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Table of Contents Define
LEGAL
TAXATION
STATUTORY
INSURANCE
CONTINUING
CREATE
TUNE UP
FOLLOW UP
YOUR BUSINESS SERVICES
REQUIREMENTS
A MARKETING PLAN
ASPECTS
PROTECTION
YOUR WEBSITE
RESPONSIBILITIES
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PREVIOUS CLIENTS
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Define
YOUR BUSINESS SERVICES
Business structure to operate under & why chosen Having decided to set-up a business to start operations in 2013 a name needed to be chosen. Based on market research undertaken it is often “the best way to be remembered was by using your own name”, for example “if friends of the bride” admired her wedding photographs they were more likely to remember you if your name was attached to the photographs. Based on this I have decided to name the business Sue McArthur Photography. I have decided to operate as a Sole Trader. This business structure was chosen to operate under as it affords me the room to be creative and to be able to operate independently. I am thinking of operating as a small business, as I do not want the workload to be too arduous at this stage, and take more of the “suck it and see” approach of building the business up slowly over time.
When it comes to photography have a memorable business name Become known as having a speciality
Location The location decided upon is to be in my own home studio, set up in my front room. I have decided that my home studio, is suitable to shoot product photography, fine art, and portraiture, subjects that are along static lines, so that is the market I will aim for, to shoot in this location. I will also endeavour to have a web based business and online presence and meanwhile I will need to have a supplementary income in the inital stages of my business. I am aware that Customer Service, Branding, Creativity, Networking, and Publishing, are all important components to the success of the Business and that a website is critical, networking is critical and customer service is critical.
Create yourself a brand logo that can be identified Place this branding logo on your stationary
Despite having considered working as a sole trader, I would consider taking someone from home, on a job with me, when there is not enough employment e.g. Flatmate or partner as an assistant if and when required for an outside job.
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STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
Statutory requirements Independent contractors tend to run their own businesses and are generally free to negotiate their own fees and working arrangements. They may provide services to a wide range of clients. Independent contractors who think their contract is unfair or harsh can take their case to the Federal Court or Federal Magistrates Court. The hallmark of a contract for services is that the contract is one for a given result. The contractor works to achieve the results in terms of the contract. The contractor works on her/his own account and enters into a contract for a specific series of tasks. The contractor maintains a high level of discretion and flexibility as to how the work is to be performed. However, the contract may contain precise terms as to materials used and methods of performance, and still be one for sevices. The contractor maybe expected to carry her/his own insurance policy and generally provide all their own assets and may work at a number of locations and generally sets their own hours of work. Payment to an independent contractor is based upon the performance of the contract and they are responsible for their own expenses, they are is likely to advertise their services to the public at large. An independent contractor may delegate all or some of the tasks to another person and may employ other persons. The contract usually specifies who is to provide the plant and equipment. This is usually the responsibility of the contractor. The work would be performed in accordance with agreed schedules and consistent with the obligations under the contract. The contractor usually invoices the person who engages them for their services and usually deals with her/his own tax. A contractor usually agrees to the tasks beforehand. The contract governs the tasks that must be performed. Get an ABN Australian business number (ABN). You don’t have to have an ABN , but it may help you to register for GST and other business tax obligations. If you choose not to have an ABN , other businesses can withhold 46.5% of payments to you.
WHS requirements You need to ensure a safe working environment for clients and staff, by ensuring adequate rest breaks, and providing ergonimic desks, and adequate lighting and heating. You must ensure that there are not trip hazards in your environment and that all electrical goods meet with safety standards. You need to provide a medicine kit and emergency phone numbers to be placed in a visible position within the work place and store chemicals in a safe place.
A contract for services is that the contract is one for a given result.
The contractor works to achieve the results in terms of the contract.
The contractor maybe expected to carry her/his own insurance policy.
