Ideas are Welcome

[by Leslie Burns]

The business, as if you didn’t know, is changing and that means that your business model needs to change as well. This is true for all sorts of creative-based businesses so at least photographers can know they are not alone. The impact of the shifting technologies has, in a very, very short period of time, rendered “traditional” business models in some ways quite defunct.

Now there are uses we could never have dreamed of 10 years ago, and more being invented every day. The good news is that many of these new uses are much more trackable and, thus, calculable… at least in theory.

Photographers’ clients, especially in advertising and design, are going through the same upheaval. They don’t know how to price their own services these days! I recently contacted some very old friends who are now in management positions in the advertising and interactive design industries. I asked them how their companies were billing clients now. They said that the days of marking up media and outsourced services like photography were gone, that the cost consultants were killers for them as well as their vendors, and that what they are replacing their old models with, well, they’re trying all sorts of everything… and seeing what sticks. They’re taking risks by taking less up-front but getting cuts of the sales, or they negotiate bonuses for when consumers interact with the media at a certain level (that’s the tracking thing I mentioned earlier)… they’re looking for solutions.

In other words, your clients are in the same boat as you. They are trying to balance the demands of their clients (and, often, their own shareholders) to keep costs down and to give more for less. At the same time, they need to make a profit and provide high quality products/services.

I think this means opportunity. Now is the time for photographers (and illustrators and freelance copywriters, etc.) to collaborate with their clients to find equitable pricing systems that can evolve with the technology. Maybe it means taking risks with your clients, as partners, like by billing less up-front and agreeing to a percentage, like my friends mentioned. Maybe it means evolving some sort of price per end-user interaction– although again that will mean getting paid over time. I don’t have answers… no one does. But we’re smart, let’s come up with possibilities.

Collaborating

[by Gail Mooney]

I talk to a lot of photographers these days when giving seminars on video. One thing I’ve been hearing a lot lately is that many photographers are collaborating with other creatives to expand their businesses and offer their clients more services.

Certainly one area still photographers are collaborating is in video production. Some have partnered with sound mixers, some with editors and some have set up production companies, positioning themselves as producers or directors and collaborating with all of the above.

Video production is all about collaboration because of the different roles and skill sets involved – camera operator, sound mixer, editor and scriptwriter. Coming from a still photography background, when I started shooting video, I set up a new business model as well. I was accustomed to owning my work as well as making all the creative decisions so I knew that I would need to position myself on the top rung of the ladder – as a video producer – if I wanted to maintain ownership and creative control. I also knew I either needed to learn new skills or collaborate with others that already had them – or both.

Still photographers by nature are extremely independent creatures and many times want to control everything – to a fault. The photographers that I have met recently who are thriving are the ones who have built new business models. They have built business models based on collaboration. One still shooter I spoke with not only has partnered with a professional videographer but has also started a photographic consortium made up of photographers who had served in the military. He targets clients who may benefit by hiring shooters with a military background.

Stop and think about the people you know right now who you can network with. Instead of being fearful of your competition – collaborate with the ones who may bring different strengths to your business and turn it into a win-win-win for you, your partners and your clients.

It’s Not You – It’s the Economy

[by Judy Herrmann]

This past January, my studio celebrated our 21st business anniversary.  In that time our business has survived 4 recessions and soot damage that destroyed literally everything we owned.  With all that history, all those experiences, I can honestly say that in 21 years of working as a full-time self-employed photographer, this last one has been the hardest.

As I travel around the country talking to photographers, I meet so many brilliantly creative business people and artists who are struggling like they’ve never struggled before.  Even as it breaks my heart to see so many people hurting, I believe we can all take some comfort in the fact that we’re not alone.  It’s not you. It’s not your work. It’s not your failing. It’s not your fault.

This is no ordinary recession – like it or not, we’re living through a game-changer.  In previous recessions, as one door closed, other doors opened.  New doors are still opening but they aren’t where they used to be.  To find them, we have to look farther and keep a more open mind.

It’s time to focus on creating value – to broaden your skill set and seek creatively satisfying work in areas with greater market demand and less competition. Explore new technologies, join with others to cut costs and expand offerings, figure out what your clients believe their problems are and find ways to help them solve them.

Take Back Your Power

[by Judy Herrmann]

At the SB2 conferences a couple of years ago, I noticed that many photographers were exhibiting the classic signs of mourning.  Back then, most were still in denial but many were grappling with a sense of helplessness, paralysis and loss as they faced what they perceived as the death of a profession they loved.

