It's that time of year when you exchange gifts with clients and suppliers. This year instead of the usual box of chocolates, bottle of wine, or calendar sent to clients and suppliers, I donated photographic services and money to the Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta (cpalberta.com). I have a vested interest in this particular charity, as my son has CP. There are many good causes to choose from and we are all attached to them for various, often personal, reasons (the arts, medical, civic, church, homelessness, foreign aid, or pet protection agencies).
Most photographers at some point in their careers get approached by an ad agency to donate their services for a worthy cause. Usually, as with most agency jobs, the deadline is tight and you don't have a lot of time to decide. You feel a bit of guilt and often your gut instinct is to help. I was once asked to do a "freebee" by an agency for an arts client on the promise that they would hire me for a good paying job next time. I did the rush job, but of course "next time" never came. I got burnt. Lesson learned. As a new approach, and to combat the ever increasing telemarketers plying me for money, I decided to take a proactive approach to giving.
This fall the CPAA built a new multi-sensory room for members like my son, full of coloured lights, sounds, moving water, and textures. When speaking with the program manager about the room, she mentioned it would be great to have photos of the room for their new website. The website was part of a their new branding initiative "Life without Limits". The multi-sensory room was a hard to photograph subject; small and full of coloured moving lights; not something the staff could do easily. I recognized a need that I could fill, and out of that came a subsequent photo shoot of members in a pre-employment seminar. In the end they got what they needed and I will get a tax receipt. A win-win situation. FYI - In Canada the rules about this type of donation are: you do the work, you invoice the client, the client writes you a cheque for the work, you write the client a new cheque returning the amount, and you get your tax receipt. Here is a photo from the multi-sensory room at the CPAA.
Incidentally, from this work and the relationship developed with the CPAA, I've received three more inquiries for paid work! Win-win-win. People like to work with people they know or that someone else knows - a referral. As you know, a referral is much easier than a cold call for both the buyer and the seller of photography. Plus, if your invoice reflects industry rates, the referral will likely have some sense of how much you charge for your services, and that will help you get over the next hurdle - the estimate.
Let's get back on the subject of your favourite clients and suppliers for one last thought. I still feel it is important to thank clients and suppliers for their efforts on your behalf. You can do this other ways by spending time developing the relationship. After all, more and more evidence proves that clients are doing a lot of their own photography, or buying micro stock. You need to develop strong relationships with your clients so that you are selling more than photos. Take your clients out for lunch once or twice a year, get to know them better, understand their needs and work to fill the needs. And definitely send them thank you gifts for any referrals.
Happy Giving!
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