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STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
workplace health & safety continued Significant changes under the new Work Health & Safety legislation that will impact on agencies & their officers. There are significant changes that will impact particularly for research and media (photo shoots, television commercial productions, digital media etc) productions where agencies work with other parties – multiple duty holders. Under the WHS legislation the employer – employee determination of who has duties & obligations and who is to be protected from risks to their health & safety significantly changes to a more encompassing concept of PCBUs i.e. persons in control of a business or undertaking; and a broader definition of workers that extends beyond the employment relationship to include any person who works in any capacity in or as part of the business or undertaking including an employee, labour hire staff, volunteer, apprentice, work experience student, subcontractor and contractor. For first time in relation to health & safety a specific positive duty of care for officers (due diligence) has been introduced. The definition of officer under the Corporations Act now applies to PCBU officers i.e. senior management with decision making responsibilities and where Officer duties cannot be delegated. The new positive duty of care requires officers to: Acquire & keep up to date knowledge of WHS Understand the nature of their business operations, hazards & risks Use appropriate resources to eliminate or minimize risk Have appropriate processes for receiving & considering information & respond in timely manner. Implement processes for compliance. Verify that risks & hazards are being appropriately controlled. The PCBU primary duty of care requires that the PCBU must ensure the health and safety of workers, customers and visitors by eliminating or minimising risks at the workplace. The PCBU duty of care is determined by activities. A PCBU will owe a health and safety duty if in the course of conducting the business or undertaking if it: Engages or causes to be engaged (through sub-contracting) a worker to carry out work. Directs or influences work carried out by a worker. Has the management or control of the workplace in which work is done. Designs, manufactures, imports, supplies, installs, commissions or constructs plant or structures or substances for use as or at a workplace. The WHS legislation clarifies the perception held by some that when working with other parties such as production companies in making a television commercial or with photographers & studios that they do not have a duty of care for all engaged. Under the WHS legislation all parties are multiple duty holders with a shared primary duty of care.
Acquire & keep up to date knowledge of WHS
Verify that risks & hazards are being appropriately controlled
All parties are multiple duty holders with a shared primary duty of care.
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CREATE
A MARKETING PLAN
Marketing Clients are your best ambassadors. Use mail out promotions and grow your database of customers. You need to show your photos on clients walls to grow your business, for example getting animal photos up into Vet’s surgery and on to their website, to get your work shown. Try to create a market that doesn’t exist. e.g. offer a children’s karate team a shoot with a green screen behind, then in fill it with some dramatic dragon theme. Time your promotions to meet a season event. Build relationships with other vendors, where you can share clients in the slow periods, e.g. share a space or expense to promote the two relationships. Establish an ambassador program, for example photograph a business, e.g. a clothing store, to give them a reason to talk about you and have your photos up, so that you are being seen by the right audience. You could photograph for a good cause, to give back to the community, or for charities. If doing promotions for charities you need to be super organised, and also try to get assistants who will work for free on the same cause. Get your contacts at the grass roots level by going around to vendors and asking them. Produce a couple of 4x5 proof photo books to hand around, these can be your mini portfolio, to show potential customers, these should show a variety of work, so you don’t get pigeon -holed as only doing weddings, so that clients realise you shoot babies or portraits for example. Try to do a very good business card, printed on high quality paper, and with not too many images on the card, if at all, as they’re too small to see. You’re better off to have a good website, and a plain business card printed on good paper. Your website is important because people can look and refer to it online on their phones whilst you’re talking. Sitess like livebooks are good, because your photos look good on phones, tablets, etc. and it makes you look good.
Determine your Target Market High school photography, promote yourself to affiliated companies, say a limousine company, dress hire companies. Join sites similar to http://twobrightlights.com/home.php - which submits images to blogs and magazines in just minutes, to get yourself featured. The more times a client can see your photographs for example on your website and then again hanging in your gallery it gives them the chance to comment on your images and reinforces your brand.
