Most photographers go into the business of photography because they LOVE photography and because they want to get paid to do more of it.

What they didn’t bargain for was having to make sales, get clients, fix and negotiate fees and prices.

The Photographer’s Guide to Negotiating is a definite MUST HAVE for your reference shelf because it gives you the information and helps you obtain the skills you need in order to keep your business thriving.

In a nutshell this is what the book includes:

• What negotiating is
• The traits of a good negotiator … skills you can learn
• Planning for the negotiation
• The psychology of negotiation  (learn this and you will never be shy about negotiating again!)
• Strategy and Tactics

Here are some of the specific places the book talks about using your newly acquired skills:

• Assignment photography
• Selling your Stock photos
• Contracts
• and … save money by negotiating your purchases with your vendors and suppliers!

Finally, the book includes a chapter of interviews with photographers on how they acquired and use their negotiating skills.

I’ve freelanced for over TWENTY-FIVE years and luckily I learned very early on, that negotiating skills are critical to the success of your business.  If you are shy and hesitant in talking about money, you will be on the loosing end. If you are comfortable about negotiating … you will be happy and so will your customer.

I think the biggest “secret” is to fully understand that your client is probably uncomfortable about money talk because they are afraid of being taken advantage of.  The more you can lead the process and help your client be comfortable with the money discussion, the more money you will make!

Start by getting the book  The Photographer’s Guide to Negotiating … read it and work on the skills that are missing. When you understand the process, your business will grow!

2010 Photographer’s Market

The “2010″ verion of Photographers Market is hot off the press. Filled with over 1500 markets for photographers and coming in at 640 pages, this volume is a bargain at the price.

A current version of this book is critical to any photographer selling stock or editorial photography. It is filled with tips on how to market your photos from successful working photographers.

If you live (or sell photos) in the UK or Europe, another useful reference is:

The Freelance Photographer’s Market Handbook 2010 2010

From personal experience … there is a definite cross-over to the graphics and design end of things:

2010 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market

Be sure to visit our Photographer’s Book store for great photography reference information.

GET YOUR FREE CD NOW!

Jeff Mills is the King of Outsourcing and MY Personal Outsourcing Guru.  I met him last spring at a Internet Business Conference here in Vancouver. In addition to being an amazing resource, he is one of the NICEST people I’ve met.

I have transformed my business using Jeff’s tactics and information. I now have several teams of “worker bees” working for me while I sleep.  I wake up in the morning to find that all the work I assigned the night before is done.  I can’t tell you how fabulous that is.

It has taken my productivity and the efficiency of my business UP by over 500%   All my workers are experts at what they do, which has expanded the capabilities of my company.

Jeff’s Free Video Reveals the #1 Secret for Tripling your Time Off and Doubling Your Monthly Income by Working with Virtual Assistants & Outsourced Teams Who do ALL Your Internet Marketing & Money Generating Activities For You!

If you want just a little bit of that for yourself …  CLICK HERE Enter your name and email … then fill out the form. You will get the free CD (just pay a very reasonable shipping charge) AND a 30 day FREE trial of Jeff’s Outsourcing Program. This is the SAME program I belong to. You’ll get 30 days to kick it around and see if it is a fit for you!  In addition to that you will get all sorts of OTHER FREE goodies. Be sure to go and take a peek at everything Jeff is giving away.

If you want to GROW YOUR BUSINESS you are nuts if you don’t take advantage of this program.

Melanie

Get all your goodies here

Guest Blogger:  Rodney Washington

Have you pondered the idea of making some real money from your photography? In this article I will show you one of the simplest and low-cost ways you can learn-to-earn from your passion for photography. Call it your first step to Building a Successful Photography Business 101

Start with the people who already know, like and trust you and then ask them for referrals. For example, shoot your nephews birthday party, portraits of your neighbor’s kids or pets, even your favorite neighborhood restaurant dishes if food photography is your passion. Gently hit up everyone you know, siblings, parents, coworkers and friends and when you exhaust those resources (but don’t be a pest) ask them for referrals and remember everyone is a potential source.

You could build your business solely on referrals and word-of-mouth if you exercise this approach properly. Don’t ever forget that photography is a people business and people like to work with others that they enjoy being around period, so it never hurts to ask. If you want to sweeten the pot offer even further offer a referral fee. Money can be a tremendous motivator! If funds are tight or you don’t wish to offer cash in exchange for referrals you could offer more of your services, read the next section for more suggestions.

Quick Tip: People don’t like to be sold too, but they love to buy from people they know, like and trust. Once you start receiving new business this way and if you keep your customers happy all you need to do is rinse and repeat. In other words ask your referrals for referrals.

