DonAvebury
Senior Member
Those pics would undoubted be far out of topic here!
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getting out of the "I'll do it for free" phase...
- Thread starter urba0078dumnedu
- Start date
FoolyCooly
Senior Member
Free service includes shooting and a DVD with jpegs. If they want prints, enlargements or an album they will get it at my cost (x 2). That's my friend rate... time is money.
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Check out my flickr photostream...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foolyfoto/
Blog- More Nonsense and Babble...
http://foolyfoto.blogspot.com/
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/foolyfoto/
Blog- More Nonsense and Babble...
http://foolyfoto.blogspot.com/
owenleve
Senior Member
You need to set a minimum that you will do things for, friends, etc.. Take into consideration the following.
Your time, travling to and from, edit time, etc..
Wear and tear on your gear. A very real consideration. Storage on your computer, hard drive space, uploading to a server for prints, what have you. Also, the longer you do favor and do things for free, or cost the bigger ditch you dig not only for yourself but for other local photogs. Word gets aroudn FAST. next thing you know you will lose a job because the client heard you would do it for X $$ and now you are double. Even if double is still a good deal, mentally, it's double from what a client 'thought' you'd do it for.
Lastly, if your only incentive is to get it done and do a good job you won't be pushing yourself to be as creative as possible and perhaps as professional as possible. If you have a financial stake in a shoot it changes the tone of the work environment. Your subjects should also be more respectful to your time and give you better attention if they know they are ACTUALLY paying for your services.
Don't be afraid to say no to a job if they want too good of a deal. Most likely these type of clients are a pain to work with anyway in the long run. On that note, if you are bidding a job for $2,000.00 and the client can only spend $1,500.00, it may suit you to still take the job and not lose it over $500.00. A fine line for sure but doing things at cost is short lived and causes major 'downard spiral' effect. You in essence devalue you own time and product. Even for a good friend now, if they want the wedding shot and I want to totally hook them up they pay for all my travel, hotels, etc.. Plus at least $1,000.00 for my time, which is a great deal in reality. Think of your time as one of your major commodities. If you are shooting something for free it's time you are not shootin for money elsewhere, making sales calls, backing up data, editing other jobs, what have you.
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[email protected]
http://www.gravityhook.com
Your time, travling to and from, edit time, etc..
Wear and tear on your gear. A very real consideration. Storage on your computer, hard drive space, uploading to a server for prints, what have you. Also, the longer you do favor and do things for free, or cost the bigger ditch you dig not only for yourself but for other local photogs. Word gets aroudn FAST. next thing you know you will lose a job because the client heard you would do it for X $$ and now you are double. Even if double is still a good deal, mentally, it's double from what a client 'thought' you'd do it for.
Lastly, if your only incentive is to get it done and do a good job you won't be pushing yourself to be as creative as possible and perhaps as professional as possible. If you have a financial stake in a shoot it changes the tone of the work environment. Your subjects should also be more respectful to your time and give you better attention if they know they are ACTUALLY paying for your services.
Don't be afraid to say no to a job if they want too good of a deal. Most likely these type of clients are a pain to work with anyway in the long run. On that note, if you are bidding a job for $2,000.00 and the client can only spend $1,500.00, it may suit you to still take the job and not lose it over $500.00. A fine line for sure but doing things at cost is short lived and causes major 'downard spiral' effect. You in essence devalue you own time and product. Even for a good friend now, if they want the wedding shot and I want to totally hook them up they pay for all my travel, hotels, etc.. Plus at least $1,000.00 for my time, which is a great deal in reality. Think of your time as one of your major commodities. If you are shooting something for free it's time you are not shootin for money elsewhere, making sales calls, backing up data, editing other jobs, what have you.
--
[email protected]
http://www.gravityhook.com
Kelly Shipp
Leading Member
Very well stated Kevin. I couldn't have said it much better.
It's all about perceived value. What's the value of your service? Also ask yourself (or ask them), why are they choosing you? is it because they really like your work/style or is it because of your low prices?
Also consider your goals. Where do you want to go from here - ideally? Do you want to gradually make more money or just keep doing it for free? Define your goal(s) and take those steps to ensure you can reach those goals.
Hope this helps.
It's all about perceived value. What's the value of your service? Also ask yourself (or ask them), why are they choosing you? is it because they really like your work/style or is it because of your low prices?
Also consider your goals. Where do you want to go from here - ideally? Do you want to gradually make more money or just keep doing it for free? Define your goal(s) and take those steps to ensure you can reach those goals.
Hope this helps.
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