Pictures by the numbers

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First basic rule of business: cash in must exceed cash out.

Revenue from assignment – cost of assignment = gross profit

Gross profit – overhead expenses = net profit (before taxes)

Revenue from assignment is what the client pays you, not including taxes.

Cost of assignment is expenses incurred to do the assignment.

Overhead expenses are expenses that have to be paid whether or not you have an assignment. For example: camera gear, computers, software, car, insurances, utilities, cell phone, rent, etc.

Net profit: if there’s any money here, remember that you still have to pay income tax plus all your normal living expenses.
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Different Value

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When you ask how to attract more customers to your photography business, the common answer is to stand out from the competition. But of course, this is easier said than done.

Most photographers use similar cameras, lenses, software, lighting equipment, and computers, and many are capable of producing images of comparable quality. So, how can you truly be different?

In the era of film photography, standing out was a bit easier. Back then, being different may have meant having the skill to track fast-moving subjects with follow-focus, knowing how to use flash/colour meters to accomplish great lighting techniques, having darkroom experience to make custom prints, using a large-format camera, or developing a unique photographic style.
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Best ways to waste your marketing budget

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Here are some of the best ways for a business to waste its marketing efforts. These have been proven to produce poor results and push customers away. If your business has too much money and you need to waste some of it, these tips should help you accomplish that goal:

• Send out press releases without any pictures. This is the best way to let editors know that your press release isn’t really important and you don’t want attention.

• Use stock photography. Nothing says “we don’t care” more than the use of cheap, stock pictures. Custom photography won’t waste money since it provides useful information to customers.

• Make sure your About Us or Contact Us web page doesn’t have any pictures of your key employees. Why risk gaining credibility and trust with your customers when you can be another impersonal business?

• Use only low-resolution pictures on your web site. Large pictures have the problem of attracting and holding customer attention which can encourage them to open their wallets. Going small is a great way to waste your web efforts.

 

Dear Occupant

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Today, I received a “Dear Photographer” e-mail which proclaimed that I’m being considered for “free” inclusion in the next edition of a prestigious “Who’s Who” book. Supposedly, I’m one of the top, most distinguished photographers in North America. Being included in this book will mark my high level of achievement.

Yeah, right.

For fun, I visited this company’s web site:
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That’s not my job

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Photography may be how you make money but photography is not your job.

Your job as a professional photographer is to make the world know you exist. Well okay, maybe not the entire world but at least your little corner of it.

Your job is to attract attention and get people to trust you. People only do business with someone they know or trust.

Your job is to help customers achieve what their goals. Retail customers usually want the photographer to create good memories for them but not necessarily accurate memories. Business and corporate customers want the photographer to help their company get favourable attention.

Your job is to understand the customer and offer better solutions.

Some jobs are difficult. Thank goodness photography isn’t one of them. :-)

 

Best public relations photography

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Public relations photography, or PR photography, is about producing editorial photography that puts the client in a favourable light and increases their name recognition.

PR photography must be editorial in nature simply because that’s the style demanded by publications which use public relations photography. Newspapers, magazines, trade magazines, news websites and other publishers of PR photography use only editorial photography and not, for example, advertising photography because it directly impacts the publication’s credibility.

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Ordinary Miracle of Photography

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Every photographer who has developed prints in a darkroom knows the magic of watching an image appear on photo paper. Whether it’s their first or 10,000th print, an image appearing in the developer tray never ceases to amaze.

With digital cameras, the magic is lost. Photography has become so automatic that people barely notice it. Just push a button and check the LCD screen.

The technology behind turning light into electricity, then into digital bits stored on a memory card, and finally into an image is no longer considered magical. Digital images are now routine.

Yet, the essence of photography remains unchanged. It can still capture the right moment, tell a story, inspire hope, stir emotion, send a message, influence a belief, change opinion or illustrate what words cannot.

That’s why smart businesses use custom photography for their press releases, annual reports, web sites and other marketing collateral. These companies understand the ordinary miracle of photography.

 

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