Want another bonus tip? To keep the referrals coming offer your current customers an ethical bribe. For example you could offer extra prints if they refer you to two or three new sources of contacts. Give them a gift certificate for a free session if they refer you to five or more. In other words the more referrals they provide the more you sweeten the pot. See how this works? If those referrals generate paying customers you could even go so far as to offer a gift card to their favorite restaurant or day spa.

Want one more tip? Find people with a good Rolodex. “How do I find someone with a good Rolodex?” you may be asking. Think about it; are you or someone you know in direct contact with potential paying customers you want to attract? I’ll give you some examples: if you shoot portraits of women, hairdressers or makeup artists may a great source of contacts for you.

If you photograph dogs or cats perhaps a doggie day care, pet spa or vet’s office could refer you. If you photograph individuals who have recently experienced a major change in their physical appearance i.e. weight loss, facelift or other cosmetic alteration consider contacting plastic surgeons, personal trainers or health and sports clubs.

Do you desire to break into the lucrative wedding market? Don’t go out directly soliciting brides-to-be especially if you don’t have a book or a lot of experience. No, connect with the people who serve them.

Target florists, caterers, printers, bridal gown vendors, bands and musicians. If you have to as a gesture of good will offer to shoot their goods for free in the beginning to build your reputation.
Most importantly do good work, prove yourself and give them something that they need and they in turn can give you something you need. In this case paying customers. The possibilities are endless.

Just remember: Take care of those who take care of you and you should have no problem bringing in new business.

I’ll leave you with this, today more than ever in the competitive business of photography those who succeed are the ones who think outside-the-box. Be willing to go that extra mile to reach those who need what you love to do and you greatly increase your opportunities for success.

The Bottom Line? Get the tools you need to either get your photography business off the ground -or- increase your existing business by opening new markets today! If you want in-depth pointers, ideas, information on running a successful photography business, explore my site. I’d like to invite you to sign up to receive my audio course: Secrets to Running A Successful Photography Business: 5 Things That They Didn’t Teach You In School to claim your copy of this valuable course:
http://photo-marketing-mentor.com/free

Business Cards: In ONE pack of 50 business cards you can have 50 different images.  Did I say FIFTY DIFFERENT images? Yes!

Mini-Cards: Use up to 100 images or photos in a package of 100 mini-cards.

If you have a business, imagine the possibilities for yourself. If you are a photographer or a designer, imagine the great value added service you can offer your clients. WOW them … they won’t believe it!

Mini-cards, Business Cards, Post Cards, Greeting cards. Think about how you can use them all to market your business or to sell value added services to your customers.

Moo Cards.  It’s EASY!

As a photographer and marketing coach for other professional photographers I’m always looking for new tools and strategies that can be used to get the word about their businesses.

In the age of Internet marketing and social media networking it’s critically important now more than ever for photographers to take advantage of every opportunity to get our work in front of our target audience.

With websites, blogs and social media tools like Facebook and Twitter just to name a few, they’re more avenues than ever for pro- photographers to reach potential prospects.  So the question becomes “if it’s easier to connect with our prospects online – how do I capture the leads I receive on my blog -or- website?”

The answer I give my clients is the squeeze page.  Now I’m going to tell you that I’m not a fan of the term.  I’ll explain in a moment, but first, I’ll share with you the terms origins.

A squeeze page is a word coined by the Internet marketing world meaning “to squeeze” the site visitor into giving up their email address usually in exchange for a free offer of some kind.

How the technique is used is simple: create a single webpage that limits the site visitor’s option to either supply the publisher with their contact info or click away.

The concept of the squeeze gets sort of bad rap in my opinion because it’s term “squeeze” denotes the concept of pressure.  But I believe that if you provide “real value” to your prospective subscriber via your free offer then there’s no pressure.  Either they want you have or they don’t.

While I’m not a fan of the term, I’m a huge advocate of the results it provides. But I prefer to think of the squeeze page as a “welcome” page.

For professional photographers our images constantly provide us with numerous options to create compelling content for our welcome page.

I’ll give you three examples:

1. You could combine your images with your notes about the origins of the images into a diary or journal style format.  Then create and publish a PDF document that your potential subscriber can download.

2. If you teach photography classes you could create and publish a special report supplying sample lessons; again either in PDF format or perhaps in a series of video lessons.

3. You could be interviewed via audio over the telephone or live in person about your work and publish the replay in either MP3 or Audio CD format.

These are just three examples of you can turn your existing content and knowledge into a compelling offer that will entice your site visitors to begin a relationship with you by supplying you with their contact info.

