Synopses & Reviews
A successful photographer must pay close attention to all of each business obligation and must find a balance that keeps his or her business thriving. It takes more than just talent to get ahead in the marketplace. Strong business skills are just as important. Best Business Practices for Photographers covers the essential business topics that professional photographers need to know in order to succeed. It does not focus on taking pictures, starting a photography business, or selling photography, but rather explains how photographers can meet important business objectives. Instead, it covers the focal points of best practices--best practices in interacting with clients, best practices in negotiating contracts and licenses, best practices in business operations. This book provides a roadmap for successfully navigating these, and many other issues, facing photographers today.
Synopsis
Combining real-world examples with professional advice, a helpful manual for the professional photographer covers the essentials of setting up and maintaining a successful business, discussing such topics as how to select top-of-the-line equipment and specialty items, how to protect one's work with copyrights, the logistics of planning a shoot, insurance, marketing techniques, accounting procedures, and other necessary topics. Original. (All Users)
Synopsis
A follow-up to the successful and acclaimed "Best Business Practices for Photographers", this updated and expanded edition serves as an even more comprehensive guide to achieving financial success and personal satisfaction in your business as a photographer. Included in this new edition are sections on licensing your work, making the career change from a staff photographer to a freelancer, surviving an IRS audit, and more. This book includes best practices in interacting with clients, negotiating contracts and licenses, and business operations. "Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition" is the key to a successful career in photography.
Synopsis
A truly successful photographic career means not only financial success, but also personal satisfaction and fulfillment. The goal of Best Business Practices for Photographers is to help you achieve success in each of these areas. This book is not a guide to taking better pictures or selling your photography. Instead, it explains how photographers can meet important business objectives. It covers the focal points of best practices - best practices in interacting with clients, best practices in negotiating contracts and licenses, and best practices in business operations. It provides a roadmap for successfully navigating these - and many other - issues facing photographers today.
About the Author
John Harrington has worked for more than 16 years as an active photographer in Washington DC and around the world, working with both editorial and commercial clients. His photography business has been successful, with income rising ten-fold since he started. He has spoken at courses and meetings of The NPPA's Northern Short Course, The White House News Photographers Association, Smithsonian Institution, Corcoran School of Art and Design, American Society of Media Photographers Capital Region, University of Maryland, Northern Virginia Community College, Trinity College, and the Northern Virginia Photographic Society. Editorially, his credits have included the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, The National Geographic Society, USA Today, People, MTV, and Life. For corporate and public relations clients, John has successfully placed images with the wire services (Associated Press, Reuters, Gannett, Agence France Presse, and UPI) over three hundred times. Commercially, John has worked with well over half of the top fortune 50 companies, and even more of the top 500. Ad campaigns for Seimens, Coca Cola, General Motors, Bank of America, and Freddie Mac, to name a few, have been seen worldwide.
Table of Contents
Introduction. PART I NUTS AND BOLTS OF YOUR BUSINESS. 1 You Are a Business--Now Lets Get to Work! . 2 Professional Equipment for Professional Photographers . 3 Planning and Logistics: Why a Thirty-Minute Shoot Can Take Three Days to Plan . PART II FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL CONSIDERATIONS . 4 Working with Assistants, Employees, and Contractors: The Pitfalls and Benefits . 5 Pricing Your Work to Stay in Business. 6 Overhead: Why What You Charge a Client Must Be More Than You Paid for It . 7 Whos Paying Your Salary and 401K? . 8 Insurance: Why Its Not Just Health-Related, and How You Should Protect Yourself. 9 Accounting: How We Do It Ourselves and What We Turn Over to an Accountant . PART III LEGAL ISSUES. 10 Contracts for Editorial Clients . 11 Contracts for Corporate and Commercial Clients. 12 Contracts for Weddings and Rites of Passage. 13 Negotiations: Signing Up or Saying No . 14 Protecting Your Work: How and Why . 15 The Realities of an Infringement: Copyrights and Federal Court . 16 Handling a Breach of Contract: Small Claims and Civil Court . 17 Resolving Slow- and Non-Paying Clients. 18 Letters, Letters, Letters: Writing Like a Professional Can Solve Many Problems . 19 Attorneys: When You Need Them, Theyre Your Best Friend (or at Least Your. Advocate). PART IV STORAGE AND ARCHIVING. 20 Office and On-Location Systems: Redundancy and Security Beget Peace of Mind. 21 Digital and Analog Asset Management: Leveraging Your Images to Their Maximum Potential . 22 Stock Solutions: Charting Your Own Course without the Need for a "Big Fish" Agency . PART V THE HUMAN ASPECT. 23 Care and Feeding of Clients (Hint: Its Not about Starbucks and a Fast-Food Burger) . 24 Education, an Ongoing and Critical Practice: Dont Rest on Your Laurels . 25 Striking a Balance between Photography and Family: How What You Love to Do Can Coexist with Your Spouse, Children, Parents, and Siblings if You Just Think a Little about It . 26 Charity, Community, and Your Colleagues: Giving Back is Good Karma. Index.