Best Business Practices for Photographers [130]
Another school of thought is to establish the fee for the original shoot and then add between 20 and 30 percent of the photographer/licensing fees per additional client and then divide the total among the assigning clients. This works well when all clients need a similar rights package. Where clients' licensing needs differ between licensors, simply allocate fairly the base rights package as before and then add in an additional licensing fee for the expanded uses.
It is critical for all agreements that all parties are signed on to the contract before the work begins. This means signatures from all parties, literally. Whether all parties sign the same document or you present to each separate documents, make sure that everyone understands what's going on. It is absolutely imperative that you are up front and clear about the terms among all clients. Fostering long-term and open relationships with all the parties ensures that no one feels they are being taken for a ride. Further, although there is one school of thought among some photographers that one party can handle the overall sum and single contract with you and the other parties can deal with them, I discourage that because it causes the one party to falsely believe they have some degree of ownership of the images. Moreover, should the other parties down the line wish to extend or expand a license, there is already a relationship between you and that party.
There's an important point, especially for architectural or fashion photographers, or for almost any circumstance in which what you are making images of is the work of another. When, for example, you are photographing buildings on assignment for the architect, you are not a part of the build/design team. You are utilizing your creative vision to provide your interpretation of their work, and that work is yours. Further, that architect may feel he can sublicense or transfer his license to other interested parties, so make certain that your language precludes this. Working with an attorney, you can, with limited expense, create boilerplate language that will be useful for a wide variety of situations.
Getting Paid
Once the contract has been signed, the PO issued, and the invoice sent, you of course want to be paid. If, however, the project is a large one with a great deal of upfront costs, many clients are willing to receive an advance invoice from you, which usually covers many of the production charges associated with the shoot. In some instances, where you are concerned that a client may skip out on the contract altogether, it is not unreasonable to ask for a 100-percent prepayment for the assignment. This is easy to do when you take credit cards and the assignment is just a few thousand dollars, but it can be more problematic if it is a $20,000 assignment.
One of the policies I implemented following the 2000 dot-com bust was that all high-technology companies were required to prepay their assignments. I had gotten stung by a $2,200 unpaid invoice when a dot-com went bust, and I was determined not to let that happen again.
Lastly, determine when your "due by" period is and, more importantly, determine when a client's accounting department plans to pay you. Few these days are paying in 30 days. Some pay in 45, 60, or 90 days. In these cases, be sure to date your invoice the date the shoot took place or the day after and try to get an advance invoice paid to minimize your having to carry expenses from month to month.
Case Study: Law Firm Portraits
Client type: Law firm in need of portraits of several attorneys.
How they found us: A referral from one of their clients.
Assignment: Portraits against seamless, head and shoulders.
Deliverables: A CD including the