Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Pricing is one of the most important areas of your business. If you're pricing yourself too low based on your numbers, then you don't have a profitable business or you're left overworking. If you've priced yourself too high compared to the value you provide, branding and the market that is available, then again, in you probably aren't making enough money because you're not getting enough bookings. And that's what we're going to dive into a bit deeper in this episode. Pricing and the strategy behind it the last couple of solo episodes have been focused a lot on mindset. If you've listened to those, you hopefully know what a key role mindset is. When you want to raise your prices, you have to believe that you're worth it and that it's possible. If you think that what you're doing is too expensive or that it's not going to work, you're really going to struggle.
[00:01:03] You have to, of course, make sure that your prices are profitable, but you also want to make sure that they reflect your skills and your experience and the value that you provide. So who your client is matters so much. And this is where strategy comes to play.
[00:01:22] You can calculate your prices a million times and maybe you already have, but you want to be sure to also be strategic about it. There's so much psychology that goes into pricing, so just listing up the facts and the features, that'll only get you so far.
[00:01:42] So take a look at your current prices. How are you explaining and talking your clients through them? Do you only mention hours and wardrobe choices or are you also speaking to your clients feelings and values?
[00:01:57] So that's one part of it. Another part is the prices themselves. So take a step back. Get help from someone who can help you figure out your value and place in the marketplace. You have to have prices and branding that resonates with the kind of client that you want to work with. Just raising your prices or lowering your prices isn't going to help you get to the right place.
[00:02:23] I recommend making sure that you know exactly who you want to work with and how much money you want to make, and then creating price offers and branding around that. And the offers that you create have to be more than just profitable. You want to make sure that they're strategic and they are not just listing everything that you want to do or can do or think your client wants. If you have too many offers, you'll overwhelm your client. Too few and they won't be able to compare them with anything and might not have enough info to make a decision. If your lowest price is too low, then your clients might opt for that and not even look at your other offers, meaning you're not earning very much money. Maybe you include tons of stuff in your packages because you feel like you need to, and that's leaving you exhausted and not as profitable as you think you are. There are just so many pitfalls. So I guess this is a perfect time to mention that a new live workshop week is coming up. This time it's about pricing. About strategic pricing. It's only $47 and it's going to be in April, and you are very welcome to join regardless if you can hang out with us one day or every day, or if you only have the opportunity to catch up with the replays. Either way, it's going to be so worth it. I do these mini courses about two three times a year and it's such a great way for you to check out how it's like to work with me while getting great value. Go sign up so you don't miss out. Check out ingwilcolnes.com pricing when it comes to pricing, you want to make sure that you focus on what potential clients want and what they're willing to pay for it. Just putting anything out there probably won't work. So figuring out what your dream client wants and what they're wanting to pay, and making sure that there are enough of those clients is a good place to start. Niching is great, but you want to make sure that there's a need and a willingness to pay.
[00:04:35] I know that it's often said that there are enough clients for everyone, but there is no automatic truth to that. I'm all about encouraging you to do the thing that's right for you, the thing that you enjoy the most, and that you are the most suited for. But you have to make sure that there are enough clients out there. And contrary to what many might think, a lower price won't solve your problems.
[00:05:03] Sure, maybe it's easier to get more clients sometimes, but it's not easier to make a living or to get the right client. If your clients want quality, they're not looking for the cheapest photographer. And I know you're all about delivering quality, so stop trying to compete on price. That is not what you should care about. Sometimes it can feel tempting to give discounts or lower prices, but this means that you have to have more clients to get the same revenue. And revenue is really important when you're running a business. And making a living as a photographer means running a business. So sure, money is not your main motivation, but it's still really important. You have a life outside of photography and lower prices means more time working or less income.
[00:06:00] If you need 20 clients a year and you give them a 10% discount because you're worried that you won't book enough, that means that you now need 22 clients to get the same revenue. And if you turn this around by doubling your prices, you only need ten clients instead of 20. I'm not saying here that this is the solution, but definitely think about what your prices are and how they reflect the kind of work that you do and the kind of clients that you want when raising your prices. You might want to consider if your current branding supports this or if you need to make some changes.
[00:06:39] You see, I often hear elopement photographer wanting to work their way up and that's not really a strategy I recommend simply because the kind of client who wants your lower price an offer is probably very different from the client who wants a higher end offer. Which means that you have to start over when your rates and branding changes and if you change in increments, it'll probably take you a really long time. Speaking from experience here, I started at the very bottom and increased my prices bit by bit and it took years before I could even make a living. Elopement photographer so if you know that you want to be in a different place in a year or even three from now, see if you should make the jump now.
[00:07:30] And if you want to learn more about strategic pricing, come sign up to the live pricing workshop in April. Go to ingwilcolnes.com pricing or check out the link in the show notes.
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