Smith - Pricing your portraits: high-profit business strategies for photographers

Jeff Smith is a professional photographer and the owner of two very successful studios in central California. His numerous articles have appeared in Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, and Studio Photography and Design magazines. Jeff has been a featured speaker at the Senior Photographers International Convention, as well as at numerous seminars for professional photographers. He has written seven books, including Outdoor and Location Portrait Photography; Corrective Lighting, Posing, and Retouching Techniques for Portrait Photographers; Professional Digital Portrait Photography; Success in Portrait Photography; and Portrait Pro: What You Must Know to Make Photography Your Career (all from Amherst Media). His common-sense approach to photography and business makes the information he presents both practical and very easy to understand.

Copyright 2015 by Jeff Smith.

All rights reserved.

All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Published by:

Amherst Media, Inc.

P.O. Box 586

Buffalo, N.Y. 14226

Fax: 716-874-4508

www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins

Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse

Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth

Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder

Business Manager: Adam Richards

Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo

ISBN-13: 978-1-60895-872-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014955655

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

Contents

T here is a long-running joke about the typical photographers business skills. Back when I started in photography, I was told, Look at what all the other photographers are doingand then do something else! That is advice that, sadly, has served me we well.

Photographers have always played a sort of follow the leader strategy of business, looking at other photographers and studios as a model for everything from how they price their work to how to market their work to attract clients. The resulting problem is this: when you follow another photographer, in most cases you are following someone who is following someone elsewith no idea of exactly why they price their work or market their business the way they do. Blindly following other photographers usually ends up in disaster.

Blindly following other photographers usually ends up in disaster.

In our area, many photographers have looked at what I was doing as a lead to follow for their own success, since most of them have read my books. I recently had a paid display at the most popular movie theater in our area. It was attached to the largest/nicest outdoor shopping area in our city, so this is where all the high school students we want to attract went to the movies. We spent $400 a month for a 3x5-foot, two-sided standeea free-standing A-frame display consisting of two black frames with hinges at the top and long tray screwed into the side to stabilize the unit and hold advertising materials. To draw the attention of each person leaving the cinema, we used many large photos of local seniors on each side of the display and posted our studios name prominently.

Guess what happened the minute our contract ended and the display came down?

We did this for two years and tracked our senior bookings to determine how many of them came to us because they saw the display. We also tested the name recognition from the cinema patrons. After all that, one thing became clear: our $4800 a year could be better spent marketing in other ways.

Realizing the follow-the-leader mentality that most photographers have, guess what happened the minute our contract ended and the display came down? Another larger studio in our area signed a contract to take our place to advertise to the seniors. This photographer was successful enough to know better than to follow the leader. If it worked, I never would have left. So what he thought was a ticket to high-school senior portrait success was a $400-dollar-a-month payment with little or no additional business.

This photographer was successful enough to know better than to follow the leader.

Taking a blind follow-the-leader approach can lead you far astray in your pricing, marketing, and shooting. In order to succeed, you have to understand your business and your clients.

Another obvious blunder of the follow-the-leader mentality is exemplified by the yearbook ads that we had to purchase under our school contract. There is no worse advertising dollar spent than one that is spent on a yearbook adan ad that comes out once a year and isnt the section of the book that people look at. Every year, though, new photographers saw I advertised in the yearbook and bought an large ad, figuring I knew what I was doing. They were right; I did know what I was doingbut, in this case, my intention was not to buy quality advertising for my business. Taking the ad didnt promote my studio at all. Instead, it helped fund the yearbook and the senior portrait yearbook contract. Unless you have access to all the information, your business decisions might be better made by learning how to make your own decisions.

Following the leader can cost you even more when you base your pricing on the prices that another photographer charges. In classes and via e-mail, I get so many questions on this exact subject: How much should I charge? I always ask each person what they are currently charging for their work and whether they sell portraits (prints), images provided on a DVD, or if they bill for their time. (Later in the book we will discuss all these types of delivery and how they impact the way you should set your prices.)