DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This handy tool helps creatives say “no” to dismal projects

Dec 16, 2016 by Dunja Djudjic 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

As a photographer, I’m sure you’ve been in those situations when people ask you to work for peanuts, or even worse – for free. Not many things annoy me as the sentence “Come on, it’s only a few snaps.” No, it’s not. Of course, there are some instances when you can and should work for free. But you shouldn’t undermine yourself and your work. The artists also have bills to pay.

However, it can be unpleasant and tricky to tackle the situations when you are asked to do free or low-budget projects, or those that don’t suit your terms. This is why Jessica Hische has created a handy tool to help you cope with situations like this and choose proper reply for different offers.

“Should I work for free?” is a question many creatives ask themselves, especially in the beginning of their career. After creating a helpful and funny chart to help you decide, Jessica has now designed Client Email Helper – a tool to help you say “no” to free and low-budget projects, as well as those that don’t fit your terms. Also, she includes the templates that will help you ask for more favorable contract terms before you start a project.

The tool offers you to choose between five clients (ad agency, general client, nonprofit, charity and friend) and three levels of budget – none, very low and good. Each of the combinations you choose gives you an email template with a suggested reply for the client, based on who they are and what budget they (don’t) offer. If the budget is good, you get to choose the timeline and contract curveballs in addition to client and budget.

Jessica is a designer, but it seems that she had all creatives in mind when she created this tool. The generated replies can be applied to photographers, videographers, designers and all creative people who make a living out of art.

What I particularly like about this tool is that the tone of each email template is polite, but still reflects firm attitude and professionalism. I sometimes find it hard to say “no” to unpaid projects and find myself in an unpleasant, energy-draining situation. For those like me, this could give you inspiration how to do it without offending anyone, but also without damaging your reputation. Another thing I like is the color code, so you can see all the changes and realize to which part of the tool they are connected.

It’s difficult to find your place in the creative world, I know. But we should all respect ourselves and our work. Click around Jessica’s tool to get inspiration how to refuse or accept the offer so it’s good both for you and the client. And feel free to adjust the email templates so they fit your working terms. Be creative. After all – that’s what we do.

[via Fast Co. Design]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

How Do You Compare To Famous Creatives And What Does It Say About Your Own Creativity? We sat down with 4 top creatives to talk about success, failure, fears and joy, Here is what they had to say What NOT to say during a photo shoot and what you should say instead The Loupedeck Creative Tool is a tiny control deck for creatives with massive potential

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: business of photography, Client Email Helper, Design, designer, photographer, Photography, professional artist, professional designer, professional photographer, refuse free projects, refuse low budget projects

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Five tips for shooting winning Urban Landscapes
Filmmaker inserts himself into stock photos for this hilarious music video »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy