In April and May of this year (2007), I spoke to professional photographer groups in 6 cities around the US. It was a “Spring Tour” and it kept me from home for about a month…but that’s because I’m crazy and don’t fly. Anyway, I’ve done this before on a slightly smaller scale and I make the occasional one-off trip here and there as well. The groups for whom I speak pay my expenses but I don’t make money off the speaking engagements. Hopefully, the groups do. They are usually creative professional groups and they don’t have large budgets, so if I can help them make a buck or two, fantastic.
Since I’m not making money off the presentations, I am often asked “Why do you do this?” The answer is easy: because it’s great for my business.

Okay, that’s the simple answer, and I’ll explain that further in a bit. There’s a more complicated answer too: I do it because I love to help creatives and lots of creatives need my help and this way I reach them even when I haven’t reached them before with all my writings, blog, podcast, etc. If I can reach, for example, one ignorant lowballer and make him/her rethink what it is s/he’s doing, the travel and the effort has totally been worth it. Or if I can help a creative run her/his business more effectively so that s/he doesn’t have to give up her/his dream and start asking “Do you want fries with that?”–same deal.
This is what I live for and why I do what I do professionally in the first place. I have a (some might say “twisted”) passion for helping creatives. So, going on these tours, speaking to groups, gives me the chance to help more at one time. Sha-wing!

Now, getting back to my original reason, it is very good for my business to speak to groups. There is the obvious part about getting my name out there and being able to promote my own services, sure. But there is much more to it than that surface. In fact, I try to mention my specific service offerings as little as possible in my talks and I certainly don’t talk about my prices or the like either. Usually, the host will say something like “Hire Leslie, she can really help!” and that’s great, but these talks are not about pushing my company or services in that way. This isn’t selling, it’s offering.

Giving presentations to your target markets like this helps to build the consumer recognition of your expertise–you become a thought-leader in your industry in their eyes. In fact, this happens before you even get there–in the promotion of your event, the group will endorse your thought-leadership: you are the expert and you must know what you are talking about since the group went to all the bother of bringing you in.

Of course, you have to back up that preconception with solid information during the presentation. If you’re promoted as an expert and then you get up there and spout gob-bledy-gook, you’re going to take your business down in flames.

This is where offering comes in. You need to give in your presentations. I am open and “give away” a lot of my knowledge at my talks. If people take good notes and really work them, they might never need to hire me (this rarely, if ever happens). I share, I’m hon-est, and I try to answer as many questions as I possibly can during Q&A. I want that audience to not only feel like they got their money’s worth attending the event, I want them to feel intellectually sated. It’s the mental equivalent of having eaten at a great restaurant–you’re full, happy, and you know you’ll want to come back.

And come back they do. Some do right away, signing up for private meetings while I’m in their city. Others, maybe not right away, but many do contact me later to work with me. At the very least, the immediate increase in web traffic, podcast downloads and subscriptions, and requests to be added to my mailing list means that I have reached this potential market and they are listening to my story. In time, many will convert to customers.

Another benefit of the tour is that it gives me the chance to hear what my potential clients really think, need, want, fear, etc., in different places. I can see what concerns really are top-of-mind and see how I can tailor my offerings to help provide solutions to those concerns. That data is fantastic! For example, photographers in Austin complain about lowballers just as much as Boston photographers, but Boston photographers aren’t as open with each other as the Austin ones. If I can find a way to help the Boston photographers improve intra-industry communications, that will help their businesses.

Speaking to groups, whether one-offs or making a big tour, is a good way to improve your own business. Think about how helpful this might be for your business:

You’re a designer who services architects, mostly. They are often cheap and/or difficult clients. You meet with the local AIA and arrange to present a lunch event where you’ll talk about how architects can “get the most out of working with a designer.” In the presentation you subtly teach them how to better work with you, explain the real costs and talk about how clients get better results when they let the designer do her/his job, etc.

