NPPA Cost of Doing Business Calculator
Scott Highton's Business Fees Calculator
NPPA Independent Photographers Toolkit
Advertising Photographers of America Resource page
Common Cents Column On The Cost of Doing Business
Editorial Photographers Cost of Doing Business Calculator
Editorial Photographers Yahoo! Group
NPPA Online Discussion Group Instructions
Portions of this column were originally written for the February 2005 edition of News Photographer Magazine.
Mark Loundy is a media producer and consultant based in San Jose, California. Full bio.
The opinions in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Press Photographers Association.
By Mark Loundy
"You're fired."
— Donald Trump
Smack-dab in the middle of North Carolina lies the city of Durham. It's the home of the headquarters of the National Press Photographers Association. It's also the home of a number of potential brand-new freelancers.
When Paxton Media Group recently took over the Herald-Sun in Durham, it promptly axed more than 20% of the newspaper's workers, including 50-year-veteran shooter Harold Moore who headed the Herald-Sun photo department. According to a story in the Charlotte News and Observer, longtime employees were marched out of the building without even being able to gather their personal belongings.
All staff photographers should act as if Paxton were in talks to take over their paper. It's never too early to learn and use good business practices.
If you haven't planned for working independently, the first thing that you should do is make believe that you just got laid-off. Suddenly, you have to pay for your own equipment, telephone, repairs, insurance, office space, etc. on a daily basis. If you add all of that up, the number you end up with is called your "nut." If you don't make your nut, you lose money. If you do that long enough, you'll go bankrupt. Profitability is found above and beyond your daily nut.
Even if you are secure about your job, it won't hurt to use one of the Cost of Doing Business calculators and at least get an idea of how much you'll need to make. You might also want to invest $50 in your potential future and join Editorial Photographers. The experts there can smooth your way into the freelance world.
If Wall Street should catch up with your Main Street, you might find yourself out in the street. If you're not prepared, you've gotta be "nuts."
None this month.
AOL Cityguide, which is offering "$25 per description and $15 per photo" to cover the L.A. dining scene.
Inside Hockey Magazine for their credit line-only freelancer compensation.
The National Post (Canada,) for demanding not only essentially all rights, but also Canadian exclusivity. Their clause "Freelancer shall retain ownership of copyright in the Content" (underline theirs) is as useless as a roll of film in a 1D Mark II.
Please let me know of any particularly good, bad or ugly dealings that you have had with clients recently. I will use the client's name, but I won't use your name if you don't want me to. Anonymous submissions will not be considered. Please include contact information for yourself and for the client.
Leftovers