I found a great blog article today about why professional photographers charge for a service that many people mistakenly believe anyone can do. Denver photography business guru Lori Osterberg puts everything into perspective and words that my lack of experience won't allow me to accurately express yet.
Since I've been working overtime editing the wedding photos that are due this weekend, I've had a lot of time to think about why someone would want to hire a professional for an event like this. There were plenty of other people who were taking snapshots throughout the wedding.
This article made me believe that I really am a professional and have a right to be charging for my work instead of feeling guilty about charging $100 for one framed photo. And if you ever need to explain to a potential client why you charge when someone on Craiglists said they would do it for free, put these tips to memory and heart and let them empower you to be compensated for the product and service only a professional can provide. And that professional is YOU and ME!
No. 6 really resonates with me right now. Mike, Jason and I may have only spent 8 hours shooting the wedding and reception....but I've spent countless hours editing the images so that they are more than snapshots but a professional product, talking to the client, taking orders and answering emails and phone calls.
"6. Professional photographers can spend hours producing one professional photograph. Time can include:
creating the marketing
answering emails and phone calls
meeting with the client to talk about the event
setting up for the event
drive time to and from the event
time for the actual photographing
running to and from the lab
meeting with the client for previews and decisions
processing the image
retouching the image
mounting the image
framing the image
packaging the image
dropping off final images
production work
follow up work
Add it all up, and you can see why one portrait session may include hours worth of work. It's impossible to stay in business if you only make a few pennies per client." - Lori Osterberg
Showing posts with label charging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charging. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Get the Job Done: How Much Should I Charge?
Something has continued to plague me ever since I decided to start my photography business: How do you know what to charge clients for your services?
A lot of my anxiety comes from past experiences. I remember seeing lovely artwork and photography hanging in exhibits and displays at restaurants. I always wanted one or two, or 10 to buy for myself....but I would cringe when I saw listed prices of $100 or more for a single print (and not even a framed one at that!) I knew I could never afford to pay for such a luxury. Now that I am the one peddling my own art for a profit, I often feel guilty asking others to pay for my work.
I charged a client $350 for a shoot, and then couldn't stop myself from saying things like, "let's barter or make a deal if you think that's too much!" Even the editor of the Denver Post balked when I charged him only $150 for a family portrait session where I even traveled all the way to his house to take the pics! He told me I wasn't charging enough! I basically sucker punched myself.
According to photographer Julia Woods, because every studio's product is different, "cost of sale is the only way to accurately price what you sell." Woods and her husband photographer Jeff Woods are official spokespersons for Canon USA, Explorers of Light. In her article, "The Mystery of Pricing," Julia Woods says to start with the truth of what it cost to produce an image. Adjust your prices based on the cost of the photograph itself, retouching time, spraying, shipping from the lab and packaging, then multiply that number by 4 in order to reach a profitable price point of 25% COS. The 2005 Financial Benchmark Survey put out by the Professional Photographers of America shows that successful studios all have a COS at 25% or less of their gross income.
Using this example, Woods estimates that an 8X10 should cost a client $98.80. Here is the break down:
8X10 print: $3
Retouching: $15
Spray: $.95
Lab shipping: $2
Packaging: $3.75
(box $2, tissue paper $.25, sticker $.50, bag $1)
Total: $24.70 X 4 = $98.80
My current clients would never pay $100 for a single 8X10! So Woods suggests reducing the amount of retouching or the quality of packaging. Woods created a three-tiered pricing structure, offering cheaper 8X10s with little or no retouching, a middle priced 8X10 with average retouching and a higher priced 8X10 with all retouching. Woods and her husband Jeff used that system to gradually work their way up to more affluent clientele that would pay the asking price for a completely retouched 8X10.
Need more advice? My new friend and photographer Dave Scott offered me this in an email:
"Many newer photographers shoot themselves in the foot that way...You need to make a living. You are not selling prints. You are selling your ability, your time, and
if for editorial or commercial usage you are licensing the rights to
use the photograph. The price of a print pales in comparison to those
three.
Many photographers complain about the lowball photographers that
charge $50 for a portrait session that lasts an hour and includes 4
8x10 retouched poses. I like those photographers. They weed out my
customers because they would never hire me in the first place. They
only shop by price.
You offer a valuable service to a certain set of clients. You just
need to market to bring in those clients!!"
