As a younger woman in the industry, I have found myself in some unsavoury situations. I don’t believe in the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, because a lot of things when Manifestation is your lifestyle would fall foul of it, but there’s certainly some red herrings you can look out for. And one industry standard that is often left unspoken out of genuinely not realising someone may be new to having photoshoots and not know most of the industry works on upsales (not me, just saying. The price you pay with me is all inclusive).
They are upfront about what’s included in your package
It can be tempting to be scrappy when it’s the early stage of business and your sales aren’t gaining momentum just yet, but you have enough proof of concept you want to go all in and know the value of personal branding photography. I see a lot of photoshoot giveaways or discounted packages in places like Groupon, and many of them are just people looking to have a wider reach for themselves so I’m not saying don’t look for one.
I have payment plans to make things accessible to as many people as possible, but it is an investment and it doesn’t come cheap since I bring marketing experience in the planning that alone would have a significant fee if you paid a consultant to do the same before coming to me for a photoshoot. And if you come to me with a folder showing you have that already in place because you did your homework I will give you my lowest price, of course. But I digress…
The way these photoshoots work is that you pay for the photos you take home, so the photoshoot itself looks cheap, and then you are sold the images separately. So you have to make sure it won’t cost you more than you expected going in so ask questions and check to see if it’s really the best option for you.
They have contracts in place
While the specific details vary depending on the nature of the project and the preferences of the parties involved, there are several key components that should be present in every photography contract which show you that you are working with a professional who covers their business bases:
- A clear description of the photography services to be provided, including the number of hours, locations, and any specific requirements.
- The expected timeline for the project, including deliverables (the number of images and what’s covered by the editing etc.)
- How the final images will be delivered to the client (e.g., digital files, prints, etc.) and how the client and photographer can use the images, with any release costs for further uses not covered by the original agreement
- A breakdown of all fees and expenses, including any deposits or payment schedules. It’s common for people to require a deposit to shoot and the full payment to release the images.
- A force majeur clause to handle any situations where things change through no fault of either party
Nobody wants to enter a business partnership expecting it’ll go sour and end up in court, but it’s a common reality in business and you need to be prepared. It saddens me how many photographers I see in networking groups who only get their legal ducks in a row when something bad happens the first time! You’re never too early in business to act like a business, whether you are the photographer or the client looking for personal branding photography for your business.
They do their best to answer your questions
One thing I have learnt in the world of work is that people with integrity knows when to say they don’t know, instead of giving vague word salads designed to confuse you and make you feel like they know when they don’t.
Humility builds trust, and as long as you know that they are willing to fill in the gap and have an idea of where to ask and how long it’d take to get you the information you shouldn’t hold it against them, especially if they are new and still building their systems.
Another thing I’d say not to be too strict about is review, since unless they give you contact info to speak to someone and they can prove it’s not just their mum posing as a past client you can’t know they are true (sounds cynical, but at the beginning of my career I worked for an agency that faked reviews on the websites they built).
A lot of new businesses have no reviews from prior customers, but if you are legit you are open to being asked and not defensive. Different people handle it differently, so just trust your intuition and weight it all against the rest of what you know about them.
Personal branding photography is an investment in your business, so you should make informed decisions the same way you would make for any other kind of investment.
