PHOTO: NICK ONKEN
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: YOU ARE WORKING. YOU HAVE SEVERAL CLIENTS BUT WOULD LIKE TO BE EVEN BUSIER. YOU SAY TO YOURSELF, “WHEN I AM BUSY I DON’T HAVE TIME TO MARKET. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I AM SLOW AND HAVE TIME ON MY HANDS, AND THAT’S WHEN I MARKET.”
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: YOU HAVE A FEW CLIENTS BUT NOT ENOUGH WORK TO FUND A FULL-OUT CAMPAIGN OF PRINT PROMOTIONS.
The way around the “photographer’s cliché” in the first scenario is to plan your marketing in advance. Create and budget for a yearly marketing calendar to keep your name and style in front of buyers—those who already know you and those who should.
Get a few images ready for e-mail blasts. Also print up several mailers that you’ll send to your dream clients—cards for sure and perhaps also larger printed pieces—and arrange for a fulfillment house like Agency Access to ship them on the dates you specify.
If your budget is limited, concentrate on e-promotions. Many buyers prefer seeing your work in a paperless way.
Ask yourself: If Coca-Cola stopped marketing for two months, do you think they would see a drop in sales? You should think of yourself the same way.
Consider using 5 to 10 percent of your previous year’s earnings for marketing. Once you have been marketing for a year, review that period and see what worked and didn’t work, and make revised plans for the coming year based on the previous year’s results. If you are just starting out, let your budget dictate what you can afford to do.
PHOTO: SEIJI/DESIGN BY TAMERA HANEY/BLISS DESIGN BOUTIQUE
Seiji, a photographer from Hawaii, used creative elements to highlight his work in his e-promo while making the image large and bold. This e-promo captured the attention of an upscale department store chain.
Approach a campaign with the knowledge of who you are marketing to—and then jump in. You can find out what works only if you actually do it. Of course, that doesn’t mean trying everything at once. Keep track of the varying degrees of success you’ve had with different types of promotion. And once you start marketing, plan to market for the rest of your career.
PHOTO: JEFFREY LAMONT BROWN
PHOTO: JEFFREY LAMONT BROWN
Jeffrey Lamont Brown is a pioneer in the e-marketing arena. He has delivered hundreds of e-promos in a consistent format that shows his images very large and with the type always in the same place. Because he has been doing this for so long, and because he delivers images of compelling visual interest and consistently high quality, thousands of people open his e-promos as soon as they arrive, and his click-through rate is very high.
Remember that you are promoting your work over the long term; if you stop after a few e-promos, you will not have the impact you desire, even if you start up again down the road. As photographer Jeffrey Lamont Brown says, “Art buyers consistently tell us that there are two things that make our e-promos so successful. Number one is image quality: We work really hard to make sure each e-promo is special, an image that inspires. Number two—consistency—is also key.”
Continue to push yourself. You may be known for a certain style, but make sure you continue to develop your work and let people know not only who you are but who you have become. If you stay within your “special style,” you will be yesterday’s favorite shooter rather than someone who continues to shoot and evolve.
Set yourself a goal for person-to-person meetings. Try to land a brief meeting with a potential new client at least once a month. Getting in front of people is the next best thing to actually landing a job. Meetings allow people to meet the person behind the images. Potential clients remember meeting photographers and reviewing their books.
PHOTO: SHOOT IN FLORIDA/DESIGN BY PH3 DESIGN
It is always a great idea to contribute to a non-controversial charity and send a card to all the people on your list.
Once you have clients for whom you’ve done at least one job, be sure to add them to your personal database, and use your mass marketing as a way to remind them that you are still around and available.
Send holiday gifts. To be safe, be holiday-generic (“Happy Holidays” or “Happy New Year”). Be sure not to send inappropriate gifts to clients you do not know well. Gifts that are widely liked include gift cards, prints, and electronic items.
You can also donate to a charity in your client’s name. Save money by donating several hundred dollars to a worthy charity and sending a donation card to hundreds of people. Give to a worthwhile cause that really needs the money. Of course, don’t make your contribution to a religious or political party as that could offend some clients. Be neutral.
Everyone’s doing it, so why aren’t you? By the time you read this, blogging might still be the “in” thing, but maybe not.
If you are not into blogging, the more general point is that the Internet is continually creating new ways for you to feature yourself. First and foremost, there is your website. Then there are visual galleries and search engines for keeping up with the competition and investigating potential clients. Think about how you can use the Internet to further expose yourself to the public and to reach your target market.
PHOTO: DEBORAH HARDEE
When you send out an e-promo, send it to reps as well. When Deborah Hardee sends this to reps, she always gets requests to see her portfolio.
A good rep (or agent) is someone who believes in your work, shows your work, and markets your work. Once a buyer is interested in your work, a good rep is also someone who knows how to negotiate a deal and get you a good fee. Some reps are solely negotiators, while others provide more marketing and production help. Ask about a potential rep’s specialization up front.
While a rep is someone who markets your work for you, a consultant is someone who helps you put together the work to market. They are not the same and a photographer should not expect one to do the work of the other.
When a rep is interviewing you, you should let him know that you are interviewing him as well. You want someone who is going to best represent you.
Ask a potential rep what her rates are and ask to see some examples of estimates she has submitted in bidding on jobs. Most reps charge between 20 and 30 percent of the creative fees you earn.
