Saying No to Paid Work

A Commentary on the Race to the Bottom

Got your attention? Did this guy just get cracked upside the head? No… No… I’m great. Originally written for the photographic industry, this story could be applied to any industry.

Let’s set a foundation, working for free is an oxymoron.

I don’t care who you are, student, just out of school, amateur photographer, this applies to you all.

Working for Free Sets a Precedents with Your Clients

1. Your product is of no value therefore will be treated as such. You will see copyright abuse and images will be treated as the equivalent of toilet paper. Clients that put you in this zone will treat your time as if it’s worthless.
2. Your future “work” will be expected as free.
3. Often when there is a budget they will hire someone that does charge. No hand up will be waiting for you.
4. You will be setting a new low bar in the industry. Basically training your clients and the industry that this is the value and cost for imagery.

The resulting question is; when should I work for free? No real rule here but for example, if it is my creative (my idea, usually for my portfolio) or a non-for-profit of my choice. Everything else? You got it.

Much like working for free, taking penny jobs also results in the above, but is a better alternative.

When are these acceptable? Never really, but sometimes when starting out they can get your foot in the door. Try to charge appropriately for your experience and level of production value.

If you take a job at below hard costs (hard costs are services, props, talent that you have no control over the cost of) you are again training the client (agency or company direct) on the value of your work. Next time a similar job comes around that client will expect that price and provide a budget that fits that low price.

If we say no, here’s the important part, and educate our client on the hard costs of production, next time around they will have a budget that closer resembles the actual cost of doing business.

NO is not Where you Start

Now, NO is where you end up, not where you start. Here are few ways to help your client, however if the budget is far below after all these steps, NO is the answer:

1. Revisiting the licensing usage required by the client: Often clients will come for a buyout price (which is often considered purchasing a car for one road trip… overkill and very expensive). Discuss giving up some of the options they wanted to save them money (non-exclusive vs. exclusive, shorter duration or lower print frequency). This is typically where I like to start. Bypassing licensing in general is not an option. If you are not familiar with licensing I recommend grabbing a photography business book from your local library or check out ASMP’s Guide. If you are not sure what you should be charging for licensing check out software like fotoquote and Blinkbid, both have great estimating tools.
2. Look at lowering the overall production costs: For example shooting the campaign in studio and compositing (where each individual is photographed and photoshoped into a scene) verses building the entire set. Or using one model verses four different models. Unfortunately this area is harder to slim down. Why can’t I have my friends model? Utilizing friends verses models on a commercial set is not a good idea for a few reasons. One, the client or ad agency gets a warped perception of what the actual costs are. Two, you can only use your friends so many times without paying them before you have no more friends. Support local business, call a modelling agency. To be agency neutral I tend to get quotes from two to three different agencies and choose which best fits the look and budget. Sometimes it’s using one or two models from each agency.
3. Level of post-production is not an area I recommend cutting back on as it’s part of your art. Why would you buy a Ferrari to drive on the farm, when all you need is a pickup truck? Don’t lower your current abilities to meet a budget, this will come back to haunt you later. Always perform at the top of your game.

Our industry does love to cannibalize itself. Someone else will come in at that penny value thus never educating the client properly. If this continues to happen, photographers will price war until they are all out of business.

It takes concerted effort amongst all of us to push for change in the industry. Saying no to penny gigs will pay off — in strengthening integrity and brand value.

Be strong out there team. If this article hit close to home, please share it. I know we can do this together.

Extra resouces: A Scientific Guide to Effectively Saying No

Derek Heisler (www.derekheisler.com)is an emerging world class photographer, conceptual designer and marketing strategist with a refined vision to break ground on the cross-continental grid of fashion media, professional sports and commercial advertising.

As an internationally published and award winning talent, Derek has devoted his skill to clients such as; National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, TED, National Hockey League, Bill Nye The Science Guy, SETI and many more.

In addition to his creative pursuits, Heisler has done an array of charity work to support non-profit initiatives. Derek supports with emphasis, organizations that focus efforts to inspire science and knowledge, and sports, specifically the Special Olympics. Derek feels it is important to support culture and communicative change agents by creating imagery that is not only visually appealing but dynamically impactful.