Wednesday Wisdoms

Clients usually cannot provide specific prices or amounts you need to present a range of options for them to advise bringing you up or down.

What is a PITCH?

A ‘pitch’ can be your proactive way of introducing what you offer to potential clients, usually through an emailed Treatment-style PDF. 

Three types:

1. Images of your style matching the type of work they do

2. Production company methodology of what you handle and provide

3. Specific conceptual concept project idea 

*Thank you Mary Dail (Big Leo Productions-@bigleoproductions) and Traci Terrick (Poppy Creative Agency- @poppycreative), for our Friday discussion on “pitches.”

In any business interaction, remember to follow up immediately so you are believed and taken seriously.

Bidding a job can be a quickly played, fast-paced, reactive decision game anticipating how the client could respond. The wrong move can cost us the job. We want to be honest about what we can do for their budget, but sometimes, we must educate the client to understand the situation and how we can best serve them. Be a part of their side of the process, join forces with them, and play the team player role.

One important way to impress the client on the creative call is to research them before the call. Bring your knowledge of their company into the call. 

Any other creative call ideas you’d like to share in the comments?

Big truth: REPS NEED MATERIAL. I always say, “Give me something to say and something to show.” 

Big Untruth: I’m a creative/artistic business owner, so I get the day off when I’m not on a paid job. 

You are your marketing department, whether you are repped or not, and just like any business owner, you must constantly feed the marketing of your business. Your growth is based on your new ideas, and this never stops! You are being hired for your ideas, and your idea-making skill-set must be seen constantly in your marketing. 

On a shoot, never share your stress with your client. Talk to your rep or someone else.

The question we are all dealing with is, WHAT’S GOING ON RIGHT NOW? Everything is changing, leaving us to question the status of our careers. 

1. Accept that it is changing; thus, we must adapt.

2. Images are even more “Lofi” – imperfect production quality matching the social media realness.

3. What are you good at, and what can you bring to this situation?

4. Clients are getting more for their money and paying less.

5. Your role may need to fulfill other categories, and you can charge for those – like stylist, creative, storyboarding, pre-production, post-production, etc.

6. Keep yourself as fresh with testing as possible- be as NOW as ever!

Making the subject line of your email stand out is the most important factor in getting it read. Here are a few of my ideas; please share your own in the comments!

• Be specific with your topic.

• Make it catchy and interesting.

• Use your topic as a reference to what you want them to remember you for.

• Include a question mark.

• Say their name.

As times change, we have to accept how our clients will need our still images for all sorts of motion. We must now be aware to add “still photography only” to our licensing terms. Using still images for motion is a large option that should be paid for instead of granted unknowingly.