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UK/US advertising rates.
Can I ask the MM community what they think the current average UK/US advertising day rate is please? Or is it not so much a day rate but more dependent on usage? I haven’t had an agent for nearly 10 years and haven’t had to worry about this this sort of thing for nearly as long. I do realise that photographers are (rightly) very coy about this sort of thing. And I also know that it will vary quite a bit. But Google is not much help and the only photographers that I know personally that I could ask may well be pitching for the same job. Thanks. Aug 17 14 06:30 am Link It depends on your success and location of course, but in my parts the average day rate seems to hover between $1500-2500. Usage rights are added on top of that. Good luck! Aug 17 14 08:07 am Link Good question, I think it's more about usage here. Does blinkbid have a UK database, you may want to check that out. Also wonderful machine has a bog and that often show actual recent job quotes pros have used. Aug 17 14 08:19 am Link Thanks very much for your help. On BlinkBids blog I read the words "...trying to get someone to talk to you about pricing is sort of like trying to get a meeting with the Pope”. This certainly seems true. Reading Wonderful Machines blog is certainly an eye opener. They quote a typical day rate of $10,000 plus expenses which would certainly be very nice. I suspect things are very different in the UK though, going by what they write about editorial fees (which I do have some knowledge of) and it seems to be two or three times what one might expect here. All of which at least does give me a £££number that I can start off with. Aug 17 14 03:32 pm Link I understand why people are shy of responding to this request. This is a public forum after all and no one wants to make themselves a target for any unwanted attention. Besides which, for many/most clients it would need to be confidential information. But, not mentioning any names, I am reminded of a conversation I had, about three years ago, with a friend who commissions photography for corporate magazines. A client had asked her to get a quote for a days work from one of the top US editorial fashion/portrait photographers. She showed me the full written quote and it was $65,000 for one day, albeit including expenses. She showed it to me with a smile. I don’t think he got the job. For young photographers still studying, or anyone thinking of becoming a photographer, I would have thought real world financial numbers would be essential? The NUJ publish a list of fees photographers are willing to reveal, albeit anonymously, and they are very low. It’s hard to see how any but the top 2-3% could make a decent living in the UK, if they only work editorially. I suppose, when one starts, one always assumes one will get to be one of the top 2-3%? Or that one can supplement one's income with advertising jobs. But it isn't easy. Aug 18 14 05:16 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: $65,000 ! + expenses. Aug 18 14 06:25 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Yes I noticed some of those bids were for every large campaigns or big project. I was just looking at a food shoot and it was clearly for a large chain. Still it was a good starting point, but one has to account for the usage inbetween national and local in the US. In the example I was looking to price for a 40 unit chain in a couple of states, not 400 units across the US. Aug 18 14 07:28 am Link WIP wrote: I no longer have the workflow to justify an agent but I think they are well worth their 20% (or whatever it is these days?). Aug 18 14 08:29 am Link AJScalzitti wrote: This is probably what one needs an agent for since most successful photographers won't have time for this level of detail. I think a good agent is worth their weight in gold. Aug 18 14 08:40 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Mine was from appox 15 years ago. Aug 18 14 08:43 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Good ones earn their money, it's a sales job paid on commission that weeds out the bad ones. I also appreciate some people are simply not good at sales, an agent is perfect and it keeps the business and creative sides apart. Aug 18 14 08:52 am Link WIP wrote: This is why a photographer needs an agent. I knew a few who would have done that trick as well - good for them. Aug 18 14 09:13 am Link The NUJ publish how much actual (but anonymous) photographers have made from actual jobs with actual named publications. It isn’t very much. I can’t see how anyone could possibly make a decent living as an editorial photographer in the UK any more. Add to that, the fact that a lot of fashion magazines expect you to work for nothing and it isn’t a very positive picture. I’d be happy to be proved wrong because otherwise a lot of young photographers coming into the business are cruising for bruising. I’m not complaining myself, I had it good for many years when it was a fantastic business to be in. Aug 18 14 09:21 am Link The word ' Agency' has now been changed into ' marketing, media, communications, something, something something '. Go on their web sites and you struggle to see what they actually do. Aug 18 14 09:36 am Link |
