Bill Cramer is founder and CEO of Wonderful Machine, a curated directory of high-quality photographers, serving commercial and editorial clients worldwide. Bill helped write our most recent guide,

Photographers traditionally structure their invoices in terms of a creative fee + production expenses. The fee portion covers your talent, time, energy and the license for the client to reproduce your photographs. The expense portion covers the cost of additional personnel, materials, equipment and facilities that are sometimes required to execute a shoot.

Sometimes a photographer may choose to provide some of those expense items in-house, like when a photographer owns her own studio, has staff assistants or does her own retouching. Regardless, they are all billable items separate from the fee. And whether you’re actually breaking them out separately on the invoice or not, in order to run a profitable business, it’s important to understand where the money is coming from and where it’s going.

There are three common types of magazine contracts:

Day Rate vs. Space -

This structure is the most win-win for photographer and client. It scales the fee up and down depending on the time required to shoot the assignment and the space the photos end up occupying in the magazine. The fact is that art directors rarely know how big each story or picture will be until they actually send it off to
the presses. Between the time an assignment is made and when the magazine gets put together, changing events will affect the relative value of different stories. And when pictures or articles are unexpectedly good or bad, their prominence in the magazine will grow or shrink.

By paying photographers a minimum guarantee for their time, plus a predetermined bonus for extra pages (plus expenses), this contract allows photographers and clients to negotiate just once, then proceed with subsequent assignments with minimal negotiations.

For most magazines, $500 per day vs. $500 per page plus expenses is reasonable for first editorial print use and concurrent web use. So if they end up using one 1/2-page picture (or no picture at all), the fee is $500. If they use one full-page picture, the fee is still $500. If they use two full-page pictures, the fee would be $1,000 instead of $500.

A guideline we use to normally price cover space is $1,000 to $2,000, and the price of smaller pictures is often prorated:

• up to 1/4-page: $200
• up to 1/2-page: $300
• up to 3/4-page: $400
• up to full-page: $500
• up to full-cover: $1,500

Flat Fee Plus Expenses -

Some clients want the convenience of paying the same rate regardless of how many pictures they use or how big. That will make sense for the photographer if the fees are high enough or if the fees are moderate and the photographer is shooting regularly for the magazine.

Sometimes they’ll win, sometimes they’ll lose, but in many cases, magazines offer a rate that’s reasonable for one 1/2-page picture, but not bigger. So this creates an awkward situation where the more productive the photographer is, the less they get paid per picture. This is not a recipe for a long-term relationship.

Flat Free All-Inclusive -

Other clients offer a flat rate including expenses. That can work fine when the expenses and the usage are very predictable and when the fee is generous enough. But photographers can be easily seduced by offers that seem great at first, but then when they actually back out all of the expenses, reality sinks in. It’s important even in these cases to work up an estimate in the usual way to see what your fee really comes out to.

Other parts of the contract to consider:

Terms and conditions. In addition to the fee and the licensing, there are a few other details you’ll want your contract to address:

• Payment Schedule (normally 30-45 days from invoice)
• Advance (Get expenses up front if they’re going to be more than $1,000.)
• Copyright (Usage rights are effective upon payment in full – that way if they neglect to pay you, you can sue them for copyright infringement.)
• Cancellation (If they arbitrarily cancel the shoot within 24 hours, they have to pay a cancellation fee at least to cover all the sub-contractors you booked.)
• Client Representation (If they’re not going to attend the shoot to approve the shots, they have to agree to accept your interpretation of the assignment.)
• Exclusivity/Embargo (After some reasonable amount of time – about 30 days – you can license the pictures to other clients.)
• Indemnification (You agree to pay for each other’s attorney fees if one of you causes the other to get sued as a result of the other’s negligence.)
• Credit (The magazine will provide a credit line with your name near your photograph.)
• Tear Sheets (The magazine will send you a physical copy of the magazine or email you a PDF of the layout.)
• Turnaround Time (You will charge a rush fee for file preps delivered inside of 48 hours.)

Expenses. It’s also good to have a list of potential expenses handy so when you’re putting together an estimate, you don’t forget anything. Here are the most common magazine shoot expenses (commercial rates are often higher):

• Assistant ($200–$400/day)
• Digital Tech (about $500/day plus workstation as necessary)
• Digital Fee (about $300 for a web gallery)
• File Prep Fee ($25–$50 for a reproduction file with basic touch-up)
• Retouching ($150–$250/hour)
• Producer or Photographer Production Days ($500–$750/day)
• Hair/Make-Up Stylist ($600–$900/day)
• Wardrobe Stylist ($600–$900/day)
• Wardrobe
• Prop Stylist ($600–$900/day)
• Props
• Backgrounds
• Food Stylist ($900–$1,200/day)
• Food (to photograph)
• Equipment Rental
• Studio Rental ($500–$1,500/day)
• Location Scout ($700–$800/day)
• Location Fee
• Models, Casting
• Certificate of Insurance, Permits
• Meals, Catering
• Mileage, Parking, Tolls
• Vehicle Rental
• Hotels, Airfare, Cabs, Tips

Pricing Your Work: Magazine Photography outlines what photographers should expect when pricing for magazine assignments. This guide will help you out the next time you’re developing an estimate for potential magazine assignments.

Photo by Laura Crawford/JDFrontline

Photojournalist, event photographer, seasoned campaign shooter and all around political photography guru only begins to sum up PhotoShelter member Shealah Craighead, who we had the pleasure of speaking with this month for our “Talking PhotoShelter” series. As one of PhotoShelter’s power sellers, we were eager to learn about how she uses our tools to support her business. From organizing to pricing to charming clients all the way through the sale, Shealah does it all with PhotoShelter…and a smile.

Staying Organized and Feeling Secure

Let’s start at the beginning. Before being able to work with any of the other PhotoShelter tools she depends on daily — tools that allow her to share, price, sell, and control the client experience — Shealah needs to make sure her house is in order. First, she uses Photo Mechanic to upload her images into her PhotoShelter archive, taking full advantage of the “Export to PhotoShelter” option built directly into the application. After that it’s all about back-end image organization, which is of the utmost importance for her, a self-described “organization nerd” who uses PhotoShelter for all of her offsite storage and archival needs. “I feel safe, confident, and comfortable that the images are backed up offsite in my PhotoShelter account”, says Shealah.

