Tech

Serial Entrepreneur Will Lucas Launches On-Demand Marketplace For Photographers To Book Clients Instantly – AfroTech

blacknewsdaily2 hours ago

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Booking a photographer has never been easier.

Will Lucas is a serial founder based in Toledo, OH, with several ventures in his portfolio, including Creadio, a full-service marketing technology agency, and TolHouse, a private social club for creatives and professionals, as previously reported by AFROTECH™.

ICON

His latest venture, ICON, is another medium to empower creatives, particularly photographers. The inception stemmed from various situations when Lucas wished he could easily book a photographer to capture a moment. So he built ICON, an on-demand marketplace for photographers that connects them with a client network, he said on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast and wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“In building ICON, I think about the school teacher who drives around with a Sony A7III in their backseat, the student who carries a Canon Powershot and has a great eye for angles, and the stay-at-home parent with the Nikon who used to shoot regularly but now just needs a few extra dollars every week to keep up with these insane gas prices,” Lucas, who also serves as the AFROTECH™ Brand Manager, wrote on LinkedIn. “None of those people are ‘professionals’ by the old definition … But every one of them has the thing much harder to teach: the eye. Until now, having the eye for great photos wasn’t enough. The talent was real, but the opportunity was harder to navigate,” he continued.

Using ICON, photographers will not have to chase clients, manage contract sales, chase deposits and final payments, or handle logistics. The marketplace will do the heavy lifting and ensure photographers can monetize their talent.

According to ICON’s website, photographers can apply by submitting their best work. Their work and style will be reviewed, and if approved, photographers will complete onboarding and begin to work. Photographers can connect their bank, and payments are issued when a gallery is delivered to a client.

Photographers can choose their schedule, markets, and which shoots they accept. When they arrive at the photoshoot, a pairing code will confirm that you are the photographer for the client session.

Photo sessions start at 15 minutes.

“You can book a photographer as easily as you can book a ride … You open up the app, you book a photographer in real time, and they pull up to whatever you got going on, whether it’s a cookout, your family reunion at the park, whether it’s your kid’s birthday in the backyard, or it’s just a random Saturday and you look good. With ICON, you capture the moment while it’s happening, and you get to be in the photos … We’re talking about real photographers, people with real eyes, real perspectives, showing up on demand,” he said in an Instagram post.

Photographers are expected to deliver content quickly with fast edits and no revision rounds. Photographers can upload content from their cell phone or computer at studio.shotxicon.com.

The platform is also free to use for photographers. ICON will take a share of each booking, and the rate shown before accepting a booking will be the amount the photographer will be paid in full.