What do you think the results will be? I bet you’ll learn more about your (potential) clients, get the chance to present your best (honest!) self, help others, promote your thought-leadership in your industry, and meet some great people to boot. All of which will result in increased sales.

©2007 Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book

First off, let’s correct that misnomer: “buying” photography. One doesn’t buy photography-one buys the license, or rights, to reproduce an image. By federal law, the images created by the photographer are copyrighted by the photographer. He or she owns the images and sells to you, the client, specific usage rights to reproduce the images. Those rights are specified both on the estimate and the invoice you will receive.

Day Rate vs Actual Cost

When you ask for a “day rate” you will not be getting the actual cost for an assignment. What you will hear is the fee the photographer charges for performing a one-day shoot-showing up, taking the pictures, so to speak. It doesn’t include expenses and, more importantly, it does NOT include any usage fees - the fees charged to grant the rights to reproduce the images.

Even more important, good, ethical photographers won’t even quote you a day rate. Why? Because they don’t price their services that way. Photography isn’t a commodity nor is it labor. A photo that takes one hour isn’t worth less than one that takes 7 hours to create. Each image is different. Thus, a good photographer will be more than happy to provide you with a specific estimate for your project, taking into account your needs, the creativity involved, etc.

Save everyone some time - -don’t even bother asking for a day rate.

Usage

“What?” some people may ask, “If I pay for an assignment, I should own the images!” Well, while that certainly is possible, you’d be paying for much more than you actually need. Look at it this way, do you want to pay the same price for an image you’re going to use once in a corporate recruitment brochure with a print run of 2500 as you would if the image was going to be used in a national four-color print ad campaign that will reach millions of consumers? Joe’s Sprockets doesn’t need to pay Nike prices!

That’s usage. It saves you money. You buy what you need, but you’re not limited. Let’s say the image used for that recruitment brochure would be perfect for that same company’s website. You can re-license the image for that additional usage, and the fee will again be based on that specific usage.

“But,” a client will say, “I don’t want to be bothered with re-licensing for each additional usage.” In that case, plan ahead and be specific! You might think that “Unlimited Usage” is the easiest way to go (and, well, it is), but you probably don’t really need all that. Perhaps all the possible usage you will need is trade advertising print ads, corporate website, and recruitment brochure, and all that for only one year. That will save you money over Unlimited Usage (and tons over buying the copyright!).

So, when you want to “buy photography” gather this information ahead of time, and you will get an accurate estimate for your needs:

Project Description

(as detailed as possible, if you have a layout, providing that will definitely help).

• Props/talent: provided by you, or does the photographer need to obtain them?
• Usage: Advertising? Editorial? Corporate? In what media will the images be reproduced? Will the images appear locally, regionally or nationally? How long will you need to use the images? If you have media buy numbers handy, that will help the photographer be sure to give you the best price.
• Can the photographer re-license the images (or out-takes) to others (in other words, do you want exclusivity)?

Bid vs. Estimate

An estimate is a noncompetitive pricing for a project. You may want to use Photographer X and want to know how much it will cost. A bid, on the other hand, means that you either have several photographers in mind or, more likely, are going to award the project based solely on price (as opposed to ability, style, talent, experience, etc.).

If you’re asking for a bid, please be up-front about it. While it won’t make a difference in the prices (a project costs what a project costs) for most, it will save time and aggravation. Tell the photographer who his/her competition is. See, there are always those who will do anything to get a job. This way the photographer can bow out before spending days putting together a complex set of numbers just to hear “but photographer X came in at 25% of that!”

BAP advocates the elimination of the bid from our business. Estimates are a far more fair tools by which to evaluate prices, quality, approach, and all the other intangibles that go into selecting the right photographer for any project.

When you really want to use a photographer, but you don’t have the budget Fees are always negotiable. While no one can “give it away” most can often work out something which benefits everyone involved. Even the most famous photographers have worked with small clients who have paid in trade, or product, or who have agreed to stock use immediately, or who have given the photographer a large credit line. It never hurts to ask!

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book