Today, it’s clear that far too many of my colleagues have graduated to the anger phase and that anger is doing as much damage to our profession as the recession, changing technologies and changing markets combined.
In Vein of Gold, her 1996 sequel to The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron wrote: “When we are angry or depressed in our creativity, we have misplaced our power. We have allowed someone else to determine our worth, and then we are angry at being undervalued.” I’m willing to bet that every single one of us either is that person or knows that person.

Looking for a silver bullet?  The magic answer?  Here it is:  the one thing that’s going to help you survive as a professional visual communicator is your creativity.  I can’t tell you what your career is going to look like – that’s up to you – but I can tell you that without creative vision, creative thinking, creative problem solving, creative strategies and creative approaches to building your business in the “new economy” you’re not going to make it in this field.

If you’re one of the angry ones, all I can say is Get Over It.  Find help, find hope, find whatever shot in the arm you need because if you allow your anger at these irrevocable changes to get in the way of your creativity, you are walking roadkill. If you’re not one of the angry ones, if you’re still hopeful, still open, still looking for what’s possible, I congratulate you.  Foster your creativity – nourish it, protect it and don’t let the kill-joys near it – for it is the key to your future.

So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades

[by Richard Kelly]

No one predicting the future ever seems to get it right. So, I shouldn’t try either. Instead I am going to share what I am starting to see happen. 
 
Traditional “old media” Publishers are still trying to figure out how to survive the shift from print to pixels. One way would be to collaborate with creative contributors, like photographers and writers, as partners rather than just expenses, sharing both the creative process and the revenue. In the meantime, photographers are collaborating with editors and other creative partners to create new outlets.
 
Three examples of photographers collaborating with other creatives and creating channels delivering content to the consumer:

Consequences by NOOR
The photographers’ collective NOOR was founded in Amsterdam in 2007 with a mission to pool resources and interests to produce, exhibit and promote both individual and group projects by  its members.

Lonny Magazine
An online magazine created by a former magazine designer Michelle Adams and photographer Patrick Cline.

Demotix
A citizen-journalism website and photo agency. It takes user-generated content and photographs from freelance journalists and amateurs, and markets them to the mainstream media.

Memories of Futures Past

[by Leslie Burns-Dell'Acqua]

This term in law school, I am taking Entertainment Law, which will involve exploring many of the issues photographers face. My very first reading for that class was a series of articles about what might happen in the near future in movies, TV, music, and book publishing. The articles were fascinating–a series of insiders’ thoughts and well-reasoned predictions. They were also mostly very wrong. And they were all written between 1999-2001.

In other words, I read the predictions of future past and, like so many predictions, the industry experts missed more than they hit.

So, when I was asked to think about the future of our industry and write about it for this blog, my readings gave me pause. I thought about it, and here’s what I think about the future: it’s going to happen no matter what any of us say about it and to try and predict it is, at best, guess-work.

With that in mind, here is what I guess may happen in the relatively near future:

1) Technology is still on a wickedly steep upward curve for change. There are going to be more and more inventions and many of them will cause effects in our industry and our clients’ industries. It will be difficult, but important, to keep up.

2) Publishing is not going to die, but it is folding into its chrysalis and what the butterfly will be is still too amorphous to know. Best guess: some format of e-mags will take over for most print mags; books will move more into the e-world, but still be in print for a long time. Look to how the Apple tablet works to see what the future really holds there–let’s see if it’s an iPod or a Newton (bonus guess: I say “iPod”).

3) Images will be more, not less, important in the new publishing and in the advertising  and even corporate worlds. However, more of those images will be in motion. Still photography won’t disappear, but it will become more art and less commerce over time. For now, exploring motion is a good idea to see if you will be able to express your vision (and your clients’) with that medium.

The one thing I can say with a high degree of certainty is that no matter what the future holds, your success depends on you continuing to develop your own unique vision and to get that out to your targets.

Charlie Rose is Free!

For those of you who know me, you probably know that Charlie Rose is my favorite show on TV. As a curious person, I find the guests on the Charlie Rose show peak my interest even if I know nothing about the subject or topic. The number of books I have read based on the CR Interviews, actually fill a library.

Recently a series of interviews involved two interesting people, the first was Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine , author of the article  Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business  and the book, Free, The Future of a Radical Price. It is an interesting perspective on the “economics of abundance” and  the FREE concept, go here to watch the interview – it’s free! 

