There are very few industries and firms out there that haven't been at least "touched" by the (love the PC-ness of this phrase) "economic downturn."
Sadly, belt tightening needs to occur, and in theory, believe it or not, that can actually be a good thing. This positions you to streamline processes, re-evaluate where your marketing dollars go, and revaluate the effectiveness of your marketing. In essence, this keeps us from doing the same old thing over and over, year after year. Sure five years ago the marketing you were doing was cutting edge and really bringing in the clients, but... now, so many things have changed. Has your marketing? Or are you doing the same thing, with different packaging.
The smart marketers know, when things start to get slow in the industry, that is the exact time to pour money into your campaigns. Get the momentum going, revamp what your doing, that way, when things improve, you're already running full steam while others are still looking around trying to figure out what to do.
Let's get down to it, at the core of your marketing is showing off your latest projects to land new clients. And, how do you do that? Photography. No new photos, no new designs to show off to get more projects. Uh oh.
But wait... your budget has been cut, and that includes your photography budget.
What do you do?
Multi-Party Contracts
Share the costs with your vendors/contractors/clients. Odds on bet they need portfolio photography to land new projects too... why don't you get together with them and share the costs. I personally split the Creative Free evenly between each of the parties what want to sign on to the photography contract. So, if you were going alone, that free may be $2500 for a full day of shooting. But wait, bring in the contractor on the project, suddenly you both now only pay $1250. But wait, there's more. You designed some wonderful lighting in a reception area, talk to the lighting vendor. Now, there are three of you on the contract... your $2500 Creative Fee is now down to... wow... $830. Is that more in your budget?
Please note, each individual party may have separate uses for the images, so their usage costs will be calculated separately. You are just planning on using the images on your web site, so, you don't want to have to pay for your lighting contractors paid advertising usage for their company.
Muti-Project Contracts
When working with your photographer, this can be a great benefit to each of you. You receive a reduced rate for each project, and the photographer has the security of contracted projects coming in.
WARNING. Please be prepared to put everything in writing for each of the projects being included in the multi-project contract. I don't know a photographer alive that hasn't been verbally promised follow-on projects if they reduce the rate on the current one, and, mysteriously the follow-on projects never materialize.
Reduce the Views
In the ideal universe, you could have dozens of images documenting every aspect of your latest project. But, with the economy the way it is, and your budget looking dim, you're going to have to decide, what are the most important aspects of the projects? What will really sell your abilities to a new client? What problem did you solve in your designs? If you prioritize the images you absolutely need, from those it would be nice to have, you can save substantially on your photography.
Timing
Some photographers will work with you on their rates, if you are flexible in your shooting schedule. This allows the photographer to work your projects during slower times. This helps the photographer and his/her crew maintain a more balanced workload. For that benefit to their schedule, they will often work with you on the rate.
Whether you were there or not, and whether we are your photographer on a project or not, if you have any questions or comments about commissioning architectural photography, please feel free to drop us a line anytime. We'd be happy to help!
Kimberly Blom-Roemer
Photographer
R2 Photography, LLC
r2-photography.com
866-722-9506
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