Fast Food Friday: For Professional Photographers

​Fast Food Fridays are meant to plant the seeds for ideas to fine-tune different aspects of your presence as a professional photographer. Today is the fifth in the series, and each one has hit on a different component/action.

I want to switch gears today and talk about an essential ingredient to surviving as a business owner. I know this isn't directly tied to marketing, but as the season starts to ramp up, before some of you know it, you're going to be out there flying without a net, all because you forgot to check on your insurance!  

Think about it this way: You'll have to work twice as hard to market your business if your equipment is stolen and you have to raise funds for a new gear because you weren't adequately insured, and that's only one aspect of insurance.
 

---

Do You Have the Right Insurance?

Several times a year I read about or have conversations with relatively new photographers who didn't realize their home insurance didn't cover their gear, now that it's being used for commercial purposes. And the challenge isn't exclusive to newbies. When was the last time you veterans updated your insurance coverage? 

It's not just your photographic equipment you need have insured, but everything you use in your business. Plus, make sure you have the right liability insurance should somebody trip over one of your light stands at an event and hold you liable.

And don't forget indemnification. Indemnification insurance is designed to protect you as a business owner if you're found to be at fault for a specific action or misjudgment. Best example would be a wedding you were hired to photograph, and for whatever reason, you lost the cards, couldn't retrieve the images, etc.

This is the easiest challenge in your entire business to fix - it just takes a phone call to your insurance agent to find out exactly what is and isn't covered. Then you need to take the next step and get the right insurance.

I'm a big fan of PPA's insurance programs. They offer a wide variety of different types of insurance, giving you the ability to customize your coverage based on your needs. From PPA's website:

PPA and its broker offer a host of insurance solutions designed to protect you and your business. In fact, we offer more protection solutions than any other professional photographic association because we want to make sure you're protected at all times, on all fronts.

Click to visit the "Protection for PPA Members" page

STOP BEING STUPID AND IRRESPONSIBLE WITH YOUR DREAM! Every year I hear at least one story of somebody whose dream is on hold until they replace gear that was lost or stolen. Then there are the horror stories of lost images and the challenges of indemnification.

Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish - make sure you're insured NOW and don't risk avoidable problems disrupting your business and efforts to establish a solid reputation as an artist in your community!

If you missed any of the previous "lunch" specials, click on the past posts below.