Welcome to the NPPA Independent Photographer's Toolkit. If you are an independent photographer or simply shoot a little on the side, you are running a business. Many photographers look at freelancing as extra money or a way to get by until a staff job comes along. But if you are not looking at your photography as a business, you may be cheating yourself, and worse, you may be hurting the very industry you are trying to break in to.
As a business owner, you have certain responsibilities: to yourself, to your employees, to your clients and to the government. A successful business owner pays attention to all of these obligations and finds a balance that keeps his or her business growing. It takes more than being a talented photographer to succeed in the independent marketplace. Strong business skills are just as important. There is a very high rate of failure in small business, and this guide is meant to help you avoid contributing to those negative figures.
If you buy photography or hire freelancers, you may also find useful answers here. The Photo Buyers Resource section offers useful information about copyright and your responsibilities as a manager. Please look soon for more content including a new NPPA Find a Photographer service.
If you are a staff photographer or an editor, this resource is for you, as well. Freelance photographers have a direct impact on staff jobs. Newsrooms have proved they aren't immune from Corporate America's demands for cutting costs and increasing profits. With contract labor available for significantly less than employees, photography positions are disappearing. Lay-offs are not uncommon and hiring freezes are frequent. In such a climate, the welfare of independent photographers can clearly affect you and your staff.
This section is meant to be a guide to help put you on the right track. But the information you will find here is by no means the entire picture. There are many things to consider when running a photography business. Please look at this toolkit as a starting point along the difficult road to a successful editorial photography business.
In that endeavor, we wish you all the best.
