Wednesday Wisdoms

My Nip + Tuck THANKFULNESS Assignment For You:

1. Take a cold, hard look and evaluate where you need a healthy attitude boost in your career. 

2. Which area of your work-world can you adjust the frustrations with an optimistic slant?

3. What positive may you be missing because of an old inner theme that may not work for you anymore?

Thanksgiving holiday provides an opportunity to reflect on what we are thankful for and adjust our attitudes in our careers. It is essential to stay positive and fuel ourselves with positivity to stay creative and achieve long-term career goals. As we navigate the rat race of our careers, we may face challenges, but we must accept how things are and find ways to be grateful for our careers. Thanksgiving week is an excellent time to check in and ensure that we have the right attitude to achieve our long-term career goals. Staying positive and grateful is crucial to staying creative, and it is why we Stern rep, and hopefully, you can connect with that enthusiasm.

The BEST SALES PITCH I can recommend is to humanize what we call “sales” by listening. So simple and yet the most powerful way to negotiate, stay in front of clients, or sell ourselves. Take the first hello moment on a Zoom call, notice something about them, and ask a question. Connect by listening to get your foot in the doors. 

The best sales pitch is to humanize the clients and be real, honest, and listen to them. Humanizing the clients means to understand them, empathize with them, and treat them as individuals, not just as potential customers. Being real and honest means to not make false promises or exaggerate the product’s capabilities. Listening to the clients is crucial as people want to be heard and understood. It doesn’t take very long to notice something about them and ask them a question, which can help build a rapport and establish a relationship. The best sales pitch is to recommend the product or service that meets the client’s needs and wants, not just to sell something for the sake of making a sale. The key is to build trust and credibility with the clients, which can lead to long-term relationships and referrals.

An estimate term that should be on the top of all bids:  “Estimate is valid for 15 days from date of issue.” Don’t get stuck with prices that are no longer accurate. 

The validity of an estimate for music services is only for 15 days from the date of issue. The pricing mentioned in the estimate cannot be regarded as valid for a year since prices can change due to various reasons. For example, if a client has a hold on a particular stylist and talent and they come in after three weeks, the prices might not be the same, and the people on hold might not be available. The estimate’s validity is crucial since there are many elements at play, and clients need to be aware of the timeline.

Photographers wanting to bring in clients with larger budgets must ask where low-budget clients find you. Where are you putting yourself that gets noticed, and how to reach out further? Marketing is not something we do one time, spend our marketing budget, and sit back and wait. It has to be this ongoing trial of new ways, new unproven avenues of networking exploration changing over time to bring in an assortment of mixed-budget clientele.

Some photographers are being offered lower usage and creative fees than their day rates by their repeat clients. If photographers want higher rates, they should focus on attracting clients who value their work and are willing to pay a premium for it. The importance of marketing oneself across all platforms to attract a diverse range of clients with varying budgets. We also receive requests for lower amounts than we find acceptable, but we also receive larger requests, indicating a mix of clientele. The key takeaway is that photographers should focus on marketing themselves to attract clients who value their work and are willing to pay a fair price for it.

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.