Marco Kramer

Eén van de centrale pijlers van samenwerken is vertrouwen. Wij begrijpen dat meeste fotografen Royalty Free Models nog niet kennen. We zijn tenslotte nieuw en ons Business Model is totaal anders dan een fotograaf gewend is. Bij ons kun je direct zien wat het boeken van een model kost, ongeacht je specifieke opdracht. Ook onderhoud je zelf zo snel mogelijk direct contact met het model. 

Uit eigen ervaring weten we dat tarieven voor modellen ontzettend kunnen fluctueren, vooral als je meldt dat je een opdracht voor een ‘high profiel’ klant hebt. Daar komt nog bij dat de ‘standaard’ modellenbureaus behoorlijke prijzen rekenen voor het afbeelden van het model op meerdere media, meerdere regio’s én voor meerdere jaren. Zo niet bij Royalty Free Models! Onze Akte van Overeenkomst voor de fotograaf en het model draait volledig om vertrouwen en duidelijkheid. 

Voor elke fotograaf is het belangrijk dat hij van te voren precies weet waar hij aan toe is als hij een model boekt via Royalty Free Models. Het uitzoeken van een model is eenvoudig genoeg, maar dan begint de opdracht pas. Het moet ook meteen duidelijk zijn welke ruimte het bijbehorende contract hem geeft. De fotograaf wil geen verrassingen (of kosten) achteraf. Onze Akte van Overeenkomst is hem —letterlijk— op het lijf geschreven.  

Model Release

De eerste vragen die we ontvingen gingen vrijwel zonder uitzondering over de Model Release. Veel fotografen ontvangen tegenwoordig beperkte financiële bewegingsruimte van hun opdrachtgevers en daarom is de fotograaf terecht op zijn hoede. Niemand houdt van verassingen achteraf. Daarom hebben we tezamen met onze jurist Arnoud van ICTRecht een duidelijke Akte van Overeenkomst opgesteld waarin precies staat welke partij welke mogelijkheden heeft:

Uit de overeenkomst:

Paragraaf 4: Portretrechten en auteursrechten

Het model verleent na betaling van de prijs op grond van zijn of haar portretrecht en aanverwante rechten toestemming voor ieder gebruik van de van hem of haar gemaakte foto’s voor de doelen die in het aanbod zijn genoemd. 

Deze toestemming is eeuwigdurend en kan niet worden ingetrokken. De toestemming geldt echter niet voor gebruik buiten de doelen omschreven in het aanbod. Tevens is expliciet uitgesloten toestemming voor iedere vorm van gebruik waarbij door context, montage, bewerking of presentatie een suggestie van pornografie, erotiek of naakt wordt gewekt of waarbij op enige andere wijze afbreuk wordt gedaan aan de integriteit, goede naam, reputatie of persoonlijke levenssfeer van het model.

De toestemming geldt voor gebruik in alle media (online en offline), onder meer websites, billboards, tijdschriften, boeken, beeld- en geluidsdragers, en voor alle soorten uitingen, onder meer reclame, redactionele inhoud, kunst, handel, covers van boeken of tijdschriften. De toestemming geldt voor alle landen en regio’s ter wereld en is onbeperkt in tijd. 

Het model heeft recht om twee à drie foto’s zoals gemaakt bij de shoot in digitaal formaat te ontvangen (naar eigen keuze model) voor publicatie en verspreiding via alle media, onder meer de website van Royaltyfree Models, doch beperkt tot publicatie en verspreiding in het kader van zelfpromotie of het presenteren van een portfolio. Deze foto’s dienen geschikt te zijn voor een reproductie van redelijke kwaliteit op A5-papier en mogen zijn voorzien van een watermerk of andere aanduiding van de naam van de fotograaf of opdrachtgever. Het model mag deze aanduiding niet verwijderen of onleesbaar maken. Het model zal waar mogelijk de naam van de fotograaf en een door opdrachtgever te noemen webadres plaatsen bij elke publicatie van de foto’s. Indien nodig zal opdrachtgever de benodigde toestemming voor het bepaalde in dit artikel regelen bij de fotograaf. 

