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Getting started in photography isn’t easy - nor is breaking out of a rut for established photographers. The competition is tough and the level of work out there is high. Plus, there’s no guarantees that the work will be there for you. Getting your foot in the door often means taking lower paying assignments to pay the bills and develop a portfolio.
The downside to taking the low paying gigs is that a) it’s hard to make enough money to get ahead and succeed, b) the time spent working on low paying gigs takes time away from doing the marketing and creating work necessary to win the higher paying jobs and c) once you’ve set a low price for your work, it’s hard to believe that you can charge higher rates.
So it’s a Catch-22: you have to take the low paying jobs to get started or get through tough times, but in taking them, it makes it hard to progress in your career. How to break that?
Plan to Succeed
The first step is to start with a plan to get through the minefield of starting out. Know that you’ll be working hard at first for low pay. But understand that your goal is to get past that.
Start with how much you need to charge in order to make the income you need to flourish. Then work backwards from there. If you want your rates to be $3,000 per wedding. Then map out a plan so that at year one you’re shooting at $X,XXX; year two you’re charging more and year three you’re hitting your stride.
When you know where you’re going, it’s a lot easier to plot the path to getting there. If you just jump in without goals, it’s easy to get distracted and remain stuck in the day to day of working for peanuts.
Skills First
Develop your skills before you start accepting jobs. It’s a pretty simple equation: The better your work is when you get started, the more money you can command. Once you start taking client work, you’re obligated to get the job done and delivered. You’ll find that you don’t have as much time to work on your portfolio and improving your skills.
Not having clients is a luxury of sorts - whether you realize it or not. Use the time that you have available to learn the art of photography and create the sorts of images that clients will love. Just because business may be slow, doesn’t mean that you shouldn't be out there shooting.
For those who are in business, but find things slower than they’d like, the tendency is to do whatever it takes to run out and get new clients. While I understand we all have bills to pay, take advantage of the downtime to develop your portfolio so that you get the clients you want without cutting your rates. Every cloud has a silver lining - the key is to recognize it in what may be challenging circumstances.
Picky is Okay
Be judicious in the low paying jobs that you do accept. Only take on those jobs that will advance your career or make you happy. If the work sucks, the client is unpleasant and the money is no good, then don’t take the job. Look for jobs where you’ll be able to add work to your portfolio, the client is fun to work with, and the money’s enough to pad your bank account.
Good clients tend to refer more good clients as well.
The temptation is to take every job that comes along. Whether it’s a portrait client who wants to pay chump change for a disk, a wedding client who demands too much or a commercial client who’s looking to take advantage of your inexperience, it’s okay to say no.
Quid Pro Quo
The pay should be commensurate to the work involved. If you’re going to take on a low paying gig, don’t kill yourself with a ton of work. Too often, new photographers will spend days if not weeks delivering on a $500 job. Set limits to what you will and won’t do.
When you do pass on a client - or set your rates high enough that the client goes elsewhere (same thing) - use that as an incentive to spend your time being productive. Don’t just sit around! Call up a wedding coordinator to go to lunch. Schedule a trash the dress with a past wedding client. Offer to help a local school in exchange for marketing opportunities. The time and effort you saved by not working for an unprofitable client should be put to good use bringing the clients you really do want!
Avoid The Gear Trap
Don’t spend all of your money on gear. As much as you’d love to have that new 70-200mm lens or D3x, hold off until you’ve got the cash to spare. Instead, invest your money in the education and marketing that you’ll to get in front of the clients who’ll pay you the money you want.
Clients don’t hire you for your gear. They hire you for your ability to create images that they’ll love. Sell them on that ability first, then get the gear you want.
Value = $$$
Finally, don’t forget that your work has value. Clients will always try to get away with paying as little as possible and beat down the value of your work. Although it’s often a challenge, believe in your work and the value that you create for your clients. Don’t be afraid to charge accordingly.
The common thread through all of this is the idea that you’ll want to avoid spending all of your time doing client work. It’s far too easy to get sucked into meeting with clients, editing photos, designing albums and the like. However, the money you make working on some low-budget job will soon be spent.
On the other hand, the time and effort put to bettering your work and business will pay off for years.
John Mireles
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