Managed Content Creation Platforms for Photographers – What are they and should you work with one?

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of a photographer's time is not spent behind the camera. Instead, much of it goes towards non-creative administrative tasks.

You'll be expected to be a marketer, a salesperson, a creative director, and a retoucher. After you finish a project, you'll need to spend even more time tracking invoices and collecting payment from clients.

These tasks are time-consuming and often require specialised skills that are outside of your comfort zone. Not to mention with all of this on your plate, you still need to make time to think creatively and take pictures.

It's easy to see why many photographers would rather devote their time and energy to their actual passion and not deal with the mundane tasks associated with running a business.

If this is something that you can relate to, then working with a content creation platform could be a good fit.

What are content creation platforms?

Content creation platforms are a new breed of services that connect photographers and content creators with clients. These platforms can come in a variety of forms, from self-serve to managed and everything in-between.

Fully managed platforms, like Creatively Squared, can help make your life easier by handling all of the tedious work like back and forth with clients and payments. Taking care of these processes behind-the-scenes frees up photographers’ time so they can focus on what they do best — taking photos!

Still unsure if working with Creatively Squared is the right choice for you? Here are a few pros and cons that might help you decide.

Benefits of working with managed content creation platforms

Clients come to you

Before you receive a project offer on our platform, we have already completed all of the marketing, contract negotiations, and pricing. This means no self-promotion, awkward conversations, or legal jargon to decipher when booking new clients.

Only live project offers that are ready to go will be sent to you. All creative briefs on our platform are pre-screened for suitability, so you'll never waste time on pointless pitching and proposals.

Creator-friendly briefs

When a project offer is made, all of the necessary back-and-forth with the client to iron out the details has already taken place. You'll receive a customised brief, brand guidelines, and any relevant references. We leave our briefs as open as possible to allow you to bring your own creative touch and style to the project.

Complimentary post-production

By making use of our free image processing and editing service, which is available to all of our photographers and content creators, you can avoid spending time on laborious retouching and instead focus on the creative aspects of your work.

Speedy, predictable payments

Photographers who use our platform are paid shortly after the job is completed. You'll never have to worry about not getting paid or chasing down clients for payment again.

We offer consistent payments for all of our projects. You'll never have to worry about competing with other photographers or having to change your prices in order to stay competitive.

With us, you can be confident that you will be paid fairly and on time, regardless of the type of creative work you do.

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Common concerns photographers have

Client relationships

Some photographers enjoy the project planning process and the chance to build direct relationships with their clients. This is an important part of their creative process, and they enjoy working together on a regular basis. If you prefer a more hands-on approach to finding and managing clients, working with a third-party platform may not be for you.

Pre-determined payments

The rates paid by third-party services are often significantly lower than what a photographer might charge their clients directly. This is due to the additional services provided by the platform that the photographer won't have to perform.

When photographers set their rates, they are accounting not only for the time spent behind the camera, but also for the time spent before and after the shoot. Somewhere between 70-95% of a photographer's time is spent on tasks that are not creative.

Managed platforms can help alleviate some of this time burden by taking on some of these additional responsibilities; the pay may be lower, but you'll also spend less time on each project.

In summary

If you are the type of photographer that loves finding and managing your own clients and has a full schedule, there's no reason to partner with a managed platform.

Alternatively, if you are struggling to build a client base or want to spend more time shooting and less time in front of a computer screen, a content creation platform can help focus on your craft.

We handle all of the administrative work, marketing, briefing, and payments for you at Creatively Squared, making your job easier, more creative, and less stressful. While we handle the details, you'll have more time to focus on creating beautiful images.