HOW (NOT) TO COLLABORATE WITH CREATIVES

Recently, I received a message on instagram from an account I had never heard of asking whether I could help them out. They had been let down at the last minute by a photographer and needed someone to take photos of some instagram influencers at a “trendy restaurant” that afternoon. When asking for their budget and expected deliverables they told me that it was a collaboration and I shouldn’t expect to get paid - and asked if I knew who the influencers were. After explaining that I’m a professional photographer, they laughed at me and told me I didn’t have a clue.

I posted this little interaction on my Instagram stories and got a bunch of responses from other creatives in the industry - all who had been approached for free work before (perhaps not so rudely), and recognised the attitude. This lead me to think, perhaps I should put together a few tips on how to approach a photographer, videographer or artist - or anyone working in the creative fields for that matter - when asking for a collaboration. But first, a little bit of background.

INSTAGRAM’S FEUDAL SYSTEM

Something I have noticed about the way instagram structures interactions is how some people with lots of followers expect to be treated. Free work, free products, free treatments flow to them because of a vague promise of promotion - if you work with me, you’ll get all this publicity. This isn’t to say that everyone with a huge following acts entitled, but the system itself, that privileges attention and produces a hierarchy of attention, promotes a sense of entitlement amongst those who have seemingly done well.

Unfortunately, the promise of promotion is rarely more than just a promise. Unless your brands align, it’s very unlikely that your “fame” will rub off on the creative you’re working with. Now, I have worked with some amazing influencers in the past, wonderful people who just happen to have a huge following, but I didn’t work with them because of their stats - I had no misconception that their followers would want to follow me. I worked with them precisely because they were wonderful people and they would look great in my portfolio.

Social media seems to encourage a system, however, where those with the most followers appear more powerful or superior than those with less. We’re all scrabbling round trying to encourage people to follow us in the hope of one day sitting atop that golden throne. Those at the top can use their power wisely, or poorly. The interaction I had earlier points out how people abuse that power. They expect us to work for free because they have media power, they leverage that power to get things that mere mortals have to pay for. And then sometimes they castigate us for not understanding how this system works - how dare you challenge the power structure?!

So, in the spirit of helping out those who want to work with creatives, here’s list of points to remember.

MAKE SURE YOUR BRANDS ALIGN

Unless you know a particular creative’s brand aligns with yours, don’t ask for free work. People love to collaborate if they think they will get a lot out of the interaction - that could be publicity, but more often than not, it’s the chance to work with people they resonate with. But, if there isn’t already a connection there, a promise of publicity is generally not enough - unless we’re talking a huge amount of publicity.

I’ve often found that one influencer’s instagram followers follow them for their specific content or approach to life and will likely not care about my content or approach, so aren’t interested in following me. This is of course, fine, it’s how instagram works. However, if a creative wants to grow their instagram following by working with an influencer, chances are, they’ll only want to do so if their followers are likely to be the same kinds of people. Recognise this and you’ll have a much more productive relationship with those you collaborate with.

DON’T ASSUME EVERYONE WANTS TO WORK WITH YOU JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCCESSFUL

If you’ve done well to grow your audience, you can leverage that media power to make a very good living, however, not everyone is going to be along for the ride. Creatives and artists have bills to pay too, and asking for them to produce content for you is actual work - they’re using their skills, knowledge and often expensive equipment to make something that will, in truth, profit you far more than it profits them. Reward them for this with more than just exposure - it rarely results in something that valuable for them, so don’t expect them to jump at the chance to work with you. Treat them with respect especially if they decline your offer. If you’re truly successful you should be able to afford to pay someone what they’re worth, otherwise you’re just furthering the social media feudal system.

OFFER SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST EXPOSURE, EVEN IF YOU CAN’T PAY

We’ve all heard it, exposure doesn’t pay the bills. But if you seriously cannot afford to pay someone for their time and energy helping grow your commercial operation, which is essentially what you’re doing when suggesting a collaboration with a creative, offer them something else. Free food, free haircuts, free access - it’s the least you can do.