But it doesn’t end with her personal archive, where she is set up to catalogue over 2 terabytes worth of imagery. Shealah takes full advantage of the gallery nesting capabilities PhotoShelter offers to keep all of her direct client work highly concentrated in the “Listed on Website” section of her Image Browser, as well. “I’ll often have multiple events with one particular client, and I love that I’m able to organize it all with a high-level general collection, and then individual, more specific galleries underneath. At the end of the day, it really helps me to stay more organized on my side.”

The homepage of Shealah’s PhotoShelter website, which showcases all of the galleries and collections she houses in the “Listed on Website” section of her Image Browser.

Password-protection was another organizational game changer for Shealah; she’s a big proponent of our Visibility & Access tools, particularly our functionality for providing multiple passwords for a single gallery or collection. “I love being able to share a gallery or collection with different groups of people and still restrict the access exactly how I need to”, says Shealah. “It’s so great to be able to share the same gallery with the client and with others at the same time in possibly a totally different way.”

A peek at PhotoShelter’s back-end Visibility & Access controls.

Staying Mobile…and Still Making Sales

A highly sought after political campaign photographer and someone who has been snapping shots all over the White House for years now (did we mention she was an Official White House photographer during George W. Bush’s presidency, and First Lady Laura Bush’s personal photographer, too?), Shealah recognizes the necessity of having a service like PhotoShelter that lets her upload, access and sell images efficiently while on the road. It truly hit home for her when she picked up the role of sole tour photographer for Governor Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue book tour. “I knew immediately that I needed to organize my images in a capacity that would allow me to have access to them from anywhere, at any computer, from any location in the world. I also needed a way to sell images in a more convenient manner.”

And sell she did. Shealah has made thousands of sales through her PhotoShelter website, a feat she attributes to having access to our myriad sales tools and features, and the ease of use she found within. Pricing profiles were key to her process, providing her with the ability to set price points specifically for different groups of clients and their individual needs. “I think pricing profiles are one of the most awesome things about PhotoShelter”, Shealah tells us. “And giving a client their own set of prices makes them feel comfortable, too, because they know it’s not all just cookie cutter. Being able to tailor things for them goes a long way.”

Shealah mostly sells prints through her website, many of those buyers looking for that perfect shot snapped just when they shook hands with Gov. Palin. Needless to say, there was a huge demand for images from the tour, and Shealah feels she may have had a hard time keeping up if not for PhotoShelter’s automated fulfillment feature. Automated fulfillment gives Shealah the freedom to continue shooting while all of her print orders are automatically sent to one of our four integrated print partners (Shealah uses either AdoramaPix or BWC Photo Imaging, depending on the print or product ordered), who then print and ship on her behalf.

The inner-workings of a PhotoShelter print and product pricing profile.

Keeping it Clean

With at times upwards of 75 different print orders coming through on any given day, Shealah also made sure to stay keenly focused on her clients’ experience. “Clients would ask me, ‘How do you do all of this?’”, Shealah tells us. “And I’d say, ‘Listen, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of all of this. You just do what you do, and I’ll make it easy for you on this end.’ And I can, because it’s, well, just easy.” Shealah’s PhotoShelter website was designed with our “Farah” theme, the extremely simple yet polished look of which has helped keep things flowing smoothly for her clients. “I just think it’s a really clean look”, she says. “The layout is so smooth even my less web savvy clients can be directed easily.”

An individual image ready for sale on Shealah’s PhotoShelter website.

Giving Back

In addition to pricing profiles and automated print fulfillment, Shealah also relies on PhotoShelter’s sales tools for creating and managing coupons — another huge win for her business. “I think coupons are just brilliant because I do a lot of events surrounding the military, and I like to be able to give back and show my appreciation. I’m not always trying to make a buck. I would actually much rather the photos sometimes be used to somebody else’s advantage — as a keepsake, or a memory,” she says. “And I think that represents the client nicely, as well.”

Shealah often has a handful of different coupon codes at the ready for VIP clients, in-house staff, etc., and most of the discounts are pretty darn generous, too. “Sometimes the client or organization I’m working with doesn’t necessarily want to hand away images, but they’ll want to show appreciation to their volunteers or anyone working the event. So providing a discount is a courtesy on my part to say thank you for making the event great, because without the team effort, my photos wouldn’t be great.”

Straight from inside the PhotoShelter shopping cart! Shealah’s clients can claim their discounts here.

A Professional Brand All Around

For Shealah, one of the most essential pieces to this puzzle — using a service like PhotoShelter to ground her business in so many ways — has been pure ease of use. “PhotoShelter is super easy to use”, she says. “The design of it all, the ability to so simply sell your images, to connect on social media with clients, to share with clients… it’s just all so user friendly. And if there is ever anything I need, your team is amazing. Everybody that I talk to is incredibly patient and just so thorough and knowledgeable. I feel so comfortable with them. They’re awesome!”

Beyond that, Shealah says PhotoShelter has given her a security blanket through its professionalism, from the product itself through to its customer service. “PhotoShelter’s professional presence has been so important to me as a professional photographer. In this business you need to surround yourself with tools that really enhance your work but also continue the promotion that you’re a professional photographer and not just someone out there taking pictures and throwing them up online. PhotoShelter just adds that extra element.”

Hey you – congrats! By now you’ve already put forth all the effort of researching and reaching out to galleries whose work is compatible with your own; you’ve sent a tight edit of your work, and drawn up the contract for an exhibition. Now the fun part of actually showing and selling your photography begins.

And while opening night should be a celebration, you also need be on your A-game. This is a big night, so we talked to several of the top galleries in NYC to get their advice. Included in the mix was: Jen Bekman Gallery, ClampArt, Finch & Ada, and United Photo Industries.

