 Melissa A. Mannon |
Fine art licensing services Hi everyone! I'd like some advice on working with companies that help with licensing your photos. These companies are supposed to help connect artists with clients looking for images to publish. Is it a good idea to seek representation through such a company or is it a better idea to directly market oneself to calendar companies and the like? Any advice or stories you'd like to share about working with such a company would be appreciated. Thanks, Melissa
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Mark Feldstein |
Essentially the outfits you mentioned act like representatives for photographers but rather than repping individual talent, they rep usage negotiated on a per/photograph or per/project basis. While I've never used one of these firms, I do have a rep who reps multiple photographers for different types of work. In any representation deal, you need to have the terms of the agreement including payment of commissions, etc., spelled out clearly in writing. And, you want references. Lots and lots of references from photographers you can contact to attest to the reliability of the rep. Lastly, reps have their own trade association called "SPAR" society of professional artists representatives. While membership in SPAR is no guarantee of reliability or honesty, it's a good group of people who tend to police their own members, when necessary and adhere to a ethical code of conduct. Take it light.
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Melissa A. Mannon |
Thanks Mark. Have you gone the route of approaching clients directly too? Do you find that your rep. has been very helpful for getting your name out there and digging up work for you?
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Mark Feldstein |
Absolutely. But my rep, Dale, and I have an arrangement in that he lets me know who he's contacted for what type of assignment and I agree to let him nurture them along toward obtaining assignments. I let him know who I've contacted (more often than not, because I get a wild hair that makes me want to go shoot for one entity or another. Is he helpful? Absolutely. We've worked together for 12 years or so. He's great!! He not only knows the industry and where my particularized style may fit in, but he knows how to contact people and most importantly, how to close a sale. He's masterful at that. I tend to be more of a shmoozer in that regard. Dale is a professional salesman and he's really good. Ethical as the day is long, great sense of humor, a very good photographer in his own right, and a swell guy that people almost immediately take a liking to. (Not like me at all. Ok, ok, just kidding.) Working with a rep Melissa, is a lot like being in a marriage. Give and take, sharing, honesty, integrity, fidelity, and flexibility. As far as approaching clients goes, for what I do, it's a pretty big pool of potential clients. Corporate image or annual report-type work, theatrical documentary / publicity photography, and to some extent, consumer advertising where people rather than products are involved. About 15 years ago I went to NYC after making about a full week's worth of appointments with various agencies, art directors and designers who offered their services to the types of clients I was looking to work with. I took a number of portfolios showing my abilities in their particular areas. To say it was enlightening is an understatement. I learned more about the business, sales, marketing and who was doing what at that time, than I had in my entire career. While the approach to each was essentially similar, each was tailored to their portion of the market. My point is that I don't think one can effectively work with a rep unless you've done your own repping. Seewhatimean? Maria Piscopo is a rep in L.A., who's counseled reps and photographers. She's written a couple of books on the subject and has a good web site. Take a look. Repping yourself is really a bitch sometimes. Afterall, you have to know when to blow your own horn and how to blow it...well, tactfully but sufficiently loud to warrant attention in a very crowded industry. Nonetheless, in time, as you may already know, the cream rises to the top and someone will take notice of you and your work. When that happens, develop your relationship with them as a client and move on to the next one. It takes awhile but after attending the school of hard marketing and photographic knocks for a bit, continue to persevere and I'll bet you succeed. BUT one short word of caution. Find a niche and develop real expertise in it. The blunderbus approach doesn't work well in this biz. People, whether in advertising, marketing or even potential wedding and/or portrait clients, want to see you can do what they want you to do. Show them you can meet their requirements and don't lowball your pricing quotes. BTW, don't quote rates, quote rates PER assignment once you know the particulars. Be well.
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