Before You Bid on a Commercial Photo Assignment, Do This First
We must prepare a lot to prepare a bid.
YOU ARE GOING TO BE ASKED FOR A BID…
HERE IS HOW WE DO IT SO WE GET THE GIG…
Bidding a job requires more than knowing just YOUR numbers, you have to look at it from the observations of those doing the request.
Many of the people asking for bid requests are not in the same game as we are and our customs and normalcies. They are steeped in their own customs and normalcies.
One of the trends we are seeing out there is a reluctance on the part of brands and direct clients to pay for travel.
“Why should we pay travel? Hire local.”
Now if your style is what the brand wants, and it is a very distinct style, you probably will still be able to add the travel.
Ask your connection where you are bidding what they think about your travel expenses. Remember: they wanted you so they will be your advocate on getting the bid.
Always remember to line item every single thing you do with a contingency price that is at the highest possible rate instead of the lowest possible. If something goes awry, you want to be covered by any contingency.
AIRLINE TRAVEL
Getting tickets far in advance is far cheaper than getting them for tomorrow.
If you are going to wrap your expenses into the creative fee, make sure you wrap in the worst-case scenario airline ticket prices. And you can use the arbitrage between the less pricey, two weeks out price and your worst-case high price to help with negotiating the price… just trade dollars for time.
“Yes, I think we can cut some money from the budget here… and here, and be good.”
(Never from the fee. Never).
“But I will have to book the shoot 15 days from now.”
Thus allowing you to purchase the lower-priced tickets and put those savings into reimbursing the line items you cut.
But in order to do that you must have the numbers NOW for everything you think you will need.
And that is for local as well as travel work.
You should have a good idea of what your hourly/day/project rate is whichever applies to your work, and what figure you would be willing to accept to be happy.
While I rarely bid on hourly gigs, my hourly rate is $350.
I would be happy with $300 on a two-hour minimum job.
No less.
(BTW, I really like project and per-shot pricing but that is not always possible.)
So do you have a price list for all of the things and people you may need to put together a bid?
Rental Studio: having two or three known to you is best so you will not have too much trouble getting one. Make sure you have a natural light, small product, and large product studio available, and KNOW the rates so you do not have to spend time on the phone doing what you should be doing now.
You should have a good idea about how much these service providers charge, and their websites, emails, and phone numbers.
Studio Rentals.
MUA.
Hair.
Stylist.
Food stylist.
Prop stylist.
Prop acquisition.
Model Agencies.
Talent agencies.
Wardrobe stylists.
Assistants.
Video.
Digitech.
Producers.
Transportation (local)
Rental house for lighting.
Rental house for construction.
It is so important to have these contacts and their numbers for when you sit down with a bid for the first pass and have to start plugging in numbers.
Waiting until you need them creates unnecessary friction and lots of pain.
FINDING OUT WHO SHOOTS WHAT
Spending time with google looking for other photographers so you can see who is shooting what, where they are shooting it, and who they are shooting for (agencies, in-house, designers, marcomm…). Knowing which agency is handling what account is one of those things that can help you determine your bid.
Call photographers in your area, and in the surrounding areas you may want to work in and ask them about rates.
Let them know you are wanting to make sure you are not undercutting or selling the work at a price that doesn’t make sense to that area. They will appreciate it and it will give you some great insight into the pricing and types of work being done.
(They can also be assholes and not want to help you… so sorry, it just seems to come with the territory. Move on to someone else who can be helpful. And remember to not be one of the assholes when someone comes to you with questions.)
This is neither “easy” nor is it without a few numbskulls who are scared you are going to compete with them.
But it is necessary, so keep at it until you have had a couple of yeses and have the info in hand.
You may also want to join ASMP or APA or the Chamber of Commerce to get an understanding of the ways of your business in the surrounding area. Both of these groups can be very good in finding out more about the local scene.
There are many ways to get the info. Do not stop or give up until you have found what you need.
NEVER START OUT COMPETING ON PRICE
You are a professional. Your value is in what you deliver, not in how long you have been delivering it.
Thinking that because you are new you should charge a lot less is wrong-thinking. The value of the image is in the image itself, and its value to the customer. So it matters not whether you have been in business for 6 weeks or 6 years, if the image is good enough for them to use, it is good enough for them to pay what it is worth.
Period.
Competing on price is a fool’s folly.
If you compete on price, you are self-employed in an industry that has absolutely no guidelines on pricing and you are driving your own prices into the toilet.
That is not even rational, not to mention a very bad way to start your business.
Do This:
Schedule downtime to call vendors and get pricing and the ranges of the ancillary people you will NEED to put a decent quote together for a medium or large job. Get to know the local modeling agencies so they are aware of you BEFORE you hit them up with a rush job.
Know who the Digitechs, MUAs, assistants, wardrobe stylists, food stylists, and everyone you may need are, and make an introduction. Know the approximate rate for a rental studio big enough to shoot a group of 12 insurance agents.
This knowledge is your lifeblood for preparing an estimate or bid for a client who is standing before you.
Being able to do that easily makes it all go easier.
Then reward your professionalism with tacos.
I am a photographer, designer, and photo editor. You can find me at my self-named website or at Project 52 Pro System (enrollment begins January 6, 2023) where I teach commercial photography online. This is our tenth year of teaching, and it is the most unique online class you will find anywhere.
Check out my newsletter and community at Substack. We are new, but growing.
You can find my books on Amazon, and I have taught two classes at CREATIVELIVE.