livebooks blog

With a clear goal and strong business plan, you can get paid to shoot what you love -- like this dream campaign Menuez shot in Dubai for Emirates Airlines. He was commissioned to document the culture and people of Dubai for a month and the creative team pulled the ads from the edit. Dubai for Emirates Airlines, ©2009 Doug Menuez/StocklandMartel

When most photographers set up shop, they focus on becoming better photographers, naturally. Few photographers, however, develop even the most basic skills they need to run their own business. They hope to hang on long enough to be discovered before they sink under their own lack of knowledge. That’s like building an intricate jeweled house atop quicksand. (Look in the mirror, repeat after me: “You want fries with that?”)

The “get discovered” strategy implies that someone else will take responsibility for your own financial well-being. Ideally, we’d all be born independently wealthy, have our spouse deal with the money, or find the perfect business manager or agent who can do this for us. I’m here to tell you — snap out of that lovely fantasy! Not. Gonna. Happen. And even if, by the grace of the angels, it did, you would still need to learn the basics in order to participate in the decisions being made about your money. Even the best business managers need your help to help you succeed. You really don’t want to be one of those poor schmucks who got super successful but are now penniless because you trusted someone else to handle all your business decisions.

In my new column for RESOLVE, “Seeing Money,” I’ll be sharing what I learned the hard way about the business side of photography during nearly 30 years in the industry. I started as a fine-art student, moved into photojournalism, built a multimillion-dollar advertising studio with a staff of 15, then closed that monster and reconfigured with a minimal crew and low overhead. Along the way I made and lost fortunes.

I never understood money; money was not my goal. I was — and am — all about making great images. But I learned to respect and understand that money has the power to support my most important work. I hope to help you realize the same thing by explaining what works, what mistakes to avoid, and how to recognize the ways our creative brains sometimes sabotage our own success — especially whenever it comes to managing money.

I am constantly trying to answer the difficult question, “How do you reconcile the conflict between art and commerce?” I give the long answer in my workshops. The short answer is, “Get paid to shoot what you love to shoot.” To achieve that, you have to build a solid foundation, step by step, to financial security.

Many photographers have a lot of fear around money; they think it will dilute their talent and corrupt their values, or they just can’t handle the math. I’ll provide pain-free financial management tips you can apply right away. OK, that statement was a lie — there is no such thing as pain-free financial management. But rest assured that my lessons will be less painful than if you did not learn these skills at all. Plus, you are benefiting from all the pain I’ve already gone through to get where I am today. Best of all, as you begin to learn and apply fundamental business lessons, you will find that you gain confidence and actually begin to enjoy the business part of your photography business.

In this “Seeing Money” column, I will discuss the steps you need to take right now to start (or save) your business. Check back soon if you wish you knew more (or didn’t realize you needed to know more) about:

• basic bookkeeping
• writing a business plan
• getting an SBA loan and line of credit
• working with an accountant
• managing cash flow through accounts receivable/payable reports
• insurance
• legal issues
• important business tools

One of Becker's signature images. ©The Becker

Q: What social networking tools do you use? Do you immediately adopt new ones or do you assess how useful they’ll be before you dedicate your time to them?

A: Right now I use Facebook, Twitter, and of course… the [ b ] School.com. And no, I wouldn’t say I am an early adopter. I kind of check things out and I may not even sign up the first time I see something. I never had a MySpace account (seemed like it was mostly for 13-year-old girls). A lot of my friends joined Facebook a good 6 months or so before I finally gave in. Same thing with Twitter. But now that I’m on there, I use Twitter and Facebook every day, and I am stoked about what we’re building at the [ b ] School, a social network designed specifically for wedding and portrait photographers.

Q: How should photographers think about tools like Twitter and Facebook in relation to their photography business? Are they like advertising? An extended bio page? Ways to grow a contact list?

A: They are just new ways to connect with people: friends, clients, colleagues. Just like with blogs, sites like Facebook and Twitter give people a glimpse at your real life and personality, but in a more organic and real way. My status updates on FB and Twitter drive a considerable amount of traffic to my blog, my website, or to wherever else I choose.

