How often do art buyers respond to email blasts? How enthusiastic should a photographer actually be about positive feedback from an email blast?
Never. When sending out emails, don’t expect to get any responses. The point of an email blast is not to get responses, and they know that. The point of an email blast is to send out as many emails as possible to the correct clients to show them your work.
When sending newsletters/promos to new clients or agents, is there a polite way to introduce yourself other than the generic, “Hey, I’m a new photographer in the area, etc.?” In essence, when photographers reach out to you, how do you like to be “asked?”
The best way is to speak to people as you would want to be spoken to. The more personal and less ‘mass email’ sounding, the better. Be short and quick but also as personal as possible. Use the person’s name and spell it correctly.
Having a hard time with a long term direction! If I feel I am effective in multiple areas, is it worth promoting myself in those multiple areas, or should I just pick ONE?
In my opinion, being an A-level photographer is based on your style, your look, your vibe. This solid branded look can work across different industries and clients. Even if you are getting work across a variety of fields, the key is to make sure your style is consistent throughout. When your portfolio looks like you could be different photographers, this dilutes your branding and may only work if you want to get jobs in a smaller city.
How do I know if the client is telling the truth about their budget?
The most common answer will be that they don’t know the budget yet, so if you are actually provided with a budget, then I’d trust that. If you know you are the only photographer up for the job or if you get the sense you are 1st choice you can then expand your budget slightly higher and give that a try. I have a few techniques I use for this, and I’ll explain them in future ASR’s.
Do you have any techniques for the bidding process you’d want to share with us?
How do you know if you need a producer or not on your job?
If you foresee the job needing a producer you can always ask the client if they think there is room in the budget for a producer. It’s actually a nice way to try to get more budget info. If the answer is “no” then I would suggest not having a producer do the estimate for you because they usually have higher production costs.
What do you do if you don’t know how to ask for what you’re worth?
This is common and most freelancers don’t know how to rate themselves fairly while balancing out competition, usage or market prices. My approach is to connect with the client on the phone and listen to what they often want to tell me. My favorite sales approach is honesty. It works wonders.
What is your favorite sales approach?
How can I become represented? It’s always been a dream to stand out and have reps on my side.
Get your book as strong as you can, find your specialty and build a cohesive portfolio. Find the reps that work in your industry and approach them with a personal and quick email. The quality of your work will speak for itself and doors will open. Just get your work out there once it’s ready!
What makes a photographer’s site hard to navigate?
Sites can be hard to navigate for a few reasons. Sometimes the actual menu options are hard to find because the sit template tries to get too artsy. Or sometimes you can only view images one at a time (no thumbnail view option).
We’re often trying to image search or curate a page of the photographer’s imagery, so being able to move through the site quickly is important.
I do appreciate seeing their creative touch beyond just their imagery – so a cool landing page, or some nice touch to the formatting is good. But generally, it should still be easy to navigate.
Guest Post: Art Producer, Lindsay Mason
How does a photographer transition from working with small, often-client direct companies to working with bigger clients and ad agencies?
The biggest difference between getting Client Direct and Ad Agency work is a photographer’s portfolio. Client direct companies will be more understanding of a wide variety of images. Ad agencies have so many photographers to choose from that they will choose the one who specializes in that one specific topic that they are looking for. The smaller, in-house companies will often use one photographer for all of their photo needs. If Ad Agencies are your goal, identify your specialty and commit to excellence in that category.
How do you work with a client with little to no budget? Do you work with them at all?
Budget is always the issue. Every level of photographer deals with this and it always comes back to the overall marketing plan. Where are you in your career? Will this image be helpful to you? Will it solidify a future relationship or be a good image for your portfolio? The bottom line question is: will this “lack of budget” still allow for a quality image? If the answer to that question is no, I’d suggest turning down the job.