Why would you want a welcome page?  Because it’s fastest way to build an online mailing list of prospects online.   It’s actually a win-win for both you and your prospect.  Your prospect receives a tangible piece of content that is a soft introduction to what you do.  And you gain a new prospect that you can promote your services, products and programs to over and over again.

Potential Pitfall of the Squeeze Page:
You should never restrict your site visitor’s ability to view your photographic work by forcing them to give them to give up their contact info.  Therefore I do not recommend making the “squeeze page” the front page of your website especially for photographers.

I do recommend integrating your free compelling offer and opt-in capability throughout your existing site.

My 3 suggestions to make squeeze/welcome pages work effectively in your photography business:

1.  Do not and I repeat do not, limit or force your clients and prospects to sign up for your mailing list before they can view your images on your main website.  It won’t work if you force.

2.  An effective squeeze page should be a stand along page with it’s own identity separate from your main blog or website.  The squeeze page should promote your free offer, period.  You can however either in your special report, audio replay or video lessons invite the recipient to view more of your work by visiting your website.

3.  Always promote a “strong call to action” on your welcome page and throughout your free offer, for example: “If you enjoyed this video lesson then visit my website @ www.yourphotographysite.com to view more of my work and find out when I’ll be teaching in your area”.

Do you see the potential in this?

The bottom line: If you’re serious about securing new business your goal should be to always be prospecting this is crucially important especially in this challenging economic environment.

If you’d like to learn about how you can implement this strategy and similar ones into your photography business I’d like to invite you to visit my welcome page @ photomarketingbusinessinsider.com While there sign up to receive my FREE special report the Photo Marketing Business Insider Report.

Rodney Washington is  The Photo Marketing Mentor — a Los Angeles based photographer, marketing coach and host of his radio show on BlogTalkRadio.com. To learn more about his programs visit his website at photo-marketing-mentor.com

15 TIPS ON SELLING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS

1.  Develop a target market and focus on who and what you want to sell. That’s your first objective. Target markets could be: weddings, portraits, sports events and teams, industrial, stock, lifestyle, still life, local scenics and tourism I’m sure you’re getting the idea!

2. Create a portfolio DVD for potential clients. It is very easy for them to view your portfolio on their DVD players at work or at home.

3. Give your customers a DVD with all of their photographs so they can easily order their photographs. The DVD should start with your business logo and then display their photographs in a slide show. It is a very easy procedure for your customer to order photographs. All they have to do is write down the number on the photograph as it appears on the screen and give you a call. When they have a DVD, you never know when they might want to order  it could be the next day or two years from now. Let your DVD sell for you!

4. Learn how to manipulate and enhance your photos with Adobe Photoshop CS4
You can perform miracles with your photos once you learn the basics.

5. Consider building a small office in your home. I go to a customer’s home, to their business or a customer comes to my office. I built an office/lab where customers can discuss jobs. Its small (9′x11′), comfortable and includes a wet and digital lab. The office has definitely helped me develop business.

6. Take photographs of any public event such as: grand openings, dog shows, sporting events, graduations, church events and public concerts. There might be an opportunity later when someone needs photographs of that event. At the same time, you will be seen photographing the event and people might come up to you with a possible job opportunity.

7. Always carry a binder with a portfolio of your work in it in case you have to opportunity to discuss some potential jobs.

8. Get your name out there and everywhere. People will start to contact you because they heard of you. Word of mouth is a great form of publicity for you. So are business cards you should be handing them out to everyone.  Check out Moo Business Cards, where you can get dozens of different photos when you order a pack of cards. Send postcards every month to existing customers. Remind them you are still in business. Remind them to send you referral customers.  Again, Moo Cards allows you to create dozens of different images per order at an incredibly great price!

9. Take as many photographs as possible. Remember, any photograph can be sold the week it is taken or a year later. You never know what photograph will sell or when a photograph will sell. If you have a large inventory, the better off you will be. There might be instances when a newspaper needs a photograph of someone who you’ve photographed recently.

10. Take many candid photographs around town… all I can say is take photographs and more photographs. If you have a digital, it costs almost nothing to store it on a CD. One day, that photograph is going to be wanted by someone!

11.  Look for photography opportunities and create your own. Don’t just wait around hoping that some opportunity will just appear.

12. Get invited to private events because people will hope that you’ll bring your camera along… which you will do!    Be sure to hand out your business cards and direct people to your website.  Upload the photos that night or the next day and you will get sales.

13. There is an excellent book on how to make a profit with photography. The book is Photography: Focus on Profit
by Tom Zimberoff.  Zimberoff will guide you on how to make a PROFIT, not just make money… and there is a real difference. Think of new and creative ways to promote yourself each and every day. And always carry your camera with you. You’ll never know what opportunity may come along.