Build a relationship with other vendors associated in your field. Remember that your clients are your ambassadors Have a consistency in your style on your website Dont have similar photos that look alike on your website or the clients lose interest
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LEGAL ASPECTS
Copyright If you wish to make commercial use of a person’s likeness, then you need to obtain their consent via a signed Model Release. In a photographic context, commercial use does not mean the sale a picture, but rather the use of a person’s likeness to endorse some product or service, or to entice others to buy it. Copyright only applies to the published duplication of original works, such as books, paintings, dramatic works, prints, drawings, motion pictures, DVDs, audio recordings etc. Generally, copyright in photos lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. Ownership of a photo varies depending on the circumstances under which it was taken. A photo is protected by copyright automatically from the moment it is taken. For photos, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, the general rule is that the photographer is the first owner of copyright. If an employee takes a photo as part of his or her job, the first owner of copyright will be the employer. If the photos were taken for “private or domestic purposes” (such as family portraits, or wedding photos), the first owner of copyright is the client, unless the photographer and client agree otherwise; however if they were taken for any other purpose (e.g. commercial shots), the photographer will be the first owner of copyright, unless the photographer and client agree otherwise.
Copyright only applies to the published duplication of original works Ownership of a photo varies depending on the circumstances under which it was taken Consent for general child photography remains purely an ethical and moral issue, not a legal one
Consent for general child photography remains purely an ethical and moral issue, not a legal one.
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LEGAL
PROFORMAS
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INSURANCE PROTECTION
The type of cover I have chosen is one that includes Portable Equipment Cover and Public Liability. This covers me for damage to third party property and injuries to third parties caused as a result of your negligence whilst working as a photographer. My equipment is covered on my household policy if stolen from home as well as covered on my travel insurance to the value of $3000.00 if stolen whilst overseas.
Portable equipment cover
I have chosen this policy on the basis of price compared to other providers and for it’s portability whilst out of the home. Portable Equipment Insurance Underwriter: Excess:
Lumley Insurance $250
Public Liability Home and Contents
Each and every occurrence, an addition to $250 for theft claims from a motor vehicle.
Sum Insured:
$12,000
Premium:
$394.84
Travel Insurance
Public Liability Insurance
Underwriter: Excess: rence
Limit of Liability: Premium:
Limit of Liability: Premium:
Vero Insurance $250 each and every occur-
$5 million
Third Party Property Home and Contents
$301.71
$10 million $422.37
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TUNE UP
YOUR WEBSITE
Keeping up with technology and updating your photos on your website is crucially important, it is the face of your business and the key to your business. This is your store front and appears as your studio. It is a rendition of what your business is like, it’s your gallery. Don’t throw the website together, you need to think about how you want to be perceived. Don’t have it so that things are difficult for visitors to find. “Less photos are more”, in this instance. It is important to let the Client’s know who you are. Don’t have too many galleries on your website. I have found that it is less confusing for a customer if you have just one style of product on one page, customers know to return there. Increase your social media presence by posting to Google Plus once a week. You can buy the plug in from Dean Treadwell’s site that will post for you. This plug in requires a Word Press blog. It also requires posts on Google+ to be public. Beginners on Google+ might gain knowledge from of books that have been released by Guy Kawasaki named “What The Plus?” Which explains a lot and Colby Brown has written a book on Google+ for Photographers. An unanswered question for me is “Do you need to have two websites if your businesses are vastly different products, or two facebook or twitter pages, who is your audience? “ Subscribe to The Adobe® Revel™ app which lets you access your entire photo library from your iPads, iPhones, and Macs. Vary your photos on your website, for example go from a quiet photo, to a dramatic photo so that the client doesn’t become bored. Join livebooks they do a different look for your phone as opposed to your iPad although all based on the same photos, it is the leader in professional websites for photographers, website templates, website design and mobile iPad and iPhone sites. Publish services are your best friends, publish to your dropbox and export to your customers straight away. Do a slideshow in Lightroom, publish the slideshow, that you can send straight away to your bride for example, then she can walk around and show her friends on her iPad straight away.
Your website is your store front and the face of your business Increase your social media presence Have a blog to increase your seo’s People blog to for google more than other people to get the seo’s Dont duplicate the same types of photos on your website your clients will become bored sue mcarthur
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SPEED UP YOUR BLOG POSTS VIA LIGHTROOM
BLOG your photos onto your desktop so that you attend to it sooner to get rid of the clutter Keyword photos in custom text in Lightroom so Google sees it when you export to your blog Find out what is your webmaster doing with keywords so that Google sees them Blogs are google rich sites sue mcarthur
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TAXATION
RESPONSIBILITIES
Reporting and paying income tax As a sole trader, you need to report the business income you earn (after expenses) on your personal income tax return, along with any other income you earn. You pay the same tax as any other individual and you’re also entitled to the tax-free threshold (the first $6,000 you earn in an income year) if you’re an Australian resident. This threshold is just about to increase to $14,000.00 in the immediate future. You can claim depreciation of equipment and also claim for a home office and 20% of all the goods within the office, but after a class discussion it was deemed advisable to claim this deduction on only a rental property, due to the capital gains implications when claiming against your own home. It is useful for the deduction of your rental payment. You need to consider the PAYG implications of having to pay your income tax in advance on your proposed income. You can find additional information on the ATO’S website, which offers a guide such as the one below http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/BUS25193n19080711.pdf
Depreciate equipment
Claim professional development fees
Claim home office expenses
Paying super You’re responsible for your own super arrangements and may be able to claim a deduction for personal super contributions you make. You must also make super contributions for any eligible workers you employ.
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CONTINUING
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Development Try to attend conventions, workshops, and short courses and meet other photographers to see how they run their businesses as well as watching webinars. Investigate the ways of maintaining currency of knowledge • Join AIPP and try to become part of their men-
toring program which is to “assist photographers to become viable professionals”. Also you are able to download professional contract forms such as Model Releases, Portrait and Wedding Contracts, and Copyright and Usage forms (see example on the following page) • Enter APPA to get authoritative feedback about your work • Attend workshops and free events to increase knowledge and gain CPD points • Join something that is akin to Pictage http:// www.pictage.com/ which provides beforethe-shoot solutions, including contract management, package design and development, scheduling, and client communications. Something that offers things like after-theshoot services and products, which photographers can easily upload events and offer a variety of products to their clients, such as proof books, leather-bound albums, canvas prints, mounting options, greeting cards, customisable products, and more.
Join AIPP and try to become part of their mentoring program Enter APPA competitions to have your work appraised Attend workshops and free events
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CONTINUING
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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PROMOTION
+ FOLLOW UP BUSINESS
Promotion + follow up business Make a ‘Frequent Buyers Program”, do a promotion such as a ‘Christmas in September’ special - which offers 24 holiday cards and 1 facebook image. Add a discount coupon in each photoshoot package to create future business. Do a promotion at least once a year, then take a look at it afterward to see if it worked or if you worked relentlessly for nothing, and evaluate it and change it, if it doesn’t quite work, and learn from your mistakes. Have continuity to bring people back. Try to do a community project, where you give a free portrait session, to promote yourself. Try to do a promotion with a veterinarian, children’s shop and wherever you can, and analyse it afterwards to find out what worked and what didn’t work, then go from there. Get your images out as quickly as possible, mailouts, show your work on your website, become a sponsor of a product. Make your promotion lead time fairly short, to add some urgency to it, otherwise you will lose momentum, around 30 days promotion time is best, with a couple of weeks for customers to take advantage of the offer. Try to do a ‘Day in the Life Of’ promotion, say with a florist, or ‘Day in the Park’ etc. If you don’t have a studio, to help promote yourself. Try to submit outstanding photos so that you can get published. Have consistency in your work and try to make a story with your images. If you get a chance to meet a publisher and writers, so that you get to know them and are not in their faces, if you know the people involved in a publication you can lay your images out as, if you’re thinking of their publication, e.g. if it is submitted in landscape or horizontal, because your image may not look good cropped. Enter your work into contests, to try to get your work shown. If doing weddings join WPPI to enter their competitions. Always try to do your best work. Always educate your client, for example give them a proof of your work and say this is how it should look when it’s printed professionally, rather than in a photo booth, so if they have bad printing results, to take their photo back.
