I am in the difficult scenario of living somewhere that is very expensive to live ( Victoria, BC, Canada, average home price just under $700K ) but has a relatively low end photography market. My top package with loads of coverage, DVD, print credit, album, wall print, engagement guestbook, and engagement session is $5800 ( I start at 3400, my "main" package that I expect most people to get is 4600 ) and I get loads of inquiries, with most of them telling me I am out of their budget.
I've been told by many photographers that my pricing is very reasonable for the work I do, and yet I struggle with still being too expensive for my market. I feel like these prices are what I NEED to charge in order to live here, a down payment for a home is $100K, and I can't get to that charging $3K for a wedding. I've been in business full time for 4 years, I'm 25, and financially I have no equity in a home already, my wife starts school full time next month. This is the only career I've ever had.
I'm wrestling with the idea of doing a wedding photography registry to help more couples afford me. Has anyone had any experience with this and have you found it successful? Any tips you would be willing to share?
Forget about the registry, that's a band aid. Wouldn't it be better if you didn't even need to do that and just got the numbers you wanted in the first place? So work on the fundamentals instead and IMO, I think for you that would mean restructuring your packages because 3400 to 5800 is not any sufficient range to pull the right numbers for you. Maybe offer a few steps up to 10,000. And I have a hunch you need to learn how to sell yourself better to get the numbers you want as well. Also think in terms of portrait work as an income stream.
The problem isn't that people can't afford you, it is that you haven't made your brand desirable yet. Don't resort to chopping prices, which is the laziest and least compelling way to market. You have to create a want.
We've sort of got the same problem here. My pricing is very, very similar to yours but people are just plain refusing to pay more than $3k for the most part. We have a high cost of living, wealthy area, but mostly destination weddings. It's cheaper for them to bring in someone else from a lower cost of living area who will cut the rate to appear to have destination wedding business. It leaves me not being able to charge enough to make enough to live here. It's complicated and I just totally understand what you're up against. Today a bride outright told me on the phone "why should I hire you rather than bring someone with me from Ohio who charges less and will go for little to no travel fees?". It's hard to answer that question without sounding bad.
*I do tell them the advantages of hiring me over someone who doesn't live here... but I'm sure the other photog tells them I'm full 'o shizz.
In addition to focusing on marketing/branding yourself in a better way, think about how you can add more to your financial bottom line from each package. Perhaps you're already running a very efficient business, but try to give some thought to how you might be able to reduce your cost for each wedding.
I was about to say ... this sounds like a question for A MAN TO FISH ... but then he beat me here.
I don't think that it's a purely numbers thing. People buy lots of things they don't need all the time - even look at everyday stuff like garden market grocery markets (the price increase in these places is 2-3x). There must be a reason why some people are going there instead of the bulk or asian supermarket that's selling the same thing but cheaper.
Hey marti, no one advised him to just raise his prices, right?
To the OP, the other issue for you is the inquiries hammering you down. What are they, general inquiries off the net? You're going to get that kind of response. But this is also a matter of understanding that, a matter of where the leads come from, and then finally also a matter of knowing how to bypass price so that you have an opportunity to build value and rapport first.
Jon, maybe you should look at your expenses in your top package and deal with that first? What kind of albums are you making? What are market expectations of what photographers provide in your area? Are photographers more full service or more shoot and give them a DVD with finished images? Your market sounds like LA. It's crazy expensive here and photographers as a whole tend to make less than other parts of the country because the market is way over saturated. Add to that the high cost of living and doing business and it kills off what you're left with. I'll agree with what another posted. Why not move? A housing market of $700K is not a good way to live a life as a wedding photographer who can't get more than $3000. If the market could sustain high end photography then it's different. Who's shooting the top end weddings in your area? What are they charging? Can you supplement your weddings with other work like family, baby, senior portraits, commercial?
TRReichman wrote:
The problem isn't that people can't afford you, it is that you haven't made your brand desirable yet. Don't resort to chopping prices, which is the laziest and least compelling way to market. You have to create a want.
Thank you for the input everyone. To answer a few questions:
Re: Source of inquiries
My business is almost entirely word of mouth/referral. I show up very low on google searches for my area, all of the top google photographers ( for the most part ) have great SEO and terrible photography. Perhaps I'm off base but I don't see as much value in google based clients compared to referral ones. Maybe this is a specific area I need to address more.
