Photo Business Management: Examples

Photo Business Management: Estimating Assignment

Here are a few observations on the estimating project. This evening, Sunday 10/22, I am not yet half way through your papers, but I'm seeing many of the same kinds of issues with many of the estimates I'm reading. At least some of these comments apply to nearly everyone, and in writing them, I continue to look at my own forms for ways to improve them. Despite what I'm sure may sound like tough criticism, many of you have come up with good solutions to complicated problems. Keep up the good work.
You Are Still Selling
Do not relax once you get a big fat old estimate like this. You are still selling, and the presentation you make, the description of how you will handle the job, the look of your estimate all help or hurt your cause. Even more importantly, the language you use has a great influence on how your client perceives your willingness to help them solve their problem. Do you tell them that they cannot use the images for additional uses or a hefty fee will be charged? Or do you tell them that additional licensing is available for a fee that fits their needs? The last thing you need to be seen as is a photographer who doesn't want clients to use your images. Yes, there is that little issue of payment. But for a client with needs who likes your work, money will not be the problem. Getting your foot in the door is the problem. Being seen as someone eager to help is the problem.
Estimating For the Use the Client Needs
How did you know how long the image was going to be used? How many issues would the ad run in? Are there any other uses that were anticipated? ($$$) You won't know if you don't ask. The hard truth is that it is very common that you will not get the information you need to estimate a job without asking a lot of questions. After two weeks, 62 students, and more than seventy estimates, I have not had a single question aimed at clarifying the use of this image in this ad. A few of you have written in contingencies as demonstrated in the book, which is a reasonable approach. Many more of you have simply made assumptions without having any idea, or copied my generic example and used those terms instead of reading the assignment or asking for the missing information. Don't assume anything, and don't waste a buyer's time by making them come back to you for the right usage.
Formatting and Neatness
As I mentioned at the beginning of this course, one of the goals of these assignments is to give you a place to start when you get that unexpected call from an important client. Like the way you present your photographs, an estimate gives a photography buyer a first impression of the way you will do business. Several of you have done a great job of putting together an estimate that looks tidy and professional. Many more of you have not. As soon as you get a chance, spend some time making a template that won't hurt you when you hand it to a potential buyer. If you need help, talk to someone who has some graphic design experience. Understand that most buyers see a lot of estimates, and are in the business of making ink look good on paper for their clients. They have sophisticated tastes and make judgements on how your printed material looks. Be warned.
Spelling and Grammar
Yes, this counts too. Some of the wording you need will come more naturally when you've done it a few times. But if you continue to have trouble with this, make sure to take advantage of every opportunity to get help with making your estimate read well. Choosing the "form" method instead of the "letter" method described in the book may help. Spelling checkers will help with spelling, but not with grammar and logic. FotoBiz, inView, and other studio management software have a "terms writer" function that will string together commonly used terminology. And before you send it out, you might want somebody else to take a look at it, just in case...
Making Sausage
Sausage is one of several things in the grocery business that become less appetizing when you watch how it is made. Butchers need to talk about how to make sausage, but that is not the conversation that sells sausage to customers. Customers want to know how it will taste, that it is fresh, or what it will go well with. While I don't want to discourage you from writing more about the photograph you are proposing to do, some of you are showing your potential client how you will make sausage. This is R I of Technology, and it really becomes clear that the difference between photographers and painters is that painters don't talk about their brushes. There is a lot your client will care about in your description, but it probably isn't the brand of camera you use, the software you will download the images to the computer with or process your raw files with or remove pimples with.
Paying Yourself
Although many of you have come up with fairly large budgets, some seem to be reluctant to hang on to a significant piece of that money, spending most on expenses and leaving way too little for yourself. This is the kind of job that you should be able to actually make money on, not just meet your monthly minimum. Take advantage of opportunities like this, because they will not come often. And if you do not exceed your Sales Quota minimum there is something wrong with the way you valued this job.
Professional Examples
Forest McMullin, Wayne Calabrese, and your dear instructor have prepared an estimate for this job for you to take a look at. Forest and Wayne use Hindsight's InView. I use my roll-your-own database designed with Helix RADE. Although we did different jobs, we came up with fairly similar totals.