One of the most secretive topics between photographers is
pricing. It is almost as if talking
about pricing is a cardinal sin of sorts; well, personally I think most
photographers do not want to discuss this topic for a few reasons. One reason would be that they are under
charging for their services or another reason would be that they are not
charging at all and lastly, they do not understand how to properly charge for
their services so they cringe at the thought of discussing pricing.
For whatever the reason photographers choose not to have
this discussion, I truly believe that one key ingredient that makes a
photographer very hesitant to venture down the lane of pricing for services is
based on the economy. We all know that
the country was in a pretty severe recession a few years back and discretional
income was limited. Well, news flash the economy has recovered quite nicely;
however, people have learned how to curb their spending during the recession
and the side effect of this is not going away anytime soon.
So, what does this have to do with photographers discussing
pricing? Actually a lot! The cost to get
into the photographer world is relatively in expensive and this low cost of
entry has heavily saturated the market and made it extremely tough to squeeze a
dime out of a potential client. Now, you
hear about some of the big name photographers like Peter Hurley, Scot Kelby,
Michael Jordan Smith and Dixie Dixon and all the work that they are landing.
Well, granted the names listened above are landing some very nice gigs;
however, their success was not overnight and for the most part they are not
just giving away their services. They are charging for services rendered and they
understand their target market / client and they understand pricing. The reason that they are so successful I
believe stems from a few things:
1. Offer something unique and professional.
2. Continued education.
3. Speaking engagements, training and/or workshops.
4. Understand that people pay for what they value.
Although understanding that people pay for what they value
was listed 4th does not, by no means rank the importance level. Item
4 should be studied more carefully and always be in the forefront of your mind
when attempting to land clients or additional work. So, understand and value
your work and be able to pitch your services with confidence because at the end
of the item #4 is ultimately going to be the driving point in the clients
purchase decision. Lastly, understand your market and demographic to ensure you
are pricing what your market bares. If you are charging Peter Hurley prices for
a head shot session and you live in the Midwest…well…there is the problem. To
better understand how consumer spending has changed the past few years and type
of consumers you are challenged with check out the A Tour Guide to The TwoPlanets: NEO and Traditional.
A Tour Guide to The Two Planets: NEO and Traditional from MEGA Labs on Vimeo.
