Marketing Photography and Collaborations

When it comes to brand and/or product collaborations, most people think of influencers. While this may be a legitimate branch for collaborations, there are others that involve working with brands. For example, many companies hire photography studios or independently contracted photographers whose name does not appear on publications. Influencers often work by posting their experiences on social media in exchange for a product or service. This can be paid by the company or unpaid. 

My Personal "Influencer" Experience

It all began my freshman year of high school. Everyone thought it was cool to fall into pyramid schemes, and apparently I did too. If you're familiar with the company Madeira Hammocks, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, Madeira would seek out content creators and everyday people to buy their product, and then promote it on social media and to their friends/family. If you gave people your link to purchase a product from them, they would be given a discount code and you would receive a 'commission.' In my experience, you'd need to be a large influencer to make any kind of money off of this. None of my friends or family bought, so therefore I wasted my money on a product that was over-priced to begin with. But hey, now I have a hammock I guess... 

Since then, I've been wary working with brands. If you check out the collaborations tab, these are all brands/companies/organizations I have successfully worked with producing media for. In each instance, I was compensated for my time/content either monetarily or through free products/services. Essentially, pyramid schemes are born when you, the consumer (or influencer), have to spend money first. When seeking out a brand to work with, I try to make the relationship as beneficial as possible. I receive a product for x amount of photos/videos in exchange. the received compensation on my end in the past has been free products, huge discounts on other products, promotion, or internship/job opportunities. As the saying goes, "promotion doesn't pay the bills." While this is largely true, in my college years I found that networking and reaching as many people as I can has led me to opportunities that will eventually pay. I try to not work for 'free' as much as possible since it boils down to knowing your worth. I know that I can produce content worthy of compensation, but many like to take advantage of this.

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