Category Archives: Business Tips

Tips for your photography business

Why I Shoot Stock

This week I’ve been fielding lots of questions about stock photography. Those questions ranged from what rates to pay models, to the best stock libraries to work with, to what is the best sort of content to shoot. The answer to those questions vary with each photographer and what you like to shoot. To set a foundation to answer those questions for yourself, I’ve outlined here ‘Why I Shoot Stock’.

First it’s important to understand that stock photography only makes up a component of my photography income. I am not a full time stock photographer. Many of the points I make below I would take a different point of view if I were a full time stock shooter. Stock is an important foundation to my photography business, and makes up one part of an overall strategy.

Stock makes up an important part of a wider strategy

So, this is ‘Why I Shoot Stock’

1. Stock generates a consistent income year round. Outside of stock photography, I primarily shoot weddings and portraits. Both of these have significant seasonality. I live in Melbourne, Australia and most of my weddings and portraits are local. Down here at the bottom of the world we have hot summers and cold winters. This brings seasonality to my work especially in wedding photography. I am typically busy in spring, less so in mid summer, and busy again in autumn. Winter tends to be very quiet. There are not many people getting married in the darker and colder months of June, July, and August. On the other hand, stock photography provides a consistent income all year round. There are some ups and downs between months, but for the type of content I shoot, the demand is steady year round. That means my downloads and income from royalties are also consistent.

In stock photography, I work on the image. The stock library looks after the sales and marketing.

2. The stock library looks after the sales and marketing. With my wedding photography I look after everything from meeting with potential clients, building a relationship, quoting, pre wedding preparation, shooting on wedding day (with a second shooter!), post production work, delivering images, organizing prints and albums, and delivery of the final products. It is a ‘full service’ proposition and I look after each step of the journey. Stock photography is different. I look after the shoot planning, shooting, post production, and uploading to the stock library. Then they take over. They look after marketing images to potential clients, the download process, the payment from the client, the licencing agreements for use of the file, and any client inquiry or complaint. They also look after payment to the photographer, which happens automatically. For me, the simplicity of this model works well. I shoot and upload, the stock library looks after everything else. That’s why they keep a percentage of the price paid by the end customer.

3. Stock gives me leverage. With my wedding photography work, there is a limit to the number of weddings I can shoot per year. Even with a number of really good second shooters, there is a limit to the number of clients we can look after. And they are nearly all local to Melbourne. Stock on the other hand allows potential sales worldwide and, in a lot of cases, my stock sales happen when I am asleep. They are selling to clients in the USA and Europe during their day time hours, which is in the middle of the night in Australia.

4. Shoot once, sell multiple times. When I shoot a wedding, the income from that wedding only comes once. Now and then a couple order additional items for their first anniversary or another occasion, but mostly the wedding produces an income for me just once. Stock is different. I started shooting stock in 2008. Today, files from 2008 are still producing an income. I love the idea that if I can develop a strong concept, and execute it well, then it can keep selling for years. A single stock image can generate an income multiple times.

Stock photography allows me flexibility. I am not dependent on the client for when I can shoot.

5. Costs today, income tomorrow. Combined with the point above – with stock photography I incur my costs associated with producing the files today. I receive no income until into the future. Some people don’t like this model – they like to be paid today for the work they have done. On the other hand, I like the concept that my costs are incurred today, but my income from those costs is spread out into the future. As my portfolio grows I am building an asset which has value to me in the future. It is the basis for a revenue stream in the years ahead. I like the concept of ‘planting’ now and ‘harvesting’ later.

In portrait and wedding photography, I work to the clients timetable.

6. I work to my own timetable. When I shoot a wedding for a client I plan around meeting their needs. That means I work to their timetable and to their brief. I work hard to make sure I understand their needs and then exceed them. If they really want a shot of the first kiss with a fish eye lens from an upstairs balcony – I’ll do my best to get it for them. By necessity I work to the timetable they set out. In stock, the timetable is all mine. If I have a brilliant idea in the middle of the night and want to get up and shoot it straight away, I can. If I want to work long hours and uploads hundreds of files per week, I can. And if I want to take a holiday and do no stock shoots for 3 months, I can. In stock, I can work to my own timetable. I can work as much or as little as I want to.

