, and artists should always be thinking of ways to make it easier for clients to access their work … It was a fun experiment and it didn’t take long to create at all. I know it will make at least one art director happy, so that alone is worth it.

If you don’t want to go the custom route, you can also buy an off-the-shelf solution like Small Folio. For $49, as Small Folio puts it:

Setting up Small Folio is a snap. Just edit a simple config file, edit your text, and drop in some images. Small Folio does the rest. You can even add detection to your home page–visitors to your site will then be redirected to your Small Folio site automatically.

An even lower-cost solution is The Turning Gate’s iPhone Portfolio. It’s only five bucks.

The Easy Part

Ultimately, to show off your photos while you’re downing the canapes at someone else’s exhibition opening, you need three things: a great portfolio; someone worth showing it to; and a Web site that’s been designed specifically for the iPhone.

If you’ve got the first two, the iPhone-optimized site should be the easy part. Don’t let it be what’s holding you back.

One morning you wake up, and it’s facing you. Everything you took for granted and that made your life comfortable is suddenly gone. Probably forever. Welcome to the economy of fear.

Your formerly cozy job, which once brought you a new batch of creative challenges every day, now brings you a daily dose of doubt and uncertainty. From photo editors who are not sure how long they will keep their jobs, to staff newspaper photojournalists who could be shooting their last images, everyone is living in fear.

In the last decade, the photo industry has pivoted from an economy of wealth and abundance to an economy of fear. It is not so much about talent, creativity or effectiveness anymore. It’s about who can scare the other into submission.

Decision-Making Based on Fear

Pricing for example, is no longer based on usage, or talent, or even level of professionalism. It is based on the fear that someone else could price it lower and thus take the sale.

Whether assignment or stock, images are priced on how high they can go before losing out to the competition; these days, that is not high. Photo editors negotiate with the “I can get it cheaper” stick raised overhead — forcing photographers and agencies into fearful submission. There is little conversation about quality anymore.

The fear factor goes beyond pricing. Companies like Getty Images approach and retain photographers on fear. If you do not work with Getty, they claim, your images will never be published. If you work for a competing agency, you will never work for Getty, and so on.

It’s a bit like Walmart’s infamous strong-arming of its suppliers: “We own the market, we own you.” Some Walmart suppliers, by the way, have been forced into bankruptcy, because they were forced into unsustainable low pricing.

Stock shooters fear the ever-growing crowd of microstockers. Photo agencies fear other photo agencies. Wedding photographers fear lower-cost wedding photographers. Photo editors fear their bosses. Publishers fear the future.

On top of that, almost everybody fears Orphan Works, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the government, new technology, and in some cases, even their car.

Recently, an image-matching company released a report saying that eight out of 10 images appearing on commercial Web sites are being used “non-legitimately,” offering their service as a solution. Fear as a selling strategy. If I scare you enough, will you buy my product?

Magic Potions and Security Blankets — for a Fee

When the future is uncertain, like it currently is in the photo world and elsewhere, it is natural to be worried and scared. No one can seriously say today that they know for sure where they will be five years from now.

However, for companies, or individuals, to capitalize on that fear, to use it as their primary bargaining tool is despicable. It is like pushing down on the head of a drowning person with the promise of saving them. A false promise.

Photography does not live well under fear. Creativity gets lost and conformity becomes the norm. Snake charmers invade the land with their make-believe magic potions, orators take to the podiums to agitate more fear and offer their security blankets — for a fee. Opportunists see opportunities to make deals that defy reason, well aware that fear is a powerful logic sedative.

We are going to see a lot of decisions driven by fear this year and next, mostly creating poor results for our industry. We’ll see a lot of people jumping off cliffs in order to avoid the fire. But mostly, we will see a lot of fear-smellers taking advantage of the situation.

Last in a series.

OK, so now you have almost completed your photography marketing plan. You have defined your business, your product, your place, and how to promote yourself. You are ready to go.

Except for one last question. How much should you charge?

Pricing is undoubtedly the most deceptively simple task that most photographers face. Setting prices too high will drive clients away, as we all know. On the other hand, setting prices too low leads to working too hard for too little.

Believe me, there are thousands of photographers who have gone out of business despite having shoots scheduled every day of the week. They just didn’t make enough money from them to get by.

Price for Profitability

Ultimately, you can be successful with either high prices or low prices, depending on what you’re selling. It’s not about price so much as maximizing profit (also known as income minus expenses). This can be done by selling more units at a lower price, or selling fewer units at a higher price.

As a photographer, if you are selling your services, you generally want to command as high a price as possible while still filling your schedule. That’s because you are a limited resource; there are only so many “units” of your time you can sell.

