Photography Business Sense: Giving Away Digital Files On CD
Summary: "Photography Business Sense: Giving Away Digital Files On CD"
There is a constantly-raging debate in the photography industry on whether or not to give digital files to our clients, either electronically or on CD. What do you think? Should photographers be forced to give away their work for nothing? What value can we assign to our digital assets? How does the issue of digital rights affect our image as dedicated artists?
One of the hottest burning topics in the world of professional photography since the digital camera arrived in the mainstream is the debate on whether or not to sell (or give away) our photographs on CD to our clients.
Whenever the subject is brought up, it quickly divides and polarizes the industry in very non-productive ways, and serves only to transfer more control over the business from the hands of the photographer to the client.
Every Man For Himself!
Unfortunately, as an industry, there really doesn’t seem to be any standard consensus on what we should be reasonably expected to do as photography professionals. There are certainly no rules or guidelines on how to tackle the issue, so we’ve ended up with an “every man for himself” situation with photographers arguing the finer points on an almost daily basis.
There Is No Fence – Only Barbed Wire!
One of the fascinating things about this continued debate is that no one sits on the fence – in fact, there is no fence, just a bunch of very sharp and uncomfortable barbed wire, so it’s inevitable that everyone will pick one side or the other.
The camp in favor of handing over images on CD accuse the other of being stuck to archaic traditions, not keeping up with the times, failing to listen to their customers, being reluctant to embrace change, denying progress, and so one.
Those who don’t believe in giving away digital images retaliate with such accusations as destroying the artistic integrity of the photography industry, selling out, harming the ability of photographers to make a living, and perpetuating the idea that copyright means nothing.
In the middle of all this we have the client, who is becoming ever more confused. Most of them really don’t understand the fundamental reasons why one photographer will give them a session and a CD of all the images for $50, while another one will provide them with digital images only after they spend, say, $1,000, and yet another refuses to hand over any digital files at all.
It’s no wonder then, that photographers are constantly having to address this issue with prospects and clients in the sales process. In the mind of the consumer the world of professional photography is starting to look a little like a crapshoot and is losing the respect it once had.
How Did We Get To This Point?
This is the one question I’m left with whenever I see this debate raise its ugly head. How on Earth did we get here? Why is this argument still raging, and why can’t we, as an industry, come to some kind of agreement on it?
Obviously, the issue didn’t exist in the days before digital photography, or even before CD burners made their way into most people’s computers. Even then, the idea took off slowly at first. Once the main street photo print labs started to accept CDs and other media in a major way the consumer began to more seriously associate photography with digital media. It was then a natural step for some client somewhere to ask for a CD from their photographer, or perhaps a photographer began to offer it in an effort to be different. Either way, the trend was set, and now here we are – caught up in a frenzied civil war over whether we should or shouldn’t offer digital images.
It’s a sad state of affairs!
It’s Not About The Money!
In almost every debate I’ve seen on this subject, it nearly always comes down to the subject of money, and the idea that we’ll lose all our clients if we don’t offer a CD. This comes along with the threat that we’ll all be overtaken by an army of Craigslist shooters who will shoot the photos, give a CD, and do the client’s laundry for a year, all for $49.
Fortunately, many photographers are sticking to the principle that they’re artists and that it’s not up to the client to dictate their policies or business model, and I happen to agree with them on that point.
Despite all the fear-mongering about losing clients and being forced out of business for not giving out digital files, I seriously don’t know of a single professional photographer who has gone out of business solely because they failed to give away CDs of images. I guarantee that any photographer forced to quit the industry has had to do so for other reasons unrelated to this issue, whether it be poor marketing, a lack of sales skills, or some other business challenge that they failed to solve.
It’s really not about the money, in my opinion, but it has everything to do with how good a businessperson the photographer is.
Being in business entails making decisions, much like the captain of a ship, and then having the conviction to stick with those decisions because they were made in the best interest of the health of the business. Of course, decisions can be changed, as the course of a ship can be, but only if the change of course makes business sense.
The problem is, I see so many photographers going back and forth on the issue of digital files; you only have to look around at their marketing to see it happening. One week the CD is included at no charge, then they change their mind and decide to have a minimum sale before the client gets the CD, then it’s no CDs at all, and finally it’s back to where they started.
This kind of “model-hopping” behavior is insane, and it does more to harm their business than anything else. It confuses their clients, turns their photography into a commodity, makes the photographer appear indecisive, and educates the market into thinking that all they need to do is wait for the next photographer to come up with a cheap deal. Imagine what would happen if Walmart were continually second-guessing themselves? How would restaurants ever survive if they kept changing the menu and putting the prices up and down on a random basis?
