Become Better Photographer: How to Create Pricing for Photography with Vanessa Joy

May 13, 2019

*For more information visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with Vanessa on Instagram @VanessaJoy.

Struggling to have ends meet financially, as your craft doesn’t bring enough income? Maybe this episode with photographer Vanessa Joy and AdoramaTV could give you some ideas how to turn it around into a profitable and happy career/business! Today we are going to explore how to set prices for your photography services.

Tip #1

Vanessa shares with us – “First, when you’re creating pricing and packaging you want to play the psychology. What does that mean? That means that you want to list your highest package first. What that does is what people look at the top of the line, the big, the wow, in a way almost price shock them, so the rest of what happens below your highest package doesn’t seem so unattainable. And then if you have a client that’s the kind of client just wants everything, they’ll see that first package, and then all the rest below it will be less than what they want, and will end up going with the first one!”

Tip #2

“Second, when you’re creating your packages you can’t be lazy, you do have to do the math. So! If you’re going to create some rough estimates on what your pricing and packaging should look like, your prices should be three to five times your cost of sales. So let’s just say your cost of sales is a hundred dollars which obviously if you’re wedding photographers, it’s a little bit higher than that! So your cost of sales meaning – your second photographer – meaning what you pay for post-production and album designs, for running your business, things, overheads, like your online galleries, and your website. Things like that! If your cost of goods let’s just say is a thousand dollars, well then the minimum that you should be charging for your wedding packages are three to five thousand dollars, again rough estimate, but make sure you actually do the math. Don’t just create some packages, and throw some numbers there, and have no idea what your cost of good are, or how much profit you’re making.”

Tip #3

“Third, when you are getting all of that money in, with your pricing it seems like you’re making a ton of money, but like I just said you have a huge cost of sales, and on top of that you have huge taxes to pay because if you are a freelance photographer and you’re working for yourself you’re not automatically getting that money taken out of your pay check, so you have to prep for that for the end of the year, either by saving the money, putting it in the account, forgetting about it until you have to pay your taxes at the end of the year. Or you can pay estimated quarterly. This is what I do, and I pay a little bit every quarter so that it’s not such a huge bill at the end of the year. Work with an accountant, definitely work with an accountant for things like that, and I do recommend working with a book-keeper as well, to just keep everything on track.”

Tip #4

“Another thing to think about when you are looking or you’re creating the packages that you want to book. Create packages that you have everything that the client wants. For me, that would be digital files, full-day package, and a wedding album. But don’t have every single package have all those things in it, because there won’t be any incentive for them to book higher packages over the lower ones, my lower packages, which you are welcome to go see, if you go to www.vanessajoy.com/wedding-collections you can see collections d and e, have almost nothing in it. They have only eight hours of coverage, either no wedding album, or a small wedding album, and then neither of them have digital files in it. Only collections ABC has those digital files, full day, nice size wedding album, and then as you know higher, you’ve got parent albums and the engagement session in there – so great packages, that are more advantageous as you go higher.”

Tip #5

“And then finally the best piece of advice I have ever been given and I wish I knew who gave it to me ’cause I would thank them up and down. Anytime, anytime someone books your highest package raise your prices, because they would have paid you more! It’s a really great indication that it’s time for you to move up a little bit, once you’ve booked your highest package, and it can be through little baby steps. It can be just $100 dollars here, $250 there, but that method of raising your prices every time someone books your highest package will really help elevate you, even if it’s a little bit here and there.”

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Become Better Photographer: How to Create Pricing for Photography with Vanessa Joy

Tip #1

Tip #2

Tip #3

Tip #4

Tip #5

WANT TO LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY?

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