General advice

Meeting Deadlines

Deadline is the date and time when an assigned photograph, and/or text, is required by the photo buyer giving you the assignment. Deadlines are extremely important and must be met. No excuse is good enough for not meeting a deadline. If you get an assignment, agree on a deadline and suddenly realize that it will be impossible to meet the deadline, contact the photo buyer immediately with this information. Same applies when submitting unsolicited images in response to a stock request (such as those published in our MarketLetters).

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Captions

Captions are basically a short, explaining text that goes with your images. It should be clear, easy to read and to the point.
With digital files, caption your high resolution files using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Photomechanic, iView Media Pro, or similar software. Also add keywords, and contact information to your digital files. This information will stay with your files and make it easy for a photobuyer to find you and purchase your photos.

With slides, use small labels (like Avery 8167 Return Address for instance) and avoid writing by hand if possible. Printed labels give a professional appearance while hand written labels don't. With prints, prepare your captions on labels, then apply the label to the back of the prints. Never ever write directly on the prints.

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Letterhead

This is your chance for making a great first impression. Chose stationery and design wisely. If you're not experienced in graphic design, it would be a good thing to talk to some people that are and perhaps commission the design of your stationery to a graphic design artist. Always go with the best stationery you can buy. Cheap paper makes for a cheap look and you want to avoid that. A typical letterhead should include your name, address, phone, e-mail, fax and even your Website address (URL) if you have those things. The easier you make it for people to get in touch with you, the more likely it is that they will.

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Business Cards

The same as for letterhead.

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau can be a tremendously helpful tool. They can help you with information about a company, like for instance a stock agency you are thinking about doing business with. As with all things in life, a little research before hand can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Resellerratings.com

Don’t ever buy anything on-line from a retailer/seller you have not done business with before without checking them out on www.resellerratings.com – the site where customers reviews companies they’ve done business with. Resellerratings.com has a good track-record of keeping ratings honest and the site is the most popular of its kind.

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