7. I can shoot a wide variety of subjects. Image libraries don’t care that I mainly shoot weddings. As long as my images are up to the technical requirements they set, I can shoot any subject matter. I like this variety and flexibility. There are times of the year after a series of weddings where I need a break from shooting with people all day. It’s especially at these time that I enjoy shooting wildlife images and relaxing outdoors. Stock allows me to do this while still being productive. Win, win.

If you have read some of my earlier posts about stock photography you will know that I value the stock photography model as a key part of my business.

Thanks for reading why I shoot stock. If you would like additional information, please see the previous posts I have written about stock photography. The most popular have been Starting in Stock Photography and Simple Stock Concepts. I also have an ebook called Build A Five Figure Income in Your Spare Time. It is for the photographer who is full of enthusiasm and needs a little guidance and encouragement. It goes into more detail on my own stock photography journey and the lessons learnt along the way. You can download it here for $5.

Thanks again for reading ‘why I shoot stock’. Happy shooting.

6 Alternatives to Price Discounts for Family Photographers

I follow a range of family photographers and their portfolios via Facebook. Commonly I see many of them offering price discounts to encourage new clients to book now. Do you take this approach? I am going to offer you a different approach and will show you 6 alternatives to price discounts for family photographers.

But first, why might price discounts not be a good idea for your family photography business in the long run?

Continuous price discounting will attract very price sensitive clients. Is this the type of client you want?

As photographers, our skill and the quality of our work increases over time. Typically our costs go up over time as well, as we upgrade to new equipment, new computers, and costs for insurance and other necessities rise. So, unless we want to work a lot longer hours in future, our prices need to increase over time as well.

So why is price discounting not such a good strategy?

Price discounting focuses your clients on your prices and not on the quality of your work. I don’t know about you, but I want my clients to be excited about the quality of the work, how it will capture the moment of their child’s early steps, and how a large print might hang on the walls of their home for a lifetime. I don’t want them thinking about saving $50 off my usual rates. If the quality of the work is strong enough, the $50 will not matter.
If you are a habitual price discounter you can be sure that any clients that have paid your full rates will not be very happy. If your usual family portrait rates are $500, the client who paid $500 last week will not be very pleased when she sees the same package advertised on your facebook page this week for $350.
And further to that, any potential clients who follow your work will never book at your full rates as you are conditioning them to wait for your regular “Hey world! I’m on sale” posts on your facebook photography page. If you regularly discount, you are essentially cutting your rates. Is that what you want in the long term?

So how do we attract new clients now, and fill the gap in our shooting schedule, without constant price discounts?

Here are ‘6 alternatives to price discounts for family photographers’.

1. Add Value. Instead of offering price discounts, make offers which add more value for your client. If your basic package is $500 offer a ‘Summer Special’ which includes a large canvas print valued at $150 for a package price of $575. The idea here is to present a ‘value offer’ not a ‘cheap offer’.

2. Solve a Client Problem. This is one which can be adjusted for any “hard to buy a present for” family member. For example, “What do you buy your partner for his birthday? He has everything right? Surprise him with a photo of you. Booking available from now until the end of the month”.

3. Build a High Value Package. Building a high value package works in a similar way to the ‘add value’ alternative. But here we add lots of extra things to the package. Let’s show you an example – “Looking for presents for the entire extended family? And would like prints to decorate your own home too? Complete you family portrait shoot before 15 June and receive a 36 x 24 inch canvas, two 12 x 18 inch prints, five 8 x10 inch prints, and a USB of your images, all for $695”

Here are 6 different ideas for promoting your business without positioning yourself as cheap

4. Guarantee turnaround times. Most people have busy lives and often leave things to the last minute. This alternative recognizes that and helps make your client’s lives easier. “It’s not too late for the perfect personalized Christmas present! Complete your family portrait session before 30 November, and receive your prints and images by 18 December. Book now!” Note, that in this alternative there is no mention of price. It is all about recognizing people are busy and solving their Christmas present challenges. (I have found that clients who like you to solve the problem this year, will also like you to solve the problem again next year. They are time sensitive, not price sensitive.)

