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Key takeaway for Get publication permission from your clients
Blogging is a great way to show your recent work. In this post some tips to get your clients permission to blog their shoots.[/thrive_custom_box]
What if your photography clients don’t want to be blogged?
You have done this amazing shoot where everything worked, the clients were amazing, the light, the background, the interaction and you were in such flow that you might just have captured your best work to date.
You want to show it to the world!
But, the client wants none of that. They don’t want to be on your blog.
Sounds familiar? Happens to everyone right?
Here are a few ways you can solve this. Different methods used by different photographers that I talked to over the years. Hope they can make a difference in your business.
Pick the one that feels best to you and incorporates it into your workflow.
Create that system so from now on, you know exactly how to deal with this situation.
One less thing to worry about in your photography business means more brain energy to spend on other things… like capturing another client in that same flow! Oh yeah!
Get it in the contract
One way to solve it is to have different price points for shoots that you are allowed to publish and shoots that stay private to your clients. Some photographers even go as far as only accepting clients that are okay with publication. When you go this route, educating your clients is crucial. Don’t hide these terms somewhere in the small prints of your contract. Talk to them about it face to face. Explain how publishing your images is an important part of marketing your photography business and that is why there are different price points if they don’t want to be published anywhere. And of course, that it’s fine if they don’t want to have any publications. You are respecting their wishes and you are also respecting your own wishes in making your business profitable.
How to market yourself and still respect clients’ privacy
It can feel bad to ask for a higher price in exchange for a clients privacy so you could also make some clear arrangements with your couple so they will give you something to work with while still keeping their privacy. Here are some examples you can discuss with your clients in that situation:
Make it anonymous and ask for permission first
To make it easy for clients to give permission you can set some boundaries. You will publish their photos without any names at all and you will share the blog first with them. There is a handy WordPress plugin ‘share a draft‘ that will help you with that.
Publish only after permission
Give them some publication options that they can agree on so you have that agreed on upfront. For example:
- Only show images in your local portfolio (on your phone or laptop when you are meeting with potential clients).
- Only allow certain shots that have award-winning potential to enter in competitions.
- Use only anonymous shots where they cannot be recognized or focus only on the details.
Okay, now it’s time to set aside some time. One hour should be enough. And get your contract or model release out, update the section on publications or create an addendum where you add specific agreements around publications. If necessary update your email templates in your workflow in your studio management software (e.g. ShootZilla). For your next consultation meeting you are prepared and after the shoot, you know exactly what you can and cannot do with your awesome images.
What do you do to get permission from your clients? Please share in the comments!