Ask to speak to photographers who have been or are currently represented by an agent you are interested in, and contact them. Contact their current photographers, art buyers, or other people in the industry for feedback on them. Some reps have been blacklisted from agencies, so be sure to check out their reputations.
» Question
How much should someone who seriously wants to market themselves estimate in their budget?
» Answer
On average, $40,000 to $50,000 per year, but it depends on what they can afford. They need half a dozen books. They need to participate in some kind of mass promotion—Le Book, Workbook, Archive ads, etc. They need to have an updated website and be able to send e-mail blast promotions. We have personally scaled back on direct mail, but if someone wants to do a cool, bang-up piece, then go for it. The truth is that most buyers toss that stuff when they look at their mail (once a month!).
—GREGG LHOTSKY,
Berenstein & Andriulli, New York
» Question
How important is having a rep?
» Answer
It depends on how good a businessperson the photographer is. The rep can respond to agency needs in a much quicker manner than a photographer off in a remote location with no cell phone or Internet. Every production has issues, problems, nightmares, etc. It can be a lot for a photographer to manage while trying to keep the creative issues forefront in their minds, so it helps to have someone dedicated to manage those situations in the best way possible.
—JESSICA HOFFMAN,
Senior Intergrated Art Producer, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder
A knowledgeable rep is indispensable. When they understand the numbers that are being submitted and how the production works, it makes everyone’s life much simpler. If they are only there to field phone calls, then it’s nonproductive for everyone.
—ROSIE HENDERSON,
Senior Art Producer, Best Buy, Minneapolis
It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. What does happen sometimes is “New York snobbery.” Some art directors think that the only good shooters are in NYC and have reps.
—KAT DALAGER,
Senior Art Producer, Campbell-Mithun, Minneapolis
Most reps will want a portion of your “house” accounts (those wonderful clients who keep coming back). You’ll need to decide if having representation is worth that much to you. You can try to negotiate to keep house accounts out of the deal, but many reps will not sign you without having your house accounts as part of the deal.
Some reps do estimating and billing for you, while others do not. Make sure from the get-go that you are clear on what a rep is going to do for you. Signing with a rep is a business transaction that you must take very seriously.
Finding an artist’s representative is not an easy task. Reps (or agents) are looking for one of two things: hot, fresh, new talent that is undiscovered or established photographers who bill enough for the rep to make money. What happens if you are neither? Here are a couple of suggestions.
When you send your regular marketing materials out to potential clients, consider adding artist’s reps to your database. Many artists have successfully used e-promotion to introduce themselves to reps who have called in their books.
You can find some of the best reps on workbook.com. Check out the reps’ websites in order to target those who are likely to appreciate your style and those whose talent pool you sincerely respect.
PHOTO: MARTIN THIEL/DESIGN BY BRAND ENVY/NADINE STELLAVATO BROWN
When Martin Thiel sent out this mailer to buyers and to reps, he got two calls the first day it hit—one from a very large ad agency and one from a great national rep. The rep, who signed him, said, “If you do a great piece like this, then I know you are good.”
Even if you land a rep, most of the marketing, mailing, and shipping of portfolios are your responsibility. But that’s okay. You definitely should not sit back and rest if you get a rep. Work collaboratively with him or her, and always be proactive.
A relationship with a rep is like a marriage. All unions, including this one, can end in one of three ways. It can end on good terms when you both have made lots of money and you are ready to retire. The two of you can decide to happily go in different directions. And of course the relationship can end on bad terms. Be prepared for all of these three possibilities.
Parting from a rep can cost you a lot of money. Make sure you review the severance section of your contract with your rep. There are many different types of clauses. For example, some reps base the severance fee on a percentage of what you brought in the year before, and some on the years of service they have provided; some even set a dollar amount for a certain time period of representation.
HIRE YOUR OWN REP
If you can afford it, hire your own rep. Pay him or her a flat salary for a few months and then move to commission after that. There are a lot of young, fresh marketing students coming out of school that you can train to be your marketer. If you don’t have the income, start with an intern and see how he or she produces. Provide an incentive, and if you and your intern get along, then you may have just found yourself a rep.
» Question
What do you look for in talent in order to sign them?
» Answer
A photographer who is actively working, particularly in advertising.
Someone who demonstrates a strong point of view with a body of work.
A person who understands the photographer-representative relationship.
Someone who has good communication skills and is able to serve as a problem-solver for clients.
—DOUG TRUPPE,
International Agent, New York
Obviously someone who is talented. But increasingly more important is someone with some business sense. We’re partners, so I want someone who is going to give 100 percent of their 50 percent. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and the early bird gets the worm! Seriously, fifty or more photographers are considered for any given project. I need to be confident that, if my talent’s work makes it to the bidding round, we can work the numbers so that we look like we know what we are doing and be able to do it. And do it with a smile.
—GREGG LHOTSKY,
Berenstein & Andriulli, New York
» Question
What is the biggest change you have seen in the market in the past two years?
» Answer
Smaller budgets for more usage.
—DOUG TRUPPE,
International Agent, New York
Folks want things as quickly as possible and don’t care where it comes from. From looking at images that reflect their layouts exactly via e-mail, to getting estimates in ASAP with far-reaching usage terms, to having the best bid, I spend a lot of time educating buyers about use, about why a motor home is in my estimate, and what catering is. Perhaps I’ve been doing it too long and the buyers are getting younger, but it seems more and more that the person in the position of hiring talent knows less and less about hiring talent.
—GREGG LHOTSKY,
Berenstein & Andriulli, New York