Pricing is usually the number one thing that makes photographers uneasy. Over the past few years I’ve realized that pricing is truly just about the numbers. It cannot be based on fear or emotion. The first two years of my business I based my pricing on absolutely nothing. I was just so excited that people were willing to pay me to take their photos!! To be honest, I am STILL that excited to this day! All I knew then was to raise my prices over time, and that’s what I did.
But you know what that made me? It made me insecure about what I charged. I felt guilty, and like a fraud. That’s a totally different story today, and I want YOU to be confident in what you charge for your services, no matter what industry you’re in, because I believe in running a profitable business. I’m willing to bet you do too!
Here are some key considerations to make when structuring your pricing:
- Do you want to charge hourly? Or do you want to have collections made up with different sets of hours?
- Is this going to be your main income or is it a side hustle? That will greatly impact how you approach the numbers.
- What is your yearly goal for a profit?
- How much TIME does it take you to edit a session or a wedding? Do you have to outsource any of it?
- What is your cost of doing business?
This is now my main source of income. Yes, Steven has a job, but I would like to feel like I’m contributing equally to our finances every month with the goal of being able to be the “breadwinner.” I know it’s possible because I’ve done the math.
I’m not an expert by any means, but this is a process that has been working pretty well for me. The first step to setting your pricing is to figure out what your cost of doing business is. At the very least, your income from your business needs to be covering those expenses! The simplest way to determine what you need to charge would be to add up all of the expenses you need to pay for, and then divide it by the ideal number of weddings/portraits you want to shoot a year. That will give you your base pricing to ensure that you are at least covering all of your expenses and not going into debt! If you have expenses that occur for each client, or you have some personal bills you want to pay for with your business, those also need to be factored into your expenses.
Determining your prices is not as complicated as people make it out to be. You have to know your numbers and what your goal is before you can start! Don’t compare your pricing to other photographers because you have NO idea what their pricing is based on. They could have entirely different financial goals, or lower costs, or this isn’t their main income, and that’s okay. You don’t have to be like every one else, but you do need to be profitable.
Knowing what you absolutely need to bring in for income makes it much easier to be confident in your pricing and to stand by it!
Linda is a Maine-based photographer specializing in weddings and creating family legacies. You can see more of her work online at lindabarryphotography.com, on Instagram, or on Facebook. If you want to reach out directly: linda@lindabarryphotography.com
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