Ook aan minderjarige modellen is gedacht. Uiteraard kunnen zij niet zelf akkoord gaan en dient de Akte door de ouder en/of voogd getekend te worden. Deze dient ook aanwezig te zijn bij het uitvoeren van een fotoshoot. 

Samengevat

Elk geboekt model van Royalty Free Models verleent volledige toestemming voor gebruik van zijn of haar portretrecht (en aanverwante rechten) van de  gemaakte foto’s. De toestemming is eeuwigdurend en geldt voor de doelen die (door de fotograaf) in de Akte van Overeenkomst zijn genoemd. Er zijn slechts twee kleine opmerkingen: Het model heeft toestemming gegeven voor de door de fotograaf bepaalde opdracht. De foto’s kunnen niet zomaar ‘hergebruikt’ worden voor een ander doel. Daarnaast is het voor het model belangrijk dat de foto’s niet achteraf (zonder zijn of haar weten) zodanig bewerkt worden dat er afbreuk wordt gedaan aan de integriteit van het model. 

Zoals gezegd: Alles draait om vertrouwen. Voor zowel de fotograaf als het model. De enige twee uitzonderingen (niet achteraf van opdrachtgever wisselen en niet foto’s van het model onbehoorlijk bewerken) maken het mogelijk dat het model ook u kan vertrouwen. 

Na maanden hard werk, onderzoek, interviews en afspraken met Art Directors, fotografen (en zelf andere modellenbureau’s) is de nieuwe website live! We zijn erg trots op de nieuwe vormgeving waar we onze modellen centraal stellen en waar zowel de modellen als de opdrachtgevers meer mogelijkheden hebben dan ooit om snel tot een opdracht te komen. Tot ziens op Royalty Free Models!

Deze week is het zo ver! De nieuwe website gaat online! Alle modellen ontvangen ook persoonlijk bericht en we zullen uiteraard ook via Twitter en FaceBook alles bekend maken. Voor de lezers van ons blog alvast een klein voorproefje van de Home pagina! 

Eén van de modellen van Royalty Free Models, Joëlle is gespot op de voorpagina van zaterdag-editie van de Leeuwarder Courant (oplage ± 90.000, bron). Gefeliciteerd Joëlle! (Na het RTL4 ochtendjournaal alweer in de media). 

Verbeeld Fotografie en de Art Director van ontwerpbureau il panda electrik waren zo aardig om een ‘actiefoto’ van de sessie te e-mailen. Erg leuk om zo een blik achter de schermen te ontvangen. Ze hadden gekozen voor beginnend model Joey van Royalty Free Models en tezamen hebben ze er een erg geslaagde middag van gemaakt! 

Joey: Hee nynke! De shoot is helemaal goed gegaan hoor! Was heel leuk om te doen :)

Il panda electrik: Hoi Nynke, we zijn klaar en het is helemaal goed gegaan, echt leuk. Ik ben erg tevreden over Joey. Bedankt voor de leuke samenwerking! 

One of the main things we’re improving for the Royalty Free Models website is the “Searching for the Right Model” experience. Right now you can search and browse for:

1. Male/Femal
2. Age
3. Size
4. Skintype

We don’t ask our models where they live because it is none of our business and we can contact the models using their e-mail address. That’s nice and non-intrusive. (If that fails we send them a text-message via SMS. If that fails we’ll give them a call). We do ask what province they live because photographers need to have a rough estimate of the time and money it will cost to get a model at the location of the photoshoot. (The transport costs are redeemed by the photographer booking the model). 

We know our clients are having a tough time and budgets are under pressure. So we’re going to add “Province” to the selection menu and allow photographers and designers to filter the models at the Provence-level and keep the costs of models needing to take public transport down as well. The Netherlands isn’t a very big place, but the Royalty Free Models website is nation-wide and it sure is nice to search for local models first. We’re working on it right now and I’ll update the blog when searching at the Province-level is live.