5. Make tailored offers to previous clients. Your previous clients are a fantastic source of future business. You have a relationship with them and they like your work. This makes them ideal to approach for tailored offers. Here is a sample email “Hi (existing client), I was looking back over my work from last year and realised that it is nearly a year since I did your family portraits. I wonder if you would like to make a record of your family’s images a year later? I currently have a gap in my shooting schedule on (XX date). Would you like to book an anniversary shoot?”

6. Discount only for your special clients. And the final alternative is for those people who just can’t resist offering a price discount. If you feel you really must do this – don’t broadcast it to the world. Don’t create the impression that you are a cheap photographer who is always offering discounts. Keep your clients focused on quality. So what do we do?

Go to your ‘special’ clients or repeat clients who you know will respond to the offer. A sample email might look like “Hi Amanda, I’ve got a booking time available next Wednesday morning at 10am. I know it is short notice, but wondered if you would like to bring the kids and do a 60 minute shoot? My normal price is $500, but for you as a loyal client I’d be happy to take 20% off this.”

Continually offering price discounts will lead you down a path of attracting clients who focus on price. There is another way. Thanks for reading 6 alternatives to price discounts for family photographers. I hope it has given your some tools to escape the trap of constant price discounting. If you would like to receive updates from Beyond Here, please add your email address in the sign up area on this page.

Investing in Relationships

When I started Beyond Here, I had in mind that the content should apply to photographers, and also to people running other creative businesses. That has only partly been the case so far. Most readers right now are photographers. This weekend I ran across a great example of a business principle that applies to any personal service business. Investing in relationships, can be much more valuable than any revenue generated by a single job.

The incident happened with my hairdresser.

I have been getting my haircut by the same hairdresser since 2008. I had her recommended to me (by my wife!). I first visited her when she was running her hairdressing business from the basement of her house. Not too long after that, she opened a retail outlet on a suburban main road in Melbourne, Australia. Despite occasional frustrations with car parking, I continue to visit regularly. Now she has a second retail outlet with staff running both shops. She continues to cut hair, and shares her time between the 2 salons.

Choices. This weekend my hairdresser chose to invest in the client relationship and forgo the money from one hair cut.

On this occasion I visited the newer salon. I hadn’t been to that outlet before, as it is quite a bit further from where I live. To fit in with my hairdressers schedule, I agreed to go to her new salon. So far, so good.

Now, I am a stickler for being on time – and she is too. I regularly arrive early, and nearly every time she is ready early or on time, and occasionally just a little late. This weekend, I arrived 30 minutes before my appointment time. I didn’t mean to arrive that early, I had allowed too much time, there was little traffic, and I got a car park 25m from the salon front door.

When I arrived we said hello. The salon was busy. She asked me to wait to my appointment time (which I expected to). I set about reading a magazine, and surfing on my iphone. My appointment time came and went. Twenty minutes after my appointment time I was still waiting and starting to get frustrated. I had been reading a trashy magazine for 50 minutes now – 30 minutes being my fault for being so early, and 20 minutes more as my hairdresser was running late on her appointments.

When the haircut began, she asked where my car was parked. I explained it was outside. She explained that unfortunately it is only a 60 minute parking zone. She was genuinely concerned that I would be there for over an hour. I appreciated her concern, but wasn’t very excited about the idea of running late and getting a parking ticket. (I was even less excited when I realized how much grey hair was showing through!) At this point, I was getting slightly cranky, but doing my best not to show it. My hairdresser is a great person, and has been cutting my hair for years. I wasn’t about to let being a few minutes late and a parking ticket ruin that history.