I also figure since I’ve done the work prepping an image in Photoshop for my blog, why not also post it on Facebook where I can tag any friends or clients who are in the image, which then prompts them to check out my work. And of course every image I post online includes a watermark of my [ b ] logo and website url — that way if the images gets reposted anywhere else on the web, at least people will know where it came from…www.beckersblog.com.

Q: You have 4,500+ followers on Twitter. How did you make that happen and how do you utilize those connections?

A: I assume a lot of people followed me when I posted a link to my Twitter page on my blog. I also have an embedded widget on my blog that shows my latest tweet as well as a link to www.twitter.com/thebecker. I usually get well over 5,000 blog hits per day, so as people join Twitter, the ones who frequent my blog usually follow me too. I don’t tweet every blog post, just the ones I find most interesting, and then it is also automatically uploaded to my Facebook status. So whether you are one of my 4,500+ followers on Twitter, or one of my 4,800 Facebook friends, my updates will show up on your page with an easy-to-click link that will take you straight to the content that I want to share with you. They say “your network is your net worth,” so I am constantly trying to grow my network.

Q: How do you use your blog and what do you post there?

A: My blog is actually about my entire life, not just photography. When I first started blogging back in 2005, it was just a way for my folks and a few close friends to see what I’ve been up to and check out my latest work. Then in 2006, as blogging got popular and more and more people were blogging, it did prove to be quite a useful tool to sharing information and driving traffic to my sites. My blog gets about nine times as much traffic as my actual website, www.thebecker.com. Blogs are very search engine friendly, and I’ve got quite a few bookings out of some rather random searches that drove someone to my blog.

While I do try to post a few images from every single shoot that I do, I also just post about things that are going on in my life — whether it’s about my niece and nephew, something fun I did with friends, a movie review, a poker story, or just anything I find interesting and feel like sharing. It’s kinda like reality TV. I think people in America are very voyeuristic and like to see what other people are doing… it’s human nature… kinda like a soap opera.

Q: If I were a skeptical photographer who just didn’t see how a blog, Facebook, or Twitter could be worth my time, how would you convince me?

A: Well, it’s not really my job to convince you. There are lots of people who just give me blank stares when I try to explain what Twitter is and why it is useful. Not everyone gets it and that’s okay. In the last 6-9 months, I know of at least a half-dozen bookings I got as a direct result of social networking.

A couple came from tagging images in Facebook, having it show up on the bride’s friend’s news feeds and them seeing my work and finding my blog. And I am talking about old high school friends…not even someone who is still close to the bride or was at the wedding, just someone who used to know one of my brides. Facebook keeps them connected, my work gets out there, and I book jobs. Every once in a while I’ll, tweet about dates that I am still available and ask for photographers to send me referrals. I don’t do it too often as I don’t want to wear out my welcome, but I have gotten jobs that way, and likewise given out solid leads through Twitter.

Photo by Mark Mosrie

Matt Bailey, liveBooks‘ own co-founder (that’s him to the left), recently wrote an informative piece for Photoshop Insider about effective ways for photographers to use video on their websites. We wanted to bring you some highlights from the story, which focuses on using video to market yourself rather than offering it as a service to clients. You can check out the full story at Photoshop Insider.

With the availability of affordable, high-quality digital photo equipment steadily increasing over the last several years, the market has been flooded with an unprecedented volume of photographs and emerging photographers. Most searches for images and photographers begin on the web. Yet this can create confusion on the part of the viewer about which photographer is right for what they need. How do you distinguish yourself from the sea of photographic talent available? You can start by marketing yourself as a professional who brings more to the table than a handful of carefully selected images. You need to develop an effective brand for yourself that communicates the value of your personal vision and experience. Video presents an opportunity to add more dimension to this brand in a number of ways.