The 2nd feature a lot of photographers asked for was a way to quickly and easily way to have a good first and complete impression of a model. Not everyone can show good, high resolution photo’s and provide a complete impression of their face and body.

If that’s their choice, than that’s okay for us. The model is the owner and boss of their own profile. If they choose to upload only one picture, it’s their choice. Photographers however, have requested for a way to search through complete portfolio’s as well as searching all portfolio’s. If a photographer can’t find the type of person they’re looking for, then they will search all the profiles. It is very much appreciated if they can filter the search-results to quickly see only complete portfolio’s. 

The only real difference between a ‘complete’ portfolio and a ‘regular’ portfolio is the quality of the photo’s and if a photographer can get a good impression of the model. 

Apart from working on the search on Province-level we’re going to add a new search category called ★ Portfolio’s (or ‘Star Portfolio’s’). We’ve done a quick selection of portfolio’s we felt gave a good and complete first impression. If you’re portfolio isn’t listed among the Star Portfolio’s and you feel it should because your photo’s rock (or because you’ve uploaded more and better pictures), let Nynke know. Anyone can request an upgrade to a Star Portfolio, having one is totally free. 

We’re very happy with our Super Size Advertisement at the Erasmus University. In between classes the University displays slides and we’ve got four of them. The slides are displayed using a beamer and run for 2 minutes. (If you wish to check out all of the slides, have a look at this online slideshow). The very fist day the ads were displayed students were signing up to be a (part time) Model! 

By Marco: I knew when I started Royalty Free Models I wouldn’t get every detail exactly right the first time around and that it’s of vital importance to keep our ear to the ground and listen to clients wishes. I made the commitment to continually keep updating the website and the services we provide. 

The last few months I’ve been talking to models, photographers, Art Directors, clients and even the former owner of an “regular” Model Agency about Royalty Free Models and the direction I wanted to take the improved website.

The photographers and Art Directors were surprised to see such a wide variety of people and a nation wide coverage for such a new service and they like the idea of being able to quickly select and contact the right type of person. Of course there were some things they would like to see differently as well:

Variable prices
The very first thing that came to mind was the ability to book models for a shorter period of time. Our goal at setting the All-In price at € 328,- was to guarantee a good fee for the model and to keep the costs for the client predictable and affordable. (A predictable cost is very important for our clients. It’s the main reason why we choose to include all Royalties as well). This way clients know exactly how much a photoshoot will cost. 

The clients I went out to see and the clients that contacted us the last few months made it clear they would really like more freedom to book models for a shorter (or longer) period of time. They wanted custom prices to meet their specific demands. 

The Models
I’ve been talking to models how they felt about this. My first thought was people wouldn’t like. I was wrong. I learned they felt the same way as our clients: It’s okay to receive a smaller fee for a smaller job. After all: They really enjoy working with photographers, doing a photoshoot and getting a real ‘hands on’ experience! The models I talked to understood a client would like to pay less for a smaller and faster photoshoot. They do want to get paid a fair price, so we made damn sure about that.

One client even told me he arranged a room in a hospital for a medical-style photoshoot and he was only allowed to use it for a little over an hour. Even though he requested some of our Models, our standard 5 hour price didn’t fit the job. Our new website will allow for easier price-customization. 

Other wishes
I’ve been able to incorporate the wish to add more price-flexibility to the new website. In a next post I’ll write about three other features people told me about: The ability to customize a models’ time also requires clients to receive a quote up front.

Another feature I heard about a lot is to pay us at once instead of each model separately. And -last but certainly not least- to they would really like to see better quality pictures!

We’re working on all three wishes (and more!) and we’ve already worked out how we’re going to fulfill them. We will be helping Models with lower quality of photo’s as well. So stay tuned and rest a sured: You are always on our mind. I hope to launch the new version of our website as soon as possible.

By Marco Kramer: As most of you know I work in the advertising business. At my company we focus on building strong brands. David Brier, the award-winning brand identity expert from DBD International (USA), is one of my personal heroes with regards to branding. (Check out his book ‘Rising Above the Noise’ or read his articles at Fast Company).