Now, cutting my hair isn’t a very lengthy experience. I was all done in less than 20 minutes. As we finished she apologized for running late, but the next thing she did took me by surprise and reminded me of a great lesson. As I walked to the cashiers desk, I reached for my wallet. I wanted to pay and get moving so I wouldn’t have a parking ticket and wouldn’t be late for my next appointment. It was then she said – ‘Craig, this time its on me. See you next time’. I was genuinely shocked. I understand that sometimes things run late, and wasn’t expecting a free haircut.

Instead of having a loyal customer leaving feeling frustrated and cranky, I left feeling great that I was appreciated as a customer – she knew we had been unusually late and she wanted me to get moving so that I wouldn’t get a parking ticket. It was a great reminder that investing in relationships is worth much more than the money that would have been generated from that job. I will continue to be a loyal customer as long as my greying hair keeps growing.

As photographers or personal service business owners, investing in relationships is key to our long term success. Today I shot a 30 minute portrait shoot for a friend. I charged nothing. I decided this was my opportunity for investing in relationships. Have you got an ‘investing in relationships’ story to share?

Just in case you were wondering, I was parked in the 60 minute zone for about 75 minutes. I was pleased there wasn’t a parking ticket on my windscreen. All good, and a great reminder about investing in relationships.

5 Tips for a More Effective Workflow

An effective workflow is the difference between efficiently completing one job and moving on to the next, and being tied to your computer seemingly not able to complete the current job. As a Melbourne wedding photographer, I am proud of the efficient work flow that I have built. It is working for me and my business, and also for my clients. As we are in the middle of the summer wedding season here in Australia, I have challenged myself to further improve my workflow. Here are 5 tips for a more effective workflow.

An efficient workflow is particularly important in wedding photography

Tip #1 – Don’t overshoot – too many images can be a killer for your work flow. This does get easier with experience, but once you have the shots you need there is no value in generating 20 more of the same subject. Or 30 more, or 40 more. For example, when shooting a wedding I want a small number of good shots of the wedding rings. I want more than one image of the rings so that I have some options when I am putting together the clients album – but I don’t want lots and lots of them. When I have 4-5 good images, I stop. There is no point in having an additional 25 ring images to work my way through in post production. Get the shots you need and move on. Don’t overshoot. Too many images can be a hindrance to your workflow.

Tip #2 – Delete in camera – one very effective way to make sure the number of files you download to your computer is manageable is to delete images in camera as you go. At a wedding there are times when this is possible. They are normally the less hectic parts of the day like during the preparation. If I know I’ve ‘missed’ a shot I will delete it in camera rather than keep, download, review, and delete. I find this a very effective way to make sure only the best images make it to the post production phase of my workflow.

Tip #3 – Manage your clients expectations – one common ‘mistake’ I see from wedding photographers is not managing their clients expectations for the number of images which will be delivered to them. This is particularly the case if digital images are the only final product being delivered to the client. You don’t want to be in the situation of delivering 200 images when the bride was expecting 500. Have this discussion when you are finalizing the details of the shoot. If the client has unrealistic expectations talk to them about the “quality vs quantity” trade off.

Tip #4 – Be ruthless on the first cull – the big improvement I have made to my own workflow is being ruthless on the first cull. When I first sit down to review images, I now aim to halve the number of images on the first pass. Yes, I aim to delete one in every two images to quickly get to a manageable number of files. It’s possible. Be ruthless on the first cull.

Tip #5 – Keep to Task – The final tip is one which applies to me. It may not apply to you. When I am reviewing and deleting images I find it very easy to get distracted. I want to look at and edit the very best images from the shoot. This is counter productive and means the task of quickly moving to an appropriate number of files to edit gets delayed. Delays are not good for an efficient workflow. Keep to task.

Do you have some key tips to share from your own work flow? What are the improvements you’ve made? Or the pitfalls to avoid? Please add a comment on this post.

Thanks for reading 5 tips for a more effective workflow. I hope they have been useful to you. If you would like to receive regular emails from Beyond Here, add your email address in the sign up box on this page. Thank you.