The second interview was with Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu.com. Mister Kiler explains better than anyone, the Premise of FREE economics as well as what it really means to media companies and to the consumer. He uses real world examples like the New York Times as well as Hulu.com. Mister Kiler also give prime examples of how new media and social media companies may monetize themselves using the FREE and FREEMIUM models. This interview is online here.

 As a creative services business owner, not everything they advocate will apply to my business, but I think Mr. Kilar and Mr. Anderson lay out a series of models that our clients will be using to make money, from FREE.

Free?

Recently there has been a lot of buzz about Chris Anderson’s new book “Free”.   Malcolm Gladwell’s review of “Free” makes the point that even free comes at a cost. Most photographers can certainly attest to that.  Marketing guru Seth Godin makes the point that the paradigm is changing and that all the whining in the world won’t bring back “the old days.”  Mark Cuban chimes in as well to provide more perspective and perhaps the most balanced of the lot. While no one has a crystal ball to predict the future, this new paradigm of “free” has already changed the lives of  photographers and all content creators.

It has been stated numerous times by others that “content” must be unique and such that it is not found anywhere else.  The drop in what stock images are being licensed for can attest to that.  In addition, technology changes means a photographer can no longer just be a technician.

Put these challenges together and I think that photographers need to position themselves as being more than just the content producer.  Unless of course what you do is so unique or great that a buyer can go nowhere else.  Certainly one way is to partner with others or position yourself further up the ladder or both.  What I have learned so far about social media marketing is that really anyone can position themselves to whomever and however they want – at little or no cost.  It’s free right?  Well, to a certain extent.  It is, or can be, a demand on one’s time and could be a waste of time if not done strategically.

Technology is and always has been a double edge sword – just like a bad economy.  If one chooses to look in the rear view mirror and lament the past – they’ll drive by all the opportunities.

Free Isn’t New

Does the concept of free economy mean anything to you? What if we replaced the word free with low-risk? Is the concept of low-risk economy easier to understand?

One of the most powerful companies in the world, Google, offers its core services for free. There is no risk involved in Google. There is no risk when you click on the ads that feed their coffers. Software developers have been using the low-risk economy concept for years. The idea is to allow you to try the product for free or use a “lite” version in the hope that you see the value and want to purchase the full software package later.

Unfortunately, many companies have used this concept poorly. As a result, they have devalued their product or service. They failed to present the product’s value up front. The impression is that the service isn’t worth the price.

If you offer free services to attract clients, make sure the true value is stated or implied. Retail portrait photographers have used this technique for years by waiving the sitting fee in order to reap the value of their work through reprints.

When implemented properly, the Internet’s free economy works the same way. Offering free products or services can increase visibility, attracts fans and create buzz. Often, only a small percentage of new prospects may be willing to upgrade. But, if the product or service offers value, quality sales will result from the low-risk offer.

I Highly Recommend “Free, The Future of a Radical Price” by Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson’s new book is a provocative look at the growing economy of free. I know many of you may roll your eyes at the thought that “free” is our new competition, but do not judge this book by it’s title. Anderson provides a careful investigation outlining the history and future of this economic driver, and in so doing, removed my fear and replaced it with new ideas for my business.

Like most photographers, it has become increasingly difficult for me to maintain profitable fees let alone institute increases, so when I read, “Products that can become commoditized and cheap tend to do so, and companies seeking profits move upstream in search of new scarcities,” I realized this book has a message for photographers. I kept reading and my copy is now dog-eared and underlined.

Summer Book : TRIBES by Seth Godin

It is summer 2009 and while some of us are packing the car for vacations to the sea shore or the mountains, many of us are choosing to “staycation”, or rather staying close to home or taking day trips to area attractions. Today’s economy is forcing us to re-evaluate, not just the family summer vacation but our business priorities as well.

Seth Godin the master marketer and author of the book Tribes, recalls that often quoted phrase, that life’s too short,  “…too short to fight the forces of change. Life’s too short to hate what you do all day. Life’s way too short to make mediocre stuff. And almost everything that is standard is now viewed as mediocre.”

It sure seems that business like we know it has changed forever, and that everyone with a camera is a photographer. Many companies require employees to self evaluate their work performance. These performance management systems feature not only an evaluation of the job description but also a personal development track. As self-employed photographers we rarely take the time to self-assess our development.

This summer I am staying close to home, spending time with my wife and daughter and taking the time to evaluate my personal goals, my business goals and even my photography goals. Am I making the kind of photographs that mean something to me? Am I working for the clients who use the type of photography that I want to create? Is my business plan providing the rewards that I expect? I am optimistic that the economy will recover. I am even more optimistic that I will emerge from this summer with a better picture of where I am going. Life is way to short.

