Daniel, at this point, I don't have a photography business. And I wouldn't have one, given the risk that you recognize. I work part-time for a studio that hires only one freelance photographer: me. That's one of my part-time jobs.
If I haven't already made it clear, let me respond to your point about past performance versus future results: I'm not going to make the kind of money in photography that I did just a few years ago.
But all this goes back to my original questions. This studio needs me to shoot when their salaried staff photographer is booked. I need to get an agreement from them that, in exchange for my freelancing for nobody but them, I get at least X number of days of work per month.
Is that a reasonable or unreasonable idea?
I guess I view freelancing the same as owning your own business. Getting an agreement is entirely reasonable. If they expect you to be "on-call" then they should agree to at least provide you with a minimum amount of guaranteed work. If they are unable to provide the work, I would negotiate for some sort of minimum compensation. Otherwise, they'll take advantage of you and your availability.
And, as for the internet company, I need to get some sort of agreement that any sales presentation work I do outside of my regular job functions must be compensated for.
Is that a reasonable proposal?
I think that is also reasonable. All you're asking for is to get paid for work that you do. It isn't like you're working a partnership where you'll later benefit greatly from your work. You're providing a company with service NOW and you should be compensated for it.
Daniel, in my above post I mentioned that I'll make probably $40K this year. Not a lot, but it's close to what most "normal" people around here with normal jobs make.
IOW, I'm already "normal." (Well, many folks would disagree).
If I take on a generic job doing "something" for a something company, I'm reducing the hours that I can devote to SEO work, and pretty much ruling out any photography work. (All of this assumes that I can convince the owners of both companies to fairly compensate me for work that I do outside of our mutually-understood prior agreements).
Doing something for a something company will pay what? I'm not familiar with going rates for non-skilled workers. I only know what my neighbors make, and they make about $40K a year for jobs that require little or no education. Factory or warehouse work. Cops, teachers, and pharmacists obviously make much more.
I wouldn't say you're "normal" in that you seem overly stressed out. I LOVE to play guitar, but I know that I can't make any money doing it. I'd much rather go to work, come home, and jam for a few hours. It would be give and take though if you decided to do SEO/Photo just on the side. My wife for example shoots a wedding every few months. She makes good money at her regular job. So photo is a source of extra income with the weddings and also a form of artistic expression (she spends most of her time taking art-oriented pictures).
One thing I left out of the above post where I detailed what I'm paid is that the studio I freelance for pays me $250 a day to shoot new photos for my portfolio. The sales reps are on my tail for new work to show, but I'm at a point where the new photos I shoot just aren't resonating with the buyers. So, the lack of response bothers me, and that feeds on itself.
Try doing some needs-oriented questioning with the buyers. What DOES resonate with them? Ask them to describe what could be better about the shots? It could be something that is easily fixed.
I have an agreement with a photo studio that they will pay me $500 per day to come out and shoot for them. However, they haven't had enough work to provide me with a steady income stream. They've also had me come out and work on testing for new clients, but those testing days are for free. Is it in my best interest to sit down with them and negotiate an arrangement where I'm guaranteed a certain number of days from a photo assignment that I helped test for? Or that I should be given at least X number of days per month, regardless of whether or not their salaried staff shooter is busy, just so that I can continue to be available to them?
Personally, I would charge a very modest hourly rate for testing. That way you're not working for free and that it shows the studio that your time is valued. On top of that, I would take the average number of days/month that you're actually shooting and ask them for some kind of guarantee that you would get say 6 days of shooting per month, otherwise they pay you 6-X*Y, with X being the number of days you actually shot and Y being some reduced rate.
I have an agreement with an internet outfit that I will work on their clients' sites for $600 a month per client, doing all that I've learned about SEO. Unless the owner of the company is completely hosing me, I see a lot of growth potential here. But I must insist on being paid for work outside of the SEO realm. Reasonable or no?
If you're working outside of what you're specifically getting paid for, you should be compensated for it. If I were a lawyer and I had a drug case where I was paid $2500 and then the client got into a DUI situation, I wouldn't do the DUI for free. They'd have to pony up the extra cash.
I also have another business--Gunshopfinder.com--which is bringing in money. Thanks to my SEO skills, the site brings in enough to pay the mortgage and utilities, and then a bit more. And the revenue from the site is growing, although at a slower pace than I expected (if I can't make the phone calls because I'm doing free work for someone else, that's why).
The photography industry is dying, but with the right agreement, I can continue to generate income from that while I grow the SEO and Gunshopfinder.com revenues.
That is good stuff!
Or, I can go do a generic job. And hope that I get a raise every year. (Yeah, that's the risk-taking side of me being snide).
My personal strategy is to get my MBA, work in the financial industry with a high salary, then eventually start my own holding company. Having a regular job isn't too bad of an idea as long as you have a plan.