So straight from the gallerists themselves, here are 6 tips to ensure a totally kickass gallery opening night:

1. Work with the gallery to manage expectations

Ideally you’ve been picked up by a gallery whose brand and style matches your own. Now, if you haven’t done so already, it’s important to discuss your expectations with the gallerist before opening night. Examples of questions to ask: How many pieces do you typically sell on opening night? In the exhibition’s entire duration? Does the gallery usually attract first time art buyers or experienced collectors?

Jeffrey Teuton from Jen Bekman Gallery says that he always talks with the artist about his or her expectations versus the reality of how openings typically go at Jen Beckman Gallery. “This is to both keep expectations leveled, and help them to relax and enjoy themselves [on opening night],” he says.

At Finch & Ada, Elizabeth Barragan works with the photographer from day one to make clear deadlines for all materials, so that everyone knows what’s expected of them ahead of opening night. “We usually work backwards from opening night to create a schedule that reflects when deliverables are due that will promote the show,” she says. The gallery then puts together a tightly organized media kit that helps everyone prepare for the exhibition.

The result is a much more organized approach to showcasing your work, and a clear idea of everything that’s to come.

2. Share your network with the gallery’s network

One of the reasons to get your work shown at a gallery is so that you can tap into their network. But don’t be a closed book – share your connections with the gallerist as well. “Remember that the gallery is a partner and the more information or contacts a photographer can provide, the better,” says Barragan. “Never dismiss any contacts past or present – there is always an opportunity hidden in the most dusty business cards.”

Brian Clamp of ClampArt sends out gallery invitations via postcards, email, and social network sites, so casting a wide net promises that more people will show up for opening night. “Artists need to be in touch with all their contacts, including other artists, critics, curators, and past collectors,” says Clamp. “The more people they notify about the exhibition, the better!”

3. Promote the opening, but don’t reinvent the wheel

Gallerists expect that you will chip in and help promote the opening, but it’s crucial that everyone stay on message. If the gallery has created an email invite for your event, don’t send out a separate one that you made on your own. If they’ve created a Facebook event, you should also use that. This same logic goes for any and all promotion materials. The gallery worked hard to create them, so respect their efforts and use them.

Sam Barzilay from United Photo Industries advises, “To ensure a successful opening night, it is important for the gallery and the photographer to work together in crafting a clean but memorable marketing identity for the show, and to make sure to stay on message from start to finish and across all mediums.”

Barragan agrees, noting that photographers shouldn’t re-double efforts on their own, “but help the gallery by utilizing what the gallery already has in place.” Gallerists know their clients, so trust that they know the best ways to market to them.

4. Socialize, socialize, and then socialize some more

All of the gallerists we spoke to noted that social media has had an increasingly large influence on successful opening nights. Says Barzilay, “The ever-rising importance of social media as a trusted source of information for most of us has both expanded and fractured the traditional channels of communication a gallery would employ to build awareness and excitement about a show. As a result, the photographer’s social media channels become an important element in any gallery’s promotional strategy.”

Got a Twitter account? Tweet about your show. Use Google+? Post about the opening to your circles. And the list goes on.

Barragan also says that you can help fortify the gallery’s efforts by sharing information on your social media accounts. Clamp emphasizes this point, saying, “I wish that all artists realized that the marketing of their artwork is a collaboration. They need to be involved with getting the word out about the show.”

Hear that, photographers? This is a time where it’s okay and encouraged to talk about yourself and self-promote.

5. Be present and accessible on opening night

Whether you’re the life of the party or more of a wallflower, you must be present and accessible on the big night. “We want artists to be relaxed and talkative,” says Teuton. “You don’t have to say hello to everyone, but be open to conversation about your work.”

No matter your party style, the night should be about networking and selling. That’s why the gallery chose to exhibit your work, isn’t it?

“As the person behind the work, the photographer’s presence reflects and influences the audience’s perception of the artwork,” says Barzilay, “so it is important for the photographer to be engaged and personable.” If guests have questions, be ready to answer them and provide as much information as possible. People usually want to know the methods or story behind art, so getting chatty might increase your chances of making a sale.

Perhaps most importantly, get excited! The audience and, to a large extent the gallery, will look to you to set the tone of the night. Plus, this is your big night and you should enjoy it.

6. Don’t stop working after opening night

Hopefully you’re not too wiped out (or hung over) the next morning, because your work’s not over. In the gallery world, there’s no such as thing as sitting back and letting the buyers come to you. Starting now, if the gallery’s visitors approach you personally, you almost certainly must share that information with the gallery and let them handle it (depending on your contract, of course).

Also, most galleries expect to continue working with you to promote the show for its entire duration. ”We hope that the photographer stays engaged throughout the show and is available for artist talks or visits with potential buyers,” says Barragan. Clamp also notes that photographers “should expect to be involved in other promotional events such as benefit auctions, private parties, etc.”

Teuton advises artists not to call the gallery everyday for an update, but to be open to events and promos that might make the overall showing a success. And be ready to make time to talk with collectors and buyers. Meeting the artist is often a way to help ensure that you make the sale.

Takeaway

Getting your work shown by a gallery is an exciting and significant milestone for photographers looking for representation. Be sure to treat the situation with the seriousness and professionalism it deserves, while still enjoying the fact that your work is up for display and sale. With the right attitude and dedication, you can help the gallery make the exhibition a successful one.

On no we didn’t…oh yes we did! We released a wedding guide on Valentine’s Day!

Today we present you with How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business – the first PhotoShelter guide dedicated entirely to the wedding photography industry. Whether you’re new to the wedding world or need to switch up your game plan to help your business grow, this guide will coach you to make the most of a career in this exciting industry.

Included in the guide are:

• Strategies to grow your wedding photography business and set your services apart from the pack.
• Successful wedding photographers’ firsthand accounts on how to innovate and beat the competition.
• Key marketing strategies to build your brand and attract new clients faster.

Loads of goodies are packed into this free 41-page guide, and below is a sneak preview of the section on how to price your wedding photography.

How to Charge for your Services:

As the saying goes, the devil tends to live in the details – and wedding photography is no exception. Unfortunately, most artists have a devil of a time focusing on anything non-creative. But unless you have enough start-up capital to hire a business team, you will need to start thinking like an accountant in order to survive. And hire one too while you’re at it.

