Lessons

Lesson Info

Pitching A Client

So this episode, we're gonna talk about reaching out to brands, and also reaching out to agencies, and how to go about that. I wanna shed some light on my whole process with it. How I email them, how I reach out. And I also want to illustrate the point that sometimes it takes a very long time to get a yes, and that's just how it goes. And even when you get that, yes, you still have to negotiate, and figure out what the brand wants and how to price it. So I'm bringing in one of my best friends, and my manager, Willie, at the end of this to talk a bit more on, how he goes about pricing. So first things first, let's talk about the PDFs, I reach out with. Whenever you send an email, I think the most important thing is to attach a PDF. And if you're reaching out in one of those little website, text boxes, link it. All brands and agencies are probably receiving so many emails a day, and most of them are text. And I mean, think about when you get emails do you wanna sit there and read through...

a novel of text? No. So the best way to do it is let the pictures do the talking. So I have two types of PDFs I'll make. The first one is a pretty in general intro PDF, that is basically my portfolio with my mission statement in a PDF form. And the second one is gonna be more trip-specific. We're going out to the Washington coast for this one. And that's exactly how I reached out to the client. But first, let's talk about reaching out to a brand, versus reaching out to an agency. You first wanna find a point of contact. And I usually try to find a marketing email or maybe a DM through Instagram or a social media email. That's the hardest part. And there's really no defined way of doing it. Sometimes they have it laid out right there on their website, sometimes you have to do some LinkedIn digging. That is the hardest part and there's no real good way to do it. You just have to find it. But like I said, no matter what, when you're reaching out, you just attach a PDF, whether you're linking it in a web link, or you're attaching it in your email. You'll probably be reaching out to one of two things. a brand or an agency. And I wanna get into the difference, and the advantages of reaching out to either, or. A brand is a very specific client. They're gonna be one product or one type of product, and that's really it. An agency on the other hand, is managing brands. So instead of just one specific client, or one niche your reaching out to, maybe they have a whole variety of brands that could be potential clients. There's no right or wrong one to reach out to. However, from my experience, reaching out to agencies and being in communication with them, garners more jobs. Like I said, you have a broad range of clients versus just one specific brand your reaching out to. So if one of their brands is good, like they have all their shoots dialed in, maybe the next brand on the roster is is actually planning their shoot in, and you reached out at the perfect time. It really is all about timing at the end of the day. One thing I really wanna get across to, is this doesn't have anything to do with social media. Earlier this year, I made it a point to stop doing social media jobs. I just really didn't care to do influencer stuff. However, there was this agency that kept reaching out with these jobs, and I liked working with the agency. They were good people, but I just didn't wanna be posting on my Instagram, advertising companies that I have support. They reached out quite a few times with social jobs. So it meant a lot that they wanted to work together, but I just was not interested in those kind of jobs. I kept saying no to the social jobs they were offering. But I could tell they really wanted to work together. So I sent my intro PDF to them, being like, "Hey, I appreciate you wanting to work together, however, I don't want the social jobs right now. But, if you guys happen to have any commission type work coming up, I would be very interested in working with you guys." Fast forward a few months, they had a brand come on called, Vivobarefoot. They make just barefoot minimalist shoes. And they said, "Hey, we have this contract with Vivo. We'd love for you to fly out to France and shoot this job." So, and two weeks later, I was in France, in the Alps, shooting the job. And as cool as that experience is, the biggest takeaway from that, is that it had nothing to do with social media. Had nothing to do with following. I don't even think I posted about it yet. I just wanna prove the point that you don't need a massive social media following, or this or that. You just need quality work, and you need to know how to advertise it, to agencies or brands. And understand timing is key. Don't take any no's personally, 'cause you're gonna get a lot of them. What it comes down to is just nailing your timing. If they don't need a photographer, they're not gonna hire a photographer. Do not take it personally. But I also think it's really important to be very aware of what you're pitching. If you're reaching out to a backpack brand, or a jacket brand, and you're advertising landscapes in your PDF, they're not gonna hire you off your good landscapes. They're gonna hire you off your product shots. So just be very aware of what you're pitching, what you're showcasing, and if you don't have that work, go out and mock up a shoot for it. And always keep in mind, the worst thing that can happen, is them saying no. So with that, reach out, see what you can get. For this workshop, I reached out to a backpack brand out of SLC, called, Pa'lante. A while back I had gotten in communication with John. We exchanged a few emails back and forth, and he mentioned a little bit about his backpack company, Pa'lante. I checked out their website and they're just very simple, ultralight, minimal packs. I really liked what he was making. And when this workshop came up, I remembered the conversations I had with John a while back, and I hit him up. If you open up the workshop PDF, you can see the email I sent him. But also, I put in an example of, if I was just cold calling him, what I would do. When I'm reaching out in email, I just try to keep it concise. Less than five sentences, almost like bullet points, sign off, compliment the brand, and attach your PDFs, most crucial part. You should check out those email examples in the workshop