If you are packing books for your summer, consider the Seth Godin Library and at the very least check out Tribes.

Ideas Worth Spreading

I first learned about the TED conferences several years ago from John Giammatteo, a Connecticut-based photographer who served with me on the ASMP National Board.  These annual conferences “bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers…to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.”

Ever since, I’ve tried to watch as many of the TED conference programs as I can and every year I’ve been awestruck by the mix of people, topics and information covered.

Over 450 free videos ranging in length from a few minutes to the 18 minute maximum are currently available at www.TED.com with more added regularly.

The 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Global conference will be held in Oxford from July 21-24 and I can’t wait to see the new ideas, inspirations and information they’ll be posting this year.

The Future of Advertising

The other day, I read a fascinating article in the Financial Times about the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival which noted a “seismic shift” towards interactive and digital marketing over traditional advertising campaigns.

The shift from print to electronic media is old news to photographers – we’ve been talking about that for a couple of years now.   What struck me about this article was a quote from Chuck Brymer, chief executive of DDB Worldwide who said “We are charging for the ideas – that’s the value you [as an agency] provide.”

The old business model of agencies giving ideas away in order to grab a percentage of the media buy no longer works and agencies who fail to grasp the import of Chuck Brymer’s observation are in for a rough ride.

Similarly, photographers must examine the value that we provide and recognize that our true skill does not lie in our knowledge of lenses, f-stops or Photoshop but in our ability to tell a comprehensive and compelling story within the frame of a single image.

PLUS ÇA CHANGE…

Things are changing so fast these days…or are they?  A couple of days ago, I realized that it’s now been 15 years since I started working with digital photography.

In that time, the cameras have become smaller, more responsive and more affordable but other than that, they really haven’t changed much.  There are far more tools available to process RAW files but the steps (and corrections) required have stayed pretty stable.  Image editing apps have grown substantially – layers, adjustment layers, and a history palette that offers you…gasp…multiple undos,  not to mention non-destructive image editing – but our reasons for using them remain the same.  And, the process of actually using a digital camera to expose a sensor to light has far more similarities to film-based media than differences.

It reminds me of one of my Mom’s favorite expressions: Alphonse Karr’s “Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose” or “the more things change, the more they are the same.”

So, if the rapid pace of change is freaking you out, take a moment and ask yourself, how fast are things really changing?  What’s changing and what’s really staying the same? How can I build on the knowledge and skills that I already have to navigate the coming changes?

Realizing that it’s taken over 15 years for digital photography to have the impact on our industry that it has today has helped me breathe a little easier and think a little more clearly about some of the other changes we’re grappling with.  I hope it will do the same for you.

Let’s Work Together!

I spent an afternoon two weeks ago meeting with the owners of one of the largest studio and equipment rental houses in New York. Halfway through the afternoon they showed me a presentation that they give to new clients, the presentation and the accompanying conversation were eye opening.

It turns out that studio rentals to photographers creating traditional photographs is now only 20 percent of their business, and something that they support and hold onto with a certain nostalgia. No longer just a rental studio they are now a full service creative center offering everything from; full concept development, to 3D and imaging and digital support services ( they just hired one of Pixar’s best known digital technicians ), image creation for the advertising, editorial and corporate marketplace, providing photographers and staff for shoots, and more. The creative scope is mind boggling, advertising agencies are coming to them for ideas or suggestions on how to articulate and manifest the agency’s idea, as are many of the largest magazines, retail chains, and web sites.

Sorry all of you product shooters out there, but virtually all of the product work being done is with 3D rendering. They are even creating magazine covers and full spreads in 3D as opposed to taking the time to hire a photographer. Why? Cost and control, it was cheaper and easier to render the shoot than to have someone go shoot the cover. Think about that, we are talking editorial here, not advertising.

So what does this mean for you? Well, your first thoughts are probably either, “More bad news, game over, what am I going to do now,” “ Who are these guys, I want to work with them” or “Where do I learn 3D.” The second two answers may be partially right, but I want you to look at this story another way. Maybe we need to work together a little more instead of on our own, teams instead of individuals. Maybe we need to embrace the creative control and possibilities that the new marketplace offers and we have always craved. We need to become better educated in terms of idea creation and application across multiple platforms. We need to let go of old business models, add new skill sets to our businesses, and embrace the opportunities offered by running a broad based business driven from the creative side as opposed to being a service provider in a diminishing marketplace. We need to become mini versions of this rental house, work together with the designers, retouchers, and animators to form creative groups that create exciting, innovative work that can compete.