Every sob story begins with a wedding photographer doing it for the money, or letting the money dictate everything else. If we haven’t beaten the importance of brand to death at this point, then hopefully the long-term planning aspect of it still remains fresh in your minds. Wedding photography is not the get-rich-quick scheme many people mistake it to be. Building your business around the bigger picture might not mean cash right now, but it’s a much better guarantee you will still be working 5 years from now.

1. Begin with a Business Plan

Much like a clear brand strategy will guide the nature of your services and customer relations, a sound business plan gives you a foundation upon which to grow your business. When you are determining your prices for the first time, map out your larger goals. This will help you determine where to start initial prices and how to realistically grow them.

Whether or not you hire an accountant in the beginning, you ought to invest some time and research in learning simple accounting principles for yourself. An understanding of your finances is essential before deciding how to price your services, and having an accountant to help is worth the investment. (Check out PhotoShelter’s 2012 Photo Business Plan Workbook, another free guide, to help structure your business plan if you don’t already have one.)

James and Megan of Solas Weddings built their wedding business around the notion of being “kick ass wedding photojournalists”.

2. Consider Your Costs

$5,000 for a day of shooting sounds pretty great, right? Except you aren’t earning $5,000 for one day of shooting. There are the costs of pre-production, equipment purchase or rental, and materials (film, memory cards, hard drives). You also agreed to have a photo booth and need to hire an assistant to run it. Then there’s post-production, and the album you will need to print as part of the price. This is just the beginning of what $5,000 covers.

$5,000 is still a reasonable price, but you need to consider what each wedding will cost you and then crunch the numbers to see if your proposed pricing leaves you with a profit. This is why hiring an accountant is really worth the money. They can cross-reference and compare, while you focus on developing and improving the services.

Brian Dorsey notes that an upscale client experience doesn’t necessarily mean extravagant set-ups and loads of expensive equipment.

3. Consider the Market

Spend time researching your overall market, and what your competitors are charging. Just because you are starting out, does not mean you should undersell yourself. At the same time, overcharging can be equally damaging. Figuring out what your peers are able to charge will help you determine what is realistic for you, and how you might price in a way to give you a competitive edge.

When it comes to your target market, it is important to remember that you are not charging what you think your services are worth. You want to charge according to how your target market values the product. Researching competitors’ pricing will help inform this. Still, approach competitive research carefully. Do not assume that all of the other photographers in your market have made the best business decisions. You may be able to offer more value, charge more, or be more profitable than they are.

Don’t be intimidated by a large market like New York City weddings – Betsi Ewing saw it as an opportunity for a bigger client pool.

4. Consider Workflow Software

Aside from an accountant, many new wedding photographers are a one-man show. If this is the case, consider turning to software to help manage your workflow, pricing and products. There are plenty of programs tailored to photographers that provide customizable templates for contracts, product management, pricing, etc. It allows you to organize all of your clients in one centralized place.

Photographers we spoke with recommended programs like Fundy Software and ShootQ.

Cleveland-based wedding photographer Hunter Harrison also shares his Google calendar with colleagues so that everyone is on the same page.

5. Tiered Pricing

It might seem like a great idea to offer your clients the option to customize their own package. But too many options can stress out the client, and compromise your resources and finances. It is best to offer separate pricing tiers, with the option to customize.

If you’ve done your research and considered your costs, you should have most of the information you need to define your tiers. You might want to consider what variable will affect the price jump. These are some factors you may want to consider using, either alone or some combination thereof:

• Hours: 6 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, whole weekend
• Additional services
• Additional photographer
• Additional deliverables

The best place to start is the base package. What is the minimum you need to charge based on your costs? Depending on which pricing variable or variables you settled on, you can build up your tiers based on where you set the base price.

Look for ways to differentiate yourself and your work, says Ryan Brenizer.

More tips on pricing

• Four tiers are standard, but consider what makes the most sense based on your business plan.
• Be careful to create tiers that leave you open to add-ons later.
• Consider throwing in perks and “freebies” to higher tiers to entice clients.
• Simplicity is key. Padding your packages with too many little things can get confusing. Make sure each package is clear and concise in terms of services offered.

Read more on pricing, marketing, client delivery, and more in the free guide How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business.

“Usability” is a catch-all word that we throw around to describe why the Apple iPad is better than the Motorola Xoom, or why WordPress is easier to use than Typepad (in our opinion). It looks and feels better, it’s more intuitive, and our expectations – aka our mental models – are satisfied when we engage with it.

Similarly, the checkout process of any e-commerce site runs the risk of poor usability, which can ultimately affect whether a customer completes a purchase or not. Last summer, we performed a major overhaul of the PhotoShelter shopping cart which was designed to make the process of shopping easier. This included things like:

• Dynamically indicating that items were in the shopping cart.
• Batch adding of items.
• Product “packages” for offering discount on bundled items.

The proof is in the pudding. We saw a 200+% increase in successful checkouts since the release, so we empirically know that improving usability translated into a better bottom line.

But we were unable to affect one key component: the actual payment mechanism. There are two main categories of payment types: 1) integrated and 2) redirected.

An integrated payment solution  is the one you’re most familiar with from online shopping. You click “checkout,” enter your credit card number, and the authorization and success message occur within the website. This is ideal because it eliminates steps, maintains branding, and matches the expectation of the user (imagine if you went to the Gap, were ready to pay, and they told you to go across the street to the deli to complete your sale). Our integrated payment solutions include Netbilling and Authorize.net, two trusted companies that can provide you with a merchant account. The downside is that there are monthly charges associated with these offerings, and so they are only appropriate for high volume sellers, and not transient sellers.

PayPal is a redirected payment mechanism, whereby your customer must be bounced over to PayPal to complete the transaction. PayPal offers a free account option which is great for most photographers who don’t have regular online sales. But the problem comes at the POS (point of sale). When your customer tries to pay, they are redirected  to PayPal. And although your customer doesn’t technically need a PayPal account to complete the sale, they make it really difficult to understand that.