Make a “Frequent Buyers Program” Try to do a community project Make promotion lead times fairly short Lay your images out well for presentation Always try to do your best work Sponsor a product with photography
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POINTS OF CONSIDERATION REGARDING YOUR BUSINESS
Points of consideration - learned in the classroom Think of the aspects of contracts, that they have 4 basic components:- Offer, Acceptance, Intention and Legal Consequences. Offer must be clearly stated e.g.. what type of shots they are going to be e.g. timeless, edgy, story boards. Offers can be withdrawn at anytime before they’re accepted. Invitation to treat, ball park estimate, EOI. Put a time for acceptance on an offer. Think about promoting a part of the offer, for example a $75 portrait of a family, which includes 1 print for this week only. Write a formal quotation. Make a counter offer when the Client changes their mind and wants additional services and state that the old offer lapses. Acceptance must be definite, and only what’s offered, can be accepted. This can be written, verbal or by action. Intention of Legal consequences, both parties understand that it can be enforced by the law. Considerations, involve something in exchange for something of value. Consider doing a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) prior to opening a business and working out what personality type you have in business, whether it is the Entrepreneurial type or Technical type, for example so that you may, capitalise on your strengths, and minimise your weaknesses.
Contracts 4 basic components Offer, Acceptance, Intention, Legal Consequences Acceptance must be definite Leqal consequences, both parties understand Considerations, involve something in exchange for value sue mcarthur
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FURTHER POINTS OF CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Further points to consider
Think of having various sized frames within your office that the client may view if they want to purchase, and then have the prints professionally framed for them. Also consider doing a slideshow for them as a teaser, that the client can show their friends, and to tempt them to buy. Try to create templates for your work to speed up actions and if you can buy workflow actions, that will help with your workload as well. Shoot stock photography to add to your income and develop multiple revenue streams. e.g. Photoshelter and look at Photoshelter’s workshops. You can’t underestimate the value of meeting people faceto-face, for example attending photographic talks, seminars and workshops.
Have various sized frames within your office to show your clients Shoot stock photography to add to your income
Some interesting facts from the Department of State + Regional Development are as follows:- What location and how much space would best suit your business? How much rent can you afford as your starting rent and can you afford an annual increase? How long do you need to be there to recover your costs and make a profit? How long do you need the lease to be? The longer the lease, the higher the security, but the less flexibility you will have to expand or move premises. What zoning requirements does your business have? Before signing a lease - Do you have to pay a security bond or deposit? Often 3 months rent is required. What equipment and/or services are included in the lease? Do you have to pay for repairs and maintenance or a share of them? Who pays for fair wear and tear? Does the landlord have to pay for structural repairs?
You can’t underestimate the value of meeting people faceto-face in terms of getting work
Photos uploaded on facebook do better with people seeing it, and facebook has a ranking that prioritises photos against just links for people to look at. It is a good source of marketing. 380x400 wide is the approximate image.
