Better search results

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One of the interesting(?) features available to web site owners is the ability to see what search phrases are used to find their site. One such phrase used several times to find this site is: “photography companies hiring photographers”.

Very few “photography companies” have staff photographers:

• Newspapers. But the newspaper industry is collapsing and the hiring of photographers is rare. The number of staff news photographers in the USA is expected to drop by 30% over the next seven years. Canada should be similar.

• Government. A few government offices have staff photographers but this has been mostly replaced by freelancers and occasional contract work. It’s surprising and short-sighted that municipal governments don’t all have staff photographers and photo departments.

• The military. But I doubt it’s much of a photography company.

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Unpaid photo internships

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Some companies offer unpaid internships to photographers. Typically, the company requires the photographer to supply camera equipment, computer and car. In return, the photographer can work up to full-time hours and get nothing in return except a credit line.

These “internships” are illegal.

From the Ontario Ministry of Labour:

The fact that you are called “an intern” does not mean that you are not an employee for purposes of the [Employment Standards Act]. Generally speaking, if you perform work for another person or a company or other organization and you are not in business for yourself, you would be considered to be an employee, and therefore entitled to [Employment Standards Act] rights such as the minimum wage. There are some exceptions, but they are very limited, and the fact that you are called an intern is not relevant.

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Working for free

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Photographers, do yourself a favour and read this article by US brand strategist Patty Soffer:

Freebies are the scourge of freelance workers everywhere. Beginners notwithstanding (yes, we all pay our dues) many are tempted to work for free because they believe it will lead to paying work. News flash: it won’t. It leads exactly nowhere. When the un-payer decides to ante up, they hire someone else because they want to work with professionals who value themselves. Clearly you don’t if you were willing to give it away for nothing.

– Patty Soffer

 

When someone asks you to work for free, it means they think your photography is worthless. When you work for free, it means you agree.

The best situation is to charge what your photography is worth. But if you must offer a discount, rather than work for free, simply charge less than what your photography is worth but more than what it costs.

 

Pass on this pass

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With the proliferation of cameras and web sites, almost everyone is claiming to be a photographer or a journalist. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a wedding – portrait photographer asking how he can get a Press ID card. And, he was in a hurry because he wanted to get into an event this weekend.

My answer was: Press ID cards are for people who work for the Press.

If you run any event in Canada, be aware that there is no such thing as a generic “Press card” or “Press pass”. Anyone who tries to use such a card to gain entry to your event is a fraud.

Anything that simply says “PRESS PASS”, “PRESS” or “MEDIA” is fake. A business card is not a press pass.
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Grammatically Correct

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Today, March 4th, is National Grammar Day in the USA. However, here in Canada, we don’t got no Grammar Day to write about.

A few days ago, I had reason to review and edit photo captions from a number of photographers. The spelling and grammar were atrocious. The photographers should have been extremely embarrassed that they weren’t smarter than a fifth grader.

All of these photographers work for daily newspapers and they assume that someone else at their newspaper will correct their captions. But after checking some newspaper websites, this was not always the case. A photographer’s poorly written caption was often copied verbatim onto the website.

Every self-employed photographer knows, or should know, that good grammar and proper spelling are essential business tools. Grammar and spelling add to a photographer’s credibility and professionalism.

 

Why not to lower prices in a poor economy

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Architectural photographer Brad Feinknopf explains why photographers should not lower their prices in a slow economy:

Please, do not let a poor economy bring the industry of photography to its knees by merely bending to market pressure. (…) We, as architectural photographers, bring great value and please do recognize that! (…) we are assisting our clients to sell their wares, to generate new business, to help them win awards and sometimes, even get them published. Without architectural photography, the publications would merely be words, as would be the websites. They do need us and, believe it or not, most value what we do. We need to value it, too. Do not forget the value you bring and demand adequate compensation for that value.

– Brad Feinknopf

It’s worth reading his entire blog post to understand the clothing store analogy that he uses. Although he refers to architectural photographers, the analogy Feinknopf uses also applies to other professional photographers.

 

Increased earnings

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It’s often said that there are three general types of media that a company can use to spread its business message:

Paid: the company buys an advertisement.
Owned: the company places information on its own web site(s).
Earned: the company gets free coverage in the news media.

Paid and owned are easy to understand and implement although most companies under-utilize their web sites. In these two cases, the company controls the message but both suffer from credibility issues especially with paid media.

Paid advertising only increases brand recognition (i.e. exposure). It does nothing for brand acceptance (i.e. trust).
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