funkybuddha wrote in post #5402261
... is me gaining experience. Meeting a whole schwack of people (important or not) and developing a good rapport, hopefully word of mouth spreads my name around.
This is one of the biggest problems with shooting for fee. It hurts your reputation in the long run. Yes, you meet lots of people. You make contacts, potential clients, other event promoters an owners. It gets your name around. But thats exactly what you don't want.
They spread you name. "Hey, I know this great photographer that shoots xyz. I've worked with him now on 8 or 9 shoots last year. Nice work, and he doesn't charge anything (or just admission, or $20 for gas, or....).
You've spent a year building up a list of contacts that will expect everything for nothing. That reputation will follow you, even after you've dumped all those contacts you spent all that time building up, and changed your price structure.
You are far better off telling anyone your price is $xxx per event, however because of some special reason, you'll do this one for less. It sets your price, makes them feel they are getting something valuable for nothing, and when they recommend you to someone else they will probably mention the price which helps pre-qualify the client so they won't be expecting a free ride if they call you a year later for a job.
Its just a different way to approach shooting for fee without shooting yourself in the foot.
Another good way is to donate your services to charity auctions. Ie, give away portrait packages to charities that host auctions as a way to raise money. You will get lots of exposure, your value is set for everyone to see, and someone will buy your services for some amount. You get your experience, they get a cheap portrait, you get free advertising to hundreds, and you are both doing something good for the charity.