Photographers need to decide where they stand, know what’s best for them, and then tick to it!
Stop And Think!
Only you can know if offering digital images to your clients makes good business sense for you, but you need to come to that decision based on your business, and not what you think other photographers are doing, or the few complaints of one or two prospects with whom you might not want to work anyway.
So, stop and think about where you and your business are coming from. What do your images mean to you? How much of yourself are you putting into them? Do you prefer to run a low-volume (higher-priced) studio, or a high-volume (lower-priced) studio? What value are you placing on your work, and how important is it to you to have control over every detail in the way your photography is printed and displayed?
Think about this for a moment: “Simply because we have the ability to do something does not necessarily mean that we should do it…“
Furthermore, just because everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon, are you going to join them for no other reason than following everyone else’s lead?
This is YOUR business, designed to give you the lifestyle and success that YOU want for yourself and your family, so please make your decisions about it accordingly.
If you don’t mind handing over a CD, or you genuinely feel that free (or almost free) digital images give true value to your clients, then that’s your decision, but I believe it’s then incumbent upon you to educate your clients that your photography should be considered as casual, rather than professional, images. If competing with the Craigslist shooters at $50 a session is the way to go, then you must also realize that you won’t be able to make a successful and profitable business from this model unless you take on hundreds of sessions a year, which doesn’t seem very practical. One thing that a lot of people don’t see is that there’s a lot of “churn” in the cheap Craigslist business model – in other words, they mostly don’t stick around for too long, but there are always new ones coming in to replace them.
On the other hand, if you consider yourself an artist, and feel that your images are so valuable to you that you can’t just give them away, then stick to your guns and either offer no digital images or just a limited set. For this type of business model, you will need to charge appropriately higher fees, and you’ll also need to put more effort into the marketing and sales of your business. I personally believe the rewards (both financial and personal) are well worth the effort.
I don’t see anything wrong with giving some digital images as a reward for investing in significant portrait purchases, because the value of those images has already been firmly established. But giving away the farm for no real reason other than meeting client demands put us all on shaky ground.
Give away your work on CD with no regard to its value, and your clients will expect to pay you nothing for it. They will also treat it with the same lack of respect that you do for giving it away in the first place.
Final Thoughts
So, at the end of the day, I really believe there is a place for digital delivery of images in the future of the photography business, but it needs to be done responsibly, and with respect for the true value of the work being presented. After all, much of our marketing, especially in the arena of social media, requires us to employ digital images, so it’s only fair that our clients get to share in that (and help us with our marketing into the bargain), but we need to do so in such a way that we preserve the intrinsic value of our work.
Looking around, many of the problems around this subject in the industry right now appear to stem from a point of confusion, with photographers trying to compete on price and deliverability of digital content, while at the same time protesting their value as true photographic artists.
I don’t think you can have it both ways.
What Do You Think?
My hope is that this will spur some positive and productive discussion on the subject, so please do share your comments, thoughts and ideas! I do not claim that my way is the only way, and I would be thrilled to hear other perspectives.
Connect With The Photography Coach On Google+
Connect with the author, Nigel Merrick, on Google+
View our official Google+ page at: Photography Business and Marketing Google+ Page
Thank you for this article. Great information at the right time, for me. This will help me make a smarter decision going forward.
Great article Nigel. I am in my 2nd year of my business and this question bothers me all the time. I am curious to hear what other photographers have to say.
I do give the CD away as part of my package price but would like to move away from this.
I’m not a professional photographer but I’ve been an artist all my life. Most of my art I do for my own enjoyment, or because it’s something that I MUST do. Only artist truly understand this. It’s creation and I’ve always felt that was what art was all about. Creating art is no different than in my opinion life itself. The value is what WE give it. And it changes. Real art is priceless, however we still sell it because that is our mentality.
It’s denigration, prostitution really to mentally try to figure the value of art by a dollar amount. Nor is it possible. So next time this issue comes up, dont think of the price of the portrait or picture. Think about the ARTIST that created the work, and if your admire it then youre actually admiring the artist and support them
Great article. This is something I have gone back and forth over many times-and as you say it is to the detriment of the client that I can’t seem to make up my mind. I think about myself-I want the digital images from a session when I am photographed. Partially because I can get professional prints at cost-but also because I do like to share albums online etc…
I feel still my model is lacking in continuity-I do give dvd wedding images at a certain-rather high- price point-but the smaller sessions (engagements etc…) are getting them with every session simply because that is what everyone wants when they call. (Horrible reasoning I know!!!)
A lot of babble to say-I do appreciate being able to supply clients with digital media because that is the largest photo sharing outlet today-but I am looking at better ways to implement sound business practices when doing it.