carry along business books such as John Harrington’s Best Business Practices
for Photographers and Amanda Sosa Stone’s The Photographer’s Survival Guide
so he could study business whenever he had free time. He also learned from
other photographers. “I’m very active online on social networks and photo
groups, trying to soak in all the information I can, while also sharing the little
things I’m learning to make it work.”
He called accountants to find out how much money he needed for start-up
costs, such as insurance and incorporating, and set a budget for accounting
software, his multiple Web sites, marketing and other expenses. “I scraped
and saved and cut out [all the discretionary spending] I could,” he says, though
it was a challenge because he and his wife, Elaine Litherland (also a photogra-
pher at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune), have two daughters, car payments and
a mortgage.
The biggest stress of going freelance, he says, is giving up the steady, pre-
dictable pay check for a more sporadic income. He still maintains a strict bud-
get and is disciplined about saving money from each assignment. “If you plan
right and you don’t overspend on things you don’t have to spend on, you’re not
waiting for the postman to deliver your income.”
Having learned he can’t rely solely on low-paying editorial clients, Litherland
says, “I try to keep my client base diverse. In any given month I’ll have a buf-
fet of editorial, sports, PR, commercial and wedding assignments.” He be-
gan making contacts with a variety of clients well before he left the paper
in September. Over the years, he had shot occasional weddings as favors to
friends, then their friends saw the work and started calling him. He officially
launched his wedding business and Web site, Eleven Weddings.com, while he
was still at the newspaper, and spent some of the fees he earned on wedding
shows and other forms of marketing to brides.
As his departure date approached, he adds, “I was very active about hand-
ing out my business card.” As a newspaper photographer, he notes, he saw PR
people as a sometimes annoying presence on shoots; as a future freelancer,
however, he saw them as good contacts. “Everyone you meet can be a poten-
tial client. I’ve shot weddings of people I’ve met on PR assignments.”
He has a budget for advertising and marketing, he says, noting, “I try not
to spend it unless I can see a return on that investment.” That means he puts
most of his money and effort into reaching wedding, commercial and PR cli-
ents, rather than “editors you don’t know, who are going to pay you $600 for
one job.” These days, when he shoots a destination wedding, he takes the
cards of the restaurant or hotel, then follows up via e-mail, showing them the
kind of images they could use in their marketing.
Now that Litherland is a freelancer and owns the rights to his images, he has
set up an account on PhotoShelter to create another revenue stream. “I market
the hell out of my stock after an assignment and regularly license editorial work
to different types of clients,” he says. No matter what the subject of an assignment is, he explains, he takes some extra time to shoot images for himself. “I’m
wandering around the building looking for an image that’s satisfying or marketable,” that he can turn into a PhotoShelter gallery or a post on his blog.
Juggling the challenges of shooting and promoting multiple businesses
while also looking after his daughters, ages 3 and 9, forces him to stay focused,
he says. “I break down my to-do list to manageable chunks, so you constantly
feel like you’re getting something done. It’s not: I need to find 100 new clients.
It’s: I need to find a new client today. What can I get done in the next 20 minutes, while my kid is happy watching Dora the Explorer? ” Part of his drive, he
admits, comes from his first attempt at freelancing and the memory of the
stress and uncertainty that he wouldn’t make enough money to meet his family’s needs. “My fear definitely breeds productivity.”
Zack Arias: Lost and Found
Zack Arias says his success as a photographer is defined by his failure, which
was dramatic. After earning a two-year photography degree in Atlanta and
relocating to Dallas in 1998, he crawled back to Atlanta in 2002 “with my tail
between my legs.” He was sinking in debt, his wife had walked out on him, and
as a single father, he couldn’t cover his monthly living expenses. Arias ended
up living in his brother’s basement, working at Kinko’s, and contemplating
ALL PHO TOS THIS PAGE © ZACK ARIAS
ZACK AriAs: “i teLL other photogrAphers:
beFore you get A CAmerA, get An
ACCountAnt. iF there Are AreAs where you
Are weAK, bring peopLe in to heLp you.“
Arias eventually fulfilled his dream of becoming a music photographer, slowly building
clientele and increasing his fees. Top: Arias’s photo for promotional art work for rapper 8Ball.
Above: From promotional art work for hip-hop artist Deezy Slim.
