Are the fees or prices you’re charging for your creative services too low? I bet they are.
Try doubling the money. You have to deliver the goods, of course, but that’s true in any work. Chances are that the clients you ditched needed ditching, the clients you carry forward and the new clients you land will pay those fees happily and will better understand the value you bring.
And I’m guessing you’ll be happier and much better off in the long run.
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(via Mark Anderson/Andertoons.com)
Definitely see where you are going here, but blindly doubling one’s prices might not be the best option. I think first off any business needs to know the break even point, and then to figure what the owners need from that business.
I gotta agree with Chase below.
The theory of Economics is “If the demand is high, the price is high. If the demand is low, the price is low.” Demand for photography is high. Also you really should figure out your Cost Of Doing Business and stick to your guns. (http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/cdb/cdbcalc.cfm) and learn about the licensing model. Don’t give away the whole turkey, give slices of it. LA is flooded but what kinds of stuff are you shooting? Is it unique? I see a lot of very good young shooters and they all shoot the same. But its 80% personality and 20% presentation. Chase did a great write up or quote about standing out from everyone else. I have a great write up from David Harry Stewart:
“Making money at photography is a difficult thing to do. I don’t want to discourage you from your dreams, you should always pursue whatever it is that you love doing. The fact is that in the last three years the business has changed considerably. It has gone from being hard, to being very very hard. Success requires considerable luck, a vision that is relevant to the market, business sense and most of all perseverance. There is a certain Darwinian element to it, those who try the longest and the hardest survive.” – David Harry Stewart
I believe in this statement: “Competing to be the lowest price is a miserable business.”
I’ve always been a photographer, but it was – until a few years ago – part of other jobs like being a reporter/editor and then a graphic designer. Early in my design career I was charing $25 per hour (this is 25 years ago), and while I was doing okay I knew I needed to bump it up – so I doubled it to $50. I figured if I lost 25 per cent of my clients I’d still be ahead. I actually got more clients and they treated me better. At the lower price, I was constantly having to justify what I was charging and clients were always looking for freebees. That all pretty much disappeared at double the price.
Chase,
After reading most of the post thought I would share a blog post I have written on Bad business practices. I(my producer/agente) always calculate my expenses a part from my fee in a quote, this allows for clients to see what they are paying for. It also helps me earn a profit and not lose money because I did not quote an expense(in every quote there is MISC expense). I hope this helps!! Chris Lawrence
“WTF!! Bad Photography Business Practices”
WTF!! I receive a lot of email, I do not always look everyone immediately. So this morning with that daily dose of Lavazza(damn good stuff!!) I started to delete all the email that are of no use. I found this in Groupon.
Turns out that for 59€ each, three people can have a photo shoot, 15 retouched photos and 10 printed. given that you shoot for 2 hours, 30 minutes retouching per photo, 5 minutes per photo print time: THAT IS 620 MINUTES!! IN OTHER WORDS 10.5 HOURS!!!
OH WAIT, BUT THEY ARE 2 TO 3 MODELS!!! so let’s say that there are 3 models. Yes you could say that you are only going to shoot for 2 hours, but Murphy’s Law is now multiplied by 3. Three female models, make-up, wardrobe… even the most efficient photographer can not control the laws of nature with 3 inexperienced models. ADD another 120 minutes!! 740 minutes.
OH WAIT!!!!!!!
now we have to print 30 photos so we must add another 100 minutes = 840 minutes. Not to mention an average cost per copy is around 1€. yes the a method of paying less, we could go to a local Kodak center and have them printed cheaper. BUT WAIT, this means getting in car and driving to you local photography or drug store. ADD another 60 minutes = 900 minutes total.
A whopping 15 hours!!!!
YES now if there are 3 models we will be charging 59€ x 3 = 177€ (obviously under the table)
Total billed: 177€
Expenses:
– 30 copies @ 0,50€ = 15,00€
– Gas in europe these days is 1,65€ per liter (for you americans 3.8 liters is a gallon, 6,27€). 5,00€ in gas
– the electric bill 30 minutes x 15 photos (our idea is that we deliver the same 15 photos to the 3 models) 7.5 hours of sitting in front of a computer, 10€
Total Expenses: 30€
= 147€ now we need to divid this number by the hours worked 15.
9,80€ per hour (does not sound bad for an hourly wage)
This is a good calculator for the cost os doing business by the NPPA. It is set up in dollars, but as far as calculating we will just assume that they are Euros (I am calculating as if it were me.) http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/cdb/cdbcalc.cfm
OK, so I need to earn 3200€ a week! but I am making 9,80€ per hour. This means that I must work 327 hours a week!!
It turns out that there are only 168 hours in a normal 7 day week. 9,80€ x 168 = 1,646.40€ a difference of 1,553.60€
BAD BUSINESS!!!
I may have missed something, but this is basically for people to understand the Cost of doing Business!!
I crossed this path last year. After a wedding I sat down and ran though the numbers again. When it was all said and done I had made a [profit of less than $10. In turn for 2012 I made a significant price increase. I will see better returns and have only had one or two complaints. Most are receptive to the cost of business and what they get for their money when it is explained to them.