For stock:
- The commissions are unfair. Agencies are taking everything leaving me nothing.
- People are stealing images left and right.
- The economy is not getting better
- Other, bad photographers are gaining market share
And for assignment:
- Other, bad photographers are adding my clients only because they are cheaper
- There are no more lucrative jobs out there
- The economy is bad
Sigh!
People let’s face it. This is the same stuff I heard last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago and 20 years ago. I’ll probably hear it next year and in 5 years, too. So why is it that my clients are doubling their income, launching new stock agencies and are adding new photographers to their rosters, and are pitching for gigantic global ad campaigns?
Let’s get real for a moment. The technical requirements and costs associated with managing digital assets from the stock side are absolutely staggering. A 50%-50% split hasn’t been fair for the agency for years. I ran a stock syndication and trust me it’s expensive to run it.
What can you do? Make your point why your stuff adds value and negotiate the best agreement that you can. Then either do or don’t. Learn how your partner works and give them EXACTLY what they need and want. Milk it for what it is and stop fighting them. They are not the enemy. In fact, they have the same issues you do and they are investing manpower and money to create value for their clients which are also your clients.
If another photographer takes market share from you and he is not as good as you – tough love coming now – what the heck are you doing wrong? If you can’t explain to your customers why you should do this job and what your value proposition is than you need to get back to the drawing board. If you can’t explain why you are the best fit than the other guy deserves the job because apparently they can explain it. The jobs are out there, why are you not shooting?
This is survival of the fittest and the best and the smartest. Get clear on what you want, make a plan, break it down, execute it and stop complaining. Disfunctional and hostile relationships with your professional partners lead you nowhere.
Did you think that someone will do a Google search and find you while you have an Alexa ranking of 4 Million, be impressed and hire you off your (Flash) website that has no USP (unique selling proposition) doesn’t give me a reason why I should contact you? Taking pictures hasn’t been enough for a very, very long time. Pictures are for the most part a commodity . Either you accept that or you make sure that your work is different and marketed accordingly so that it is perceived as something much more valuable.
Summary:
Shake of the attitude and for crying out loud stop complaining in public. Take that to your local pub or support group. Clients are fighting for their survival they want to work with people who understand that. They need support from you so that they can make their case and get their budgets back and they are coming back. Be easy to work with and do what it takes. Know when to stand your ground and when to be flexible. Our industry is changing it is not anyone individuals fault.
Thank you for putting in on the line. . . When people ask me as a commercial outdoor photographer what concerns me the most about the future of my business, I tell them, ME, I’m concerned about myself the most.
I’m concerned about my age and my health more, way more, than I am concerned about what other people, including the market are doing. I look at life like this, with every year there are new seasons, with new seasons comes new life and new mortality. Both offer opportunities to those it can benefit. In the remainder of my life there are about 40 more spring blooms left, in the remainder of my life there are about 40 great winter’s left. The birds will breed in my life time only about 40 more times. If I live longer great, but my only “enemy” or what i’m up against is myself and time, not the market, not the other cheaper less prepared, less talented photographer, not the stock photo prices going in the dumps and not even the “down” market.
Life is what I choose to make of it. My life is what concerns me. I need to be mentally healthy, physically fit and ready to work harder, stay out later, get up sooner, watch the sun rise more often and so on.
So,instead of bothering myself with things that are not mine, I work on and modify those things that I can control, not the least of which is my attitude. Life is what we choose to make of it. Do your best work, never give up, work harder at your craft, make wise choices, catch a break here and there, and like one of my graduate school professors use to say, “just do it, it wont take you long.”
Thank you Beate for putting it on the table and telling it straight up!
Cheers!
Tony Bynum
Great article. and full of truisms. I lost 2 clients to an inferior competitor because “I didn’t make time to to followup.” This is one of the hardest occupation I’ve ever been in.
Great article. and full of truisms. I lost 2 clients to an inferior competitor because “I didn’t make time to followup.” This is one of the hardest occupation I’ve ever been in.
Its not just photography but other small businesses.
Too much energy is used up being negative and looking for excuses and thats all it is, looking for excuses.
The only limiter to any business is you. That limit might be talent, ability, money etc but the biggest limiter is mindset.
Totally true. Same is true for changing your lifestyle, doing something you love and even saving the planet.
“The only way to do it, is to do it” (Amelia Earhart)
Cheers Harry
Hi, I agree with what you say, but the real problem is that rates in real terms haven’t moved very far in the last 20 years. As I tried to explain to someone from Bauer Media the other day, our costs and overheads have increased dramatically during that time but they are just not paying any more. Twenty years ago I would have used a couple of thousand pounds worth of equipment to do a simple shoot for one of their magazines, nowadays its well over fifteen thousand pounds worth. The real truth is that its just not the living it was and we must diversify to survive.
George
The only interesting thing about the down economy we are all floundering in (well, most of us) is that it will be fun to tell out grandchildren about it, and how we were able to survive.
That’s the future. How ‘bout right now? As stock photographers, there’s definitely some things we can do. Getting a local day job isn’t the answer. But getting a global day job is.
“Global day job?” Yes, as the world is becoming flatter, and communication is becoming swifter, doors are opening for us.
In the past, these doors were closed. Too many roadblocks discouraged us from trying to open them:
Language barrier. You found a good prospect, but you don’t speak Japanese.
Time: The photo request was ideal, but they need the image in two days.
Cumbersome delivery. Remember trying to send 100 transparencies to Brisbane?
Administration. Which drawer is it in? You know you have the picture but you’re behind in your filing system.
Communication. Postal mail, telephone and faxes were cumbersome ways of promotion
Legal. The art directors and graphic artists at publishing houses would lose your work. Attorneys were making the most money in stock photography in those days.
And then came along the Internet and digital photography.
It took a decade, but those barriers have all disappeared. If you are still trying to market your talents “the old way”, pay attention.
The new way is to consider the world as your market –but only a few markets, and they aren’t down the street. They are as close as your computer, your software, and Google. If you play your cards right, you can survive nicely.
No, you won’t be a small fish in a big pond –actually, the reverse.
Specialization is the key in the world of global markets. Someone in Lisbon needs your talents right now. Also someone in Albuquerque. And they are searching the Internet right now. If you haven’t positioned yourself correctly, they will pass you by. Just like they did yesterday.
And these “someones” aren’t necessarily everyday photobuyers. They might be a corporate assistant given the task of locating a certain kind of picture for their new office in Cleveland. Or a housewife looking for a birthday present for her husband.
But your big market will be “theme” publishers and advertisers worldwide who are building a list of expert photographers worldwide who “speak their language,” who can communicate in the niche area they represent and are known for.
You see, it works the other way, too. Customers (photobuyers) will look for companies (you) that offer the products (stock photos) they are looking for. And the Internet will provide answers for them. Distance, language, and all the other barriers mentioned above won’t matter. We live in a new era.
Buyers will be coming to you. So what are you doing about it?
Rohn Engh
GREAT post Rohn, thank you!