Wednesday Wisdoms

Email Promos are the way to go. 

Years ago we would diversify with mailer promos, but nowadays, it’s challenging with many remote clients. The unsuccessful percentage of clicks and opened emails may discourage us, but how many opportunities do we have for 100 or 1000 potential clients to view our work? I invest in email promos even as many don’t get opened; the ones that do can be priceless.

We are so excited about a recent successful email promotion. We sent out a lot of email promos using a list called the Bikinilist and received two immediate responses to bid on this photographer. While the numbers may not always be on their side, sending out a big list can really pay off.

USAGE TERMS values fluctuate depending on how long an image will hold its value. When a product or look is not changing over time, the term “unlimited duration” should be priced higher, knowing it has longer usability.

In the world of image licensing, the usage terms and values are not always consistent across the board. For instance, the term “unlimited duration” may hold different values for different clients, depending on the rate of change in their products over time. For example, if a company is advertising cars that change every couple of years, the value of an unlimited duration license is not as high as it would be for a client whose product is relatively stable. Therefore, it is important to structure pricing based on the client’s needs and intended use of the licensed image. The value of the license needs to measure up to the client’s requirements.

Let’s learn from my mistake. A client’s fast turnaround request for a creative call to review their creative deck had us moving quickly, assuming the bid would be due shortly after that. Why wouldn’t we start the treatment asap? Days later, I knew it was a false alarm when I didn’t hear a peep about the bid specs. Very reputable client, so no funny business, just me reacting too fast with many assumptions. Their creative call was to choose their three bidders. Lesson learned.

A lesson learned from a missed opportunity to bid on a job in the creative industry due to a lack of bid specs. We received at the last minute a request to bid on a job, but did not receive bid specifications until after we had already spent time and money on creating a treatment. Ultimately, the client chose other photographers to bid on the job, leaving us with wasted resources. The lesson learned is that without bid specs, one may not actually be officially bidding on a job.

Set aside time for one of our most effective marketing strategies – connection. Specific key clients choosing who to hire are the creatives – the art director and the creative director. Hit them up, and make a dent at least enough for them to consider you when the time is right. They cannot choose what they do not know.

The marketing process for the photography industry can take many forms but can be simplified based on the time available. If there is ample time, we advise you to connect with the creatives such as the creative director and art director, who are usually the ones choosing the photographer. It is important to dedicate time to researching and engaging with these key decision-makers on LinkedIn and Instagram. This type of marketing takes more focus and time but can be well worth it in the end.

Client Management Time

Bidding Prices should incorporate the real cost of the time-consuming back-and-forth process because your business time = money. Just as we charge for the equipment you own, the same goes for managing your time.

Value your time in the bidding process. Part of the bid that is often overlooked is the time spent negotiating with clients and managing their expectations. While this time may not be explicitly spelled out in the bid, it is important to factor it into the overall cost of the project. We recommend adding this time to the creative fee, prep days, or production fee to ensure that it is covered. By doing so, we ensure that we are compensated for the time spent on client management, which can be a significant portion of the project. Ultimately, the goal is to have a bid that accurately reflects the time and effort required for the project, including the time spent managing the client.

Long-term business planning must include the pieces of our career that got us here. That part of ourselves that started us off still needs our attention, and the key is to find those potentially unexpected ways of including satisfying achievements back into our business.

Reflecting on the importance of maintaining a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in one’s career. It wasn’t a long-term business plan that got us into photography, but rather the feeling of satisfaction we got after completing a project. Hold onto that feeling and use it as a driving force for long-term success, even if one’s career path takes unexpected turns. Ultimately, maintaining a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction is crucial for success in any career.

What is your specialty? One CREATIVE FEE component that may get overlooked in fee formula calculations is how much the client needs you for this campaign. The specialization you bring to a project goes a long way, and you should be paid for it. 

When setting a creative fee for a project, it is important to consider how specific and unique your creative skills are to that particular project. This can involve evaluating whether your look or style matches the needs of the project better than others and whether your particular skills and experience make you the best fit for the job. By taking into account these factors, you can justify charging a higher creative fee for your work.

Once hired for a project, you have a role as the creative carrier of a client’s vision to become a reality. They look to you to lead the technicalities, shaping their investment in their best interest. Be that leader mapping out the best way for them to achieve their goals. You’ve accepted this job as their DIRECTOR every step of the way.

As a photographer, it is important to be the director of your shoots, even if you are not feeling it at times. Clients are looking for someone to bring out the vibe they are seeking in the talent and crew, and to feel comfortable and secure. This means overseeing everything, even if there is a producer on set. Being the director is crucial to ensuring the success of the shoot and the satisfaction of the client.

Seize the moment!

Commercial advertising is one of the most fast-paced, busy sectors, creating this norm of not getting responses to all we put out there. Each dialogue situation requires thinking fast on my feet and strategizing for the highest gain in return. My “sales” mind looks for those few golden accessible opportunities to have our valuable resource’s attention to ‘use it before we lose it.’

As a Rep, I want to discuss the importance of seizing opportunities in the moment, and not letting them slip away. This business is fast-paced and full of multitasking, so it’s important to have a handy tool for getting things done quickly and efficiently. We have examples of missed opportunities, such as not following up with a producer for contact names, and not taking advantage of a job opportunity by not structuring an email in a way that could benefit the company. 

How honest should we be when a client asks for our availability? Dates of potential jobs shift and change constantly. How to not lose one job because of a “hold” from another is what we are up against. I have learned that clients present their shoot dates and usually have more flexibility than we are receiving. One way I like to phrase it is, “Right now, we are not officially booked on another job at that time.”

A lesson we learned about holds and availability. A client we wanted to work with had mistakenly assumed that the photographer they wanted to work with was unavailable on certain dates, based on a previous conversation. The client decided to look elsewhere for a photographer. The lesson learned was that it’s important to be honest about availability but also to make it clear that a job hasn’t been bid on yet and that there’s still a possibility of availability. We suggest doing a “first hold challenge” to ensure that the job is secured before cutting off availability.