Clients

Q:

I’m being asked for the usage rate for a client’s social media content – organic vs. paid. How are we scaling the value difference between the two for usage fees?

A:

Social media usage for organic (or owned) on their social media needs to be much higher than “paid” ads usage based on the significant increase of viewers. Rates depend on many elements like the number of images, amount of posts or usability duration, and the type of images. Paid social media should run at least triple the price of organic. 

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:

A client hiring me for a shoot was confused about paying for usage rights. Is there any foolproof way to educate clients about image licensing and why photographers should be paid what they deserve?

A:

Explaining licensing usage rights to clients means you are dealing with clients who are not used to paying much for their photography. Know what you are getting into, and keep close supervision once paid duration ends. APhotoEditor has an easy-to-understand explanation we can use to help educate these types of clients-

www.aphotoeditor.com/2010/02/05/ad-agency-guide-to-photography-usage-terms/

Q:

What are the do’s and dont’s of cold emailing/dm’ing potential clients + reps?

A:

1. Contact the correct people who look for your type of work, don’t waste their time.

2. Use their name (spelled correctly). 

3. Keep it short. 

4. If you are copying and pasting, make sure it isn’t blue, looking like it’s been reused. 

5. Sound like a human; imagine if you were receiving this email/dm. 

6. If you are asking for something, make it only one request. 

7. Ask a simple question for us to respond to so we don’t spend time thinking about how to answer.  

The 3 Steps Clients Look for in Your Portfolio:

1. The seamless message of your style with a purpose. 
2. An emotional story, the audience is pulled into feeling: striking a chord with their brand’s message.
3. The reassurance that their customers feel this emotion if they hire you. 

Don’t you want to know where your bid total stands with the client?

It can be helpful to have an excuse to check in on your bid after submitting it. 

If the client left out some piece of info about the job, I could put in a low price, knowing they may come back to ask for more. 

That check-in can allow us to feel out the budget and see if there is room to bump up the price. 

Timing matters!

Outreach can be unpredictable, but sometimes you have that distinct positional placement of being right in there freshly on a client’s radar. Timing can be the key to fully opening the door when it’s been slightly cracked open for us. Use it or lose it is the saying that comes to my rep mind. 

Q:

When asked to bid on a job for Vegas attractions, I was told they want a BUYOUT for billboards, taxis, video walls, and ads for Vegas, but this entire campaign is unexpected and isn’t even in their budget. How in the world do I price something like this when they say something like that?

A:

When I hear this from a potential client, I hear, “We are looking to get a good deal with the lowest bidder.” This is a sales tactic that gives you a sense of what they are looking for. If you have any “down & dirty” ideas that will get them more bang for their buck with less of a production, this is that type of photoshoot. My warning in this situation is to have your estimate terms clearly state what IS and what IS NOT included in your bid. No surprises!

Q:

On a local Instagram Influencer photoshoot, I allowed the local hotel to use the image on their Instagram feed only and made it clear that any other use would incur usage fees. I recently found another property under the same corporate chain using the image and tagged the Influencer. Was my consent to have the local hotel use it on their social media my mistake since they are a smaller hotel owned by a larger global hotel chain?

A:

Influencer social media posts lead to unclear third-party usage that we should be getting paid for. I’ve temp-repped these situations by explaining to the negligent part how licensing needs to be granted by the photographer and not the Influencer. The challenge for us is we have Influencers giving away our usage rights as they often believe they own the images. Originally our terms need to be clearly stated on a signed estimate and explained, so all parties are clear. After that, we can go after them to get paid, which is often a process of educating everyone involved. One company I’ve heard to help photographers get paid for their images used without permission is https://pixsy.com.

Q:

The client killed a project an ad firm brought to me last minute after I delivered the images. The feedback from the client was simply that they didn’t like any of the images and asked to kill the project – no opportunity to make adjustments or reshoot. Is there any value to reaching out directly to the client with an “I’m sorry that this didn’t work out” email?

A:

Yes, I would suggest reaching out to the client, but not necessarily with an “I’m sorry” email. You stand behind your work proactively and want to see if you can get them what they want or learn from the situation. Is it something you didn’t follow through with that does fall onto your responsibility, or were they unclear in their instructions and approvals on set? I tend to use honesty under challenging scenarios like this to allow the client to respond without being defensive. In saying all this, you should still be paid for your work whether they use it or not. I hope your estimate terms protect you in this situation.