Photography Business | Photocrati

Keywording for Fun and Profit

One of the markets I’ve only recently started exploring for my own work is the stock photography market. It’s a challenging and arguably declining market, but in these financial types I can’t afford to ignore any way I can supplement my photographic income. One of the most parts of getting work ready for stock is keywording, putting together a list of search terms that potential customers might use to find your work. In this post, I’ll talk about a few things to remember when keywording images for stock sites. (more…)

Working for “The Man”

I’ll be the first to admit, I see photographers do shoots in exotic locations, shooting beautiful models or covering major sporting events and yes I get a little envious but there is something to be said for being a corporate photographer. First – the steady paycheck and benefits are nice, tuition reimbursement, paid time off is also nice and now and then an interesting assignment comes your way, like flying in a helicopter with the Army or freezing my butt off in the second largest wind tunnel in the country – NASA tops the list. But with all the nice things about being a corporate shooter there are as many downsides to this type of photography.
Where do I begin”¦. (more…)

More on Value Propositions

In a previous article, I touched briefly on Value Propositions, and talked about how to develop one. I’d like to go into more detail, thanks to Joe Pici.

In review, a value proposition should focus on outcomes, and be result-oriented:

talk about outcomes not products and services
tie results to critical business issues
tie results to personal issues

(more…)

Now is a great time to start a…

… insert venture here.

It could be a photography business (or expansion of an existing business,) maybe a magazine or newspaper, maybe a creative services company or a consulting firm. Things are tough all over and everybody is re-evaluating their budgets and plans. That spells opportunity. (more…)

How many is too many?

I read somewhere recently that the fewer images you show your clients, the more sales you will make.

I think about this a lot. I think about it pretty much every time I’m putting together images from a session to show a client.

Let’s say that we shoot an engagement session together and from that session I have 200 images. On the first pass I’ll probably narrow that number down to about 80. On the second pass I’ll begin to drop images that are in the same style and the same pose ( there’s no reason to have 12 images of a couple sitting the exact same way.) By the time I’m done I might have 30 to 50 images left to show.

Is that too many? I think that if you asked a lot of photographers most of them would say “yes.” But, here’s my problem: I don’t think I have ever shown a selection of images to a client where the client didn’t pick out at least one image that I personally think is not good. (more…)

Selling for Photographers – Part 2

Preparing for the Sale

The next step is to actually make sure you’re ready for the approach, and the ultimate sale. Do you have business cards ready? Contracts? Your calendar? Nothing turns off a potential customer quicker than an unprepared salesperson. They are trusting you to take their money and deliver a product – and if you seem “off” or flaky in any way, they would prefer to not give you money.

You should develop scripts – for the phone, and for in person. You will stick with these scripts as much as possible. You will refine them over time, yes, but for now you practice them until the words roll smoothly.

“All the world is a stage “¦” – Shakespeare (more…)

Social networking for photographers

Most of the posts here so far have been done as articles, in other words one sided lectures as opposed to discussions. I’d like this to be more of an open ended discussion, please share your experiences and ideas for making social networking work. (more…)

What clients want.

Photography from the clients’ point of view.
by Jen Buchanan, Design Partner of Buchanan Studios, Inc.

I’m not a photographer, but I do work with them. I’m a Graphic Designer and I occasionally get the chance to hire photographers. It doesn’t happen very often, usually due to budgets. In my time as a designer I’ve learned several things about creative professionals and how they work. I’ve got a few tips for photographers on how to make the whole process run more smoothly and help ensure repeat business. True, I’ve dealt mostly with commercial photographers, but I think these tips will work for most anyone. (more…)

Truth in advertising

I’ll admit that “truth in advertising” is a bit of a contradiction in terms. But one of the great advantages, as well as responsiblities, of photography is that most people view photos as representations of reality. Or at least they do on a subconscious level. Those of us in the industry, and certainly anyone who’s spent 7 hours making a shrimp cocktail look just right, know that reality is flexible. Deciding how flexible is where you can get into trouble. (more…)

Who’s in charge?

If you’re new to the wedding game you’ll soon discover that there is someone in charge at every wedding. You may think you know who that person is, they signed a contract, they paid you money, they are picking out the products… but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in charge. No, the person that you’re working for is, to quote the movie “Swingers” the guy, behind the guy, behind the guy. 99% of the time it’s the mother of the bride. (more…)