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glort Offline [X]
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ohsnaphappy wrote:
I think the only way to break into a market is to offer a superior product at a lower price and then gradually raise your prices. That's all I got.
Without trying to offend, which I probably will do anyway, I think you REALLY need to educate yourself in some business basics because that is a woefuly poor and misguided outlook. .
If you think that is the only way to break into a market , I despair greatly for you.
That's about THE most piss poor way of doing it can think of frankly. I can't even think why you would believe that you need to start low and raise your prices? That's something that you would do with a mass market, repeat purchase Product like a new dish soap or a soft drink or similar sort of product. Get people to try because of lower price and then hook them when they see it works and once you have your client base start raising prices.
I call it the drug dealer method because that is exactly how they established their industry.
Weddings are basically a one off even if people get married 5 times. The referal / reputation thing that most shooters crap on about is exactly that, crap. Doing a good job won't these days establish you by referals alone nor does WOM put the dodgy ripoff merchants out of business or a bad review end a career as so many see to mistakenly think.
If you are doing a superior product, why would you undercut the price of your offering which in many peoples eyes, would undermine it's superiority in the first place?
I know 3 people that pretty much buy on price for most things, especially products or services they don't know about or understand. They will always gravitate towards the HIGHEST price in the belief that it is the best. My father is probably the most predominant at this. He has a thing for Buying crap and tries to avoid it like the plauge. Show him a range of appliances, tools, or services and 9 times out of 10, unless you can demonstrate why a cheaper product is superior, he'll buy the most expensive every time.
Now while he and my other 2 close mates may not be wedding photography purchasers, they are the gold nugget clients and telling them something is the best out there or even what they need and being even middle of the road pricing, You WILL burn them every time on that.
Not everyone is the same of course, these people are I would say a minority BUT, exactly what do you hope to achieve by starting low?
99% of people here freak about putting their prices up will destroy their business. There is always the excuses about people in the area are all poor, don't have any money, won't pay.... Blah blah.... so why would you want to set yourself up for that in the first place?
I'd go high just for the notoriety if nothing else.
I used to have a competitor that used to bag me out viciously. The great thing was he was well established in the area and had a good throughput of clients through referals from reception places and a heavy advertising investment. I remember very clearly literally booking 3 weddings in the one week through that guy. People came in and saw me then confided they had seen the other guy and he bagged me out so bad they had to come see just how bad and dodgy I was.
I reckon I must have got 20 bookings all up from that fella over about 18 months he went on his little tirade. I debated with my secratary for a long time if we should send him a botle of champers with a think you note and if that would tip him off and kill a good thing or if it would upset him more and he'd send even more people our way?
The thing is, don't be afraid to be seen as expensive because it has all sorts of benifits not the least in being people coming to you to see what you do and how much you charge. When they get there and see you do great work and are not that much more expensive( or even if you are) you at least got people in the door and from there, You have a shot at the target.
The thing of the best work out there or even being " superior" to be successful and get work is again another laughable and flawed misnomer although a very popular one amoungst shooters.
What you need to be is offering something the clients wants ( which is not the best out there, it's what they like the most) you need to have / Build a rapport with them and then lastly and of much less significance, you have to be affordable to them. That does not necessarily mean cheap, just means within their desire to pay.
There is no " Budget" people have for Photography. There is no comittee or directors telling somone what they can spend. It's purlely a number pulled out of peoples backsides of what they think is a reasonable thing based on what they have seen and heard previously. They put a number of $5K they pulled out of thin air and you show them something they Love and really want to have, they will find the money within reason to own it. Cutbacks will be made here, money borrowed there.... it's all about presenting them with something they will make sacrifices to get and the technical quality is NOT what makes that happen. It's all about getting in their head.
THE biggest thing is NOT the quality of your work or the price thereof, It's getting in front of people and letting them know you exist and what you offer. People don't give a shit if you just moved to the area and they certainly don't expect you should have a lower price because of it. Having a lower price than the other guy is NOT a big influence at all and certainly not what people make out.
