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Many people who first buy a camera put it on the Green “P” button, or, like on this camera, the Green Camera. That mode is where the camera does all the thinking for you.
Soon you realize that to get the results you want, you have to tell the camera what to do. This is when you learn what M, A, S, and the other settings on that dial do beyond Green Camera or P mode.
When photographers start trying to make a living, they look for their camera’s green “B” mode. They want a simple business model that thinks for them and tells them what they need to do to be successful.
If they are not careful with some camera models, the B mode stands for “bulb,” which is another discussion for another day.
This blog post was prompted by a Facebook post.
Facebook post question: What are editors, photo buyers, and parents sick of the most regarding buying photos?
My first response: Photographers are over-explaining their prices. Just tell us the price. Please give me a low, medium, and high price option, and let me pick.
Facebook response: Are you talking about editors’ parents or both?
My response: Everyone
Facebook Response: I just got fotoBiz X. Is there a way to package that for people?
My long response:
Yes, there is. The software is designed for editorial freelancers who do B2B versus B2C. However, you can create your price items. It doesn’t make a price list that you hand to people. It is used to create estimates and invoices.
I notice you and many others post many detailed questions that cannot be adequately answered on Facebook or even a blog post. Those business questions often show a lack of understanding of business practices.
This is quite common in photography. People take up photography, and most realize at some point that putting their camera on “P” doesn’t mean professional photos.
The learning curve then becomes quite steep as they go from pointing and shooting to making the camera see the way they want it to. Most will spend some money on classes or workshops.
Once you decide to charge for your services and try to make money doing photography, you quickly realize the “B” setting for running your business doesn’t work. It is even more difficult than photography because there is no “B” setting.
You need to take a class in business practices for the profession. You can pay a photographer with more than three years of successful experience to help you get started. I recommend talking to photographers who are members of ASMP.org or PPA.com. Both organizations have business practices at the core of the company’s formation.
Because where you live can also impact how you run your business due to tax laws, you also need to talk to an accountant and an attorney. Each organization has a list of people who work with photographers. Nothing is worse than making money and then finding out you owe more taxes because you didn’t do something right.
In most communities, the US Small Business Administration offers many free classes. They want you to be successful. Here is where you can find out more about their “FREE” help: https://www.sba.gov/.
You are going back to your original question that started this thread. You asked about two types of businesses: a business-to-business model and an industry-to-customer model.
Talking to a customer who is part of the industry [i.e., an editor at a publication] is different than talking to someone who is not part of the industry [i.e., a mother wanting photos of the family]. One person hires photographers regularly and will discuss hiring you differently.
While you can create an essential price list for services, you will have to make custom estimates pretty often in this industry. It is much easier when you understand how to price a service.
You must know how much you must bring home to cover your base. You know your phone, rent, gear, software, marketing materials, and more are ongoing expenses to run your business. You must know this number; if you don’t, you can’t price anything. You don’t even know what you must charge to break even.
99% of every photographer I’ve helped who came to me about business practices was losing money on every job. They were paying most people to shoot for them, but because they didn’t know their bottom line, they were charging 50% or less of what they needed to break even.
I wrote a blog post about just getting to know your expenses.