Help people get to know you
The primary purpose of these videos is to break through the static nature of portfolio viewing and create a more human connection. If a prospective client likes your personality or feels they can relate to you in some way, there is a much better chance they will give you preference over someone they feel less of a connection with. This is human nature. The main challenge with a bio video is to create something that is “on brand.” If you are marketing yourself in a playful way, for example, be sure the video is a bit playful as well. A disconnect in this area can do more to confuse than ingratiate. If you are unsure, consult with an expert. Here are a few photographers whose bio videos have added a lot to their online presentations:

Jules Bianchi: Wedding and portrait photographer
Chase Jarvis: Commercial and sports photographer
Chris Rainier: Photojournalist and National Geographic Society Fellow

Let other people say nice things about you
Video is also regularly being used to highlight various other strengths, including video testimonials, vignettes from an actual shoot, and studio tours, among others. Adding a more dynamic, human touch to these areas brings life to them in a way that can be far more compelling than a page with text. Watching someone gush over how amazing you were to work with can have an emotional impact that makes the difference between someone hiring you or your competitor. This approach can be effective whether you market toward photo buyers, brides, or other types of individuals. In the end, we are all people, and all of us want to work with people we trust and like.

How to get started
Just like still photographs, there are down and dirty methods, as well as more elaborate, polished methods. Using a $200 Flip Video camera or webcam and posting to your blog could be perfect for your purposes. For many, a more professional approach will be more effective. It all comes down to your intentions and your brand. Do you want to be seen as a seasoned professional who projects quality and panache, or as a guerrilla upstart who provides a dynamic, gritty vision? These are the creative questions that need to be answered in advance, so you know what direction to take technically. If you can produce a video yourself or with a friend, so much the better, but, as with any photo shoot, be sure you have everything you need to be successful. If you need help, a video producer can help you sort through these preliminary questions.

Choose the best presentation
Once you have the video shot and edited, you will need to prepare a copy for the web. As with still photos, you will want to find the right balance between quality and loading speed.  A large, high-quality video can look amazing, but take a while to load.  Smaller, more compressed files will load quicker, but may not have the desired impact. If you have the ability to upload your own video and preview it on the web, you should certainly do that. Depending where you plan to display it, you may choose one of a handful of formats, including Quick Time, Windows Media Player, and Flash Video. All liveBooks’ websites give the user the ability to upload any of these formats on their own, or you can have us design a custom page structure and player in Flash. Here are clients who have taken that approach:

Justin Francis: Music video director
Double Plus Good: Advertising video producers
Oliver Rduch: Documentary filmmaker

However you are able to do it, do not hold off on leveraging video to your advantage if you feel you can benefit from it. Ultimately, creating a better connection between you and your clients could result in more bookings with people you are more likely to relate to. It can also result in clients who are more informed about you and your business before you even speak to them. And who knows, maybe you find you have a knack for it and can offer an extended range of services in the future.

Be Part of the RESOLUTION: How are you using video to help market yourself? Have you seen tangible results from it?

Sample wedding photo stamps from Photo.Stamps.com

Most brides and life partners dream about their wedding day for a long time and want everything just perfect. Yet they can also get stressed out, focusing on everything they have to plan: wedding service venue, reception, guest list, photographer, dress, and flowers. So why not offer them items featuring your photography that not only take some pressure off of them, but that also increase your visibility and profit?

The wedding album will always be the big-ticket item, but there are many other opportunities to make the photos you’ve already taken do more work for you and your clients. With services such as Photo.stamps.com, Zazzle.com, and Pictureitpostage.com, you can offer clients the opportunity to put your photos of their happy faces on their stamps as well as Save the Date and RSVP, and thank you cards. You can charge a handling fee; the bride will have one fewer thing to worry about; and guests who receive something with your image on it will be more likely to remember your name when they’re looking for a photographer for their big day or family portraits. Just don’t forget to include your name with the images!

You can also suggest that busy, possibly cash-conscious brides consider custom books instead of albums for attendants and family members. They may not realize the full range of offerings, so show them some samples. There are lots of good options for these self-publishing services: Blurb.com, Asuka.com, Paperchase.net, and, of course, the good old iBook that comes with MAC software.

It is important to think outside the box since the competition is so fierce in today’s market. Offering items that others don’t sets you apart from your competition. And by offering items like stamps, special cards, or books, you give your clients a chance to stand out too. On that special day, that is their ultimate goal.