Moving from editorial to commercial?

I'm getting ahead of myself here as I'm just getting into editorial work, but how would one progress from editorial into commercial?

Commercial is where I've always wanted to be at. My friends have asked why I'm not more open to the idea of shooting weddings and regular portrait work. It's just not something I'm interested in making a carreer out of. I want to do commercial.

So, how do you break into that line of work? Say I have a solid portfolio, publishing credits, and a good bit of experience doing what I'm doing, how do I find out what companies need photographers to shoot advertising work for them or what companies to solicit to? I could send out 500 cold calls to 500 companies that aren't currently looking for a photographer and maybe get 5-10 people that like my work, but ultimately have no use for me. Is there something like a help wanted board for companies looking for photographers to do this type of work for them?

Are there any advertizing agencies in your area?
Or you could contact the companies that you're interested in working with & ask who represents them for advertizing.

I was just talking to a friend of mine who does a lot of commercial work, if you think editorial is hard getting into it's a lot worse over there. He's one of the top guys in the country, has a loyal list of commercial clients - but it's getting a lot harder nowadays.

Best bet is what photosguy said - start local, or small, working with smaller clients until your name gets out there. Even the best editorial guys don't have commercial clients knocking down their door, it's a different line of photography. So, look for smaller companies (means smaller budgets), start local or regional, go on from there and hope while getting your name out there.

What KIND of commercial work do you want?

usually it starts with 1 company, and slowly grows. I shoot a lot of motorsports and automotive content. For me, commercial work is a natural extension of editorial work because the companies who are racing and selling parts need photography for their advertisements / catalogs / websites. In many cases, I may be on an editorial assignment to shoot a company's car for a feature and the company will ask me what it would take to get similar photos for their own use.

I've also shot commercially for a friend's clothing company. He knew I was a photographer, and when he started his clothing company, he asked if I was interested in taking a few snaps of their first products. 4 years later, I still shoot a large majority of their catalog and website content.

JacobPhoto wrote in post #12260405
What KIND of commercial work do you want?

usually it starts with 1 company, and slowly grows. I shoot a lot of motorsports and automotive content. For me, commercial work is a natural extension of editorial work because the companies who are racing and selling parts need photography for their advertisements / catalogs / websites. In many cases, I may be on an editorial assignment to shoot a company's car for a feature and the company will ask me what it would take to get similar photos for their own use.

I've also shot commercially for a friend's clothing company. He knew I was a photographer, and when he started his clothing company, he asked if I was interested in taking a few snaps of their first products. 4 years later, I still shoot a large majority of their catalog and website content.

People.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #12263288
People.

Still doesn't help.

What kind of company would pay you to shoot people? Makeup? Clothing? accessories (watch / jewelry)? life insurance? pharmaceutical company?

Each company is likely looking for something different in the photographer they work with, and your approach to each vertical is likely different.

JacobPhoto wrote in post #12268988
Still doesn't help.

What kind of company would pay you to shoot people? Makeup? Clothing? accessories (watch / jewelry)? life insurance? pharmaceutical company?

Each company is likely looking for something different in the photographer they work with, and your approach to each vertical is likely different.

I know, but I didn't have a good answer. I know what I wanted to do, but couldn't articulate it at the time and giving you and answer of "ads for The Gap", would have been a long shot from what I want to do.

People. Commercial work with people. I don't want to shoot product photography, landscaping, residential, etc...I'm not saying I won't, I wouldn't turn down a viable paying job, it's just not my goal. To start out, I'd say I'd want to shoot ad work for local companies in the somewhat close vicinity of where I live. That would be Baltimore, MD, Frederick, MD, Eastern WV, Northern VA, and DC.

I got my re-start with small local boutique shops.

I basically developed a multi faceted marketing plan for a shop here in town. A store I am familiar with as my wife shops there all the time. Then went in and talked to the owner and walked out with a client. In fact, we are doing an in-store shoot in 2 weeks. The plan was scaleable, from a one off thing as a PR stunt... to a full on marketing blitz that included advertising, mailings, store imaging(posters for the walls), website, Facebook, on and on. There was pretty much no way to get a complete "no" as there was something for any kind of budget she might have.