14. My camera is constantly glued to my face  yours should be too!

With these helpful tips and tricks you can start making some cash. A lot of it is being at the right place at the right time. So that means getting out there and wearing out your camera!

Russell Borland

© 2009 Proof Positive Productions
All Rights Reserved

RESOURCES

MOO Postcards Use up to 60 different photos or designs to surprise your friends and family!

MOO Business Cards. Be unique! Create 200 business cards easily using your own photos and designs.

Ignorance of the law is NO defense. So it is important that photographers, especially photographers who are in business or who want to sell their photographs know about the legal considerations that are unique and specific to their profession.

Photographers should have a good grasp of the following:

• privacy rights
• property rights
• intellectual rights
• copyrights
• freedom of information
• ethics
• work for hire
• licensing images
• liability
• fair use
• use of images on the internet

One of the best places to get guidance and information is the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). NAPPA is committed to providing information so that their members can make sound decisions on business and photo practices.  The NPPA has over 11,000 members worldwide. Their members work for newspapers, television, and magazines and include journalists, photojournalists and editors.

NAPPA’s website offers a variety of valuable business information including Frequently Asked Questions about photographers rights, copyright, etc. The information is available to both members and non-members.

The National Writers Union has some great easy-to-read information on copyright.

My bookcases are filled with books on writing and photography.  This is the one that I find most useful:

Business and Legal Forms for Photographers (with CD-ROM)
by Tad Crawford

If photography is your profession, be sure that you ARE professional … don’t leave money on the table by not understanding your rights, and don’t get on the wrong side of the law by NOT understanding other people’s rights.

Melanie Rockett
(c) 2009 Proof Positive Productions
All Rights Reserved

RESOURCES

Business and Legal Forms for Photographers (with CD-ROM)

Legal Handbook for Photographers: The Rights and Liabilities of Making Images

The Law, In Plain English, For Photographers

So, how’s it done?

Well, first you need to put together a collection of stunning photographs. I recommend that you do not approach an agency until you have at least 200. Make sure they are perfectly focused, perfectly exposed, nicely composed, and that at least half of them contain people: people sell pictures. If you have even a single doubt about any of them, discard them.

DO NOT submit even one sub-standard image.  Do all the necessary work: write a caption for each of the images you intend to submit, catalog and number them (each image should be listed by category  construction, sports, industry, castles, etc. – and numbered accordingly), create the low-res jpegs, and then put them on a CD ready to mail.

Next you have to find an agency. That means you’ll need to do some shopping around. Go online and Google stock photo agencies. That should bring up a list. Pick maybe three, read their guidelines, make sure you can supply what they need exactly as they need it, and then send them a query.

The query should go to a named individual (call and find out who you need to send your images to  never submit images to the editor; one that has authority to make a decision. In the query, you should explain who you are and what you do. Be sure to mention that you are a professional photographer looking for an agency to represent your work.  That you have images ready for them to consider, and would it be alright for you to submit them. Also, let the agency know that you are ready and able to submit images regularly. If you query by email, do not attach any files until you are given permission to do so.

If you are given the go ahead, do so quickly. You will get only one chance to make a good first impression.  Don’t blow it. If you are fortunate enough to be offered a contract, be sure you are willing and able to fulfill the obligations therein.

Model Releases?
Yep, you’ll need to get them. No image with a recognizable person or persons in it can be sold for commercial purposes without them having given permission in writing. These are not difficult to obtain. I carry a few around with me wherever I go. If I shoot what I think might be a saleable images, I simply approach the person involved and introduce myself as a professional photographer.

Then I tell them I think I’ve just shot a nice picture of them and that I would like permission to offer it to my stock agency for publication. I also tell them if they would be so good as to sign my little piece of paper (I get the name, address and signature), I will send them a copy of the image/s. Invariably, that does the trick. Just don’t make a big deal out of it. It’s not difficult.

Online agencies
These days there are any number of on-line stock photo agencies willing to take on new and inexperienced photographers. This is a good thing, and you should try to take advantage of the opportunity. It will give you experience in the professional world and it will provide you with a by-line: my work is represented by They will not pay you very much for your images, but when you are a beginner, who cares? It’s the thrill of knowing someone other than yourself likes your work. That’s what counts. Check them out, give them a try.

To fee or not to fee? That is the question
There are also some on-line stock photo agencies that charge an annual fee for their services. It could be as little as $50 and it could be as much as $250, maybe even more. DON’T GO THERE. These people are interested only in gathering fees. The take every photograph submitted by every poor wanna-be that ever held a camera. They do NO marketing at all, and you will sell not a single image. Be warned.

