Question about business head shots

[BWDPhoto]

I was contacted today by a local realty company - I've never worked w/ them directly, but know they're one of the larger groups in town. But they wanted a quote on doing some headshots of all the realtors that can be used in all of their marketing/promo work like business cards/ bill boards/newspaper ads, etc.

I was on the other line so she left a message so that gives me some time to think about this. I've done this sort of thing for one or two realtors - never an entire group of 14+

I'm going to take a wild assumption that they'd want pix on a disc so that they can have them easily to use during the year. I don't normally do this type of work, but do like to make an occassional exception for those I think might bring me in more business. For this type of project, I really don't mind so much giving them the disc because I really don't have the time to keep designing and ordering stuff right now like cards, etc. and keep up with all of my regular wedding and senior clients.

I know it would involved bringing in my portable backdrops and lighting to them (which isn't a problem). I'm not 100% sure how to price it. I know what competition is listed in the phone book and know that they would (for most of them at least) low-ball the offer because well, frankly, they charge so little as it is anyway......

Any suggestions on where to start with the quote but still being competitive? (and let me preface this with by 'competitive' the other guys in town will shoot a wedding for $300-500 for unlimited time and many will GIVE the disc of images for free).

[canoflan]

Wendy,

First thing, you are smart by taking the time to think about this. My wife has really helped my impatient attitude to be mollified by not responding, unless otherwise necessary, for 24 hours to a phone call to a client seeking work. I probably respond before 24 hours, but you get the idea.

2nd, you should break down the categories of what you will be providing. You will travel to the location, so you should have gas, etc... factored into your pricing. Remember that the IRS is reimbursing at a set rate each year, so you should increase that by your margin. Then you have your time on location and spent prepping afterwards for delivering the photos. Then you have usage licensing. You really need a good contract to use to license the photos. In this case, they may want to do whatever they want with the photos, including printing, so this is more of an unlimited license. If they only want the digital negatives (post-processed of course), then the rate would be higher, IMO, than if they ordered prints from you. I was not around much in the film days, but a job like this in the film days delivered something to the client that they had to work with and since they didn't have digital, I am not sure what the deliverable was, but it needed to be used for print work at their publisher/printer and probably not the photographer's printer.

When you break all this down and add it all up what you charge for each piece of your services, then you can bring it back to what you would discount for these folks and negotiate from there.

As of today, I can tell you within 15 minutes how I would price any job because I know what my costs are, what my rates are and what I am willing to live with in terms of negotiation. This helps me respond quickly with clients and portray confidence with them, especially if they ask why my prices are what they are (I never discuss costs with them, but my qualities and what separates me from the competition [and we are all competitors, contrary to popular belief]).

Remember, if you believe you provide professional level services, then you should charge professional fees. You will have to make a business decision if you want to use this job as bait for potential future work.

Frankly, I would rather charge with a slight discount (because they are good clients, etc...) and deliver top notch work; than low ball on the chance of getting more work. At the end of the day, the work will speak to potential clients.

Just some thoughts,
Pat

[BWDPhoto]

I did call the girl back to get more info and told her I would email her a quote. She did say that they're looking for one 'go-to' photographer to use each year so that each of the pictures are always alike in nature and setup. She said they would want the digital negatives on disc or jump drive. Basic retouch of images. The first round of pix they're wanting would be fore 10-15 realtors and then updated every so often throughout the year as they add more realtors to their staff. Everything would be used for just about every type of promo material where you would have your picture on something.....

decisions, decisions.....

[toverman]

If you have the chance to make this an ongoing relationship, you especially don't want to lowball on the price because it will be harder to overcome in the long run. Setting a fair price (per Pat's suggestion) will serve you better.

One thing you might consider as part of the contract is seeing if they'll put a small advertisement for your photo business on their Web site. Or maybe even a credit somewhere with a link to your site. Realtors, doctor's offices, organizations sometimes need good headshots for promotions and it might be a way to get in with them if it's something you are interested in. Maybe even plant a seed with your local chamber of commerce (or become a member, that'll get you going).

[canoflan]

Now that you mention this may be a recurring deal, if you provide them the work they like on the first job; I would see about setting up a contract to establish a fee per head so that they know your cost and you know the set work involved per shoot. Of course if you shoot one head vs 5, you have fixed costs that make it more expensive per head since travel to the site is the same for one head or 5 heads.

It will make things simpler for them and yourself to setup perhaps an annual agreement on price and that they need to stick with you for all their head shots. That way if you are guaranteed money in the bank for all their headshots, you can afford to probably discount them more since one of the reasons individual jobs cost more is that you are not guaranteed where the next job will come from, if at all and you need to live between now and then.

Pat

[AndrewSA]

This is my pricing structure for headshots. There's always going to be someone in town that will do it for like $25, but you just have to decide how much it's worth for your time

1 - $100
2 - $175
3 - $225
4 - $250
5 - $275
6 - $300
7 - $350
8 - $400
9 - $450
10 - $500
10+ add $25

location fee $100