Truthfully, I did cut my price for her. But with what we have booked, she is basically paying to overhaul my portfolio. And I have all but complete creative control. So I basically can shoot for my port and have her pay the way. And she is connected all over town like you would not believe. She can offer more in referrals than anything else.

Mark1 wrote in post #12295248
I got my re-start with small local boutique shops.

I basically developed a multi faceted marketing plan for a shop here in town. A store I am familiar with as my wife shops there all the time. Then went in and talked to the owner and walked out with a client. In fact, we are doing an in-store shoot in 2 weeks. The plan was scaleable, from a one off thing as a PR stunt... to a full on marketing blitz that included advertising, mailings, store imaging(posters for the walls), website, Facebook, on and on. There was pretty much no way to get a complete "no" as there was something for any kind of budget she might have.

Truthfully, I did cut my price for her. But with what we have booked, she is basically paying to overhaul my portfolio. And I have all but complete creative control. So I basically can shoot for my port and have her pay the way. And she is connected all over town like you would not believe. She can offer more in referrals than anything else.

Did you go to the business with this all planned out before hand? I wouldn't mind putting something like that together, but I can't see doing it without any prior agreement or commitment from the business owner. If you spend the time to put together a campaign like that and you're told that they're not interested, then it would potentially be a lot of wasted time.

ED: Not saying that it's a bad idea at all, but without prior communication, it seems like a very elaborate cold call, and from what I've learned, cold calling isn't the most successful way of going about things.

Mass cold calling is pretty stupid these days. But a calculated one can be very effective. Knowing the client helps a lot. I dont mean personally. I mean, knowing thier target customer, What "style" the company has (conservative, trendy, edgy) How they market themselves now, if at all. etc..etc... The more you know the easier it gets. The more targeted it is. The more likely they will go for it.

I would say 50% of the idea developed after we shopped there and I noticed there was never any images on the walls, not even posters the clothing manufactures send to their retailers.. But I did nothing. But over the next 2 weeks the idea developed pretty much on its own. I kept notes so I didnt forget anything. It is not like I took the time to sit down and plan it all out in one marathon session. When I get a concept I like, My brain will work on it in the background and every now and then it pops into my head and then goes back to working.

When I thought the idea was complete I just sent an email to see if she was interested... she was, enough to at least here the plan. If she was not interested... It is quite easy to make adjustments to the plan and find another store to target.

I also didnt go as far as real specifics. But laid out a PR stunt that could be scaled to a complete marketing plan. Such as, I didnt make postcard mailers to show her. But only mentioned we could theme mailers to be the same as the images we hang in the store, so it all ties together. I really just spoke in options and let her find what parts she liked.

It was far from a "completed" idea. However it was 85% done and she only had to pick what she wanted to do and the rest pretty much fell together.

I sent two e-mails out to Advertising Agcenies this morning to test the waters. It seems like all of these small advertising agencies contain a photographer that is actually part of the agency.

Perhaps you can start building a relationship with a company you are interested in working for. If you want to shoot for a fashion company, maybe you can talk to them about sponsoring some clothes for a fashion shoot to start with. Then once they see their shoot, see if you can get some clothes donated for an editorial spread. Once you have 2 pieces of work with their clothes under their belt, see if they will let you shoot a smaller commercial piece for them. At that point, you will have 2 full shoots and hopefully an ongoing conversation with the right people at the company to give you a shot.

Cold Calling will likely get you nowhere, especially with big companies.

The way a lot of agencies work is they have photographers that they work with., The photographers bill the agency and the agency bills the client. If the photographer is billing say 2K a day the agency will usually mark that up. Some will mark it up as much as 100%.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #12312036
The way a lot of agencies work is they have photographers that they work with., The photographers bill the agency and the agency bills the client. If the photographer is billing say 2K a day the agency will usually mark that up. Some will mark it up as much as 100%.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I want to do.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #12315578
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I want to do.

Be VERY, VERY persistent. I remember years ago seeing Marc Hauser speak and he said every Monday he would put a portfolio under his arm and go to every major agency in Chicago. He said he NEVER missed a Monday. After months he was sitting in the waiting room and he said he thought that they threw him sump'm just to get rid of him (they probably did) and the rest is history.

It took me 5 years to fully land my largest client and that has led to maybe 5 or 6 other doors opening.