How can you communicate with clients about digital image sharing?

1 Why it matters

Digital image sharing is not only a convenient way to deliver your work, but also a powerful marketing tool for your photography business. When your clients share your images on social media, their friends and followers can see your style, creativity, and professionalism. However, digital image sharing also comes with some challenges and risks, such as unauthorized use, low-resolution display, or loss of quality and metadata. That's why you need to communicate clearly with your clients about your expectations, policies, and recommendations regarding digital image sharing.

2 What to include in your contract

When communicating with your clients about digital image sharing, it's important to include a section in your contract that covers this topic. Your contract should outline how many digital files you will provide and in what format (e.g., JPEG, TIFF, RAW), how you will deliver the digital files (e.g., online gallery, USB drive, cloud storage), how long you will store the digital files and how your clients can access them, what rights and permissions you grant to your clients for personal and commercial use of the digital files, what credit and attribution you require from your clients when they share your images online, and what actions you prohibit or discourage from your clients (e.g., editing, cropping, filtering, or printing without your consent).

4 How to follow up with your clients

After you deliver your digital files, you should follow up with your clients to make sure they are satisfied with your work and they understand how to share and use your images. You can do this by sending them a thank-you email, a survey, or a review request. You can also ask them to tag you or mention you when they post your images online, or to send you links or screenshots of their posts. This way, you can monitor how your images are being shared, engage with your clients and their audience, and showcase your portfolio.

5 How to deal with problems

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you may encounter issues or miscommunications with your clients regarding digital image sharing. This could include them sharing your images without giving you credit or permission, altering or editing your images in a way that damages your reputation or style, printing your images from low-quality sources or without your approval, or losing or deleting your digital files and requesting for them to be resent. In these cases, it is important to handle the situation professionally and politely. You can do this by contacting your clients and reminding them of the contract terms and policies, asking them to remove, correct, or credit the images as appropriate, offering them solutions or alternatives such as sending high-resolution files for printing, or editing the images yourself, and even charging extra fees or penalties if necessary.

6 How to improve your communication

Finally, you can always improve your communication with your clients about digital image sharing by learning from your experience and feedback. Updating your contract and guide based on new trends, technologies, or platforms is a great place to start. Additionally, it can be beneficial to ask your clients for suggestions, complaints, or compliments about your digital image sharing process. Furthermore, looking into how other photographers communicate with their clients about digital image sharing and adopting best practices can help you improve. Taking online courses, reading blogs, or joining forums about digital image sharing and photography business can also be useful. By following these tips and strategies, you can communicate with your clients about digital image sharing effectively and confidently. This will help you enhance your reputation, increase your exposure, and grow your photography business.