“One of the toughest things for a photographer to do is to say ‘no’ to new business, even if it’s a bad deal,” writes Aaron Lindberg in his most recent post for “Black Star Rising.” He continues: “Especially in today’s environment, your prospective clients have an arsenal of pick-up lines — ranging from sweet talk to coy bluffs — to make bad deals sound like good ones.”
Head to “Photographers, Don’t Fall for These Client Pick-Up Lines” to get a taste of the pick-up lines Lindberg has heard, as well as his encouragement to just say “No!”
You probably already know to say “no.” It’s one of the best, most basic pieces of advice for the business of professional photography. However, knowing this doesn’t seem to make saying “no” any easier. Grounded, positive encouragement like Lindberg’s is needed, and often.
There are a lot of reasons that photographers are apt to say “yes,” but let’s not dwell on them. Let’s turn the problem around and considering relishing in the opportunity to say “no.”
Not only is saying “no” often a critical business decision, but as Stewart Cohen once told me, “Saying ‘no’ shows that I am in a good position.” He told me he gives his high (but reasonable) quotes and doesn’t think twice if clients say “no” to him. “No problem,” he told me. “They can choose to work with whoever they want. And I’m too busy with the jobs I do want to take on ones that I don’t want.”
I’m too busy with well-paying work to say yes to all the jobs I’m offered, even when I want them. Now there’s a sentiment to embrace.
It might seem easy to say, “Well, I’m not in Cohen’s lucky position. I have to say ‘yes’ even when I don’t want to.
Again, I think it is helpful to turn the dynamic around, upside down, reconsider it from where we want to head in business, not where we are today — where we might feel stuck.
Cohen, like all the well-paid photographers I know has ended up being so well paid because he has made his own luck. He has always valued his own services, he has always kept a straight head for business, he so he ends up saying “no” with a smile quite often, and never saying “yes” with a frown.
As Lindberg makes clear, photographers should say “no” because it’s good business sense. What we can take from Cohen is that being in a position to say have to say “no” should be a business goal. It says, “I’m a success.”