In the redirected payment scenario, your customer does not enter billing information into PhotoShelter. Instead, they are prompted to "Continue to PayPal."

The customer then waits a few seconds for the page to redirect.

Although they are not required to have a PayPal account, the most prominent field on the page is a login box, which can scare away potential customers.

Because most of our photographers use PayPal, most of our photographers’ customers encounter this issue. And quite honestly, it sucks from a usability perspective.

So we were psyched to find Stripe, which is a cool start-up offering an integrated solution. Here’s the dealio:

• No sign up fee
• No monthly fee
• 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• 7 day wait before disbursing your funds

An integrated payment solution allows your customers to enter their billing information within your website. They never leave your website during the entire purchase process.

The day we launched this offering, dozens of photographers switched over to Stripe (including me), and started selling. Photographer Jon Longo shared his experience:

“Setup was straight forward. I like the fact the there was no waiting period prior to processing the first transaction. I am not real keen on the 7 day waiting period but its really not than big of a deal. I was using paypal before and never had any issues with them directly but I can tell you for a fact that I have lost a large amount in sales because people think they have to have a paypal acct to purchase.  I would think that this happens with other photographers as well.”

Waiting to Get Paid

Jon’s comment about the 7-day waiting period is relevant, and merits discussion. There are a lot of photographer sales websites out there, but many of them act as the “merchant of record” when you make a sale. This means that they collect the proceeds from a sale for you, then disburse them to you after 30-days or when you hit a certain threshold (e.g. $100).

When we were researching photographer sales many years ago, it became clear to us that cash flow was a major concern for photographers. Work could be sporadic and seasonal, and some editorial clients don’t pay for 90 days. So while a photographer’s income might be strong, they could be in a crunch for cash more often than they’d like. Therefore, collecting cash at the point of sale is hugely important to business continuity.

This is why when you sell with PhotoShelter, you are the merchant of record. Granted, Stripe holds your money for 7 days, but this is still much better than waiting for 30 days, or having to request that they transfer what should be your money. The point is that when you’re evaluating e-commerce features, make sure that you’re investigating the factors that actually affect your business, and not just the bells and whistles that are nice-to-haves.

To learn more about Stripe and how you can easily set it up on your PhotoShelter account in 3 minutes or less, visit “PhotoShelter Introduces A New Way To Get Paid”.

1. Have a passion for what you photograph

In the early 1990s, a young Greg Basco worked with the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, fostering a life-long commitment to sustainable development and driving him to complete his doctoral research on the politics of ecotourism. During these initial years in Costa Rica, Greg would find time to sneak away for a day or two to photograph with his Canon Elan 7 camera in the country’s picturesque rain forests.

Sooner than you could believe, he sold his first photos to Lonely Planet, encouraging him to buy more pro gear (Canon D30, the first Canon DSLR!) and take more photos. He sold a few more pictures, bought more gear, sold a few more pictures, and then finally realized that he was hooked: Greg had a serious addiction to nature photography.

Photo by Greg Basco for Lonely Planet

But when Greg was looking to break out into the world of nature photography as a full-time professional, the stock photo market had already been getting considerably smaller year-to-year and it was harder to sell photography. “I knew that the stock market, perhaps especially for nature photography, was shrinking,” says Greg, “probably due to the emergence of digital. A lot more people were shooting, and suddenly there emerged a lot more places for photo buyers to get cheap imagery.”

“At the same time,” he says, “I noticed that a few professional nature photographers were beginning to do other things to supplement their incomes.” That’s when Greg co-founded (with Costa Rican ecologist Paulo Valerio) Foto Verde Tours, the first and still the only tour company in Costa Rica that specializes in nature photography travel.

2. Consider a supplemental revenue stream

“Tours are a great way to turn a potential negative into a positive. On the one hand, all of these people with digital cameras meant that the stock photo market was flooded from the supply side. At the same time, more people with digital cameras means more people interested in learning how to use their cameras and improve their photography. I enjoy the teaching component so getting into photo workshop tours was a natural for me,” says Greg.

Now Greg and a cadre of professional nature photographer friends lead workshops and private tours, each with their own themes (e.g., “Intro to Rain Forest Photography”, “Hummingbird Photography”) and specially designed itineraries.

Foto Verde Tours has been up and operating for over six years now and continues to attract a healthy number of new clients for any given tour. Greg will tell you that their growth has mainly been a result of word of mouth, but one look at his web presence and it’s obvious that a lot of thought goes into the marketing strategy for both the tours and his stock photography.

3. Get serious about web marketing

For his individual photo business, Greg has a comprehensive, customized website – Deep Green Photography – that’s divided mainly among his print, stock, and tour offerings. The print and stock areas are powered by PhotoShelter’s image hosting services, and the tour section actually links to a standalone site for his company Foto Verde Tours.

The key to Greg’s online success is primarily the fact that he continuously creates fresh but substantial content on his blog and links to all other parts of his site. Gear reviews are a huge draw for any photographers’ website, and Greg employs those judiciously, featuring products that he really thinks are potentially useful in his own photography.

Another one of Greg’s most popular blog series is “Behind The Lens” – essentially a “How I Got That Shot” type of post. So he’ll write an extremely detailed post about how he shot this photo of the strawberry poison frog, and then link to the image in his PhotoShelter gallery where buyers can license the image or buy a print. That fresh and informative content drives visitors to his blog, ranks his site higher in Google search results, makes it more likely that buyers will find his site, and ultimately enables him to sell more images to clients and attract more tour participants.

Photo by Greg Basco - The Strawberry Poison Frog

How does Greg know this process is working for him? Google “Costa Rica rain forest stock” and see for yourself how easy it is to find his website. Just this past Februrary, he made a big sale to Nature Conservancy Magazine after their editor did a similar keyword search and found Deep Green Photography. Then the editor searched through Greg’s photo archive, and selected one of his panoramic images for a double-page opening spread in their feature on protected areas in Costa Rica.

