The business side of photography
When a car has a leaky tire, the problem is obvious and the solution is simple. The car owner could shop price to find the cheapest, reasonably competent “grease monkey” to make the repair. (Grease monkey is an uncomplimentary term for a low-end car mechanic.)
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Professional photographers are insured but amateurs are not. Why would you hire an amateur to do your corporate photography or commercial photography? How can your business afford such a risk?
Here’s one example, another example and another example that show why an insured photographer is important.
Professional photography is all about reducing customer risk. The risk of problems during the photo shoot, the risk of poor quality pictures, the risk of missing deadlines, the risk that the pictures won’t meet your needs and the risk of wasting your time and money.
Professional photographers are worth more than what they cost.
Did you know that it’s cheaper to buy a house than rent a hotel room?
A mid-range Toronto hotel room might be $160/night. That works out to $4,800 per month which is higher than the average monthly mortgage payment on a house in Toronto. But since a customer needs a hotel room for only a short time, that $160 nightly room rental is 3,000 times cheaper than the average $480,000 house.
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If the pictures aren’t important then your company can hire the cheapest photographer you can find. After all, if the pictures don’t turn out, only a small amount of money was wasted. You can can hire another photographer and try it again.
But when the pictures are important, when there’s a tight deadline, when the photos can’t be re-shot or when corporate image is at stake, then there’s risk involved. Why would you compound this risk by hiring the cheapest photographer?
Smart companies will always hire an experienced photographer who knows how to minimize risk.
Minimizing risk includes such things as being insured, having backup equipment, location scouting, anticipating potential problems and dealing with them before they become problems, understanding the flow of an event, exposure bracketing, frame bracketing, having digital backups, having alternative picture ideas, and knowing camera limitations and how to get beyond those limitations.
All of this extra time, equipment and experience cost money but they all help reduce the risk to your company.
When reputation, credibility and money are at stake, can any business risk going cheap?
A political party in Alberta kicked off its provincial election campaign by unveiling a new bus. The vehicle was wrapped to look like a massive billboard—a popular move in political campaigns. But it was obvious that no one bothered to proof the final design.
The party’s female leader’s photo was placed in a disastrous spot over the rear wheels, creating an unfortunate visual. The result? The party faced a day of mockery and negative attention.
In response, the party announced it would replace the $10,000 wrap. That’s an expensive do-over.
(Added: a week later, the party is still being laughed at.)
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What’s the difference between advertising and public relations?
Here’s the short answer:
Advertising comes from a media outlet’s sales department, while public relations comes from the media outlet’s news department.
Guess which one has more credibility?
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How to save money on business portraits:
1. Go to a department store or grocery store photo studio and get their $29.95 special. While you’re there, you can also pick up some shampoo, socks, cereal or any other supplies that you need. Sure, this will take a couple hours out of your work day but who doesn’t like to skip work?
2. Have the lowest priced photographer on Craigslist come to your office to do the photos. Hopefully this $79 photographer will show up and won’t leave you stranded because they couldn’t get time off from their day job.
