Lots of people ask me if I’d be interested in being their rep. Thing is, I don’t rep anymore. In my world-view you can’t do both, at the same time, ethically. I don’t mean to slam other consultants who do (and it doesn’t make them “bad” if they do–it’s a personal choice), but for me, I just can’t help feeling that I’d be playing both sides of the fence.
See, a consultant gets to know waaaay to much intimate detail about most of her clients and that can cause conflict of interest. Imagine if, say, one of the consultant/rep’s repping clients and one of her consulting clients both get asked to estimate for a project. It would be in her own best financial interest for her repping client to get the project and she could use her knowledge of the consulting client to help make that happen.
While that scenario would be relatively rare, for me, I can’t sleep soundly with even just the possibility of that happening–not in my business. So, I don’t play both sides like that.
We all have to make ethical choices like that every day. Will you shoot for some less-than-honorable company like, say, Halliburton? If you don’t do it someone will, so why shouldn’t you get the money? My answer to that is that you can’t control what others do with their businesses, only what you choose to do with your own. Sometimes doing the “right” thing (whatever you decide for yourself is “right”) may mean making less money (in the short term) but the payoff of knowing in your heart you did is worth it.
Good point to mention your way to work on your blog Leslie. In our industry, generally speaking, are lots of grey areas we (Consultants, reps, photographers, assistants…) should clear up to better our image. It’s also about branding. We would feel better and certainly our profits would be higher.
Choosing not to work with companies for ethical reasons can bring you clients in. It’s a well known sales argument widely used in certain industries such as beauty (certain lables are not outsourcing to companies testing on animals) or fashion (certain labels are not working with fur companies) for example. You consultants, the reps and we photographer should more look at how our clients are marketing and try to learn from them. There are lots of ideas which can also help us realize our vision of a good world and show a working ethic.
By more looking at our clients way to work and which business they are really in, we will also better answer their needs and again, we will not only sleep better, but finally our profits will also benefit from it. Happy clients = happy photo industry !