Why Photographers Should Keep Great Client Records

This month I have been working with a photographer who is running a successful family portrait business. She has been busy booking and shooting local family portraits very consistently for 18 months. It’s a good news story. She is enjoying creating images for local families and is running a healthy business. Right now she faces a slow down in her bookings, and has asked me to help. It has reminded me again why photographers should keep great client records.

To help her, together we have been working through each aspect of her business reviewing what is working, and what is not. Overall it is a very positive picture. She has been busy for 18 months and has a large group of happy clients.

Thinking about clients? Good record keeping will helps generate new work from past clients.

In our discussion, her first question was ‘I’ve never had a slowdown in bookings before – how do I generate more clients?’ My response was – maybe you don’t need new clients. Maybe you just need to contact your old clients to see if you can help them again.

As an example, one of her first clients had a 4 year old and a new born child. It was the arrival of the baby that prompted the family to have the first portrait shoot. My suggestion was that she re-contact this client. The family’s 4 year old will be just over 5 now and is likely to be starting school – what a great time to do another family portrait session. And then we realized – the photographer hadn’t kept contact details for each client. She didn’t have a way to easily contact the family to explore a second shoot.

So that leads us to, why photographers should keep great client records. I have summarized it into 5 key reasons:

(1) Past clients should be future clients. If a client is happy with your service once, they are more likely to be your client again – but you need to have kept their contact details and relevant information. Only a small percentage of past clients will spontaneously contact you years after the original shoot. Collect relevant client information, so you can use it in future.

(2) Times change, but the photographer doesn’t need to. In family photography there is natural change as children grow up. If you have a client with a new born baby, it won’t be long until there are toddler pictures to shoot, birthday parties, and then shots as the child starts school. This progression continues through primary school and into high school. If you do it really well, you may end up shooting their high school graduation images, on to their wedding, and their own children. Think of your client as a relationship you will nurture, not as a one time ‘job’.

In family photography, there is a natural on going demand for images as the child grows

(3) Clients will send you referrals – make it easy for them. All photographers find that happy clients send them referrals. This is easier for clients if you have kept in touch with them. I sure don’t want a client I worked with saying ‘we’re really happy with the images, but I can’t remember the name of the photographer’. Keeping good records helps you stay in touch. And staying in touch makes it easy for clients to send you referrals.

(4) Past clients are a great source of ‘short notice’ bookings. If you have an opening in your schedule for a shoot next week, past clients offer great potential to fill that gap. Here is the main part of an email I sent to a past client 4 weeks ago “Hi R, I hope you and P are going well. I have had a client cancel their session next Sunday, so I wondered if you would like to do a mini family shoot before the kids go back to school? My normal price is $XXX but as you are my existing client I can offer it to you for $YYY. If you are interested, we can do it in the park near your home. What do you think?” If you have kept your clients email and mobile phone details this is a fast, effective way to fill your calendar.

(5) Happy clients will write testimonials. Social media has made it very easy for word to spread quickly. As photographers offering a service to our clients we need to make the most of this. Keeping good client records makes it easy to ask for testimonials and feedback, which helps to generate more clients.

The photographer who asked for my help now has a system for recording client details and a plan for how and when to contact them. She came to me with a short term business problem, and now has a plan for long term success. I hope this has been helpful to you too, and that you understand why photographers should keep great client records.

Help Clients for Christmas

Looking for a final flourish to the year for your photography business? Right now is a great time to help clients for Christmas. They might need a print to gift to their family, a canvas for their special someone, or a family photo session as the extended family gathers for Christmas.

There is less than 3 weeks to Christmas now, which means you will need to act fast to help clients for Christmas. Contact past clients by email to see if you can help them with their Christmas shopping. The type of email I recommend is short and to the point …

December family portraits make great Christmas gifts. There is time, but you will need to move fast.

