I am trying to catch my breath from wedding season. We had a very blessed year and next year is looking great so far.
I have a question for you all. I operate my photography business part-time and I'm wondering if I was really as busy as I think I was this season. Up to this point in the calendar year I've shot 26 weddings and still have about 6 on the calendar. That is a good number for a part time studio (ha, technically I really don't have a studio), right?
My wife and I shoot together and we were able to have her stop teaching this year and stay home with our kids. But in order to do so there is a certain number of weddings / bookings we need to get and it makes for a very busy schedule to say the least. For those of you who might ask why I don't go full-time, I'll answer that in one word..healthcare. I'm a teacher and the coverage is good enough to keep me teaching, plus I love it.
Anyway, I was just wondering what are you other part-timers averaging when it comes to weddings.
NEVER give up your full time jobs. Especially one's that you paid to go to college for. Always do your photography part time and adjust your jobs to fit your lifestyle.
The money you will be spending on ancillary items as opposed to your full time job providing them is immense. Unless you are making mega bucks from your photography and can afford it. Save that money, then when you have enough money to live off for three years then go full time.
marti.g3 wrote:
NEVER give up your full time jobs. Especially one's that you paid to go to college for. Always do your photography part time and adjust your jobs to fit your lifestyle.
The money you will be spending on ancillary items as opposed to your full time job providing them is immense. Unless you are making mega bucks from your photography and can afford it. Save that money, then when you have enough money to live off for three years then go full time.
I gave up my full-time career, which I had to go to college for, to go full-time photography. Didn't have enough money to live off for three years. The sky did not fall. The world did not stop turning. The Fat Lady did not start singing. I am around my kids a lot more, and I smile a lot more. Even if I don't make as much money, I'm happy and life is good.
friscoron wrote:
I gave up my full-time career, which I had to go to college for, to go full-time photography. Didn't have enough money to live off for three years. The sky did not fall. The world did not stop turning. The Fat Lady did not start singing. I am around my kids a lot more, and I smile a lot more. Even if I don't make as much money, I'm happy and life is good.
Everyone has their priorities and are willing to take a chance in life. I can only speak from my own life experiences. I'm glad it worked out well for you.
js09 wrote:
I work full time as an engineer and shoot 10-14 a year. Hoping to do only 6-8 next year while bringing in the same money
full time engineer here as well, and 10-14 right now would be ideal for me at this point. Wife in nursing school, 2 kiddies... i can't see myself taking on much more than that - I have a hard enough time making time to edit as is
Serious question: Have you ever sat down and actually went through your fixed costs, COGS, taxes, profits, ect...? Calculating how much you need is pretty easy assuming you have.
If you haven't, then you need to ASAP... It's the most important thing a business needs to do.
Whatever you do, just please price accordingly and don't sell yourself short because you have a paycheck that's regular. As a full time photographer there's nothing worse than losing jobs to *good* part time photographers who underprice because they don't have to make as much off weddings to pay the bills. I do agree that working for benefits is good though. My son was diagnosed with an auto immune disorder (symptoms are mild for now, thank God) and going without group coverage for him would be a financial disaster. Thankfully although my husbands job doesn't pay well, the benefits are a lifesaver.
Cost/sales/profit aside, 30 weddings is a lot for a part timer. I'm shooting 30 this year and I think that's a lot and I do this full time. I guess it all depends on your deliverables and other factors... but again, all that aside, 30 is a lot for part time... unless you're not culling or editing or thinking about packaging or designing albums or backing up your data... basically everything that's done after the 8-10 hours of shooting a wedding.
It also depend on the demands of your day job. Are you married? Kids? That sort of stuff.
I suppose if you're shooting 30 weddings in small jpeg, dumping them on your computer and burning a disc, then it's not much time involved.
Tony we know exactly what our operating costs are and howany weddings we need to cover our bills. We are definitely exceeding our expectations. We have raised our prices for 2013 but I have an issue I would love some comments on from you all.
I feel that I should be charging about $500 mote than I do for my starting packages but I don't have a legitimate place of business to meet clients in. I feel there is only so much I can charge when I'm meeting with clients in Starbucks. My nonalbum package is $2,300 now. Does anyone here meet clients like I do and charge around $3,000?
Getting business has not been hard and I know you all say that's when you raise prices. However, I feel I'm almost at my limit of what I can charge with how I'm doing business. Am I wrong?
jbrandt378 wrote:
Tony we know exactly what our operating costs are and howany weddings we need to cover our bills. We are definitely exceeding our expectations. We have raised our prices for 2013 but I have an issue I would love some comments on from you all.
I feel that I should be charging about $500 mote than I do for my starting packages but I don't have a legitimate place of business to meet clients in. I feel there is only so much I can charge when I'm meeting with clients in Starbucks. My nonalbum package is $2,300 now. Does anyone here meet clients like I do and charge around $3,000?
Getting business has not been hard and I know you all say that's when you raise prices. However, I feel I'm almost at my limit of what I can charge with how I'm doing business. Am I wrong?...Show more →
How many weddings do you want per year? 10-15? If you are booking 30/year right now at starbucks, you could likely book 15 at a trash site.
It is not like $500 completely transforms expectations.
I work a full 40 hour week with 1.5 to 2 hours of total travel each day. Each year I've taken on a few more weddings. (5, 7, and 9 the last 3 years). My current goal is 10-12 weddings a year, 12-15 max. That's enough to keep me busy and allowing me to stay fresh. More importantly, it allows me to have a life outside of work and photography.....which is namely grilling, soccer, football, and hanging with my wife.
Count us in the 10-12 club. We're both working full time outside of photography, and I definitely don't want any more than that. It takes me long enough to work through a wedding already.
jbrandt378 wrote:
Tony we know exactly what our operating costs are and howany weddings we need to cover our bills. We are definitely exceeding our expectations.
No problem, I must have misunderstood your question.
jbrandt378 wrote:
I feel that I should be charging about $500 mote than I do for my starting packages but I don't have a legitimate place of business to meet clients in. I feel there is only so much I can charge when I'm meeting with clients in Starbucks. My nonalbum package is $2,300 now. Does anyone here meet clients like I do and charge around $3,000?
If you feel you're worth more and business is good then do it. You're in a perfect position to do so. You say that you feel you can only charge so much because of Starbucks, but you won't really know until you try. I know lots of people booking double or triple that and meeting in public places. It doesn't have to be a Starbucks either. Think creatively
I feel that I should be charging about $500 mo[r]e than I do for my starting packages but I don't have a legitimate place of business to meet clients in. I feel there is only so much I can charge when I'm meeting with clients in Starbucks. My nonalbum package is $2,300 now. Does anyone here meet clients like I do and charge around $3,000?
Yes, and higher. A studio or similar space is useful, but don't confuse that with your value proposition to the client.
A side note: you really, really need to list your location / region on every page of your web site. I had to look up your area code to figure out where the heck you are.
