Which is more important to your business: saving money or making money?
While everyone loves “free”, that usually isn’t even on the menu. For businesses that are considering hiring a photographer, here are a few suggestions that will help save some money.
First, congratulations! Hiring a photographer to help with your business, corporate or commercial photography needs means that you know the value of having a professional photographer create original images for your web site, public relations or other marketing needs.
But what if your budget doesn’t quite match your plans?
• Make the photo assignment smaller:
• Instead of having the photographer shoot an entire weekend event, plan to cover just one day.
• Rather than, say, 40 product shots, do only those that are representative of your product line or those that are truly photogenic.
• When working with a model, instead of doing, say, eight looks, do only two.
• If the public will never set foot inside your office, how important are interior pictures?
• Instead of multiple room views, do just one.
• Make the photo assignment bigger:
• Rather than doing one business portrait this week, another next week and another next month, organize to have all the portraits done on the same day. Photographers will give discounts for multiple portraits produced on the same day and location.
• Wait until you have a larger number of products to be photographed. Standard product shots on white are cheaper in volume.
• But please don’t surprise a photographer by saying, “Oh while you’re here, we also need pictures of…” .
• If you’re a really small business, try “pooling” your photo needs with a neighbouring business:
I once did business portraits for a small insurance brokerage (one portrait) AND the travel agency next-door (three portraits) AND the dental office next to them (two portraits). The insurance agent wanted a portrait and he talked to his neighbouring businesses, mentioned “volume discount” and they were all interested.
Lights were set-up in one office and each person came by when they had some time during the morning. Each business was billed separately but they still benefitted from the six-person discount. The insurance agent paid $190 (instead of the normal $460), the dentist paid $380 (instead of $690) and the travel agency paid $570 (instead of $830).
• Arrange for fewer or shorter licensing rights:
• Do you really need TV rights? Billboard advertising rights? Publishing in China are you? Just get the rights you truly need.
• Why do you need eternal use of your executive portraits? Will those people even be employed with your company in five years? Business portraits should be updated every two years, (can’t stay young forever).
• Be brave and go with web use only instead of printed brochures. Less usage means lower fee.
• Pay only for the rights you need now. Should your plans change in the future, the photographer will gladly arrange for a new license. Some clients ask for “all rights”, which is very expensive, when they really only need a couple years use on their web site.
Remember that photographers are not mind readers. They cannot guess what your budget might be. Once a photographer knows what budget they have to work with, they can help figure out what is and is not possible.
Photographers are also not magicians. They cannot magically lower fees and costs. If you can’t afford the steak and lobster dinner, a restaurant won’t miraculously lower the price. But that restaurant could probably serve you a very delicious hamburger.
The right photographer is not the cheapest one. It’s the photographer who understands what your business needs are and then delivers as promised. The best bargain is doing it right the first time.
The photography that a business uses reflects the quality and perceived value of that business. The right photographer is the one who can enhance both.