Do it now, get up from your chair, walk slowly away from the computer and look outside your window. Be brave, move away from the inkjet printer and out of the cube that we all call a studio, it will all still be there when you return, only when you come back you may have a fresh perspective.

Call a few friends or business associates, set up a meeting at a coffee shop with a designer, art director, gallerist or artist that you know and begin to find synergies, and put together your own creative team. Be flexible and work together to find new paths to success.

Who Are You?

A few months ago, I had a great conversation with ASMP NY member, Gail Mooney. Gail is a still photographer who began working with motion imagery about 20 years ago, first with film and then with digital video. When I asked Gail about this transition, she said something to the effect of “Well, I wasn’t a visionary or anything.  I got into photography because there were stories that I wanted to tell and one day, I realized that I could tell some of them better if I incorporated sound and motion.”

Gail may not see that as visionary but I give a lot of credit to anyone who takes the time to question their own assumptions.  You see, Gail didn’t get into motion because it was the hot thing or because it was marketable.  She got into it because it furthered her goals – she wanted to tell stories and this was just another tool.

I encourage you to grab a sheet of paper and answer the question “Why am I photographer?”  All of your answers should begin with the word “To” and each of your answers should take you to a deeper level of understanding your true motivation for choosing this career path.

Understanding where your passion really lies frees you to explore other avenues, other media, and other ways of looking at your career, that will allow you to redefine who you are in broader terms and explore new markets.  The ultimate goal, after all, isn’t to live within some preconceived notion of who you are and what you do, but to figure out what you find truly satisfying and find ways to earn a living doing as much of that as possible.

Learning from Lawyers

Scott Rogers, a lawyer turned career consultant; teaches a seminar about career satisfaction for lawyers.  Yup, lawyers.

In it, he points out that most of us spend the vast majority of our time thinking about all the ways we’d like to change the past or what we can do to control the future.  The reality is that we have no control – zero, zip, nadda – over both these things.

Instead, he suggests, imagine what would happen if we focused our energies on learning from the past and developing strategies for navigating through all the different possibilities – good and bad – that the future might hold.

With the rapid changes hitting our country in general and our industry in particular, this is the perfect time to take that advice to heart.

There’s a lot of scary stuff happening right now, but there’s also a ton of really exciting opportunities and possibilities out there.  So learn from the past but let it go.  It’s time to look to the future, embrace change and figure out how you can leverage your skills and maximize your potential.

Diversifying Your Portfolio

When we hear the word “portfolio” most of us immediately think of our “book” or the body of images that we use to market ourselves as photographers. But the portfolio I’m talking about is the collection of skills and services that you market to your clients.

Most of us don’t like to think about this but skills have a life cycle of usefulness and to retain value, we must constantly renew and update the skills that we’ve mastered.  We also have to recognize that only those clients whose needs match our skills are going to be willing to pay a fair level of compensation for the services we offer.

The rapid changes that have hit our industry have left many of us feeling like the rug’s been pulled out from under us. Answering the most basic questions – What am I good at?  What skills do I currently have?  How can I build upon those skills to increase my value? Who needs what I want to do?   – is a great place to start building (or rebuilding) your vision for your career.

What can you do today, in this business climate, to get work now?

Nothing.

I know that sounds harsh, but anything you could do that might possibly bring in business now will, in the long run, hurt your business. Things like lowering your price, offering unlimited rights for the price of a year of web use, or shooting (heaven forbid!) on spec, might possibly get someone in your door today, but when the market turns for the better, you will be known as the place to go to get it cheap.

Thing is, the clients that might come to your door for such deals are going to be lousy clients usually. They will be demanding, difficult, show up late, want it yesterday, and pay slowly. Trust me on this, I’ve seen it too many times. They will not respect you, your skills, and certainly not your vision. You will be a camera with a heartbeat to these clients.

When they have better budgets, these cheap and difficult clients will go after “better” photographers. It happens in every downturn. It’s like the old story of the wife who puts her husband through med school only to get dumped for the trophy wife when the money comes in. Don’t let this happen to you.

A better way to spend this slow time is to market for the future. The economy will get better and clients will need great images. Work on your portfolio, explore your vision, play creatively, develop a long-term marketing plan–these steps will do you more good overall than some panic-driven photo fire sale.

And this doesn’t mean you can’t help out clients you have long relationships with. There is nothing wrong with working together where there is mutual respect. But going fishing by offering sales and deals to try to bring in new work is not a smart plan. Think long term and your business will the better for your efforts.