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Business Tips for the Freelance Photographer By Ira M. Gostin, MBA, © 2008 www.gostin.com This article, and the others in the series, will provide you with tips for establishing, building and growing your photography business. Like any consultant, opinions are presented based on my own experiences and a great deal of research gleaned from 25 years of running a photography business along with an MBA education. Collect data from multiple sources and make decisions that are best for your individual business. The smarter you operate your business, the more opportunity to be creative and have fun. I hope these articles help.

Terms & Conditions for your business paperwork Good paperwork is of the utmost importance in your business. It helps prevent misunderstandings, protects your legal and financial interests, and conveys a crisp, businesslike impression to your clients. Every few years, ASMP publishes a new edition of its manual Professional Business Practices in Photography. The sample business forms in that book represent the best business practices in our ever-changing industry. The medium of print, however, is entirely static and cannot convey the vast range of options that good paperwork must encompass. The Web, in contrast, provides a malleable medium in which the text can be varied to reflect the choices made by users. Hence this module.

Business Links Below are links that can help you in your business. By linking to these private sites, the ASMP is not endorsing its products, services, or privacy or security policies. We recommend you review the business's information collection policy or terms and conditions to fully understand what information is collected by this private business. Visit Industry Links for links to manufacturers, suppliers and other resources that could help you in your business.

Knowledge is power! Keep your business education in top form. Learn from experts who share their business knowledge with ASMP. Make them your experts and benefit directly from their vast experience. ASMP publishes information and advice on all aspects of the business of publication photography. You can profit from the experience of others by tuning into this resource and applying its lessons to your own experience.

Read our business articles online This section contains a variety of articles on the business of publication photography that cover topics ranging from legal and marketing matters to the intricacies of doing business in the digital environment. Periodically, we will be adding new articles, so please visit again.

In his second month as a professor at Arizona State University, Tim McGuire was standing in front of 13 students teaching "The Business of Journalism" when his inner voice interrupted. "You dummy," he recalls thinking, "you are teaching a history course." It was fall 2006, and he was talking about the production of a daily newspaper, but not about the parallel production of a 24-hour-a-day Web site. He was explaining the collapse of the print classified advertising market, but not the striking success of Google search advertisements. Skip to next paragraph Education Life Go to Special Section » The course, new to the curriculum, was in desperate need of a revision already. Mr. McGuire, a 23-year veteran of The Star Tribune in Minneapolis, was in need of a re-­education himself. "I knew what I knew until I realized there was an earthquake underfoot," he says. He immersed himself in Internet business models. He started a blog. The course was renamed "The Business and Future of Journalism." He quickly learned that today's journalism students don't enroll to hear, in Mr. McGuire's words, "old newspaper farts telling them that the business is doomed." "They know the model is broken," he says. "They think, We'll just have to fix it." And so he started this semester by outlining an intimidating theme for the course: "How do we pay for journalism?"

ASMP Licensing Guide Most photographers go into business for themselves because they are passionate about making pictures - not because they want to be in business. The irony is that photographers who do not learn and implement sound business practices will not be able to continue photographing professionally.

Why These Forms are Critical to Your Business By Victor Perlman and Richard Weisgrau Every business day, photographers have a need to communicate transactional information to their prospects and clients. It might be the information in an estimate, the agreement expressed in a confirmation, or the verification of a delivery of photographs. Regardless of the nature of the communication, records of your communications are important, especially when they set the terms, conditions, price, and license to use your work.

Photography Websites: How to design a website that image buyers will love website-montage.jpg We're releasing something special today. If you're selling photos online, displaying your portfolio to get more commercial or editorial assignments, or even designing websites for photographers, you'll want to have a look at this. Do you ever wonder, "Is my website doing its job? Am I working hard to get people there, only to have the site itself betray me?" Don't worry, you're not alone (being betrayed by your website is a growing problem). When we launched our photography website templates last fall, we picked up on this very fact - photographers and designers generally build websites based on their artists' intuition, and leave sound business reasoning aside. That's bad, of course, when you want your website to support your primary business goal - selling more of your work.

Digital Photography Resources Some years ago, professional-caliber digital cameras began to match, and then to exceed, the capabilities of standard film for many commercial applications. Today, digital photography has taken a firm hold on the market. Both technical and business problems remain to be solved, however, and this page offers some resources to help you find good solutions. There still are, and may always be, certain market niches where silver-halide film reigns supreme. But for most photographers, as for most publishers and advertisers, the technical challenge is no longer to make digital photography work, but rather to get the most productivity and pizzazz from the medium. The business challenge is to forge a new, industry-wide consensus on cost recovery and financial best practices.

Bill Miller's Strategy for Working with Nonprofit Organizations For a print article on pages 22 - 24 of the ASMP Bulletin's Winter 2007 issue, Sarah Coleman interviewed eight photographers who have worked with nonprofits on various levels. She described the obvious benefits, the potential pitfalls and reported on how photographers have managed these relationships, and to what extent their normal business practices were appropriate. Here, Oregon-based photographer Bill Miller provides additional insight into a strategy he's developed to make his nonprofit work a financially viable enterprise for his business needs and a win-win situation for all.