PDF. But I wanna talk to you a little about both of the PDFS, I keep referring to in this section. So, let's go over those. So this is the first page of the PDF. It's just a big, nice image with my logo. So I made this PDF in Illustrator. You can use Photoshop, InDesign, whatever you want. I just know Illustrator best. I like to open up the PDF with a very big epic image, and just put my logo right in there. We scroll down to the next page and it just starts, an intro about me. And throughout the PDF, you'll see this mission statement narrative that flows throughout it. So this is the start of that. There's a few photos of me. It starts off bold text, subtext, and then we get to the next page which is a client list page. This is all client work at the top. And this is part of my client list at the bottom. Just clients I wanted to highlight. If you don't have a big client roster or you don't even have clients at all, don't worry. Just put some good work in there. You don't even have to make a client page. This is just my framework. You can totally come up with your own. So after that page, we scroll back down, and I just wanted to make a black and white page, 'cause everyone loves a good black and white page. And it continues that narrative with my mission statement. We keep scrolling, and you notice this is a pretty similar pattern each page, just a lot of grid images. And this is pretty much my website portfolio thrown into a PDF. And then we get down to the next page, same, it's all the same format. And my narrative and my mission statement still continues. We keep going and there's just more work still. And it's starting to wrap out my mission statement, and it ends with like, this is why I pick up my camera, and you can read the mission statement for yourself. But I think it's important to add that personal touch in there, to be like, hey, I'm not reaching out just to try to get a quick check. I wanna talk to you. I wanna show you who I am, and who you're hopefully gonna be working with. And to cap it off, similar to the beginning page is just two, big ole images saying, thank you. Drops to my website, drops my Instagram. And that's, that. This is just my framework for it. Like I said, create your own however you wanna go about it. And the second PDF is gonna be more focused on the situation at hand, the more trip-specific type PDF. If you have a trip coming up and you wanna get a brand involved, this is the PDF I would be using. And I'd also attach it alongside my intro PDF. 'Cause why not? So you see my logo, the Stroll Works logo, and the Pa'lante logo, right off the bat. And it intros with another more epic image, that allows a lot of space. So you can see, I designed it decently. My margins are off, but it gets the point across, and it opens up the PDF. Scroll down to the next page. We're teaching a workshop and we want to involve a brand. Right off the bat in big bold letters they know exactly why I'm contacting them. I have something cool coming up and I wanna get them involved. They don't even need to read the subtext. I keep going, and again, it's the same format as the last PDF, just grids of photos, and some writing. And again, I'm keeping it very concise. I share my concept that I wanna document some friends and their experience, and connection with the outdoors, together and individually, integrating the brand, in this case, Pa'lante, within the frames naturally. In the last PDF, if you read the section, you might remember the it's not the place, it's the people page, the black and white one. It reads, I'm thankful to experience these places. However, my camera turns toward the people, to document how they experience these places. This is most important. And you come to the Pa'lante pitch, and it says, documenting a group of friends and their experience, and connection with the outdoors. It's very consistent to that last PDF as well. So keep your message consistent. I mean, it should be, it's about you. And if you scroll down to the last page, it just shares a bit about the location. These are all my images from the Washington coast. There could have been another page or two added in. I think it's super important to get the brand, or the client on the phone. I left the email off saying, feel free to ask any questions, and I would love to hear back from you soon. Inferring that, hey let's talk, let's get on the phone. I'd rather share more info there, than in a PDF. But this is my framework for it. You come up with your own. Pa'lante reached back out, saying they were interested. We hopped on a phone call, I explained what was up. They had only been making backpacks up until now. And John told me that, "Hey, we're actually getting into fleeces too." And so I said, "That's sick. I'd love to photograph that as well." We talked about the idea. We were both stoked to work together, and we got into the specifics of, okay, what do we wanna shoot? For this scenario, it was a storyline brand shoot, with 15 images that they could use for their website, as well as potentially, a magazine spread. So pretty much a storyline narrative of Pa'lante. And they're looking for photos of people, AKA my friends, the talent, wearing Pa'lante gear, the backpacks and the fleeces, experiencing the outdoors. So seems pretty fitting. So pricing is a lot to manage, and to each their own. It's very situational-dependent. But always remember before you get the pricing, you have to get the jobs first. So keep in mind creating a good PDF, a good intro PDF, knowing how to write good, concise emails. Think about the brands you wanna work with. Target those agencies, target those brands. So that's the very beginning. How to reach out, and how to start the process of actually shooting for a client. The main points to take away, is know who you're reaching out to. Are you reaching out to a specific brand, or are you reaching out in hopes of getting a job through an agency? And understand it's all about timing. So don't take things personally, when you get a bunch of nos, it's inevitably gonna happen. And make sure to fight for your worth. I think it's very important to do that. 'Cause at the end of the day, if the brand thinks your request is outrageous or whatever, the worst that can happen, is a no. And always keep that in mind as you begin to reach out. So with that, the client said yes, and let's get into pre-production.