So I was very happy when I had a chance to ask David how he felt about Royalty Free Models’ concept of letting Art Directors, Advertising- and PR-managers view, select and communicate with all kinds of people who are willing to be a ‘Model-For-A-Day’ for a fixed price. I explained to him everybody (from sixpack to beer belly) can sign up. 

David: Given the incredible popularity of online videos (YouTube, etc.), the “discovery” factor as made popular by American Idol, X Factor and America’s Got Talent and sites like fiverr.com, I can absolutely see this as becoming quite popular and useful. That’s my take!

David even offered some personal advice (to work on the “discover” angle a bit more as it might help attract new models). We will definitely have a good look at that angle. Thanks David! 

Starting the first quarter of 2012 Royalty Free Models will be advertising at the Erasmus University in the city of Rotterdam. We’ve struck a nice deal and we’ll be able to place our message on 4 slides on the internal screens. Have a look for yourself and click on the SlideRocket presentation. 

English Translation:
Slide 1: “Tomorrow I’ll be a surgeon for a day!”
Slide 2: “Tomorrow I’ll be pissed off for a day!”
Slide 3: “Tomorrow I’ll be a Stock broker for a day”
Slide 4: “Tomorrow I’ll be a model for a day!” 
“Earn up to 300 euro’s per shoot. Safe and Anonymous. We welcome everybody. From sixpack to beerbelly”. Royalty Free Models.  

Some time ago The Founder Institute opened up a department in Amsterdam and that’s a really big deal for StartUps. They’re an “Incubator” from Silicon Valley. In their own words: 

“A global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies” 

Even though 99% of every application is denied, Marco thought it would be really cool to apply. Imagine having entrepreneurs like the founder of Evernote (a very succesfull StartUp with millions of users globally) fly over from Silicon Vally all the way to Amsterdam and help you out with your StartUp Business! 

Applying for their StartUp Master Classes requires you to pass increasingly difficult tasks. For starters you simply apply. Anyone with a good —or bad— idea can apply. Now don’t think you can just e-mail them a quick message. No, if you want to proceed to the next level of the intake you need to really THINK about what it is you’re going to tell them. 

You’d better have a reason to become an entrepreneur and it’d better not be “to make some money” or “I hate my boss”. No. You need a real motivation and having a philosophy or deeper thoughs about the subject will also help. They’ll also ask you about things you’re really passionate about. And if you think that’s not enough, they’ll ask you to put it in all in a two minute YouTube video as well! 

We’ll post our very own YouTube video shortly. The quality of Marco’s motivation and the video was good enough to let Marco pass to the next level. We’ll tell you about that test, show you how you can take a somewhat similar (but much shorter) test online.

The blog has been quiet for a few weeks. Let me inform you what caused this. A few weeks ago Marco suddenly lost sight in his right eye. (That’s what happens if you ignore little black spots or ‘dead pixels’ in your line of sight. Black pixels become bigger and your retina tears up a little bit. Eye-fluid can leak behind the retina and causes it to let go of your eye. Boom, you’re blind).

It turned out his retina was damaged. After visiting three hospitals and three ER’s Marco finally ended up on a surgeon’s table in the city of Groningen. The surgeon was very skilled and experienced and he was able to put the retina back in place. (The human retina is quite delicate; about as strong as a single sheet of newspaper under water). After that Marco was ordered to lie on his side for two weeks. Thankfully Marco’s vision is now almost completely restored (about 80%) and he’s been working on Royalty Free Models again for some weeks.

This did really screw up our planning though. But, not to worry! We’ve got some great improvements coming up. We’ve already finished designing and coding the first part but we really want to combine it with the other improvements. So stay tuned!

Apart from that, Marco’s also been talking to photographers and even an owner of a large Model Agency. We’ll try to update you on the new features as soon as we can. 

