exclusive? HELP!

deb22

Hi, I am looking at a deal that would be nation wide which is AMAZING for me but here is the rub, they want a line of songbirds to be exclusive. I of course would be able to sell them at shows etc. but not to other venues country wide. I have 2 meetings up coming one with these guys and another not so big company and I really don't know what I am going to do yet. If I go exclusive I must of course charge more but how do I figure out how much more? I have had this suggested in the past and have outright declined but this is a large large deal but would limit me greatly and we all want to make more money right. Any insight on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

Sam

Deb,

Not much detail here. When you say a line of songbirds I am guessing this means they want to license the use of a number of your songbird images for some commercial purpose, like greeting cards.

On the one hand you say this is large, large, yet your fretting about losing the ability to additionaly license these same image to other companies.

I would ask, in the last five years how many songbird images have you licensed for commercial use? In the next five years how would you estimate you will license? This should give you an idea of what your risking with an exclusive licensing arrangement.

While I would think you could charge a fair price for this beware trying to retire on this one sale.

I could be wrong here but I think there are still plenty of songbirds around to photograph.

Sam

deb22

Hi, Sam. Here's the deal if I go with this large contract I would have to pull my stock [no charge to me] from other venues. This is fine except after 2 years I would then have to re market back to some of these venues and that might be sticky. My income is 80% cards and 20% galleries, I am one of those lucky ones who does not have to work elsewhere and I am debt and mortgage free because of my cards alone. This contract can bring triple the money but do you think it is too risky in the long run? I do value your input as I read your posts all the time and have gleamed some really good stuff from you. So short term [big money] or long term[ marketing all over again, yuk!]

Sam

Deb,

First off I can not recommend one way or the other. All I can do is provide points and counterpoints for you to consider.

When faced with a decision like this I would think / consider along the lines of: Morally / ethically, legally, and financially.

If say this new contract would bring in triple your current revenue for two years. That's like 6 years of revenue with your current clients / sales.

Are there any guarantees that your current clients will still be with you and buying at the same rate a year from now? two years? Six years?

Is there any room for compromise? Could you create or select out a certain number of images that would be exclusive for two years leaving the other images available for your current revenue stream?

If you went with this new deal is there anything that would prevent you from creating new images not included in the exclusive contract and marketing these to your current and new clients?

Is there anything that would prevent this new company from renewing the contract after 2 years?

Are they offering any guarantees to secure this exclusivity?

Do remember this is a business and your current clients are with you because it's financially viable for them. There is no guarantee they will be with you tomorrow much less 6 years from now.

Sam

deb22

Sam... Thank you for taking the time to respond back on this issue it is appreciated that you spent the time going over so many points. I met with the large company today and we are 3/4 the way to a deal, I am limiting them to an existing line with a limit on new images, We also agreed that as long as I stay out[selling, not photographing] of All the National park area's where they are being sold [ we will be hammering down exact miles] I will be able to sell a limited # of the same images and any new ones except the new ones exclusive to them. I think this will work out well and I will be able to keep a few of the existing clients with this agreement and build up a future clientelle if I wish. I did not even have to charge extra for the exclusive as they have stated that exclusive will go both ways and my cards are all that will be carried and that is crazy good for me. I think everything will work out fine, and thank you for your input, I know I am not the only one who reads your input and gains much insight on your postings. Have a great holiday season Sam.

Sam

Deb,

Glad everything is working out for you!!

Sam