Best Business Practices for Photographers [230]
There are also outlets that I recommend avoiding. They are services where you are competing for a "stock sale" of an image that has not been created yet and covering all the production expenses of doing so, for a small chance of being paid for that work. These agencies or services suggest that they are representing you and then send out the same request for an assigned image to produce. In the end, not only is there no guarantee that any of those who produced images will get paid for their work, but if the work is chosen to be used by the end client, then and only then will the selected producer of the images be paid, and the rest will not. Another ill-conceived idea is "crowdsourcing," where those needing images will put out an open call in an online forum frequented by photographers, hoping for free or cheap results.
Another problematic roadblock to a long and illustrious career as a photographer is the microstock business model, where images are licensed for a dollar or two (or even pennies) for a one-time payment. Clients of some of these microstock services can download images in large blocks—250, 500, or 750—once and never have to pay again, for fees of $100 to $300 (or more) a month. Photographers earn less than a dollar—sometimes just 25 cents, sometimes 20 percent of the $1-plus download fees—only when their images are downloaded. These models are among those I recommend avoiding if you intend to remain in business for the long term.
Chapter 28 Care and Feeding of Clients (Hint: It's Not About Starbucks and a Fast-Food Burger)
Before I begin this chapter, let me dispel a myth. In fact, I shall go so far as to say it's a lie. The customer is not always right. Author Steve Chandler, who wrote the best-selling book 9 Lies That Are Holding Your Business Back…and the Truth That Will Set It Free (Career Press, 2005) and I are in agreement on this. He presents it this way:
You don't want every customer for your business. A lot of small-business owners make a big mistake by thinking that they should try to get any customer they can.
The customer is always right—it's a lie. I mean, that's a huge lie. And that's something that small-business people have to really work against, because the customer isn't always right. Sometimes they're very wrong, and sometimes they're not just wrong, they're downright dangerous to you.
There is another impact on this too…that I think is important in turning away a customer. And, that is the boost in morale if you have employees or partners or co-workers, and they witness that you have declined the business of a customer because that customer does not treat people correctly.
After you've sent a client the contract, and they've signed it and faxed it back, and then they call to say, "Oh, you need to sign off on our contract before we can pay you," are they right?
When a client says, "Gee, you're the first photographer I've spoken with who's had a problem with our contract. We need copyright to the work since we're paying you for the work," are they right?
When a client says, "I can find two photographers to do the assignment for what you're asking. I can't imagine it could, or should, cost that much for what I am asking you to shoot," are they right? (Maybe on this one, but that's another point discussed in an earlier chapter about pricing.)
Or this one: "I paid you to take the photographs, so I own them. You're out of your mind if you think I am going to pay you again when I want to reuse the photographs in the future." Are they right?
In my office, I have people working for and with me who are aspiring photographers and interns, and they are involved heavily in putting together contracts, handling client calls, and delivering final images. They all know my position on work-made-for-hire,