Okay, there it is then. I wish you every success in your venture into the wide and wonderful world of the stock photo industry. It’s certainly been good to me. Have fun, but above all: please continue to enjoy your photography.

Blair Howard is freelance photojournalist and the author of 29 books, more than 600 articles and 3,000 published photographs. His work has appeared in PHOTOgraphic Magazine, Delta Sky Magazine, Popular Woodworking, Peter’s Hunting Magazine, Country Accents, The Mail On Sunday, Golf Illustrated, The Walking Magazine, and many more. He also teaches Photography for Publication, and Creative Writing.

RESOURCES:

Microstock Photography: How to Make Money from Your Digital Images

Digital Stock Photography: How to Shoot and Sell

Photos That Sell: The Art of Successful Freelance Photography

2009 Photographer’s Market

Shooting & Selling Your Photos: The Complete Guide to Making Money with Your Photography

SellPhotos.Com: Your Guide to Establishing a Successful Stock Photography Business on the Internet

I made the switch not too long ago. I can thank my friend Rich Wagner for that (Rich is a professional fine art photographer). When he and I talked, just before we met at one of our photo workshops in Paris early in 2005, I was still a died-in-the-wool 35mm film photographer. Never, I said, would digital photography replace film. That gave Rich a real big laugh.

He then proceeded to persuade me to make the change. So convincing was he that I did. You’ll laugh when I tell you, though, that I lugged a complete 35mm outfit all the way to Paris along with my brand new digital outfit. That 35mm camera never saw the light of day, and it hasn’t seen it since. But, again, I digress.

Digital images require no less work that do 35mm slides. In fact, they require even more work. In addition to cataloging, numbering and captioning, each image has to undergo several more processes before it can be submitted to the agency  bummer.

1. The images have to be shot first in RAW format (all the detail is retained, and none is lost during conversion to jpeg format. This is the largest possible file the camera can generate.)
2. Next, a low resolution jpeg file must be generated from the raw image. This is the one that submitted, on CD, for consideration. This file should be no more that 250k in size.
3. Once the agency has made its choices, you will be notified which of your images have been chosen for inclusion in the library.
4. Now for the good stuff. Each image must be regenerated, again from the original raw file, this time in high resolution format. These new images must also be in jpeg format, but at least 50 mega-bites in size. This can only be done in Photoshop, the industry standard.
5. The requested images must then be resubmitted, on CD. This is where the agency gurus take over – thank god for that. They do their own cataloging, adjust the colors just a little where they think it will enhance the images, and then they upload them to their website.
6. Once all this has been done they can begin marketing your work.

Whew. And then you have to do it all over again, and again, ad infinitum. Not a bad life if you don’t weaken.

So, what can you earn?

Well as a general rule of thumb, you can estimate your potential income from you stock agency files at, on average, $1 per year for every image you have on file. That, I know, doesn’t sound like a lot of money. But figure it this way, if you have 10,000 images on file, that’s $10,000 per year, every year. Very nice. Yes, it takes time. But it takes time to do all of the other things we love to do too.

I have heard there are people out there with more than 100,000 images on file. Yes, that’s a huge number, but the efforts of the past (all that work putting such a huge collection together) have made it possible for them now to do nothing else but build those collections. And they do: every month they grow exponentially. They give themselves a raise every time they submit new images: awesome.

How Much Will The Agency Earn?

You can expect the agency to take between 40% and 50% of the gross sale of your images. That may sound like a lot. It’s not. If you are lucky enough to find a good agency they will more than earn their fees.  Don’t forget, they will do all the marketing for you, leaving you to do only that which love: to take photographs.

In the next issue I’ll explain how you can go about breaking into the wonderful world of stock photography.

Blair Howard is freelance photojournalist and the author of 29 books, more than 600 articles and 3,000 published photographs. His work has appeared in PHOTOgraphic Magazine, Delta Sky Magazine, Popular Woodworking, Peter’s Hunting Magazine, Country Accents, The Mail On Sunday, Golf Illustrated, The Walking Magazine, and many more. He also teaches Photography for Publication, and Creative Writing.

RESOURCES:

Microstock Photography: How to Make Money from Your Digital Images

Digital Stock Photography: How to Shoot and Sell

Photos That Sell: The Art of Successful Freelance Photography

2009 Photographer’s Market

Shooting & Selling Your Photos: The Complete Guide to Making Money with Your Photography

SellPhotos.Com: Your Guide to Establishing a Successful Stock Photography Business on the Internet