Hi,

I've been contacted by a local photog. who's going on maternity leave. She wants to work w/ me on a referral basis. She would send me her clients that she can't shoot (baby stuff, too busy, etc). We're negotiating finder's fees for me to pay her for sending me business. She also wants me to refer clients to her, but since I don't pay for advertising, I have no problem referring to her w/out her paying me a finder's fee. She, on the hand, has a high overhead and is looking to receive $25-$50/hr per referral. Does this sound reasonable?

Also, I don't charge by the hour and don't want to start (or even keep track of how long I'm with a client). I charge per session and those can last anywhere from 1-3 hrs. I proposed a finder's fee of 15% of original package sold to her referral. Does this sound reasonable?

Anyway, would love to hear from any of you who have these relationships. This is all new to me and I want to negotiate something good for both of us. Let me know how you work it.

Thanks!

I'd definitely say that you should negotiate a % based finder's fee, as opposed to a flat fee that you'll give her for every client. This encourages her to send you QUALITY referrals, ones that will buy larger packages, care more about their photography, etc. I'd say somewhere between 10-15% would be reasonable:

10 Hours @ $25-$50/hr referral fee = $250-$500
$3,000 Package @ 15% = $450

Down here in SD we kind of just pass around clients without worrying about referrals and finders fees - so my response might be kind of out of whack. I wouldn't pay someone for referrals

What happens if you are busy, and want to refer to her?

I defnitely feel the same about not paying for referrals but this is what she's offering so I'm trying to decide if I even want to do it and then what would be reasonable.

I'm much more of the opinion that referrals between colleagues should be based upon talent, etc and not kickbacks but I would like more business and if she wants money for shooting some my way, I need to find something we can both agree on.

thanks for your thoughts...anyone else!?!



She pays me the same that I would pay her.

FYI, I don't do kickbacks. Period.

I'll toss out referrals, and offer to 2nd for free if I'm not booked for people who help me out.