Partnership with a Venue as "Their" Event Photographer - Questions

OK. So, this relationship started with an engagement session for a couple. I wasn't doing weddings at the time and they said they REALLY liked my personality and working with me so begged me to shoot their wedding (which is coming up in June). I eventually said yes. I shot them on my in-laws' farm and they are having their wedding at another farm.

They have just contacted me and informed me that they are purchasing a farm for the purpose of turning it into an event venue for rent. One of them is even getting her certificate in event planning. They want me to be their "exclusive" event photographer that they refer to clients who rent the venue. In return, I would also refer their venue to my clients. Their clients are not required to use me and my clients do not HAVE to use their venue.

So.... how should this relationship work? This is something that I would like to workout. These 2 girls are fun to work with and the "Country/farm" scene is my favorite!

I'm thinking.... There needs to be a reason for their clients to choose me. Maybe some sort of discount for the total "package" if they go with both of us rather than one of us? I was thinking of giving them a "regular" price that they show their clients that I would normally charge, but a "sale" price that I would charge since they are hiring me through them. In return, their venue get's exposure and a link on my site and mentioned in my posts when I post the photos from that event. We would also post a package price on both of our sites for using me and their venue. Should we give each other some sort of referral fee or is that balanced out since we are referring each other?

I really am not sure. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Thanks!

The first reason they recommend you is that you're going to recommend them. Both of you profit and prosper. Don't let it become a one-way street.

The second reason they recommend you is that you're a "known quantity." They know you're reliable and they know exactly what style and quality of work you're going to produce.


Don't jump right to discounting and sale pricing, unless you need it to drive traffic in the slow season.

Agree with the above. I don't see any reason to be jumping into offering discounts. If you do offer a discount then it should be both you and the venue offering discounts on a package deal.

Much more important than jumping into offering discounts would be to work out what you both get in the way of recommendations. You get an exclusive listing in their marketing materials, website etc and they get the same from you.

nathancarter wrote in post #17581009
The first reason they recommend you is that you're going to recommend them. Both of you profit and prosper. Don't let it become a one-way street.

The second reason they recommend you is that you're a "known quantity." They know you're reliable and they know exactly what style and quality of work you're going to produce.


Don't jump right to discounting and sale pricing, unless you need it to drive traffic in the slow season.

I'm thinking that may be how we start. Nice and simple and see how it goes.

Still would like to hear from someone in a similar situation or who has done something like this before. Just to see how it went for them.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #17581026
Much more important than jumping into offering discounts would be to work out what you both get in the way of recommendations. You get an exclusive listing in their marketing materials, website etc and they get the same from you.

I think that is what they were thinking, which I am completely fine with.

On my end: I would put a link on my site for their venue, mention their venue on my site when I post photos from their venue, and provide a link to their corresponding social media page or site when I post them on social media. They will do the same for me. That doesn't sound too bad at all!

They are just getting started though, so I may be helping them get started with their site and social media as well.

exclusivity sounds like a great deal for you and a lousy deal for them.

they will certainly lose bookings from brides that want to use someone else, whether that photographer is "better" or "worse" than you. So, I'd go with it for now but don't expect that the agreement won't change

edit: and what happens when you are already booked for weekend they ask you to cover?

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17582252
exclusivity sounds like a great deal for you and a lousy deal for them.

they will certainly lose bookings from brides that want to use someone else, whether that photographer is "better" or "worse" than you. So, I'd go with it for now but don't expect that the agreement won't change

edit: and what happens when you are already booked for weekend they ask you to cover?

That's why I quoted "exclusive." They will be offering their event planning services and recommending using me but their clients aren't required to. If they don't chose me, then they are on their own as far as booking and communicating with their own photographer. Their plan is to be able to offer as many services to their clients as possible. Like a one-stop shop! They will also have access to my availability calendar for booking reference. We still have to meet and talk about the fine details. They just brought it up to me to see if I would be interested.

So, if i'm looking into renting their venue. I would go in and say"We would like to book your venue for our wedding." They could then say, "We can plan it for you from start to finish including booking our resident photographer, DJ, MUA, hair stylist, and caterer." I'm guessing they could offer different packages that include more or fewer services.
If this is how we do it, the venue would contact me and set up the meeting and book me. I'm guessing I would just have a price that I charge the venue and they charge whatever for their services/package.

The other idea is just for them to give their clients my card and leave it to them to contact me on their own.

The important thing to clear up in a contract is how much and how you are getting paid, and what you are going to supply in return. Is the client paying the event planner, and they are in turn paying you? If so, when? How much time are you required to spend, what are your expected deliverables and turnaround time?

Is the event planner free to charge whatever they want to the client, and then only pay you the agreed upon rate? For instance, their package may say that adding photography coverage is $5,000, and they pay you $3,000? Does your contract with the event planner state it clearly? Can they change this at any time without paying you more?

Make it clear up front what kind of relationship you want to build with them, and spell it out in a contract. If you simply want to cross refer each other, and the client is responsible for booking and paying each party separately, you both will get some mutual benefit from the relationship, and retain control.

If you want to be the exclusive photographer and have them collect the money and do the bookings, make sure your contract covers all the relevant details, and have it set up to expire or be reviewed after a certain time period. It would stink to find out that prices in your area or demand on your business skyrocket, and you are contractually obligated to provide services for half of what you could have gotten on your own.

Not to be a stick in the mud, but have got a wedding portfolio yet? A lot of this talk is based on relationships but to this point they dont have a working venue and you aren't/werent doing weddings. You need to get a portfolio of wedding work and a venue specific section as well.