Located in the Portland Oregon metro area, Dave Scott Photographic provides photography for commercial, editorial and private commission clients Worldwide. He has nearly three decades worth of experience photographing architecture, interiors, real estate, product, fashion, business and executive portraiture. Dave's blog Business for Photographers includes ideas for optimizing a successful photography business. I've already learned some great tips to help get me started in advertising my company. I think this postcard marketing strategy is a great idea! I enjoyed reading this one too about finding money to start up your business. And Dave is very responsive to his readers, answering their specific questions while at the same time offering information that everyone else can relate too.
Dave and I are cooking up a plan to begin writing as guest columnists on each other's blogs. I get the feeling my readers are probably going to get more out of this deal than his, given his 26 years of experience. But he assures me that even though I've only been at it for a year, other noobs like me may be able to relate to my stories of triumphs and frustrations. I'll let you know more about this soon! For now, subscribe to his blog and his business site for more ideas.
A lot of my anxiety comes from past experiences. I remember seeing lovely artwork and photography hanging in exhibits and displays at restaurants. I always wanted one or two, or 10 to buy for myself....but I would cringe when I saw listed prices of $100 or more for a single print (and not even a framed one at that!) I knew I could never afford to pay for such a luxury. Now that I am the one peddling my own art for a profit, I often feel guilty asking others to pay for my work.
I charged a client $350 for a shoot, and then couldn't stop myself from saying things like, "let's barter or make a deal if you think that's too much!" Even the editor of the Denver Post balked when I charged him only $150 for a family portrait session where I even traveled all the way to his house to take the pics! He told me I wasn't charging enough! I basically sucker punched myself.
According to photographer Julia Woods, because every studio's product is different, "cost of sale is the only way to accurately price what you sell." Woods and her husband photographer Jeff Woods are official spokespersons for Canon USA, Explorers of Light. In her article, "The Mystery of Pricing," Julia Woods says to start with the truth of what it cost to produce an image. Adjust your prices based on the cost of the photograph itself, retouching time, spraying, shipping from the lab and packaging, then multiply that number by 4 in order to reach a profitable price point of 25% COS. The 2005 Financial Benchmark Survey put out by the Professional Photographers of America shows that successful studios all have a COS at 25% or less of their gross income.
Using this example, Woods estimates that an 8X10 should cost a client $98.80. Here is the break down:
8X10 print: $3
Retouching: $15
Spray: $.95
Lab shipping: $2
Packaging: $3.75
(box $2, tissue paper $.25, sticker $.50, bag $1)
Total: $24.70 X 4 = $98.80
My current clients would never pay $100 for a single 8X10! So Woods suggests reducing the amount of retouching or the quality of packaging. Woods created a three-tiered pricing structure, offering cheaper 8X10s with little or no retouching, a middle priced 8X10 with average retouching and a higher priced 8X10 with all retouching. Woods and her husband Jeff used that system to gradually work their way up to more affluent clientele that would pay the asking price for a completely retouched 8X10.
Need more advice? My new friend and photographer Dave Scott offered me this in an email:
"Many newer photographers shoot themselves in the foot that way...You need to make a living. You are not selling prints. You are selling your ability, your time, and
if for editorial or commercial usage you are licensing the rights to
use the photograph. The price of a print pales in comparison to those
three.
Many photographers complain about the lowball photographers that
charge $50 for a portrait session that lasts an hour and includes 4
8x10 retouched poses. I like those photographers. They weed out my
customers because they would never hire me in the first place. They
only shop by price.
You offer a valuable service to a certain set of clients. You just
need to market to bring in those clients!!"
Located in the Portland Oregon metro area, Dave Scott Photographic provides photography for commercial, editorial and private commission clients Worldwide. He has nearly three decades worth of experience photographing architecture, interiors, real estate, product, fashion, business and executive portraiture. Dave's blog Business for Photographers includes ideas for optimizing a successful photography business. I've already learned some great tips to help get me started in advertising my company. I think this postcard marketing strategy is a great idea! I enjoyed reading this one too about finding money to start up your business. And Dave is very responsive to his readers, answering their specific questions while at the same time offering information that everyone else can relate too.
Dave and I are cooking up a plan to begin writing as guest columnists on each other's blogs. I get the feeling my readers are probably going to get more out of this deal than his, given his 26 years of experience. But he assures me that even though I've only been at it for a year, other noobs like me may be able to relate to my stories of triumphs and frustrations. I'll let you know more about this soon! For now, subscribe to his blog and his business site for more ideas.
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