“Dear (Client), Hasn’t this year just flown past! I hope you and your family are doing well. I am finalizing my print orders for this year, and am reaching out to see if you would like a print ordered for Christmas? Attached is a price list. The most popular this year seems to be the 12×18 inch print for $XX. Please let me know by Tuesday if you’d like to order some – they make great Christmas presents. Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Craig.” If you don’t hear back from your clients within 24 hours, follow up with a gentle reminder. Taking the hassle out of buying Christmas gifts can be invaluable for your clients, and often they will say ‘yes’ to an offer to frame the prints and deliver the ‘finished product’. This is a great way to look after your clients and to have your business flourish.

Tomorrow I am shooting family portraits for this little man’s family. I had the pleasure of shooting his parents wedding 2 years ago, and doing a studio portrait session for them earlier this year. We have planned an outdoor session for tomorrow morning. Now, I just need a little cooperation from the Melbourne weather and we will have prints ready for Christmas.

Good luck as you try to help clients for Christmas.

Jump Start Your 2015

This year has raced past and its already December. At this time of year many photographers pipeline of work slows as domestic clients start to think about Christmas and holiday time, and commercial clients have a ‘crazy busy’ few weeks before the end of the calendar year. December is a great time of year to take a few simple steps to jump start your 2015.

Making time to contact past clients in December can jump start your business into the new calendar year

I take a few simple steps at this time of year to jump start my business for the new calendar year. Many of my clients are domestic clients who I have shot weddings or family portraits for. Over the next 2 weeks I will send each of them a 6×4 print, a business card, and a Christmas card. In the Christmas card will be a hand written message. This contact helps maintain a connection with each client, and makes it easier to strike up a conversation the next time I see them, or they refer a friend to me. I want them to think of me as their family photographer and holidays are a great time to reinforce that connection. For my commercial clients, I call them in early December. No one needs another email at a busy time of year, so I choose to call to either speak with the client or to leave a voice message. My message is a simple one, are there any projects they need assistance in getting completed in the next few weeks? How can I help? If there aren’t any, what date will my client be back in the new year? Can I touch base with them about new year projects? All simple stuff to maintain a relationship with each client and to see if I can assist them.

What do you do to maintain contact with your clients? What approach will you be taking to jump start your 2015?

Understanding Public Liability Insurance for Photographers

Most people have a good understanding of motor insurance. It is easy to understand that a car is essential in running a mobile business, and that you need to insure it. If you are involved in an accident, it can be repaired quickly and you can be back on the road promptly. Usually it will only cost you the amount of your excess. Understanding public liability insurance is not as intuitive. I have written this post to help you in understanding public liability insurance for photographers.

What is public liability insurance? Yes, it even sounds scary! But don’t worry, it is not as complex as it sounds. I got the following definition from an Australian government publication. Public liability insurance protects you and your business from the financial risks of being found liable to a third party for death or injury, loss or damage of property or economic loss resulting from your negligence.

Public liability insurance is not as intuitive as motor insurance.

When will a photographer need public liability insurance? If you are photographing a wedding and put your bag down, a guest could trip over it and sustain an injury. If you were found to be liable for this because of your negligence, your public liability insurance would protect you from the financial risk of having to cover the injured party’s costs.

You might conclude that this is not very likely to happen. Wedding photographers could have photographed hundreds of weddings over many years without an incident like this happening. While it is not very likely to occur, the potential financial cost of this is very significant – and that’s a good reason to have public liability insurance.

Where do I buy public liability insurance? You can buy public liability insurance from most major insurance companies or through an insurance broker. In many cases the functionality to buy the insurance is available online. I recently changed provider of my insurance, and bought a new policy online in about 10 minutes. Ironically, it took longer to cancel my previous insurance than it did to take out the new policy.

What will it cost? The public liability insurance I purchased cost me a few hundred dollars for 12 months cover. I consider this good value for the peace of mind it provides.

The cost of public liability insurance will vary by country and location. In addition these factors will effect the premium:

the turnover of the photography business – higher turnover businesses will have higher premiums
the number of employees – the more employees, the higher the premium
the type of photography work you are doing – for example, aerial photography will have higher premiums than wedding photography
the amount of cover you want – the broker I use had options for $5m, $10m and $20m cover. The more cover the higher the premium.

