Photography can become very expensive, especially if you like collecting a lot of gear. So who wouldn’t like to receive discounts, or even better, free gear? I have spent a good amount of money on my gear and I would've loved to save some money on those purchases. So how do you go about saving money?
Chris Hau shares his experience on how he built a relationship with a company to receive a discount on product and eventually scored a free action camera with GoPro. It mostly comes down to having a plan and networking. Networking is beneficial in many ways and not just for scoring discounts from companies you want products from. The industry has changed dramatically with social media, so having a good following will help with securing these perks. Also, understand that you may not get free gear right away, companies may offer a discount to see what you can provide before giving something away.
You are probably not the only one asking for free gear, so keep that in mind. Before contacting them, ask yourself: “What can I do differently from everyone else?” Getting some face time with the proper channels does help a lot in making those connections as I am sure they get several requests daily. Before you send out an email or pick up the phone, do some research and planning.
[via Chris Hau]
His entire career seems to be off going viral. Seems he's hit it off with these really cheap tricks/hacks and surprisingly f-stoppers finds value in it.