Photography Pricing For Beginners
Are you a beginning photographer? Do you charge for your photography? Can we talk about photography pricing for beginners?
This blog post and video will help you, hold your hand and put you on your way to success.
We have many pricing options and each one is important for a different type of business. In my experience, the one that works the best across the board is the three-pricing method. Many freelancers will insist their method is the best, and if you believe that to be true, continue doing it. Afterall, we want you creating a healthy income because you’re doing what you love. Remember, you can always adjust your method as you build up.
Why Start With The 3 Price Method For Photographers?
Start with what is the most familiar for your audience. Photography pricing for beginners can be simple, especially with this method. Many wedding photographers, online services, and even small businesses offer this method. It’s what takes less effort for the consumer to understand when you approach with this pricing method. For that reason alone, I would suggest it as a starting point to changing for your photography business.
Remember that there will always be a photographer who insists their way works better. If it does, please continue that and keeping building your business. This is for the photographer who wants to start charging, who might be confused on the methods and it works!
What Each Point Says About Photography Pricing:
We could easily opt for a pricing method that allows each option to shine. This is a good option for photography pricing for beginners. That means they all stand individually and don’t really affect the pricing packages around them. That’s good, it’s right to the point but it’s not helping the client make a decision. Believe it or not, they want us to help them make a decision.
Photo 1: Walid Azami Directing a Commercial
The Cheap Option For Photography Pricing
This is the entry-point for your product. It allows most of the market to try your services and walk away with something beautiful, something meaningful with their photographs. It’s an easier decision for the consumer with the least amount of risk. Let’s keep talking about photography pricing for beginners and seeing how you fit in.
These packages are often about 4-hours long (wedding market), offer a few photographs, and covers the basics without the bells and whistles. Imagine getting the lowest level of a Honda Civic. Yes, you are driving a Honda and they’re great! But you’ll be rolling the window with your arm, you’ll be sitting on cheap cloth material, listening to music on less than stellar speakers, and possibly having less options for the paint of the car. For some drives, this is irrelevant and they want to drive a safe and reliable car.
For your photography, we have a similar type of program. It’s the safe and reliable choice, very few if any bells & whistles but it has your good name on it. You can sell a lot of these and just like the bottom-end Honda Civc, it’s a wonderful entry point to the brand. Honda knows they’ll come back and either upgrade to another civic or even another type of Honda car.
The same goes with your photography. Maybe this is all they can afford, but they deserve good quality without all the extras. This is that package!
The good: Easy to complete and can fill your calendar with a lot of them. Think, quantity over quality. Intro to your services is key with this one, but it’s also less of an emotional investment on your part. The clients have a faster in/out service. There is less time speaking on the phone, passing notes back & forth, or anything.
The not-so-good: You’re not exactly waking out of each shoot with your pockets full. It’s low in the profit margin but you can fill up your schedule with a bunch of these. That could be a pain in the neck. That’s a lot of emails, calls, etc…
The Middle Option For Photo Pricing:
This is the one that should be called “The Salesperson” because it should do the selling for you. Let me point that out again: this package is your salesperson! That means less selling on your part, less trying to convince anyone. That’s a beautiful thing!
Here’s what a client should think when they approach your middle option: “I want a little more than the first option, but the second option is more expensive and a big jump with little more to offer.” After that initial thought they’ll start doing some comparisons. OK package 1 offers a few things, but the price is so much less. Package 2 offers a little more, but I just can’t justify its cost. Oh wait..what’s this? What dose package 3 have? That’s a lot more…I might either now downgrade to package 1 or start looking at package 3. However, one thing is certain…package two is not it!
The Good: If they pick this, you have a big profit. You are only offering a little more for a lot bigger jump in price. If they don’t select the second option, that is still great! They now either pick the option 1 (you work less and it’s easy to complete) or they pick option 3. We’ll discuss that next.
The not-so-good: I do not see a bad side to this. For the client it should not make sense because they are getting a little more for a heftier fee.
The magic of option 2 is, it does the selling for you. The client naturally looks at the selections and decides to either move up to the most expensive, or they move themselves back to the entry level pricing. In my opinion, the role of the middle option is to do the selling for you.
Is this tricking the client? No, the client has the option to hire you for any package they wish, or none. We’re giving them choices and we’re suggesting what’s best for them (and you).
The Third Option
The 3rd package is the one you want them to hire you for. It offers your photography client more hours, more prints, more options. And this helps them have a better experience, better memories or a better product. In fact, it’s even more beautiful than that! We serve our clients far better with the 3rd package and it only adds an extra 10-15% more work. It’s ridiculous what a win/win this package is!
It’s only a tiny bump above package 2, but offers so much more value. The client is saying they have full faith in you and they are ready to put their hard-earned money on your talents. This is a client who wants to invest in good photography and requests all the bells & whistles.
This is the client who will hire you again and they understand the value in great photography. Imagine that! This is your perfect client, the one where you want to duplicate over & over.
The Good: Well, it’s a the highest level of what you are offering. It’s what serves your client the best and your business.
The Bad: I can’t see the bad, to be honest with you. This is the client ready to invest in you, with you, and want your best work in the biggest form.
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