I hope this post has helped your understanding of public liability insurance for photographers. If you need expert advice, please talk to an insurance broker or representative of an insurance company. Thanks for reading ‘understanding public liability insurance for photographers’.

10 Things to Consider as You Start Your Photography Business

This weekend I swapped messages with 2 people who are about to start their photography businesses. They are both confident with camera and client skills, but starting a business is the great unknown. I started to make a list of business things to consider. In most cases, these things are not hard, they are just new. Keep in mind I’m not an adviser, a lawyer, or an accountant – I’m a photographer. I have done each of these things in setting up and running my own business. Here are 10 things to consider as you start your photography business.

Setting up in business is an exciting time. Enjoy it!

1. How Your Business Will Operate? There are a variety of ways a business can operate (this varies depending on what country you are in). Will you operate as a sole trader? Will you establish a company? Here is Australia the simplest way to start operating is as a sole trader. This is how I first set up my business operations. As the business grew I changed to a company structure which is how I operate today. If you want expert advice, an accountant will be able to give you the pros and cons of different business structures.

2. Register Your Business. Once you have decided how your business will operate you need to register your business. Again, this process is different in different countries. Here in Australia you need to get an ABN number. This can be done online at www.abr.gov.au. If you want help an accountant will be able to assist in understanding and completing this process.

3. Insurance. Now that you are in business you will need to get appropriate insurance to protect your business in the event of something going wrong. Your photography equipment may have previously been covered under your contents policy. Now that you are using it for commercial purposes it is unlikely to be covered by your domestic policy. Insuring it under a commercial policy is the answer. And very importantly, you will need Public Liability Insurance. Here in Australia it is available for just a few hundred dollars per year from any of the major insurance companies or through an insurance broker.

4. Bank Account. You will need a separate bank account for your business. This keeps the businesses banking needs separate to your personal ones. Here in Australia it is very straightforward to set up a business bank account. I have mine with the same bank I do my personal banking with. They offer a fee-free business account which is nice.

5. Online Presence. Having an online presence is a key business tool. I see some beginners setting up pages on Facebook as their only online presence. This makes me cringe. You are going to need your own website if you want to control how your information is laid out and presented. Social media channels like Facebook and Google+ can be used to drive traffic to your website, but you will need a functioning website as your foundation.

6. Marketing Materials. I am avoiding going into the topic of generating clients here. Let’s just say that when you are starting out it is handy to have some simple marketing materials – like business cards, letterhead, envelopes, note paper etc. It adds to your credibility and can present you much more professionally than an enthusiast who just has a camera and a smile. Choose what you like and fits into your budget.

Take time to set you business up, so when you are with a client you can focus on great images

Take time to set your business up, so when you are with a client you can focus on great images

7. Contracts. Contracts are critical in photography business. They outline the agreement between you and your client. Make sure your contract covers what services will be provided, who owns copyright, and issues around model releases. I have never had a disagreement with a client about services or price, but its nice to know that if I did, I have a written contract to revert to. Some sample contracts are available online, but talking to a lawyer will give you peace of mind.

8. Invoicing System. Starting in business means you are planning to get paid for your work. To do this you need an invoicing system in place. That is a fancy way of saying, you need to know how you will get a bill to your client. Don’t be intimidated by this – when I started my system was to hand write all my invoices! I bought an invoice book at the local stationery store and literally hand wrote invoices to my clients. Low tech but effective.

9. Understand Expenses. When you set up in business, understanding the revenue side of your business is straightforward – it is the amount of money your clients are paying your business. Understanding expenses is slightly more complex, only because some of your personal expenses will be tax deductible expenses to your business. For example, if you are driving your personal vehicle to shoot weddings, the mileage you are doing in your vehicle can be claimed as a company expense. It is worthwhile talking to an accountant about business expenses.

