Clients

TOP 10 SECRETS

TO SUCCESS WITH @ASKSTERNREP

1. Create a cohesive body of work with a consistent style
2. Know your niche and know your market. Who are your clients?
3. Market yourself. Consistently and tenaciously, and in a way that is aligned with your brand and goals. 
4. Know what you’re good at and delegate what you’d rather not do.
5. Ask for help. There’s no shame in needing help or asking for it. 
6. Be a good business person. Manage your time with discipline based on your priorities. 
7. TEST outside your box. Be hungry. Hustle. Stay fresh with the times. Your portfolio should not just be the jobs you have shot, it should be the jobs you want to shoot. 
8. Social Media. In these times, as a pro image creator, being on IG is a must, as your 2nd portfolio has its type of library. 
9. Money. Know how to negotiate or have a rep help you.
10. Enjoy it!

Q:

I wanted to know how I can get good feedback from a company that didn’t hire me. I just lost a bid, and that’s fine, but I’d love to know if it was more than not being the lowest cost.

A:

In our freelance business, we should learn how our bidding affects us. Take on the challenge to kindly ask the right questions to the right client after a job is awarded or lost. I’ve gathered the best info from clients by pinpointing specific closed-ended questions, hoping for a quick and easy answer. Example: Did I lose this because I was too high, or was this a creative decision, or both? 

Q:

How do I leverage this abundance of accolades and high-end client work to get more exposure? My past mailers and hand-curated marketing promos have yielded a 3% response rate, and I must say I’m a bit frustrated. 

A:

Emails in general seem to be a dying breed, pushing us to figure out new ways to be in touch. They are no longer the one dependable marketing tool as they now serve one piece of the promotion pie. 

You know I’m all about Instagram, so that is my first suggestion, but of course, we still need to push those promos out. 

Email promo material should go out in two separate ways, which will, in turn, support each other:

1. Mass email lists will have a lower response rate because they are a larger list of unknown clients, but provide us with solid marketing open/click data. 

2. Smaller fine-tuned lists built around those we know, and those who open/click the larger mass emails will get better traction.

Q:

If I email my website or image links to clients who don’t know me, should they be specific to a project or the home page of my website? 

A:

Always do what will help a client save time. Think FAST as the goal: what will help them see what you prefer them to see? Choose one image, one project, or your website landing page, depending on what they look for. If you are expecting potential clients to click through, it’s a lose-lose situation. 

Q:

Do you suggest always requesting a 50% advance? If so, what’s the best way to ask for it?

A:

Yes. Always include a request for an advance in your estimate, so it’s in writing once the estimate is approved. I use simple language like, “50% of total due prior to beginning of shoot.” If they ask for a different amount and it’s reasonable, that’s fine with me. I just need a legal guarantee that my photographers will be paid. I’d be scared to work without that reassurance. 

Q:

I have received a lot of “work for hire” requests this year, giving me no rights to self-promote the images. I wonder if it’s AI-related from legal teams.

A:

Work for hire and not being able to show images from certain types of clients have been around for quite a while. It may happen more nowadays because of AI-related requests, but overall, it’s a topic that should affect your fees. The more usage they are asking for, the higher your rates.

Q:

This whole topic seems to be a little contentious, but I’ve been seeing more lately suggesting that companies and brands should not repost images and videos without the artist’s permission. That makes sense to me as they are using the content commercially without permission, compensation, or even proper credit in many cases. 

My question is: how would you suggest handling this?

A:

You are the image creator, so you own the copyright. It’s your responsibility to contact whoever used your image without your permission and request to be paid. Unfortunately, IG’s terms don’t support image creators, so if this went to court, there’s a good chance you’d lose. That’s why it’s important to contact them, let them know you own the image, and find out where they are using your image. At the very least, you should have your name tagged to get some PR exposure. In my experience, many clients simply don’t know any better and aren’t aware they need your permission, so they’re often open to negotiation. 

Q:

What do I do when clients use my photos for marketing before paying me?

A:

A norm I’ve experienced when our images go live before being paid for is one client’s department didn’t communicate with the other department or the client may not be aware of usage ownership rights. This must be spelled out and agreed upon before the job begins. Contracts usually state this, but clients may not be reading our contracts. Make sure the logistics timeline is also communicated verbally. Do your research, and don’t assume they will handle this appropriately.

Q:

When approaching a potential client directly for the first time, do you find it’s best to send one email to multiple contacts you may have or send individual emails separately to each person?

A:

Since we’re all overloaded with spam, make your outreach as personal as possible. Sound like you are speaking directly to them by using their name (spelled correctly) and mentioning anything you may have in common. 

Do your research on LinkedIn and social media to find some quick points of interest you can touch on. Those are the emails I bet you’d want to respond to yourself. 

When a client asks for more, we must stop proceeding with any changes to discuss them before they happen! Engage clients in a 2-way, respectful, open exploration, knowing this is a full hierarchy engagement.