Just as I was beginning to think I had no idea what to write for today’s post, someone asked the question, “Should I display my prices on my website, or not?” I’ve lost count of the number of times this one has been asked, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time!

Usually, when someone brings up the subject of pricing on websites, the photography world instantly fragments into two warring factions: Those in favor of disclosing prices, and the others who believe that prices don’t belong on the website. Before too long, a fierce battle ensues!

I’ve yet to see a satisfactory outcome to any of these discussions, with no clear winner ever emerging. (By the way, if you’re wondering how the photo above ties in with the idea of a battle, this was where they trained the famous dam-buster pilots of WWII).

Therefore, it seems pointless to try to argue the issue yet again, using the same old arguments, both for and against. Better to avoid all the yelling, pointing of fingers, mud-slinging, and the obligatory flame-war…

But where does that leave us, except with the same old question:

“Should we display our prices on our website or not?”

The Question Is More Important Than The Answer

On this occasion I got to thinking as much about the reason why this question keeps rearing its ugly head, than about the question itself, together with it’s two diametrically opposed answers.

So, rather than focus on whether the answer is “yes“, “no“, or “somewhere in between“, I thought it would be more interesting to consider the possible reasons why this question exists in the first place.

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Sales & Marketing photography business, photography marketing, photography sales, pricing, website

This is another follow-on post from “12 Ingredients For A Magic Pill In Your Photography Business” (read Part I and Part II), focusing this time in more detail upon ingredient #4 – Embracing Your True Value.

What Is Your Financial Thermostat Set To?

Do you often have a difficult time asking your clients for money in exchange for your services and products? If so, the problem may not be that your prices are too high, but that your own internal financial thermostat is set too low.

What do I mean by “financial thermostat”? Whether we like to think so or not, we all have our personal comfort zone of wealth, outside of which we begin to feel uneasy. Even though we often dream of winning the lottery, or making an enormous sale, this idea applies just as easily to having too much money as it does to having too little. If you’re not sure about this concept, or doubt that it applies to you, consider this quick thought experiment…

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Photography Business Ideas financial thermostat, photography business, pricing

In order to make any money at all in the photography business, we have to engage in the act of selling to our clients, which inevitably leads to the subject of how to present our prices to the client in such a way that sales are maximized and the client is satisfied with their purchase.

In other words, we’re aiming to ensure that the value meets or exceeds the price in the mind of the client.

This is often easier said than done, and I know that many of us struggle constantly over pricing. Are our prices too high? Are they too low? Why is it so hard to talk about prices with our clients?

Here are 5 tips for dealing with this subject a little more easily…

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Sales & Marketing photography price list, pricing, pricing photography

Welcome to part 2 of my mini-series on pricing for the photography business owner. I don’t claim to know everything (far from it!), and there are many ways for photographers to price their products, so what I present here is just one way of doing things. You may not agree 100% with it, but at least it’s a starting point. However, the principles outlined here are generally accepted by professional bodies such as the PPA as being sound business practice.

This week I want to focus on where to start when developing a pricing strategy. Notice that I don’t use the words “price list” here, for a reason. The way you price your services and products should be part of your strategic business development. It’s a system for generating business revenue, and for providing your photography business with the fuel it needs to operate effectively, as well as leave some left over for you, the owner, as profit.

Know Your Cost Of Sales

How do you decide what you should be charging for a specific product, such as a print or a canvas wall portrait?

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Photography Business Ideas photography business, pricing, pricing photography

Pricing… you can’t be a professional photographer for very long without becoming embroiled in the subject of how to price your work (well, you could, I suppose, but you would never make any money). Then there is the question of, not only what prices to charge, but also how to make your clients aware of your price list without them either running away or thinking you are trying to pressure-sell them.

Price Lists! Get ‘em Here!

In the time that I’ve been working as a professional photographer, I’ve personally tried different methods of communicating my prices to clients and potential clients, with varying degrees of success. These include the usual suspects…

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Photography Business Ideas pricing, professional photographer, selling

Take a closer look at the question above and see if you can spot one of selling’s most amazing secrets. I hear this question a lot from my prospects during my sales presentations when they are unsure of the investment needed for a portrait of wedding collection. One of the biggest keys to earning a great living from your photography is locked up inside that little question. Until recently, I might have missed it myself, but when you know it’s there, you really can’t miss it!

Did you find it yet? If you did, then you should be congratulated on your perception. If not, here’s the answer: It’s actually two questions all rolled up into one. Even the people who ask me the question are usually unaware that they’re in fact asking about two distinctly different things. The two questions contained inside are:

• What is the price?
• What is the cost?

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Sales & Marketing pricing, professional photographer, selling

Stock photography, for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to an industry that licenses images for specified uses. Agencies (or individual photographers) act rather like a library, where photographs can essentially be checked out for a fee depending on the type of use. Like a library book, there’s no limit to the number of times a photograph can be used, providing the photographer with a potentially lucrative income from their portfolio.

We’ve all seen stock photography, whether we realize it or not – in magazine articles, print ads, brochures, on web sites. Stock photographs are almost everywhere, and professional photographers have made a good living off the business of producing stock for many years.

But, like other areas of the photography industry, the business of stock photography has undergone a major upheaval over the last few years or so, especially so since the introduction of digital photography…

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Photography Business Ideas pricing, professional photographer, selling, stock photography

Pricing our photography services and products causes us more headaches than trying to read in the dark. It sometimes feels as though we’re in the dark, too. To do it properly actually takes a lot of effort, much trial and error, and a degree of personal detachment.

Don’t Lower Your Prices:

Imagine how hard it would be to sell something so expensive that you had to convince not only your client, but yourself too, that it’s worth the asking price. This is the problem a lot of photographers feel they are faced with – and many of them respond by reducing their prices unnecessarily, to a level they themselves might feel more comfortable with.

But why does this happen?

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Photography Business Ideas pricing, professional photographer, selling

One of the biggest mistakes made by photographers new to the business (myself included) is to literally give their work away for little or no profit. People new to the business often mistakenly believe that to become successful they need to compete only on price. I was once naïve enough myself to think that if I could penetrate the market by offering cheaper products than the competition, I could gain ground and then raise my prices once my name became better known. Unfortunately, that’s probably not the best way to go.

Buy A Porsche Today – 50% Off:

The world economy might be in complete turmoil at the moment, with the news full of doom and gloom, and it’s true that some people are spending less because of it, but that has little to do with the actual prices of things. A Porsche is still an expensive buy, as is a Rolex watch (a real one, that is). Can you imagine how the consumer’s view of these items would change if they were suddenly available at a half or a quarter of the original price? People would be suspicious of them, lose faith in the brand, and consider them a bad investment.

A Porsche car or a Rolex watch is viewed by some as a highly valued status symbol; with its value being quite separate to price. The value lies in what it gives to the person purchasing it, the price being what the purchaser is willing to pay to own the item.

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Sales & Marketing pricing, professional photographer, selling