Best Business Practices for Photographers [124]
Unlike editorial clients, who have their own contracts to send (or that they try to send), most corporate and commercial clients do not and will expect you to send yours, which should be thorough and clear. One thing that will get many an estimate nixed is when there is a six-hour shoot in some far-off location, and you have not included catering in the estimate. Is everyone supposed to just scatter to the four directions when they get hungry? Little things like this can illustrate to a client that you know what you're doing on an assignment.
If the corporate photography is "event-type" coverage of a press conference, an all-day symposium, an awards banquet, a foot race, or other activity-related photography, your start and wrap times are essential and must be outlined with ways to calculate overages when things run late.
If you're called into a law firm to photograph a dozen attorneys, make sure your paperwork details that it's for 12 portraits and allow for additional portraits (time permitting) for an additional fee. I can't tell you how many times I have found myself called in for a dozen portraits, only to end up doing more than 20. Having a clear understanding of how this will affect the final bill means that the client is informed and minimizes the client's ability to object when the final invoice arrives.
All the contracts I send out are estimates. They carry the understanding that there could be fluctuation in the costs when circumstances change.
Change Orders
When the parameters or circumstances change for a shoot, so do (or should) the figures involved in the estimate. As with an editorial assignment, in which the concept of a "change order" is less common, change orders are a frequent necessity for corporate and commercial assignments. When the client adds an additional subject, look, or second setup "just in case," that additional time, effort, and creative energy carries additional charges and expenses. You'll want to make sure you understand and agree with who's booking (and paying) talent if models are necessary, and affirm that their usage is consistent with the client's. Back in the day, models were not concerned about usage; now they are.
You would do well to have a few change orders on hand at all times. In a multiday, on-location assignment situation, the change might come into play on Day 2, and you can go back to the hotel business center and print out one. If you are in a studio, there is likely a printer you can get something printed out on. Or, the person on site may not be authorized to sign off on the change order, so you'll want to be able to outline the changes in a Word file and/or send a PDF to the client's office, where it can be signed by the appropriate person. If you are in a situation where a computer-generated change order is not practical, having a few blank ones in your job folder is the next best solution, and you can hand-complete the form. If that is not workable, send a quick e-mail to a client (even when they are on set with you) and write, "Please reply to this e-mail acknowledging that we have agreed that the fourth and fifth setups we are doing will incur an additional $1,290 each, separate from the model's additional fees." If even that won't work, then at least get a verbal agreement and back it up with something signed as soon as possible—certainly before any high-resolution files are delivered. Figure 14.1 shows an example of a change order.
Figure 14.1
Example change order.
Purchase Orders
Purchase orders are commonplace in corporate America. While you may have a client sign a contract with you, and that contract may well be perfectly valid, the company that person works for is almost always required to secure a purchase order, or PO, through their accounting department in order for you to get paid. Here's how and why.
Suppose your client, working on behalf of Widgets USA, has a contract of $120,000 a year to spend. This equates