Qlayer2 wrote in post #17582339
The important thing to clear up in a contract is how much and how you are getting paid, and what you are going to supply in return. Is the client paying the event planner, and they are in turn paying you? If so, when? How much time are you required to spend, what are your expected deliverables and turnaround time?

Is the event planner free to charge whatever they want to the client, and then only pay you the agreed upon rate? For instance, their package may say that adding photography coverage is $5,000, and they pay you $3,000? Does your contract with the event planner state it clearly? Can they change this at any time without paying you more?

Make it clear up front what kind of relationship you want to build with them, and spell it out in a contract. If you simply want to cross refer each other, and the client is responsible for booking and paying each party separately, you both will get some mutual benefit from the relationship, and retain control.

If you want to be the exclusive photographer and have them collect the money and do the bookings, make sure your contract covers all the relevant details, and have it set up to expire or be reviewed after a certain time period. It would stink to find out that prices in your area or demand on your business skyrocket, and you are contractually obligated to provide services for half of what you could have gotten on your own.

These are good points. I am not 100% yet what they were thinking, but it sounded more like they wanted to just cross-refer each other. I would like to go over all of the options with them and see what they think. I like control so the cross-referring might be the best/easiest, especially for them since they are just getting started. This may be the best to start.

It also might benefit both of us to figure out some sort of contract. For them, I think they want to know that they have a photographer they can offer to make it more attractive to clients who want everything taken care of for them. For me, it could also be a good idea to get in with them now and get a good relationship going. The thing I don't want happening though is what you were describing about me charging them one thing and them up-charging the client too much. May be able to work out a % in that case? I also like to meet and at least talk with clients. Helps to manage expectations and get a feel for who they are and what they expect. This route would obviously be much more complicated.

A simple agreement of mutual support seems easy enough. You suggest their services to your clients, and they suggest yours to their clients. Support each other in your online media, "I shot another X at the beautiful Y venue, where Z was helpful as always as an event planner." kind of thing.

Offering your services as a sub contractor to what they offer may be a useful marketing tool, but treat it more as a courtesy to the clients in being able to bundle everything under just a single bill. I wouldn't go wild with offering discounts or anything, maybe a little if they find they're getting a lot of people passing on the deal, but ideally everyone involved is getting their full usual price out of it, and the event planner is just bundling you all up and doing the leg work of brining you together on the right day (And dealing with any scheduling conflicts involved.)


You may even consider taking things one step further, and forming a larger group. Nothing says that several venues can't work together to support each other, and also have several photographers involved. Everyone would offer something a little different from the next, but ideally the group would be busy enough and have a large enough demand that they could support a decent overlap. "This farm venue is already booked, but I believe we still have an opening over at the other farm on that day" kind of thing.

Such a group of course would likely need more careful planning and agreements. Clear quality standards, codes of conduct, etc, along with a careful look at how you're conducting business to avoid things like accidental price fixing issues. But it may be something to consider down the road. As a group you could focus on just shared marketing efforts, or go so far as to even share various bits of equipment to reduce costs.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17582362
Not to be a stick in the mud, but have got a wedding portfolio yet? A lot of this talk is based on relationships but to this point they dont have a working venue and you aren't/werent doing weddings. You need to get a portfolio of wedding work and a venue specific section as well.

Oh, no problem. That's a good point. I am working on that. Right now, all of this is just an idea they had. We are both starting out and it could be mutually beneficial.

It's not a "high end" venue or area. Our area is very rural and "budget friendly" photographers and venues are very popular around here. Lot's of young couples trying to cut costs.

I actually started weddings this year due to clients like these who wanted to continue working with me. The venue specific thing is also something I was thinking of adding to my site anyway. I was thinking of adding a section of venues I've shot at, not only for events but for portraits and such as well. In this case, their venue would be on my site as my "preferred/recommended​" venue.

BlakeC wrote in post #17582319
If this is how we do it, the venue would contact me and set up the meeting and book me. I'm guessing I would just have a price that I charge the venue and they charge whatever for their services/package.

An alternative to consider is that you and they will simply pay each other a flat finder's fee when clients follow through on your referrals.

BlakeC wrote in post #17582375
The venue specific thing is also something I was thinking of adding to my site anyway. I was thinking of adding a section of venues I've shot at. . . . In this case, their venue would be on my site as my "preferred/recommended​" venue.

Wouldn't that make your other venues seem second-rate?

Your contract should address collections. Unless clients pay all charges in advance, who'll be responsible for persuading them to come up with the balance due, and who gets paid how much if they never do?

Opinion:

This is a crummy idea:

Qlayer2 wrote in post #17582339
Is the event planner free to charge whatever they want to the client, and then only pay you the agreed upon rate? For instance, their package may say that adding photography coverage is $5,000, and they pay you $3,000? Does your contract with the event planner state it clearly? Can they change this at any time without paying you more?

This is a way better idea:

OhLook wrote in post #17582431
An alternative to consider is that you and they will simply pay each other a flat finder's fee when clients follow through on your referrals.

Having some sort of finder's fee or referral bonus will help alleviate the possibility of a damaged relationship due to an imbalance in the number of referrals.

If you refer clients to the venue 7 times next year, and they refer clients to you 24 times next year, who's benefiting more? The finder's fee helps keep everyone happy.

You're partnership price should be what you would normally charge.
You're non-parthernership price should be slightly more then what it is now.

That way it looks like your giving a "discount" but your still making the same amount of money.

But you'll probably have to give the venue a cut since they're also promoting you.