Maria Piscopo

“What do you charge?” There is something about that much anticipated, yet dreaded question that causes many photographers distress. There are probably a dozen psychological reasons for this feeling. Rather than take on those feelings, which is beyond my ken and that of this magazine, I’d like to look at specific actions and steps you can take to improve your behavior when it comes to pricing and asking for money.

There are so many choices today for online and social marketing. Here’s a partial list: Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, Online Groups, Twitter, Tumblr, Myspace, Digg, StumbleUpon, and of course your website. How effective are these new marketing scenarios in helping you sell photography services? We asked four photographers using social media to share their experiences. Thanks to Jeff Colburn, Karen I. Hirsch, Gail Mooney-Kelly, and Ian L. Sitren for their helpful opinions and advice. Please see their web addresses and visit their websites to see their work.

Whether you are starting out, adding income to your business, or changing marketing direction, sports photography provides opportunities for creating and selling exciting and interesting images. The subjects vary between products, portraits, and lifestyle. Though Sports Illustrated magazine most often springs to mind, the clients can range from editorial to advertising and everything in between.

With such a strong balance of business and photographic skills, Bill Bachmann is the successful author of five books, his two newest books being Images of Woman and Send Me Anywhere. He is also a best-selling stock photographer.

Bachmann was destined from childhood to be a photographer; his mother was a photographer and writer and gave him a Brownie...