Estimates

Q:

How do I estimate a job when I am given the budget, but the layouts and the producer do not answer all the information I need?

A:

Estimating a job is not an accurate term because we are liable for our “estimate” price. Since an estimate is a “bid” for a project, we have to protect ourselves as our reputation and the financial responsibility is on our shoulders.
How I read the situation:
– They may be expecting you to be the creative director creating their concepts which is an additional role to be added to your fees.
– Without all the details, you’ll need to expect fewer shots finished per day due to the exploration time required.
– Call it a rough ballpark estimate, making it clear you’ll need them to allow for revisions once you learn more information.

Protect yourself on bids by preparing for the client to respond by handling some of the line items themselves. 

For example, if they had contemplated supplying the props, expect your prop cost to eventually be removed from your total. If you know their budget or have one in mind, place those prop costs over the final amount you want to come in at. You cannot add to your bid once you submit it, so strategically place your numbers with this in mind.

There’s a way to protect yourself on bids that I keep learning about—I just experienced it yesterday. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I want to emphasize it again.

There are line items on your bid, such as overtime, retouching, consulting on post-work, or food, that the client might later say they will cover. Be cautious with these items because once they are removed from your budget, you’re stuck with the remaining amount. Even if the client initially said they have a budget of $20,000, if your bid now comes in at $15,000 after these items are removed, they’ve already seen the original bid. You can’t change it at that point.

So, be careful with these items. It’s better to come in over budget and discuss potential removals with the client rather than adjusting your bid after submission.

Be specific about which SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE you are licensing to the client.

1. PAID is for their ads.
2. OWNED is on their social media.
3. You posting it on YOUR FEED (Influencer Posts) which is a separate fee.

Bidding on a project without a shot list means you cannot know the exact costs for expenses, and you will be concepting the creative shot list. When you are wearing more hats, you need to charge for your time and call it a CREATIVE CONCEPTING FEE.

When bidding on a job,  you are in the position to make an educated decision to be the “bank” running all the costs through your own company vs having it go through the producer.  Any markup or differences in actual prices will be a profit to whoever gets paid for the job. This can be you if you want to handle your billing. The decision is yours.

When you’re asked to bid on a job and choose a producer to work with, it’s important to make an educated decision about billing. Many producers handle all the costs and serve as the financial intermediary, and this is also common among reps. However, this isn’t how I operate, so I can’t speak from that perspective.

You need to decide whether you want the money to go through your name, directly through the producer, or through the rep. This decision should be made and clarified beforehand. If you choose to handle billing yourself, keep in mind that there could be a markup and leftover money from production expenses that could potentially benefit the producer.

Some photographers prefer to manage their own billing to avoid the markup and keep more of the budget, but this might limit your opportunities to work with certain producers. It’s worth considering how many producers would be willing to work under these terms. Ultimately, it’s your decision and you should carefully weigh your options.

Q:

Hi Andrea! I have a question regarding one-sheets that maybe might be helpful for the community. Would you suggest including a project minimum? I’ve been getting a lot of requests for “rate cards” and I usually say it’s project dependent.

A:

Photographer’s rates depend on the type of work you do. If you can simplify this request with a rate card, it would save you time. My goal as the agent is to save time by quickly finding out if we should continue this conversation by quoting a price range. I’ll say, “Our day rate fee for this would usually be somewhere between 4,000 – 10,000, depending on many factors like shot count, shot list, day count, the creative component of the images, and what the licensed usage rights are. What is your budget?” I find a price range to be the fastest way to get to the next step.

Q:

Hello! I have a question. My producer and I did a major bid for the product launch using many models, it involved a huge production of set building, and various teams for what they asked for. We ended up not getting the project, it was nothing that was asked of us as far as production, sets and look. Is there a way to approach the agency when bidding that allows us to be bidding the same job – apples for apples?

A:

While we can’t predict or control the bidding process, we can ask every question to help us understand the production details. The key is to have an A+ producer and make sure you get on a creative call, as that is where we get our answers. The purpose of three-way bidding is to protect clients in a fair apple to apple comparison, so they are not overpaying. Our goal is to protect ourselves by understanding all the information, even when we may have to dig around to get that info.

Clients don’t always have all the facts when we are bidding a job, leading us to under-bid certain areas. If more responsibility falls into your lap than expected, don’t hold back in stating your case to request more $. Clients know that some gray areas may result in an overage, but they need us to be the ones to ask for it.

Sometimes we bid on projects where we don’t have all the information yet, and the client may not have all the details either, leading to many assumptions. We should include “TBD” (to be determined) on those line items in our bid to protect ourselves. Even if we don’t include them, once the job is awarded and more responsibilities shift to us that were initially thought to be handled by the client, don’t hesitate to ask for additional funds. Address any new needs or changes directly with the client—don’t get frustrated. Often, they will understand because the situation was unknown at the time. Request more prep days, additional tech scout days if needed, extra post time, or anything else necessary. Remember, just because the bid is awarded doesn’t mean you have to absorb these changes without discussing them.

Q:

Hey there, I had a meeting today with a client that I would really like to work with. The meeting went great but they asked what my test rate is and I’m kind of at a loss. Any suggestions on pricing a test would be greatly appreciated.

A:

A test rate usually falls within half of what the regular day rate can be for a client. The logic behind the test rate is how it does not include usage licensing fees. This principle is the same premise for how I price a pre-light day; always have the estimate read, “no usage included” next to this fee.

Make an educated choice when choosing a producer to help you bid a job. Be aware that some charge a 10% production fee on the expenses and some don’t.  Some do waive that fee if you ask, so know that you do have options.

When you are bidding for a job you have to ask yourself if you need a producer and if so, which producer do you need? There’s a new element to our decision, it’s called a production fee. It used to be called a markup fee and then ad agencies did not want to pay that fee. Now it’s called a production fee. What we’re paying for is 10% of the production expenses that gets paid to the producer. They want to be covered for giving their employees health insurance and other expenses to keep their business going. It’s a new concept and some producers don’t charge it, but some do. Think about that and ask that question when you are choosing your producer.