anything else I need to ask???

[danchez]

OK, I was contacted by a local businessman about portraits. As we started talking I find out he wants them for advertising purposes. As this was not in my business plan, I was unprepared for that request. He was ok with that and asked if I could come up with a quote for him. Here are a few things I thought I need to know before I can quote him:

1) How long do you want the usage rights for? 1yr, 2 yrs, longer??
2) What types of mediums are you planning on using these images for? Website? Mailers? Newspaper advertising?
3) or would you like unlimited usage rights?

Is there anything else that I absolutely need to ask about??

Thanks in advance.

Also, should I list his type of business here? Should that figure into the equation??

[danchez]

wow, no advice huh....

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

His type of business means a lot in the equation- if he is in realestate there are a huge number of places that he can can use the image vs say a proctologist who may just need it for some pamphelets and business cards and maybe in some trade journals if he is publishing articles.

So what is the general type of business?

[danchez]

hey, thanks for the feedback, I just heard back from him, he is the new optometrist in town. He is looking for a portrait of him, his optician and one of both of them together. He would like unlimited usage for a few years and he says they would be used in any publications or pamphlets they may send out.

[the kid]

Make it easy on yourself and quote it as purchase. If you're not careful he'll have a headshot company come in to do it at possibly 1/4 of what you would charge. Also, I doubt he's after stellar portraiture. He probably just wants decent work and to cross it off his list. Do the job at a reasonable price and make sure you get future work for personnel changes. Good luck

[danchez]

bump.....

[Ernst-Ulrich Schafer]

Charge him accordingly and then just allow him to use the images for all of his marketing/advertising needs. There is no need to nickel and dime folks for this sort of work.

[Redneck]

Why do you care about what he's doing with the pics as long as he doesn't sell them?
Makes no difference to me if he "advertises" himself at home over the fireplace or in his business brochure.

[texxter]

Originally Posted by Redneck

Why do you care about what he's doing with the pics as long as he doesn't sell them?
Makes no difference to me if he "advertises" himself at home over the fireplace or in his business brochure.

In general, when doing business-to-business usage is really critical. The reason is that if a business is going to be making money because of the image, then the image could be priced according to the amount of money being made. If I make a portrait that will be printed in greeting cards and sold worldwide for 50 years, I should get more money on "usage rights" than if the image is going to be used once for a brochure.

Retail photography is different in that the end user is not a business, in general, and the usage is understood to be personal and not for business.

Traditionally a commercial photography quote consists of "creative fees" based on the complexity and time requirements of the assignment, and then a "usage fee" based on what the images are going to be used for.

In this case, a small business, I would charge a creative fee based on a half-day rate and be done with it. Usage rights are probably overkill.

[the kid]

texxter, it's a small headshot job. Not like it's a national campaign. The only "usage" that needs to be considered is that the quality of source images are in proportion to the customers needs. Dan, you're over thinking this considering the size of the job. There's no opportunity cost from doing this type of small job as "purchase". Easier for everyone and there's no contract. But continue to bump.

[texxter]

Originally Posted by the kid

texxter, it's a small headshot job. Not like it's a national campaign. The only "usage" that needs to be considered is that the quality of source images are in proportion to the customers needs. Dan, you're over thinking this considering the size of the job. There's no opportunity cost from doing this type of small job as "purchase". Easier for everyone and there's no contract. But continue to bump.

I was commenting on the general need for usage fees in the industry and concluded that usage rights were overkill in this case.

Doing any paid job without a contract, whether is a snall headshot or a national campaign, is not advisable.

[doctahjones]

Originally Posted by the kid

texxter, it's a small headshot job. Not like it's a national campaign. The only "usage" that needs to be considered is that the quality of source images are in proportion to the customers needs. Dan, you're over thinking this considering the size of the job. There's no opportunity cost from doing this type of small job as "purchase". Easier for everyone and there's no contract. But continue to bump.

+1

my completely unqualified .02.....

since it's a headshot, it's not like the picture is really 'selling' anything tangable, besides himself/staff.

i'd keep it the same as if you were doing headshots/portraits for a family, and throw in a couple hundred dollar '5 yr unlimited usage fee' (non-transferable, not for resale license).

[the kid]

Seriously? You do a contract on a headshot?

[doctahjones]

Originally Posted by the kid

Seriously? You do a contract on a headshot?

on a headshot that's going to be used in advertising? for sure.

really i have a contract for pretty much every shoot i do. spells out what i will deliver, and spells out how they can use the images. i even use capitalization in it.

[bryanlindsey]

Originally Posted by the kid

Seriously? You do a contract on a headshot?

Seriously, you WOULDN'T?

Any time money changes hands there should be a contract.