Question for other central Illinois photographers out there. We are finally booking ourselves out of several dates and months for this year's wedding season. Our clients are now asking us who we can refer them to that has a similar look and style. I'm curious...who else out there on FM is from this area? Who might be willing to work within a referral system? Networking means everything with us...but we just want to make sure we're sending to people we know and trust as its an automatic reflection on our own company.
If you're curious to see what our work is like...we have a new website that we are almost ready to launch (our old site has a lot of out-of-date stuff). Check us out: http://www.southernreflectionsstudio.com/newsite/
If you're interested in having us refer other clients to you, please PM us with your work/site.
Our current pricing starts at $1450 base (low I know compared to Chicago areas)...but we're still building our portfolio and establishing a strong client base). With that said, we only have about 25% of all clients actually book us for price. Everyone else has booked based on word-of-mouth reputation and our work. I say that knowing that many would probably have paid more for the same service.
I own a studio in east central Illinois and would welcome referrals. And your pricing is in keeping with the downstate market. Our range is $1200 to $3200 with an average of $1800 per wedding.
I'll PM our site to you, as posting it here screws up my Awstats.
Thank you to all who responded. I'll look through the PMs and websites this morning and get back with you. My closest referrals will probably go to those that live closest to me (Bloomington, IL) but there are quite a few of you from the Chicago area that do some outstanding work too who we would love to network with.
We actually live and work out of our home just south of Bloomington by about 15-20 minutes. But, nearly all of our clients come from Bloomington/Normal or are atleast within a 10-15 mile radius of the city.
Heyworth? I have a friend from there? Lots of little burgs near B-N. I know a couple of photogs in town, however, no one I would rec. Isn't that sad. They are both pretty solid portrait photogs, not-so-much with their wedding work.... ;-/
Atlanta actually But a lot of work comes from Clinton, Minier, etc...sadly nothing from Heyworth yet...and its so close.
Even worse...the other wedding photogs in Bloomington that I had known about...were considerably higher than our starting price. It's hard to refer a client to someone who costs that much more than you.
My studio is located in a suburb of Peoria (Dunlap) but most of our work is done outside of the area. If anyone would be interested in trading referrals you can put me on the list. I do think its valuable to understand peoples approach and price point when referring, or at least giving a sense of the qualifications that they might want done before offering a referral.
drawin2 wrote:
Even worse...the other wedding photogs in Bloomington that I had known about...were considerably higher than our starting price. It's hard to refer a client to someone who costs that much more than you.
I agree...it is a definite sign. But I still consider ourselves new enough that I want our prices to increase gradually. Typically, we raise prices about every 6 months. If a client refers us to their friend, its easier for them to accept a $2-300 increase, rather than to realize that they are going to pay almost double.
I look at the other photographer's prices as a goal that we'll achieve over time...until then, we are focusing more on spreading our name and building our portfolio.
drawin2 wrote:
I agree...it is a definite sign. But I still consider ourselves new enough that I want our prices to increase gradually. Typically, we raise prices about every 6 months. If a client refers us to their friend, its easier for them to accept a $2-300 increase, rather than to realize that they are going to pay almost double.
I think its a good thing to have a plan to build. I just always encourage people to not feel they have to wait too long, or to have strong numbers and managerial accounting facts to back up a gradual increase. I can say that we often get referrals who pay 3-5 times what their friends paid (amounting to many thousands difference) and its never been an issue.
TRReichman wrote:
I think its a good thing to have a plan to build. I just always encourage people to not feel they have to wait too long, or to have strong numbers and managerial accounting facts to back up a gradual increase. I can say that we often get referrals who pay 3-5 times what their friends paid (amounting to many thousands difference) and its never been an issue.
That's honestly encouraging. Maybe we'll have to take another look at where we stand on our next increase. I'd love to be up higher...I've just been cautious to go there too fast.
But a lot of work comes from Clinton, Minier, etc...sadly nothing from Heyworth yet...and its so close.