10. Learn from those Who’ve Been There Before. There is now a good range of business photography books available with some outstanding advice. Three that I really like are:

The Photographers MBA by Sal Cincotta
Visionmongers by David Du Chemin
Fast Track Photographer by Dane Sanders

Keep in mind that getting started in business is not complex and you shouldn’t feel over whelmed. I hope these ’10 things to consider as you start your photography business’ have been useful. Have you set up in business? What was the most challenging aspect? If you haven’t set up yet and would like some more help, please add a comment to this post.

More Tips For Your First Photography Job

After a recent post titled Tips For Your First Photography Job I received a series of emails with questions and comments. It is exciting that there are photographers about to shoot their first paid job! I’ve taken that feedback and put together 7 more tips for your first photography job. There really are an unlimited number of tips. These 7 focus on yourself and your client. I hope they are useful for you.

Don’t leave your client with unanswered questions

Tip #1 – Keep the Client Informed. When you preparing for your first job, think about your client experience and take the time to explain the process to them. If you are doing a family portrait shoot, plan your time from beginning to end, and explain the process to the client. This might include the date and time of the shoot, advice to the client on wardrobe, the time-frame you expect to deliver the final images, what the client needs to do about image selection, and when final products will be delivered. The key is to be able to explain this to your client so that they know what is happening. There is nothing worse than hearing a story where a client doesn’t know when their images or albums will be delivered. Keep the client informed, manage their expectations, and deliver to those expectations.

Tip #2 – Back Up Your Images. Ok – boring tip alert! I haven’t heard from anyone who has had a gear failure and lost the images from their first photography job. Hopefully it won’t happen to you. To guard against this, back up your images in multiple locations. You don’t want a couples wedding images only on your laptop. If your laptop gets stolen, then you have a very uncomfortable discussion coming up with your clients. I keep my images on my laptop, an external hard drive, and an offsite storage facility. Be boring, back up your images. It is worth avoiding a very uncomfortable conversation with your client.

Tip #3 – Visit the Venues. This is a very obvious and very important tip. If you are shooting a wedding you need to have visited the venues for the ceremony, reception, and any other venues you are using. If you are shooting an outdoor family portrait – visit the location and consider the different backgrounds you could use. What will you do if the weather is bad? What lighting conditions are likely? What equipment will you need? Visit the venues in advance so that you know how to handle different conditions. Making it up on the go isn’t a good idea.

Use different lenses to create different looking images

Tip #4 – Different Lenses, Different Looks. Be ready to use different lenses to create different looks. If you are shooting an outdoor family portrait, you will get a different look from a 50mm prime lens, than you will with a 70-200mm lens. Use different lenses to create different looking images. This will ensure your client has a range of images to choose from, and increases your likelihood that they will want to purchase prints, albums or other products.

Tip #5 – Manage Yourself. On the day of your first shoot it is likely you will be nervous. Consider how you will perform at your best. Got all your equipment ready the night before? Got a full gas tank in your vehicle? Formatted your memory cards? Think through what is going to get you ready to deliver an excellent client experience.

Tip #6 – Plan Your Timings. It comes with experience to know how much time you need. When I’m shooting the bride and bridesmaids getting ready for the wedding, experience has taught me how long I’ll need to get a range of top shots. I’ve got a good idea for the minimum time I need, the ideal amount of time, and what is too much time. Without this experience, you will need to plan and then allow a little longer. You will also need to consider the time to travel between locations if its a multi location shoot. Don’t cut it too tight. Having appropriate time will help produce good images.

Tip #7 – Learn From This Shoot. Finally, go easy on yourself! On your first shoot, don’t expect that everything will go perfectly and to produce award winning images. That shouldn’t be your goal. Aim to have a satisfied client who will promote you and your work. When the shoot is finished give thought to – what went well? what could have gone better? how could you deliver an even better client experience? what is your assessment of the images you created? how could they be stronger or more diverse? Your first paid shoot is a great place to develop your skills and your client experience. Take the time to learn from this shoot.

I hope ‘more tips for your first photography job’ have been useful. If you have any questions, please comment on this post. I will be happy to try and answer them. Good luck for your first photography job.