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2012 STASTICS
FOR PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
IBISWorld Market Research - a recent report on the Industry Professional photographers must differentiate themselves from everyday people with cameras to be successful Melbourne, Australia (PRWEB) May 29, 2012. Professional photographers have recently weathered the twin storms of subdued economic growth and a long-term downturn in demand. This has resulted in a pronounced dip in Professional Photography industry revenue, which is estimated to contract by an annualised 2.5% over the five years through 2011-12 to total $800 million, down by 3.0% in 2011-12. According to IBISWorld industry analyst Anthony Kelly, “the long-term demand for professional photography has been eroded by the widespread adoption of digital camera technology by consumers and amateur photographers”. Manufacturers have continued to add more user-friendly features to digital SLR cameras and market them to hobbyist photographers, while the amount of photography short courses and online tutorials has grown. In addition to the long-term influence of camera technology, the demand for industry services is affected by the trends in the general economy and the capacity of households and businesses to purchase photography services. In the current slow economic environment, householders and businesses (e.g. media outlets) are undertaking photographic assignments that would formerly have been the realm of professionals. The Professional Photography industry has a low level of concentration and there is only one major player – Photo Corporation Group. The industry is saturated with small players who are finding it easier to enter the industry due to the falling costs of start-up capital and consumable inputs. Kelly adds, “the vast majority of industry establishments are non-employer operations, principally sole proprietors undertaking wedding portraits”. The proportion of non-employing enterprises in the industry has increased over the past five years as new technology became more affordable and new markets opened for small players to exploit. Aided by low set-up costs, most professional photographers are operating on their own, in either a full-time or part-time capacity. This is especially true of wedding and portrait photographers. Professional Photography industry revenue is expected to decline over the next five years. Photographers who wish to be successful will focus on areas where they can differentiate themselves from amateur photographers, such as superior shooting and image editing skills, or through providing services such as school portraits or wedding photography, where professionals are considered necessary or worth the expense on an important day.
Photographers who wish to be successful will focus on areas where they can differentiate themselves from amateur photographers, such as superior shooting and image editing skills, or through providing services such as school portraits or wedding photography
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Business Plan • • • • • • •
Think of your business name and whether it is memorable Think of the audience you are trying to reach Consider your goals for the year - Create a plan Have a sense of what you want to achieve and your timeframe Be specific Take action on your plans, and put them into place Evaluate on a regular calendar occassion to keep track of how you’re going
Concept
• Narrow your focus to a more limited set of items. a clear specialty • Develop relationships with associated vendors within that area of speciality e.g. caterers, where you can do food photography, if you have met them through your wedding photography perhaps.
Marketing
• Investigate setting up a website for your photography services • Increase your social media presence by poosting to Google Plus once a week, and then buy the plug in from Dean Treadwell. The plugin you are looking at requires a WordPress blog. It also requires posts on Google+ to be public. Beginners to Google+ might gain a lot from a couple of books that have been released. Guy Kawasaki has written What The Plus? which explains a lot and Colby Brown has written a book on Google+ for Photographers. • Join AIPP • Attend workshops and free events to increase knowledge and gain CPD points • Offer packages to your client’s that make them attractive like the “two for almost the price of one offer”, find ways to set you apart from other photography services • If you’re doing wedding photography, perhaps follow up twelve months later with a Happy Anniversary photo, with your logo attached. • Think about your current and potential customers, this will help you build your business based on listening to their requirments • Think about the seasons • Target Publishers and or Magazine Editors with your product if they feature articles of that nature • Upload videos onto vimeo, and youtube • Post onto social media sites with good SEO’s so that you maybe found easily on the internet • Create a brand awareness with one great shot that can be your signature shot for marketing • Create an email newsletter
Timeframe
build time in to your weekly schedule • for answering emails, following up on clients • looking at google analytics to see how your online presence is going • for continued learning and development • family time • preparing canvases, prints, online albums, dvds
Budget
for your equipment, insurance and running costs and work out what your profit margin needs to be. Include into your hourly calculations holiday pay and sick pay, plant and equipment. etc. Printing costs and turn around times. Make a budget for purchasing lens replacing equipment paying your salary.
Competition
Look at other successful businesses and see what they are doing to succeed and how that may be built into your business. Watch webinars on the tips of how other owners succeed in business and what tips they provide.
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