Budgets

Q:

All my work so far has been just me or me and one assistant. I want to start building up to bigger productions. It makes sense to start with a personal test project or two to expand my portfolio, practice working under new conditions, make connections with possible crew members, etc. How do I gradually build up my productions, and in what order should I start adding crew, e.g., prop & wardrobe stylists, HMU, digital tech, producer, etc.? Or does that depend on the specifics of each job?

A:

Production Value is one of our highest industry-level rating metric systems controlling photographers’ careers. Why? Clients want to know what to predict if they hire you. They want to see proof that you can control the outcome of their project and not leave it to a moment of chance. In saying that, we must also incorporate the market’s popular trends toward a natural editorial feel of “realness.” Aside from having a consistent, steady message in your overall portfolio, commercial advertising requires high-quality styling. Whether it’s food, hair/makeup, wardrobe, or props – stylists are the #1 factor in raising the production value of a photographer’s portfolio.

Q:

How should I spend my marketing budget this year?

I have two options:

1) I have a listing agent who reaches out to specific clients.

2) I can do online or in-person portfolio reviews.

Neither one is cheap, but I can commit to doing at least one of them this year, and would like to, as I’m trying to land at least one more corporate or ad client this year. I’m also hoping to expand my reach, and not always be hired locally/regionally.

A:

SternRep’s Marketing Budget Formula is the overall breakdown of the available imagery placed in all potential places attracting the attention of potential clients.

We call this combo- InReach and OutReach; working in tandem. Our marketing budget covers our time and hiring help in all areas, used to gain insightful feedback on what works.

InReach:

Step one – updating quick + easy landing spots (website, IG + BeHance) for clients to see/find the work.

Step two – consistent content creation show-pieces for LinkedIn posts, promos, portfolio pdf, IG Reels, articles/blogs for SEO, etc., all drawing traffic to landing spots.

OutReach:

Step one – personal and mass engaging on all platforms generated by the timely content we have to show.

Step two – setting up reviews/meetings/showings/calls taking the connection a step further.

Step three – follow-up across all mediums on a well-scheduled system.

Q:

My name is XXXXXX, and I’m a food photographer. I want to know how you can tell the difference between a serious client vs. someone who is just shopping around. Is there a question I can ask, so I’m not just wasting my time?

A:

I have found this “shopping around” of low-budget clients happens mostly for food photographers found on Google. Start-ups without an ad agency or marketing team expect photographers to do the creative work for them, so it’s up to us to quickly find out if they can afford us. Normally we base our costs on the project’s information, but with these calls, I go in reverse and give them a budget range to see if we should continue in the mad sleuth process of digging into their shot list, backgrounds, surfaces, etc. My line is, “Sounds like a fun project that may run somewhere between 10k to 30k, depending on your shot list. Let me know when you have the specifics so I can run this by our food stylist to see how many images can happen per day.” 

For more specific ideas addressing these types of “blind bid” requests, go to www.asksternrep.com – https://asksternrep.com/2022/01/19/dont-waste-time-doing-estimates-with-information-we-dont-have/

and this one – https://asksternrep.com/2021/12/22/is-this-estimate-request-worth-your-time/

Q:

I’m raising my prices for the upcoming year. Should the increase be the same for all clients, so everyone pays the same? Or should the old client’s loyalty be taken into consideration? What about clients who just became clients this year?

A:

Sustaining an ongoing business depends on constant reevaluation matching our financial intake to the reality of the cost of living. Times change, so we business owners have to change with it. Mostly, we need to stay aware of the cost of living and the current rates for our expenses. Mileage rates, meals, and electricity bills all affect our business costs. What are rental studios charging for equipment? What are assistant rates and Digi Tech’s capture package costs now? Old or new client budgets may affect bidding situations, but overall we should be charging what we need to run a solid long-term business. 

Q:

A client returned to purchase a second round of images I shot for them. They would not pay me to retouch this 2nd batch of images because it was cheaper for them to outsource the post work. Now the images are live and online without any retouching or color correction… What could I say next time to prevent this from happening again?

A:

I don’t mean to be harsh, but the only thing you can do about this is offer cheaper retouching or request that your name not be associated with the images. Depending on their contractual terms, you can retouch them your way and show them off on your site and IG. Other than that, they have full rights to retouch/crop/manipulate the images you shot any way they choose. 

When we get bid requests asking for our price, but they don’t have the project information, I hear, “I don’t do this often, I don’t know how this works, and I expect you to do most of our job – so inform us what our $500-$3000 budget will get us.”

Four ways I respond:

1. I cannot give a cost without more information. 
2. It sounds like this will end up being between 10k-30k, give or take some, depending on your job specifics. 
3. This may be at least 10k, so we can discuss this to get more exact if that is near your budget. 
4. I am available to help create this job for you, and here are my option ideas to git within the 3-8k budget or the 10-12k budget range. 

When offered an exciting job for a low budget, you can always offer your time and usage licensing for a discounted rate while having the client handle all production. If you feel you can create high-quality images, these jobs require clear terms of what you are and NOT including. 

Sample Negotiation:

Client: How much would it be to shoot this?

You: I don’t have enough information to give you an accurate price. What is your budget?

Client: We have $2000. 

You: For a $3500 discounted rate, I would do this for one month of social media for four final images within an 8 hour shoot day, and that does not include any production expenses only my time. 

Knowing the client’s budget, I like to sneak in $500 more to get as much as possible without my response risk being too high. My response is to stay within their playing field but still do my job to get us paid as much as possible. 

Q:

I always put the terms “excluding outdoor and broadcast” on my estimates and invoices. Now a client wants to use the images for Broadcast. Do you have a rough idea of what Broadcast usage would be? What does Getty quote for it?

A:

The only reason to fill the usage terms of what is excluded would be to educate a client who may not know much about licensing rights or as a teaser to encourage them to use it for OOH or Broadcast. Legally, they can only use it for what you are granting them. Getty may have something you can look at on their site, but I don’t use it. All fees are random as there is no set amount for Broadcast or others. I’ve seen fees go across the board, so I hate to rely on one set of numbers. Broadcast is large, so you can double or triple what they paid in usage for the other usage. I find negotiating tactics are the real answer to these questions because it depends on the client’s budget.

Q:

What is the importance of a “one-sheet” attachment promo in an email sent to a potential client? How many images and should this promo include any descriptive text about the images, background/bio, pitch, etc., or should all of the text be in the body of the email?

A:

When saying hello in an email, it can be good to have a fast visual sampling looking like it belongs in that email. The key to a one-sheet promo is that it’s a quick relatable read of a small number of images only, not needing that extra step of being clicked to open.