I'm leaving Yachting Monthly

Snooks,

the big lesson I learned when going freelance ( BAe photographer, tech stuff inc camera pods to record tests, recce pods and pilot display recorders not just pretty pics ) is that one has to be very ' pro-active' to use that awful phrase, maybe offer trial shoots to companies who look like genuinely turning up with proper jobs later.

Beware people asking for a demo then using that work and counting that as keeps and all they need, I had that; mark everything, every image with your name and try to get promises of future work on the strength of it in writing.

A lot of egotistical prats think the digital compact they bought their wife for Christmas is all that's required, especially if you inadvertendly point them in the right direction.

People will rely on your not having the money or will to sue ( small claims court is the answer ) ; but you will meet good types too !

All the best,

Andy
 
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Good luck with your venture Snooks. I always appreciated the good sense in your posts.
Hope you manage to pull in a goodly volume of work, however, it's just occurred to me...
If jobs get a but thin on the ground there's always an opportunity for someone to do a Keepturningright series :D - sorry Dylan!
 
photodog said:
What are you nuts???

You've got a tasty staff job which pays the bills and you are leaving that to go freelance???

In this economy?

Have you seen what's happening in the industry??

Well, good luck either way but I think your bonkers!
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Agreed. I went freelance at the age of fourteen working at a ZOO taking photographs of visitors with the animals in the background. The resident guy sat in his little hut developing the prints and displaying then on the board near the exit for sale. I lasted two days before my dad found out. I was back at school on Monday.
 
Good luck Snooks.

I was forced into freelancing last year by redundancy. So far enjoying a much better quality of life, but also have that nagging anxiety about employment security. I guess people who have been doing it longer than me learn to manage the latter better.
 
Never met you personally but enjoy your input

I was a wage slave till three years ago and have never regretted going freelance although I'm a project manager not a photographer.

I believe the good guys succeed in any economic climate and am sure you will

Good luck
 
Before I started on my own, a wise man said "Starting your own business is no more than crossing a line in the road, the reason it looks so daunting is because you have spent so long in the false security of an employer" He also said you 'have to be prepared to lose everything but determined not to". I assumed these to be his original words, but never checked.

I eventually took the leap in 1990 and, while it has not been easy by any means, I have never regretted it.

Who knows, the harder you work, the luckier you might get!

Be flexible, I wish you well
 
Seajet said:
Beware people asking for a demo then using that work and counting that as keeps and all they need, I had that; mark everything, every image with your name and try to get promises of future work on the strength of it in writing.
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Too late for you.

The way around this is that you offer to do the job at the normal price, but if they are not satisfied with the work they need not pay. However they cannot use the images.

Doing free trials creates an expectation in the client of a cheap source of imaging.
Once they like the work and they commission more they may take exception at the price and you never get another job.
So you effectively worked at 50% of your normal rates.
Even if they carry on using you it takes some time to build your lost income back up again. Not as important in the digital age as when we were paying materials and processing costs, but it's still an up-front discount that ought to have been earned by a loyal client.
 
Thanks again everyone, slowly getting everything worked out...

My business is registered with tax man, the office is more or less sorted, (computer, storage, software, printer etc), just waiting for a few things to arrive, and have to order a monitor, bought a car, got insurance - no mean feat when you're a photographer with 0 years no claims after driving a company car for the last 12 years. Meetings booked at the accountant and bank. And my tan is coming along nicely!

I don't have any cameras yet, but that's a small point :) - all in hand, just waiting for my voluntary redundancy money to come through.

Might got for a sail or do the varnishing tomorrow.
 
Good luck Graham, don't forget to set your prices high enough to cover salary & pension & tax & profit & expenses & everything else. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to set your price low to get the work, but I have found it doesn't really work like that : stick it to 'em and be firm when they ask for a price drop.

Boo2
 
Boo2 said:
Good luck Graham, don't forget to set your prices high enough to cover salary & pension & tax & profit & expenses & everything else. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to set your price low to get the work, but I have found it doesn't really work like that : stick it to 'em and be firm when they ask for a price drop.

Boo2
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If they want a price drop, offer them a cheaper option, shorter time, fewer pics, no editing, whatever it is that gets the price down, but will not quite give the result they want - and make it clear that the penalty of cheapness will be a poorer outcome. Then offer the the extras to produce the quality they need at a slightly higher price. :cool:

Anybody can do a cheap job, but you have to sell the "Quality saves money in the long term" aspec.
 
Searush said:
If they want a price drop, offer them a cheaper option, shorter time, fewer pics, no editing, whatever it is that gets the price down, but will not quite give the result they want - and make it clear that the penalty of cheapness will be a poorer outcome. Then offer the the extras to produce the quality they need at a slightly higher price. :cool:

Anybody can do a cheap job, but you have to sell the "Quality saves money in the long term" aspec.
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Nice idea. It used to work. But it is a war-zone in photography these days. Clients expectation have dropped. Those who do want proper quality want it at the lowest possible price.
The saving grace is that if you get can corporate clients who you work for directly (rather than through designers or agencies) they are often more realistic as they don't have much knowledge of pricing. Some have even gone the bargain basement route and regretted it. So are willing to pay a decent sum for a good job.

Photodog knows how the purse string have tightened. He has his finger on this pulse.
 
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