Starting today a large Royalty Free Models banner will appear at the Dutch Graphic Forum website. The Dutch Graphic Forum has been around for almost ten years and is home to almost 2.000 graphic designers. The website’s community is known for helping out designer’s in need. Our banner will appear in a pool of 3 ads. (The real banner is almost twice the size shown here).

Oktober 2011: A Review by Publish Magazine (translation from Dutch)

Book your Models online
Stock Photo websites are nice, but sometimes you would prefer to create your own custom photo’s and arrange for a Photo Shoot. This usually means booking a model. But models can be quite expensive. Nynke and Marco Kramer started a new and appealing Start up called Royalty Free Models to do something about those prices. Royalty Free Models is a website where anyone can register themselves as a (beginning)model without costs. Photographers, Art Directors and PR Managers can search and book these people. 

The booking process is simple: A client can send a request for a specific model to Nynke. Nynke forewords the request and when the model accepts the job, the client of Royalty Free Models receives a small mediation fee. 

After paying the fee the client receives the Models’ contact details along with a custom contract for the specific job. Both can set a date and agree up on a location for the photoshoot and both are legally bound by the contract. 

All the models work for the same standard price of 252,- euro’s (taxes not included). This price includes a photoshoot for a maximum period of five hours. For the 252,- euro’s the model will also transfer any and all royalties of the photoshoot directly to the client. (For this specific job. A client can’t just use the photo’s for other jobs). 

Apart from the model fee, clients also pay a small one-time mediation fee of 76,- euro’s. For this both party’s receive a legal contract outlining the specifics of the job and rules regarding the photo shoot Royalty Free Models deems important. The contract is a custom made to make for commercial photo shoots to make sure both parties know exactly what they are stepping into. 

The standard price Royalty Free Models uses is All In. No more paying extra just because you’re doing a photo shoot for a high-profile client, no more paying again and again for royalties just because you want to advertise using extra different medium (like online as well as offline) or using the photo’s again next year. Photographers can rest assure the photo’s of the model are royalty free (for the job it was booked for).  

You can also select certain people and create an entire family for your photo shoot because little children and older people are also featured on the website. Just about the only thing you can’t do is take nude pictures. Asking models to remove their clothes is not allowed. (Not even for artistic photo’s or photo’s of models wearing underwear). Both parties need to agree to this by signing the contract before the photo shoot takes place. 

The website of Royalty Free Models is very accessible and it does not select between any of the models registering. They feel selecting people is the clients job. Any one can create an account (minors do need their parents consult when accepting a job and a parent needs to be preset during the photo shoot). Within the first few months and with no advertisement Royalty Free already holds several hundred models. It looks like there is a real demand for this service. 

Google analytics is one of those things you really need to know about when you’re running a Start Up that’s trying to shake up the world of Model Agencies for the Advertising Industry. You’re new and you want people to find and know about your company.

The ‘Usual Suspects’ of agencies have large networks of clients and basically own the entire market by doing the same thing they’ve been doing for – eat least – the better part of two decades. Doing the same thing won’t get us anywhere. So we won’t. 

It’s possible to do your own Google Analytics research and Search Engine Optimization of course, but seeing lists of keywords is very different from understanding it and building a correct strategy with a specific goal in mind. 

Good friend and E-Marketer Paul did some extensive research checking specific keywords and Search Engine Optimization regarding the Model Industry. He came up with good alternatives because keywords like ‘model’ are very difficult to claim. We’re going after other specific words that people use a lot when they search for Model-related things. Paul made an analyses that will focus on our company and the way we work. We won’t be telling you exactly what all those things are, but I can tell you we’ve found a way to help us reach a better spot when people look for ‘models’ by focussing on ‘model-related’ subjects. The coming weeks we’ll be implementing this new strategy. 

Kudos to Paul for helping us out! 

The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property just informed us the Royalty Free Models Brand has completed the entire procedure and my design (see below) is now officially a registered trademark. As such our brand is protected from copycats. 

A trademark is a sign that distinguishes your goods (products) or services from those of your competitors. Registering your trademark at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) gives you the exclusive right to use the trademark for certain goods (products) and serviceswithin the Benelux, for a(n) (extendable) period of 10 years.

