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5 Sure-Fire Ways to Make Your Photography Career Skyrocket
I spend a lot of time talking about how to take good photos, but I don’t spend much time talking about making a career out of it. It’s time for that to change. After minutes of studying ways to make money from photography, I’ve unlocked the secret to a great career.
Not only have I unlocked it, but I’m also going to share it with you. Follow these five rules, and your photography career will launch you into the halls of… photographic fame, I guess:
1. Work for Hire - Everybody knows that a direct trade of time for money is the best way to go. Not some convoluted system where you sell the same thing to multiple people. The jokes on them! They’re saving you from hours of work doing pesky ‘copyright licensing’ and they’re still paying you!
2. Never Update Your Portfolio - Nobody cares what your portfolio looks like, clients just want to make sure you have one. It’s all about culling the amateurs. By not updating your portfolio, you’ve saved yourself a ton of time - time that could be spent… working for hire.
3. Do the First Job for Free! - This is a photographer’s dream. You get the experience of working with the client, but without all the money worries. You already know that this one’s a freebie! Besides, the editor said the work would just come rolling in once word got out. He’s a professional, so he probably knows what he’s talking about.
4. Save Money by Skipping Backups - Saving extra copies of your photos to offsite storage is for nerds and pussies. Real men take risks and gamble; that’s how leaders are made. They don’t read warning labels or wear water wings, they drink from bottles with skulls on them and try to surf Niagara Falls.
Real men probably also contract VD from transsexual prostitutes in Taiwan, but that’s a tale for another day. The point is that making backups of photos is a waste of time and as we all know, time is money.
5. Microstock, Microstock, Microstock - People love buying things for a dollar. Look at how many dollar stores there are. Study the iTunes dollar-a-song success story. You can’t argue with things for a dollar; it just plain works.
Most people don’t buy photos because they’re too expensive. But if your photos were all only a dollar, everyone would want one. You’d be rolling in money!
Therefore, no matter how much time or effort you’ve put into a shoot, make sure every photo is priced at a dollar. Undercutting other photographers is the best way to ensure success for the industry and your career!
This incredibly satirical article goes out John Harrington, photo business blogger and author of the book “Best Business Practices for Photographers
Brian Larter Said,
August 30, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
man…I started taking notes and everything!
tokyowars Said,
August 30, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
Until I got to the third point I thought it was serious. I feel dumb now. In my defense, I haven’t been getting much sleep lately…lol.
mangia Said,
September 1, 2007 @ 10:53 am
Article is awesome. :) Nice advices but backup sometimes can save you a lot of money… Think about it…
by the way, I didn’t update my portfolio in last 6 months… Am I a professional ?
:)
Pics=$, Traps of Pro-Equipment, Prime vs. Zoom Lenses and More | Photography Bay Said,
September 1, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
[…] perspective on succeeding as a pro […]
quirkyalone Said,
September 4, 2007 @ 3:43 am
>> Most people don’t buy photos because they’re too expensive.
This is actually true. ;-)
…joking aside, is working for hire that bad?!
Andrew Ferguson Said,
September 4, 2007 @ 10:15 am
Hahaha, Yeah mangia, you’re totally a professional! :P
@quirkyalone:
Admittedly, I haven’t worked as a photographer yet but even from my standpoint, working for hire looks like a bad arrangement. You’re essentially hired help instead of a creative professional.
Photographers make most of their money from licensing their photos for different uses for different periods of time. If you work for hire, you can’t license those photos because you don’t own the copyright; the client does.
And if they pay you $100 and license it out to eight different places for a total of $5,000 then you’ve only got yourself to blame.
Working for hire is a bad arrangement that large companies will try to force on photographers or smaller companies will use to take advantage of new shooters.
Ryan Dlugosz Said,
September 8, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Hilarious!
newbie Said,
October 6, 2007 @ 12:44 am
now that was a waste of my time ,i was taking it seriously but then realised it was a fat joke LOL ,but at least i know now what not to do
OhYeahMan Said,
November 13, 2007 @ 7:26 am
Seriously, folks, this is humourous material here…