Photo by Greg Basco for Nature Conservancy Magazine

4. Take advantage of every opportunity for additional exposure

It also helps that Greg is an award-winning nature photographer, with such honors under his belt as prizes in the BBC/Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice contest, the most prestigious nature photography competitions in the world. He’s also had some extraordinary opportunities, like being published in National Geographic and working with Canon on several marketing campaigns to show how real photographers use Canon gear in the field. The promotion from this type of exposure has been invaluable.

But don’t go thinking that Greg just sits back and lets these opportunities fall into his lap. In addition to his stock and print business and photo tours, he is also a forum moderator on NatureScapes and an affiliate for B&H Photo, ThinkTank Photo gear, and Induro tripods and heads. See what he means by supplementing your income with other business endeavors?

These days, Greg estimates that he makes about half his revenue from stock and prints, and half from Foto Verde Tours. His greatest advantage over other rain forest stock photographers, says Greg, is the unique nature of his images plus the fact that his photo archive is hosted on PhotoShelter.

“Buyers can browse my photos and find what they’re looking for right then and there,” he says. “It’s also great to have set prices for when I’m out on tour and don’t have internet access – photo buyers can license or buy the image right off my site without having to get in touch with me beforehand.”

Photo by Greg Basco

5. Focus on your personal style and technique

So just what type of rain forest stock sells best? Answers Greg: “The thing about nature photography is that there’s not a set group of typical photo buyers. Take this – earlier this year I made a direct PhotoShelter high-res download sale of one of my hummingbird images to a company that was doing a trade show exhibit on wind turbines. Now I’m not thinking about what type of hummingbird photograph the wind turbine industry would like when I’m out shooting hummingbirds, but they loved the imagery! Rain forest photography is all about capturing the spirit of a place – images that are emblematic and a little bit different from the norm.”

Photo by Greg Basco

Greg is also a huge advocate for nailing photos in the RAW format, and not employing any serious post-production techniques. Most of the time, he spends 90% of his efforts composing and measuring his photos before even shooting, and only about 10% doing some standard tweaks in Lightroom. “I do this because I think it’s the way nature photography should be done, and I like to challenge myself in the field. This type of photography also coincides with what the major international photo contests and many of my magazine clients (like National Geographic Kids, Geo, and Ranger Rick) want. It’s not at all uncommon for magazine editors to ask for the RAW file because they need to assure their readers that a photo in their magazine is not a product of Photoshop trickery.”

“I also think it shows photo buyers that your work is going to hold up to what they need. I would never want to be in a situation where I have to tell a potential photo buyer that the photo they’re interested in won’t work for a double-page magazine spread or a trade show banner because it’s been heavily cropped and manipulated. I want buyers to know that what they see is what they’ll get with my images.”

The quality of Greg’s images shines through in his sales: he doesn’t generate the majority of his stock revenue through volume of sales, but rather from a few top-grossing sales, like that to Nature Conservancy Magazine.

Photo by Greg Basco

6. Employ different business models for different sales

That being said, Greg has tried something a little different this past fall in an effort to boost fine art print sales: sell high-quality but affordable posters in a variety of sizes (20×30 inches for $29.95) and super special images printed on aluminum (known for its superior detail and luminescence).

“I used to just offer standard prints for every photo in my archive. Recently, I decided to offer only select images and in two collections – one is the very affordable poster prints and the other is expensive aluminum prints of my favorite images. It seems to be working. Literally in the past two months since I started offering these printing options, I’ve sold 10 times more prints than I have in the past year.”

Photo and poster by Greg Basco

Photo by Greg Basco, available in aluminum print

Photo by Greg Basco, available in aluminum print

“I think diversifying your revenue stream is the answer for stock photographers moving forward in this business,” he says about all photographers’ future in the photo industry. “Shooting stock is not going to make a living for most nature photographers. I think everyone needs to find a niche and try to get that work in front of photo buyers. At the same time, you have to try exploring revenue opportunities such as tours, workshops, and product reviews. Put your best effort out there and you’ll find that there are opportunities everywhere.”

“When I go out and shoot, I don’t shoot for stock. That is, I’m not thinking that I need a picture of this beach, a picture of this bird, etc. I aim to take photos that have a little something extra and that I like as artistic photographic portrayals of Costa Rica’s biodiversity. In doing this, I believe that I’ve been able to forge a personal style that is identifiable in my images and attractive to photo buyers. That means that I can confidently present my work as being top-notch and worthy of good compensation from photo buyers.”

Photo by Greg Basco, available in aluminum print

7. Have a positive outlook for the future

And this approach is paying off. Greg’s work recently caught the attention of a book publisher looking to do the first image-driven coffee table book on Costa Rica’s national parks and biological reserves. “It’s a dream job for a nature photographer,” says Greg, “because they want a couple of outstanding, artistic images from each area and are giving me free rein to produce the images that I think will capture the spirit of each location. I focus on taking great pictures, and they worry about publishing, distribution, and sales – what more could a photographer ask for?!”

Given the frequently pessimistic view of the stock industry, Greg’s point of view is a welcome oasis of genuine positivity, paired with a sensible approach to the art and style of a successful photo business.

Photo by Greg Basco

Earlier this fall, we gave you Your Year-End Photography Business Plan. Now that we’re fast approaching the end of 2011, it’s time to start planning how you’re going to start off 2012 with a bang.

Cut to our latest free resource, the 2012 Photo Business Plan Workbook. This 9-chapter workbook is designed to provide you with key strategies, concrete examples, and a list of comprehensive resources to help you think critically about your photo business.

You can’t expect to succeed in the coming year if you don’t have a plan to make it happen. We see photographers all the time who have lofty goals but don’t afford themselves the time to make a plan. If you’re an optimist, you can expect to grow. But an actual plan with clear strategies will be more helpful to get you there. This workbook will help you come up with smart tactics to methodically grow your photography businesses in 2012.

Dozens of smart business tips are packed into one workbook to assist in guiding you in the following areas:

• Define your products & services
• Determine your audience and addressable market
• Create a marketing plan
• Fix your finances
• Build your SEO
• Tune-up your website
• Get social
• Create an advisory group
• Follow up with old clients

We’re coming to the end of 2011 and now is the time to think about how you’re going to end your year strong and start 2012 with a bang.

