What goes into a commercial photo shoot? This “Anatomy of Commercial Photography” series of posts is going to take a look at an example of what goes on behind the scenes, from prospecting to job completion.
Part 1 – Prospecting
On location with Tonic Photographer Patrick Darby
It’s a busy day at the studio. Photographers Patrick Darby and Matt Baldwin are hard at work. Patrick is out on location with Sara, our Production Coordinator, while Matt is in studio. We’re so busy, we had to bring on Perry LaFine, our awesome freelance talent. Our stylist is in house today as well.
And I am hard at work trying to secure more business. Because in photography, just like any business, it’s important to keep filling the pipeline. It can be a long sell-cycle, and once secured, a job may take anywhere from one hour to one week or more, depending on the scale of the job. So as busy as we are today, one week from now, my photographers can be bored out of their minds with nothing to do unless we bring in more clients.
My typical sales day looks like this:
Researching Prospects
Making connections through Social Media
Database building and maintenance
Follow up with clients/prospects
Appointments
Cold calls
Sending out emails, portfolios, etc to people I spoke with that day.
It can vary. I may be traveling out of town for portfolio reviews with Ad Agencies, or attending networking events, etc.
I never know who needs photography and when. A vast majority of the calls and appointments I make are with people who will need photography in the next 1-6 months. Every once in a while, I get lucky and hit someone at just the right time.
My goal is to build relationships with people that either need our services, or are in a position to refer our services. It’s also important that I’m conveying the capabilities of my photographers. Some art directors see us as great conceptual photographers, and refer their concept work to us. But they forget that we’re equally as talented in Cuisine Photography, and don’t think to give us the bid opportunity for the restaurant chain their working with. So it’s my job to make sure I’m keeping all four of our specialties in the forefront of their minds.
In “Anatomy of Commercial Photography – Part 2,” we’ll look at the process of bidding on a photography opportunity. I know you’ll be on pins and needles waiting for that next post. But in the mean time, if the suspense is killing you, and you feel like you want to be a part of this amazing process, here are a couple suggestions:
- Leave a comment for us on this blog post
- Listen for anyone that needs photography, then send me an email with their contact information. I’ll be happy to follow up with them!
