Best Business Practices for Photographers [67]
Figure 7.10
The Terms page in BlinkBid.
In Figure 7.11, I have pulled together an estimate for an annual report, and by simply clicking Add Line Item, an item catalog comes up with practically every different type of line item you can imagine. In this example, when I clicked Lighting and the Add button, a new window opened up where I could enter the quantity, rate, and other relevant information. Click Add again, and it is added to the estimate in the right place, where the client would expect to see it. So if, for example, I entered all my expenses and then went back and added in the photographer's fee, it would place it at the top of the estimate, where it belongs.
Figure 7.11
Estimate for an annual report.
Once I click the Print button at the top of the window in Figure 7.11, the page shown in Figure 7.12 comes up, and I can print to a PDF for easy e-mailing.
Figure 7.12
A BlinkBid estimate, ready for printing.
Another solution to generating estimates, invoices, and image licensing is HindSight's InView and StockView. HindSight is the first to market with full implementation of the PLUS licensing standard that I'll go into great detail about in Chapter 26, "Licensing Your Work." Figure 7.13 shows a main menu (which HindSight calls Flow Chart), showing the interactivity between the modules.
Figure 7.13
HindSight Flow Chart.
By choosing Contacts (as shown in Figure 7.13), you can manage your contacts. Figure 7.14 shows one example.
Figure 7.14
Managing contacts in HindSight.
Note that in the Comments area, I can make notes about the contact, what work we've done before, and where they might have worked prior to being in their current position. I could go on and detail a number of other modules (I do detail Terminology and the licensing part in Chapter 26), but suffice it to say this is one solution that deserves serious consideration.
So, which one? Frankly, I strongly recommend you get both fotoQuote and Photo Price Guide, for sure. Both are pricing resources that are invaluable for the insights you can get, and together, they would cost less than $250. (fotoQuote retails for $139.99, and HindSight's Photo Price Guide retails for $99.) Throughout this book, you'll see references to QuickBooks, which is a cross-industry standard for accounting and bookkeeping that will integrate with your accountant's books. For Mac users, from time to time, Quickbooks' maker, Intuit, has suggested they might stop updating Quickbooks and then after a brief hiatus—or even before then—the outcry causes them to reverse course and keep the application. I really like the functionality of BlinkBid and fotoQuote's sister software application, fotoBiz, for assignment contracts and paperwork. The PLUS-compliant capability of StockView makes it very attractive for image licensing, especially (but not only) for stock. If you go the StockView route, then considering the sister software for that, InView, would be a worthwhile review.
Consider this: When you need advice on something important, do you just ask one friend? Having at your fingertips at any hour of the day or night these tools is a very practical solution. These tools are so invaluable to the operation of your business that the cost to get them is nominal relative to the benefit received. Even if you have all of them, they will last you much longer than a single lens, and they are less expensive than most professional lenses. If you're buying a full version and not upgrading any of them, BlinkBid is $229, and I would recommend looking at InView and StockView without the accounting features (dubbed Studio Pack), which retails for $299, since I recommend the accounting standard of QuickBooks for that aspect of your business. fotoBiz, which is fotoQuote's business management software, includes fotoQuote as well and also retails for $299. All of them have demo modes, so you can give them all a spin and decide which one is right for you. When you do decide to demo a product, it is imperative that you realize that they are all easy to use—once you