I have been ringing around and visiting places looking for a Mini Tractor. I know the thing I want is going to cost upwards of 15K, I know what I want and when I talk to someone and what they have is or does not do what I want, I don't give a damn about how cheap the thing is. Yes, I can get a Petrol unit for $5K. I don't care. I want the diesel with the backhoe and the 4 way bucket and am not interested in anything else that does not do this regardless of price. I flat out said to a guy yesterday in a machinery place that was going on and on, Mate, what is the ONE question I haven't asked you? He didn't know so I told him, Price.
I said if I haven't even mentioned price, Why the fk do you keep going on and on about it with machines I am not interested in and have told you that several times?
Dunno how long the guy has been there but I'll bet he is a real low producer because he simply does not listen to his clients even when they are telling them they want to spend 3 times what he is going on about.
You REALLY need to hit the business and marketing sites or books. The very fact you have the belief you do proves that. I will guarantee you invest some reasonable time in learning about advertising, marketing and sales and you will have a very different outlook to what you do now and you will see opportunities where now you only see problems.
What is holding you back from moving and doing what you want to do is not other shooters, it's not your work or the pricing model you work to, it's your ignorance of business.
Thats OK because it's a very easy thing to fix and overcome... if you are prepared to open your eyes and be smart enough to recognize the problem and put in the relatively easy work to over come it. Business skills are a piece of cake compared to photography. the same base rules apply since the beginning and even if something is outdated, you'll be better off using it than operating with the complete lack of knowledge you have now.
It's not how many shooters are in the area, it's how many COMPETITORS you have. Craigslisters and those charging twice plus what you do aren't any concern to you. they are different markets. Those that are left you need to look at and see how many of those are the same people the target market you are going after wold also look to hire.
Put it in the Clients perspective and you'll lower the seeming amount of competition ( as against other shooters) significantly.
Once you know who the competitors are you can look at what they do and then create your own niche.... Unless you are one of those that has to do what they do for their own ego trip over a profitable business model.
I'm about to move to a very different area I have spent my entire life in and I'll tell you this much, worrying about being the best shooter around in the also saturated area and starting off undervaluing my work and trying to come up from there is the LAST thing on my mind.
Finding the promotional avenues in the area where I can reach my target market, looking for established businesses whom also serve my target clientele and establishing networking relationships with them and looking for the niche that no other vulture in the area does ARE the priorities.
The only pricing question is what is the sweet spot going to be? I'll definitely be putting my prices UP, question is how much? My thoughts are rather than go low and then up from there, I'll go high and come down if need be to get the numbers through the door I want.
I'm looking at the demographic of the area as far as age, marital status, what their average income is, average mortgage cost, Disposable income and likely credit card limits and debts.
The area is clearly a lifestyle rather than an existence mentality. People are there to enjoy themselves rather than just to have a roof over their heads. I went to the main street a few weeks ago and managed to get a seat in one of the many pumping cafes. I sat out on the footpath and watched the endless stream of people in their weekend cars Cruising up and down the main road. I Noted the number of day trippers having a wander round making impulse purchases in the area's many novelty/ specialty stores. The difficulty in getting a seat at the many eateries and coffee shops was a sign in itself. The fact this pretty small town has 3 Significant night clubs and a bunch more pubs and watering holes is also of significance as it the fact the next town over is going Nuts with a development of the largest shopping centre in the state.
The fact the price of new homes is lower there than closer to the city but offer much better value for money, they are planning on building 33,000 ( yes 33 THOUSAND) homes in the area in the next 5 years and a new international airport in the region with planes touching down inside of 8 years told me this was a good place to be.
I have bought a place just on the edge of all this, 5 min from the local town, 10 min from what is to be the major regional centre taking over from the current one.
Price and competition was pretty far down the list of my concerns let me tell you.
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May 18, 2017 at 07:51 PM |
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