When we first started our business, we kept everything simple. Not because we chose to do it that way – we simply didn’t know.

Over the years you learn. A client holds you to a clause in your contract, you learn and change it.

When we first started with weddings, we had nothing in our contract about multiple photographers. After one wedding where there were dozens of family members trying to take pictures, we made a change. Because we couldn’t get one family photograph without someone staring at another photographer, and what usually took 30 minutes ended up well over 60 minutes, we added a posing fee if we were continually interrupted during posed images. We explained it to our bride’s and groom’s, and never had an issue from that point on.

Another addition – an Internet option. Having a model release that also includes the option of placing a clients images online was a big necessity – especially because we would put up to 100 images from every wedding into our gallery. In all our years of wedding photography, we only had one couple opt out of putting their images online. We never had an issue because we covered it during the contract.

Other things to include:

• Clients information, names, addresses, phone numbers, email
• Description of service, inclusions, time
• Place for signature and date – if it’s a multi page document, sign/initial all pages
• Payment policies, including how long prices will remain the same. If you book a wedding a year in advance, you don’t want to have to hold your prices steady for several years. 90 days after the first viewing of the images is sufficient.
• Copyrights and usage rights. What do you release to your client? What do they have rights to do with your images? Make it clear. 

What makes a digital photography business a success? How can you take your passion for creating images, and turn it into a full time career?

In today’s world, most professional photographers are photographing at least part time with digital camera equipment. And it’s making a world of difference not only in the way you run your business, but also in the way you sell to your clients.

Because digital is instant, there is no wait time for developing film, and processing the film into proofs. With digital, you can load your images directly from your camera into your computer, and be able to look at your images in seconds.

If you’re not using that to your advantage in your sales, you are missing out on a way to double, even triple your income this year.

Let me share with you one powerful strategy that can change the way you currently look at your digital photography business.

Imagine a client coming in for a portrait. The portrait consists of a large family – a mom and dad, their three children, and their children’s families. You have the potential for selling portraiture to four separate families.

In the days of film, you would photograph the portrait, and provide proofs to your client one to two weeks after the sitting. The families would circulate the proofs for a few days (or weeks, or months), and your sales would be low at best.

Now you can sell to these four families the day of the sitting. A few minutes after the sitting, you can bring all families into the sales room, and project the images onto a large screen. They can laugh (and cry) at the images, and help each other choose which are their favorites, and which they can’t live without. You can show the importance of having a large photograph above their fireplace mantle, instead of an 8×10 on their coffee table.

All orders are placed the day of the excitement, and the entire family is happy because they had a wonderful experience.

That’s the power of running a successful digital photography business.

Lori Osterberg owned and operated a high-end wedding photography business for over 18 years, and was one of the premier studios to have an online portfolio in the 1990′s. She understands the nuances of creating a successful studio, and how to build an online presence that will allow you to photograph anywhere in the world. Now she helps photography studios market their businesses, and helps create online tools to help photographers achieve success. Visit her site and sign up for her free ezine at www.VirtualPhotographyStudio.com

Three tips on contracts within your studio.

1. Never sign a contract and mail it to your prospect. Main an unsigned contract, sign it after they return it with a signiture and payment, and return a copy to them. They can hold you liable with a signed contract in hand, even if you never see the contract after mailing it out to the prospect.

2. If your contract is multiple pages long, make sure your clients and you initial each page, including a price list.

3. Never send a contract out as a Word document. Your client can easily change the words. Instead, mail a hard copy, or convert your contract to a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat.

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