Going Digital By Angela Wolff It's the question every photographer asks when making the switch from film to digital: Which camera is right for me? It should be no surprise that the answers are as varied as their subjects and work styles. For many, the decision boils down to the equipment already in use; sticking with the same manufacturer can shorten the learning curve and cut costs. For others, a close examination of business needs balanced with camera capability will help clarify the choice. But whatever you do, don't make the decision based on cost alone. "A lot of people are buying on price, and with [these things] you just can't do that," said Lon Atkinson of Atkinson! Studios in San Diego. "You need to carefully define your specific needs and pick based on what best fits your business."

Eye on Image-Making: Eight Tips for Aspiring Photographers By David WeintraubdavidweintraubcloseAuthor: David Weintraub See Author's Posts (37) Recent Posts * Eye on Image-Making: Eight Tips for Aspiring Photographers * Notes from the VisCom Classroom: Teaching Video * Eye on Image-Making: Five Ways to Tell if a Photographer Is Really in Business * Eye on Image-Making: Portraiture Now * Notes from the VisCom Classroom: Is It Better to Teach Full Time or Part Time? David Weintraub is a writer, editor, photographer, and educator based in Aiken, SC. He is the author of eight travel books and many articles for publications such as Photo District News, Outdoor Photographer, and Hemispheres. David has a master's degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of South Carolina, where he is a full-time instructor teaching visual communications and writing. in Business of Photography on April 7th, 2009 I almost don't recognize Shawna Simmons when she appears in my office doorway. A 2007 graduate, Shawna has returned to the University of South Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communication to give several presentations as part of the school's I-Comm Week, an annual exploration of the latest trends in mass media. While an undergraduate, Shawna majored in visual communications. She was my student in our two photography courses, Photovisual Communications and Advanced Photovisual Communications. Now here she is, dressed in a stylish outfit capped by a black leather jacket, having just flown in the night before from New York.

"Do you ever shut down your computer at the end of the week, and all of the sudden it hits you: You haven't kept up with your social sites for the week.twitter-logo With less than 7 percent of all Twitter users using it on a regular basis, it can be a little frustrating knowing you have a tool ready to help grow your business, yet unsure of how to truly use it. Just like blogging, Twitter takes work. But there are ways you can incorporate it into your photography business, and have it start working for you."

"It's no secret that web design is a fast-growing industry. Virtually every type of business is in need of a quality website. There are opportunities at the large agency level down to freelancers developing small-business websites from home. So how do you break into this exciting field? With little or no experience creating websites, getting yourself up to speed can be a daunting task. There are so many different avenues of design and development to explore. Which way should you go first? Which skill sets suit you the best? We aim to give you an overview of a few things things that are essential to a well-rounded knowledge of web design. These are starting-points, if you will. Below each item, we've listed additional resources for you to continue on in your learning process. Before we get into it, heed one important lesson: You can't become a professional web designer overnight. It takes years to reach an expert level in any aspect of the field. But everybody starts somewhere, and there's no better time than the present begin your web design education."

We're an email group for professional editorial photographers who want to talk business. We don't do techie stuff. We don't do cliquey in-crowd gossip. We don't talk cameras or computers. We talk about the nuts and bolts of being in business - like copyright, licensing, fees, insurance. And, even if we say so ourselves, we do it rather well.

"Social Media: Don't Be Left Behind Departments, Electronic Market, Fall 2009 - By Richard on October 23, 2009 at 11:19 am Social networking websites are the talk of the town, but how can they help your business? By Rosh Sillars Supporters exalt it as the great advance in communication. Detractors consider it a waste of time. Like it or not, the phenomenon of social media empowers the public at large to capture and disseminate information immediately. But how do all these technological advances affect the photographer? Is the growth of social media killing our business? How do these changes affect the amateur? Are there ways for photographers to use these new tools for their benefit?"

Winds of Change: Is it hurricane season in the photo business? Q&A with creative consultant Carolyn Potts Carolyn Potts was a featured speaker at the ASMP member's meeting held in New York during PDN PhotoPlus Expo. An article with insights from her presentation was published in the ASMP Bulletin's Year End issue. As a complement to the article in print, this online Q&A features more of Potts's marketing insights.

An ASMP white paper by Richard Weisgrau Publishers control the day rate that they pay to photographers. In 25 years they have failed to increase the day rate to a level that would allow photographers to maintain the standard of living of 1973. In spite of this failure, many publishers seek more and more rights from photographers for the same low and continuously eroding fees. The situation is out of control. Photographers feel that they cannot control the day rate. They perceive that they have little individual clout in a negotiation with a major magazine. They cannot collectively bargain, since they are independent contractors and not entitled to the collective bargaining power of a union. The simple fact is that the publisher has all the advantages, EXCEPT FOR ONE. If the situation does not improve, good and reliable photographers will eventually be forced to refuse editorial assignments, since these will not support the photographers' costs and commitments to their businesses.

From Pixels to the Printed Page Eight photographers discuss the pros and cons of digital photography in their businesses: How they use it, what they like and hate, what the clients think, how to bill for post-production time, where the technology is going and where it needs to go.