Our Brand was ‘different’ enough from other Model Agencies and the Brand has it’s own individual character. We are Royalty Free Models®! 

We’re new to the ‘Model Party’ and there are established large players of course, but we’ve studied them, we worked with some of them (as we both work for the creative industry) and we feel Royalty Free Model’s got more than one advantage over those players.

Actually, we’re nothing like most agencies because we don’t want to deny people a chance to a photo shoot. Anyone can create their own personal page and get represented by Royalty Free Models. We let the photographer decide who he or she will select for a certain photo shoot. 

Some Model Agencies want to charge you for your profile. We’ll never do that. You’re represented for free. Also: we won’t demand you buy an expensive photo shoot just because “you’re own photo’s aren’t good enough”. No. It’s your profile. You decide how you’ll look. Even if you land a job, we won’t send you a bill.

And did you know a lot of models aren’t allowed to talk about their pay with the photographer? Some Model Agency’s will tell them “it’s not professional”. Well, we think that is just a load of crap. With us you’ll know exactly what you’re getting paid because it’s the same for every model and every job. For every job you accept, you receive 300 euro’s (taxes included). The contract protecting both you and the photographer is included. 

The management fee for us is just 76 euro’s and is paid for by the photographer. After payment they’ll contact you. The two of you agree to the location and time of the shoot. 

Last week lucky winner Margaritha  got to do her photoshoot with good friend Ronald and his Jitty’s team. Margaritha had a great time and Ronald and his team went out of their way to create a very nice set of beautiful pictures in the studio and even on the streets of Amsterdam. Margaritha will receive high quality copy’s of all photo’s for free. There are a few examples after the ‘read more’. You can view more photo’s on the FaceBook FanPage. 

We want to thank the Jitty’s team very much for working with us. We sincerely enjoyed their enthusiasm, their creativity and the high level of professionalism. 

(Hairstyling and photo’s: Jitty’s Hair and Make-up Amsterdam). 

After 200 models signing up in 3 months it’s time to shift our main focus from finding models to finding photographers and Art Directors and to show them what Royalty Free Models can do for them. 

One of the first thing we need to do (now we’ve got a good collection of models) is get out there and let the world of creatives know Royalty Free Models is here! So the extremely positive article in Publish magazine was a very good first move. As Publish Magazine is read by almost 4.000 (!) creative agency’s in The Netherlands and Belgium, we’re extremely proud to be featured on the cover (in print) and to have such a large (full page) article featuring photo’s of our models combined with a great story of our Start Up. 

We’re already working on new press-releases for other large Creative and Advertising magazines and we’re deploying our own Linkedin network as well. We’ve got several presentations lined up to demonstrate Royalty Free Models’ advantages and show the awesome models. So stay tuned because we will keep you posted! Chasing photographers has got our full attention. 

The Royalty Free Models website has been live for 3 months now. In this time we’ve been updating and bugfixing the website, answering a lot of Model’s questions (and their parents’ questions!). We’ve been designing and distributing posters, e-mailing journalists, setting up the ‘Win-a-Photshoot’ contest and much, much more. 

Our number one concern was to find models of course! And boy did we ever. Today we passed the 200 model mark and we’re very happy for reaching this milestone. We love each and every one of our models for signing up and for placing their trust in us! 

We value your trust in us a lot and we’re not just saying it, we’re living’ it! Everything about Royalty Free Models is based up on a foundation of trust. For starters: It’s very transparent who’s running daily procedures at Royalty Free Models. Reaching out to Nynke is easy as well. You can phone us, e-mail us, Tweet us or send a FaceBook message. 

The rules and costs for models and companies looking to book models are Crystal Clear as well. Models don’t have to pay anything. Not even for accepting a job and receiving the contract. Also: We don’t accept any jobs that include nude, topless or underwear. These rules are mentioned to all photographers up front and they need to sign the contract for the job stating they will not ask you to remove any clothing.