On the other hand, if you are a microstock photographer, the key to success is volume, so lower prices make more sense. If you are selling prints, you could go with either high prices or low prices, depending on your subject matter and your target clientele.

Researching the Competition

When setting your prices, a good place to start is with research. Study the pricing of the photographers in your area who offer similar services. This will give you an idea of the customary price, or what customers expect to pay.

Pricing yourself above the going rate may lead to fewer clients, but if you can prove your value or experience, or package your services in a compelling way, you can earn more money and establish yourself as offering premium services in your area.

Pricing yourself below the going rate is a strategy that many photographers use when starting out — but it can be a trap if you’re not careful. Too often, when you start low, you are never able to raise your prices to a reasonable level.

Why? Because once you establish yourself as a “cheap” photographer, that’s why people come to you. The referrals you get are from customers who do you the dubious favor of proclaiming: “Yes, I know a good photographer — and he’s really inexpensive.”

What the Market Will Bear

Another factor to think about in setting your prices is elasticity. This is the amount of stretch a client is willing to give in their purchase price.

For example, if the customary price of an 8″ x 10″ print in your area is $25, a client may be willing to pay you $27.50 — but if you raise your price to $30, they may consider another photographer. Elasticity plays a part in the annual (or more frequent) reconsideration of pricing, and as you compare your rates to those of other photographers.

Finally, don’t forget to think about your own costs when setting your prices. If you charge $900 for a day’s work, a good rule of thumb is to assume that $300 of that will go to the government, $300 to your costs, and you will pocket the last $300. Your costs include more than the cost of materials. They include studio expenses like rent and utilities; advertising costs; equipment and repair costs; memberships and insurance; assistants; gas and travel; and so on.

Some photographers price their services on a cost-plus basis. They estimate their costs for a typical wedding shoot, for example, and then add X percent for profit, and then charge that price. That’s fine for making sure your costs are covered, but it’s not the best way to optimize profits. You should set your prices based on the maximum your market will bear, rather than the minimum you would be satisfied with.

The End — and the Beginning!

This concludes my series on writing a photography marketing plan. We’ve covered a lot of ground, from mission statements to SWOT analyses, target markets to the four Ps. While far from exhaustive, I hope this overview has been beneficial to you.

Now, get out there and start marketing your photography business!

Ninth in a series.

Finally, in part nine of this series, we get to promotion — which most people think of first when they hear the word “marketing.” There’s a reason we waited this long: it’s best to know what to say, and whom to say it to, before you break out your bullhorn.

Promotion is how you inform, persuade and remind your potential photography clients about your products and services. There are four primary means of promoting your wares: advertising, public relations, sales promotion and personal selling.

Four Kinds of Promotion

Here’s a quick overview of each:

1. Advertising. This is paid, non-personal communication through a medium with the hope of informing or persuading members of a particular audience. It can be about your business as a whole, or a particular product or offering. When advertising, your choice of media is important. For instance, newspapers offer a short turnaround time and daily exposure. Magazines deliver a more targeted audience — and have higher production quality, which is important to ads by photographers. Web advertising can be extremely well-targeted — but sometimes so much so that you wonder if anyone has seen your ad at all. When choosing a medium, it is important to consider the cost per contact, frequency of the ad, the reach of the ad, and the selectivity of the exposure.
2. Public relations. When you think of public relations, you probably think of sending out press releases or asking a reporter at the local newspaper to write a story about you. Public relations is much broader than that, however; it encompasses all your efforts (other than advertising) to create an image for your brand with your audiences. Teaching a photography class or donating a portrait session to charity are examples of public relations. So is blogging. While public relations activities are inexpensive compared to advertising, they generally take more time and effort.
   

3. Sales promotions. These are short-term incentives designed to motivate prospects to purchase immediately, either by lowering price or adding value. Typical tools for sales promotion are coupons, rebates, premiums, loyalty programs, frequent buyer programs, sampling or free merchandise. For example, a photographer might offer a premium of a 8″x10″ print with the purchase of a sitting, or give away an engagement session in order to book a wedding. It works with channel partners, too; you might give away free photography to a bridal store in return for referrals.
4. Personal selling. In some businesses, products can be sold on advertising or sales promotions alone; you see an ad, go to a Web site and — click — make the purchase. That’s not the way it is for photography services. Photographers generally must do some personal selling to earn new clients. That means generating and qualifying leads, approaching prospects and probing their needs, developing or proposing solutions, handling objections, closing the sale and following up.

Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse

You can find endless advice on the Web about each of these promotional techniques. The trick, though, is to not put the cart before the horse in your marketing efforts.

Promotion is only one part of the marketing plan — and it can only succeed if you’ve got the other parts down pat. The most creative advertisement or best-written press release in the world will fall flat if it’s not selling the right product to the right audience.

Next: marketing mix — price