Re: Moving
Something I've definitely considered. Mobility isn't as easy where I am as it is in the States. All of my friends and family live in Victoria or Vancouver, there aren't any other major cities ( within Canada ) for over 1000km. Lifestyle changes would be drastic, most other parts of Canada hit -30 in the winter and are uncomfortably hot in the summer. The reason it's so expensive to live here is that it's an amazing place to live. Beautiful scenery, mild climate, active lifestyles. I look at those of my friends who live in the eastern US and am in awe of the size of the market within their reach. Unfortunately, the scenario for living in Canada is substantially different than the States. My one realistic option in this area would be to move to Vancouver which is much larger, but for at least the next two years my wife is in school here in Victoria ( I have been promising her this for the past 3 years ) so short term we are staying where we are ( and it is also my long term preference )
Re: My market
I haven't poked into everyone's pricing, but based on my observations I would say I'm definitely in the top 10% of my market for price range, potentially the top 5%. Most people here do full day with disc for $2-3K or less.
Re: Why should people hire me
It's always hard to answer questions like these without sounding like you've got your head up your own ass...
People should hire me because the quality of my photography is better than my competitors, and because I'm fun to be around and make them laugh, which makes people comfortable and also makes for great photos.
My branding needs work, both in terms of my visual identity as well as the cohesiveness of what I put out there. I've attempted to work with several graphic designers without much luck in terms of them getting me, so maybe my communication/idea of what my brand is about is the problem.
My site traffic is good, I'm approaching 3K fans on facebook, I have lots of long term followers including brides ( that eventually turn me down because of price ) that tell me they've been following my work for years and knew they wanted me as their photographer well before they were engaged. When people tell me this but still say they can't afford me, I'm at a loss. I don't know how to build better loyalty and desire for my product than that.
Why not try having a statement on your site blatantly telling someone to ask for a discount? You can still turn someone down if they ask for something crazy, but sometimes just the offer will attract or keep someone. If they are immediately turned off by your pricing and just flat out say they can't afford you, at least this way might give them another thought before they just write you off?
Vancouver housing market >>> Victoria. Also there are lots of photographers here. It's unbelievable.
I think you should concentrate where you are as you have somewhat establish your business there. I'm wondering what's the big rush in trying to buy a home. Let the market tank. It will happen. There's only so much 'Asian money'.
Another idea is move back to your parent's basement so that you can build equity.
there's a lot of people in the bay area that can't afford my photography. actually, we're more than doubled the normal rate of photographers here in san francisco, which is currently $3500. yet, we're shooting more than most photographers i know.
how are we able to do that? why are people willing to spend more on us than our competitors that cost less than half of what we charge?
to be honest, i don't think it's your photography that is the problem nor the fact that you're more expensive than your competitors... in fact, your work is good. way above most... so, you have the right to charge what you think you are worth.
i think what's going against you is how you're hooking your clients during the consultation (i really wished that you had came out with the group after classes when we were talking about consults... there were a crap-load of pointers on how to do consults right). if fact, i want to know where you're meeting clients as of now. mannerism and body language is waaay more important than most people think. are you overly confident? borderline cocky? do you always have the answers? how much do you actually listen to the potential client? do you remember the fiance's name at all? are you including the guy in the conversation during the meeting? there's a lot of psychology that happens when a person first meets another.
what's i'm saying is... it's really easy to be fake. i'm not saying that you are... but it's really easy for us to change our mannerisms and how we speak to people, especially if we want them to like us.
why would people give you $5000 of their hard earn cash? ...if you can't answer that question, i'm sure others can't as well... and they sure ain't going to sign that contract.
this is the time of reflection. there's a lot to think about.
Hey Ed, I appreciate you taking the time to answer.
I meet my clients in my home, it's a small but bright and stylish apartment. I talk to both of them, I know both their names, I ask them far more about their personal lives than about the wedding, I explain what I do and give anecdotes, I show them my albums and prints. Once I meet with people, my conversion rate is over 90% bookings, the problem happens before the consult, where they won't even meet with me because I'm too expensive.
I have a pricing outline on my website ( starts at xxx, most couples spend xxx-xxx ) and I always ask about getting together in person in my first email with the person to chat with them, get to know them better and answer their questions.
we get those emails too... if the budget isn't stupid low, we still encourage them to meet for a consult. after meeting, most of them somehow are able to adjust their budget.