• Do you need a better method to sell yourself, sell your photography and kickstart marketing for your photo business?
• Are you looking for proven tips on creating the best photography website?
• Do you need guidance on how to better manage your finances and plan for business growth?
• Are you ready to promote yourself to prospects, get more online exposure, and beef up the SEO for your photography website?

There’s a ton of information available on all the above and more, but it can be a lot to decipher. So we’ve taken the best of the best from all of our educational resources to create our first ever Photo Business Bootcamp. This comprehensive 5-week email series is designed to guide photographers who are ready to achieve greater success in their photography business.

We’ve curated content from some of our favorite interviews, blogposts, and webinars in order to share advice from over 40 successful photographers and industry experts – including some of the most respected photographers in the world. Photo Business Bootcamp participants will receive a weekly email over the course of five weeks on the following topics:

WEEK 1: Inspiration: The Secrets to Success

WEEK 2: Growing Your Photography Business

WEEK 3: Your Website: Your Most Important Business Tool

WEEK 4: Mastering Online Marketing

WEEK 5: Selling Your Services & Your Photos

And unlike other bootcamps, ours is free. Visit the Photo Business Bootcamp signup page to register for your weekly email series today.

]]> http://blog.photoshelter.com/2011/10/photo-business-bootcamp-power-your-photography-business/feed/ 4 http://blog.photoshelter.com/2011/10/your-year-end-photography-business-plan/ http://blog.photoshelter.com/2011/10/your-year-end-photography-business-plan/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:20:27 +0000 Andrew Fingerman http://blog.photoshelter.com/?p=15183

If you’re looking at the calendar and wondering where 2011 went, you’re not alone. We’re [already] headed into the final quarter of the year, so it’s a smart time to check in with how you’re doing vs. your original photography business plan. And if you want to finish the year strong, you may want to make some strategic decisions about how to spend your time and marketing resources.

Cut to our latest free resource, the 2012 Photo Business Plan Workbook. This 9-chapter workbook is designed to provide you with key strategies, concrete examples, and a list of comprehensive resources to help you think critically about your photo business.

In addition, here are 10 tips for smart moves you should be thinking about now. Regardless of how your business has performed thus far, you can decide to make success happen now or just watch the rest of the year take its course.

1. Have a cash flow plan.

How have you fared thus far in 2011? If your original plan for income and expenses went out the door months ago, its never too late to hold your ground and get back to the disciplined approach to managing your cash. What are your remaining expenses for 2011 and early 2012? Will your existing bookings cover these obligations and support your lifestyle? If not, how many additional gigs must you book to ensure you’re not creating a unmanageable debt situation to maintain necessary spending?  At least three levers can impact cash flow – increasing prices, more aggressive or innovative marketing to bring in new clients, or slashing/delaying those expenses. Have a look at The Tax Ninja, Matt Whatley’s recommendations for smart equipment spending.

2. Review your website analytics.

This is one of those “I should really do this more often” tasks. But if you want to make smart decisions about your website and marketing, its critical to have a tool like Google Analytics installed and review the data regularly. To keep from getting bogged down, review a few key points and think about how they can impact your business. For example, Traffic Sources can be insightful data. Are the sources sending traffic to your site proportional to the effort you put in to cultivate those sources? If you have conversion tracking enabled, which are the best performing sources (that result in sales or inquiries) and can you spend more time or money cultivating these?  Another helpful are is Content. What is the top content on your site in terms of visits and time on site?  If there are any pleasant surprises, you should consider using this content more prominently on your site or marketing. Likewise, you can consider some end-of-year content tests to determine how visitors get engaged by specific new content on your site. (Your website software should support easy changes that enable you to be responsive to what you learn about visitor behavior.)

3. Tweak your SEO.

Are you maximizing opportunities to attract new clients using Google search? By now we assume you already have a keyword hitlist – an understanding of the keyword searches you want to appear on page 1 of search results for. (If you don’t have a keyword hitlist – see our guide to search engine optimization for photographers.) Use analytics to determine how your target keywords have performed over the year, both in terms of traffic and conversions (eg. photo sales, newsletter signups). Consider if you need to alter your keyword hitlist or work harder on your SEO to drive more traffic to your site. (PhotoShelter website owners – you should re-run the SEO Grader in your account to get customized recommendations for improvement.)

4. Test new pricing.

This is the part where people get awkward and shy – but here’s the reality: if you’re providing outstanding service to a client, they’ll respect you for being upfront with your needs. This is a business discussion – nothing personal. “My rates are increasing as of January.” You’ll never know the client’s threshold to pay more if you don’t test. The same can be true with print sales. You can even use the impending price increase to encourage clients to lock in work at the old rates. If you’re skittish about this, check out what Marketing Mentor Ilise Benun told us about talking budget with clients.

5. Run a promotion.

Everyone loves a good holiday discount. The best part about offering a promotion is that it gives you “new news” – something substantial to communicate to your prospects and get yourself back on their radar. (PhotoShelter members – you can set up discount coupons and promo codes, as well as promotional image packages, right inside your account.)

6. Think seasonality.

While you’re getting ready to fill yourself up with holiday fare, your clients are already a few miles down the road. What are they thinking about right now? It will vary by industry and photo specialty. The holidays give you a great reason to go back to portrait and event clients and remind them of photos they can buy for themselves and loved ones. Meanwhile, your commercial clients are probably already planning spring campaigns.

7. Build your prospect list.

If your prospect list is crusty and old, or nonexistent, you should make it a priority to refresh this effort. You can do this organically with intensive research and a smart content marketing strategy that attracts potential clients to sign up for your newsletter. (For tips on building your content marketing strategy, checkout The Freelancer’s Online Marketing Blueprint.) Alternatively, you can work with a service like Agency Access to build a list that is highly relevant to your specialty.

