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That’s not to say that they don’t work, or that they aren’t worth the money that people sell them for. It’s just that most of the pricing calculators have some major flaw that makes them not nearly as effective as I think they could be. It’s for this reason that I decided to create an easy and straight-forward photography pricing guide for photographers that shows you how to price photography.
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In a perfect world, you’d be able to charge whatever you wanted, people would be willing and able to pay it, and you’d have all the clients you could ever want.
There’d also be rainbows and unicorns prancing around every day. And perfect light. And no client complaints. And more hours in the day. And free gelato for all (yum!).
But that’s just not how it is.
It’s really hard to run a profitable photography business.
If you haven’t ever looked at the numbers, it’s likely far more expensive than you think.
In fact, to be both “affordable” and yet still charge enough to make it worth it to you without your business going under is difficult. However, I’ve heard from several people lately who want to be both.
So I’m going to tell you exactly what you need to do in order to be affordable and still keep your business afloat and profitable. [Click to read more]
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You know, where another photographer poses as a client and asks for more information because they just want to see your prices.
It’s one of the most annoying things you’ll deal with as a photographer (and yes, we know you’re doing it. There are hints that make it more than clear). So don’t do it.
If you want to see someone’s prices, simply ask them. They may or may not let you see them, but at least you’ll keep your dignity and not burn a bridge. Having good relationships with other photographers is priceless and can help you grow your business faster (it’s true!) so it’s not worth the risk.
The real questions is, though, is it really a good idea to look at the prices of other photographers anyways?
Let’s look at the pros and cons of seeing other price lists, and how to get them without being unethical and lying. [Click to read more]
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Like many people, I became interested in photography and the business just sort of fell into my lap.
While we’ve come a long way since then and I was able to leave my day job to do photography full-time, I made several mistakes when starting out that I wish I could go back and do differently.
These mistakes are easy to avoid if you are aware of them, yet it seems like almost all new photographers make them.
Here’s 5 common mistakes to avoid when starting a photography business. [Click to read more]
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I’m guessing the answer is “yes”.
You are not alone. It’s incredibly difficult to find balance while running a business.
Most new photography businesses are started by people also working another job or who are stay-at-home parents who have a full-time job (plus some!) raising children. Once you do get to the point of going full-time, you still don’t have enough time to do everything you want to do to sustain and grow your photography business in the way you want it to grow.
Personally, I’ve justified all the extra work by believing that “one day” it’ll get to the point I want it to be at and I won’t have to work as much.
It’s a lie. The more you grow, the more time it takes to sustain, and you can’t ever really just ignore it without negative consequences.
Yet at the same time, you need to find balance. Your kids are only young once, and life is too short to work all the time. Not to mention the fact that you are utterly exhausted from late-night editing sessions so aren’t the person you want to be during the day.
So what do you do? Do you fold? Do you cut back? Do you get an extra job so that you don’t have to do photography for the income and just do it for fun?
Let’s dive in and talk about how to find balance long-term in your photography business.
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The market is saturated with people charging hardly anything and doing things irresponsibly. If you know your numbers it can be hard to believe how much more you need to be charging to make what you need to be making. It doesn’t seem possible.
Yet you’re awesome because you are committed to being profitable and are ready to make the leap into the higher prices you deserve. No more pretending you’re making more than you really are, no more excuses. You’re ready to put on your big girl panties and making the leap into running a successful and profitable photography business.
So you raise your prices a lot. And suddenly you hear crickets. Nothing, not even an inquiry. You start to doubt yourself, your work, your ability to stay in business, and you are tempted to either drop your prices back to where they were or quit altogether.
Sound familiar? It doesn’t have to be this way.
So let’s talk this through, let’s do this the smart way, and let’s start making more money and avoiding some common pitfalls.
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On Sunday I turned 31, AND the day before that we reached our 10,000th email subscriber, so I thought it was a fitting time for a celebration! WOOT WOOT!
Use the coupon code above when checking out on any of the following 3 products. Click on the image to learn more about each one, and enter the coupon in the cart to apply.
These products will help you with pricing, with client management and expectations, and with exactly how to respond to all sorts of difficult situations. Check them out now!
Happy shopping!
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Free stuff that helps you earn more money and helps bring peace to your life is seriously legit.
Unrelated side note: Using word “legit” makes me feel young and trendy. But I’m not really. I’m a quirky mom with a camera that has a crazy love for business who is in no way a rock star. And I’m highly amused that I used it in this post, even though you’re probably rolling your eyes right now….
So, I’ve compiled a list of the best free photography business tools you’ll find here on The Modern Tog. [Click to read more]
One of the most common questions I get from readers is what the difference is between the various pricing guides out there, such as Easy as Pie, Creative Pricing & Packaging, my own free pricing guide, and others. Do you need to buy Easy as Pie? Or is my free pricing guide series enough? Or is there something else out there that is better?
Each of them have value, but they all significant differences and they aren’t all applicable to everyone. Instead of reviewing each guide separately, I thought it’d be helpful to do a mini-review of each of them and then compare them to each other. They don’t all directly talk about pricing, but each one of them is written with the goal of helping you increase your average sale, so they all are related in that way.
So this post is here to help you figure out which pricing guide is best for you so that you can stop wasting money on products that are not relevant to you and make sure that you’re getting exactly what you need to make more money in your photography business.
[Click to read more]
Photographers LOVE to tell other photographers to raise their prices.
It’s a bit like a badge of honor, as if they are saying, “I’ve gotten to these prices, so you should be here too.”
While I believe there are many, MANY good reasons to raise your prices, and I’ve told other photographers that they should raise their prices as well, there are several good reasons why this is sometimes a poor decision.
So let’s jump in and consider the times when it’s a bad idea to raise your prices.
Building a successful photography business takes tons of time and hard work. As much as I’d like to be able to tell you it’s fast and easy, it’s not.
However, there are a few things that can help you get there more quickly.
These tips won’t get you there overnight, and it will still require hard work on your part, but you’ll reach your goals faster than you would have otherwise. You’ll waste less time, money, and energy on things that don’t really help your business grow and you’ll end up getting where you want to be faster because of it.
My ultimate goal with this site is to help you get the business you’ve always wanted, and so here’s a few tips to help you get there faster. [Click to read more]