8. Consider year end purchases to lower taxes.

US based businesses (and likely other nations too)  typically evaluate upcoming expenses at the end of the year and make them in December. Why? If you have the budget flexibility, these expenses help offset profits in your tax return, and can save you money (meaning, your profits are lower so you pay the taxman less).  The Tax Ninja Matt Whatley tells us that that, on average, photographers spend $10,000-$15,000 in equipment expenses every 2 years, and it’s all tax deductible in the first year. This can create a nice savings on your taxes, assuming you have enough income to offset the purchases.  Making business purchases isn’t the only smart tax move that should be on your mind – have a look at Matt’s 7 Common Tax Mistakes Made By Photographers.

9. Don’t forget your holiday cards – a smart marketing tool.

Holiday cards are another great way to get back on the radar of old clients, and break through to new prospects. We’ve been told that many buyers, like Travel + Leisure’s Whitney Lawson, look forward to receiving new and creative holiday cards which she keeps just like other standout photographer promotions.

10. Get some feedback.

As you’re thinking about ways to fine tune your business, don’t do it in a vacuum. Contact the clients and partners you’ve worked with throughout the year and ask for direct input.  How did our collaboration work out for you?  What could have made it more successful?  This will not only give you important constructive tips to improve the way you operate, but it demonstrates to your clients that you’re a professional who cares about their needs and your own continuous improvement. If you’re not comfortable with face-to-face feedback, try a survey tool like SurveyMonkey.

Now go get planning!

What are you doing to make sure you wrap up 2011 strong and start 2012 with a bang? Tell us in the comments.

And get your FREE 2012 Photo Business Plan Workbook here.

Photo by Brad Schloss for Athlon Sports

Photography is integral to Athlon Sports’ publications and website. What exactly are you looking for?

Our publications are very heavy on photography — all the magazines are photo dominated and we want a lot of full-page pictures in all the annuals (preview magazines with regionalized custom covers). The print publications require high quality imagery. A lot of images can be made to look good on the web, but the same cannot be said for print.

Photo by Peter Brouillet for Athlon Sports

When collecting images for the publications, do you use staff photographers or do you hire freelancers?

We hire a lot of freelancers to shoot athlete portraits and game events. We probably hired for about 150 assignments last year. That being said, there’s a pretty good mix between hiring freelancers and buying stock photography. In a perfect world we’d shoot it all on assignment, but there are budgetary constraints.

Who makes a good hire for an Athlon assignment?

A photographer’s location is vital because I want to spend money on the photography, not on travel expenses. So if photographers are in the right place, it helps. If the assignment is critically important to me, then I want to hire someone I know because I’m confident that they’re going to deliver 100% of the time. Also, when photographers are out there on assignment, they’re representing Athlon Sports, so if I don’t know them then I have to make sure they conduct themselves professionally. They have to be legitimate and honest, and represent our company well. So I try to find recommendations, either on sites like SportsShooter or LinkedIn.

Photo by Walter Arce for Athlon Sports

What about a photographer’s portfolio catches your eye?

Most of our assignments are game assignments, so I need someone that can produce 20-25 outstanding shots from one game. I’ve found in the past that looking at someone’s book might not tell me what I need to know because they collect photos from 30 different games. So I tell them to send me 20 pictures from any one game or event. That tells me what I need to know.
Also, it’s not who you shoot, it’s how you shoot it. I don’t care if you shoot Division III college sports. People think that you have to get into pro games, but that’s not really true. I’m a professional photographer too and I spent many years shooting high school football before I ever shot a college game.

And what about a photographer’s website?

I want to see pictures without having to click five times to get there through a bunch of subcategories. I also don’t like websites that load super slow. I want to see a good selection of pictures that are well displayed and easy to move between. I don’t like automated slideshows where I can’t stop and see what I want to.

Photo by Layne Murdoch for Athlon Sports

How do you handle emails from unknown photographers?

My version of a perfect email from a new photographer will have my name, not just “photo editor”, and spell Athlon Sports correctly. Otherwise it makes me think that they don’t pay attention to detail. They should tell me where they are located, and it should have a couple of well-crafted sentences about what they want to do and their availability. If you just send me a link to your website, then I’m probably moving on to the next email. But if you can send me a picture that wows me, then I’ll go to your website to see more. You have to have a picture attached to it, and it has to be something that I want to look at twice and say, “Hey, that’s special.” Not that I expect you to produce that at every game, but it’s going to make me investigate further. I don’t want to see your portfolio right away; I want to ask for it first. I’ll call or email back if I like the photo and ask you to send me 20 pictures from one game.

Do you use social media or other networking sites to find new photographers?

I use LinkedIn to see who photographers are connected with and who else they know in the business. With new photographers, there’s always the worry that they’re going to do something to embarrass you. It’s a boost of confidence to me that they know how to handle themselves on a shoot. Obviously what’s most important is quality photography, but if they know someone that I know, then I’ll call or email them to learn more.

What are some red flags that a photographer is not a good choice?

When I have time, I read the message boards on a bunch of different photography sites. People who are rude and obnoxious online are probably going to be rude and obnoxious in real life. Another thing that immediately tells me that I don’t want to work with someone is if they say, “Give me a pass and I’ll shoot you a game for free.” That may seem odd, but if you offer to work for free, that tells me that you’re not professional. It shows no respect for their photography. If you’re looking for practice, go s hoot some high school games.

Photo by Steve Woltmann for Athlon Sports

Does anyone use direct mail to get noticed anymore?

Direct mail is not dead. If I get a really cool one, I’ll stick it up on my wall for a while. But the vast majority of mail I get is not relevant for what I do. I also don’t want to see a postcard with 20 tiny pictures–I want to see one good picture. If you’re going to go through the effort to have something printed, then make it look professional and nice. A bunch of images on a 4×6 postcard are not going to get my attention.

If you had to give one piece of advice, given what you’ve seen in your career, what would it be?

It’s all the little things that matter more than people think: Are you polite and courteous? Do you deliver on-time and as promised? Did you listen to what I told you I wanted and did you produce that? Did you send a bill with the pictures and meet the budget we discussed? That’s how people get rehired.

Photo by Tim Clark for Athlon Sports

Photo by Tim Clark for Athlon Sports