Oh lawd, what do I charge?!

Oh hey, welcome back! So let me guess. You don’t know what to charge for your services?? Well, good news – I’m here to guide you on how to do that in a progressively profitable + sustainable way! This is a blog post for photographers who do not wish to do IPS (in person sales) pricing structure, if that’s your jam, I 100% support you but this blog post will not cover IPS.

Pricing is so relative and it sucks to have to be the one to determine what to charge for your service/goods. There are so many ways of going about pricing your services + goods, first way is IPS: this, to me is NOT my preferred method of pricing. I do know plenty of amazing photographers who would absolutely recommend it though! Second is more of an all inclusive structure where you include a certain number of digital images and have the ability to sell prints + additional digital images.

First and foremost, if you haven’t done this before – make sure to calculate your CODB (cost of doing business). This is where you break down allllll the things from how much you WANT to make, to how much you currently spend on subscriptions like Adobe, gallery sites, etc to what you “should” be charging per session. This is a great place to START. I do not think this is the end all to be all and I don’t think you HAVE to base your pricing off of this magic formula. To do this, literally google “calculate cost of doing business photographer” 

Let’s just say you’re charging $100 for a 30 minute session to keep math simple. Cool, let’s break that down. How far do you drive to get to wherever you’re shooting? Do you get there early? Do you scout the location at an earlier date? Is it your studio and you have to clean before/after clients? Okay, moving on! How often do you actually shoot for 30 minutes? You’re telling me you NEVER go a few minutes over just because it’s going really well or you want to do just one more pose? Moving on. You drive home after your “30 min session”, back up photos, cull, edit, upload and deliver. How long does that take you? Do you stick with the number you say you’ll deliver? If you say 10 edited images in your package, do you only deliver 10 or do you add a few extras because “under promise, over deliver”?! 

Yep. I can practically hear you clenching your jaw… How long have you spent on all of the above shit? Now divide that $100 by the number of hours you spent above. Not super thrilled with that, right? Is that a number you want to get out of bed and put pants on for? More than likely, it’s not. If it is, more power to you! BUT when it becomes something you dread or even become resentful towards your clients, THAT is when you need to rethink your pricing… I take that same approach when working with my biz coaching clients. Granted, we go into *a bit* more detail but the same structure is there. 

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Here are a few mock ups of profitable vs non-profitable pricing structures with a bit of background info!

Profitable: Jessica is 25, owns a home, leases a studio for $1,000 per month, she is an esthetician and does her clients hair + makeup herself.

1 hour package: $550 // 15 digital images of client’s choosing // 3 outfits // pro hair + makeup included (complementary)
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2 hour package: $900 // 30 digital images of client’s choosing // 5 outfits // $100 print credit  pro hair + makeup included (complementary)
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Add ons: 10×10 album $650, 5 digitals $100, 10 digitals $175, full gallery $250, additional outfit $100

Her expenses each month: makeup supplies, studio rent, gallery site, Adobe subscriptions, camera maintenance, gas, insurance, etc total to $1,500

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General rule of thumb, you want your expenses to be AT MOST 25% of your revenue. Sooooo, Jessica needs to see at least 11 clients per month at her lowest package with zero add ons to have her expenses be no greater than 25%. Likely she will see more and clients will add on an album, additional digitals, etc soooo she would have to see less volume.

I know, you LIKE the volume of clients you see – so do I. I get it! You can actually still see that same volume but at a higher price point, I guarantee you’ll like it even more! 😉 Stop boxing yourself in. Stop making these bull shit excuses. You’re only hurting yourself.

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Not Profitable: Alex is 25, rents studio space from a local photographer at $45 an hour, and hires a professional hair + makeup artist.

1 hour package: $250 // all images other than blurry // unlimited outfits // pro hair + makeup included (costs Alex $100 per client)
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2 hour package: $500 // al images other than blurry // unlimited outfits // pro hair + makeup included (costs Alex $100 per client)

Add ons: 10×10 album $200

Guys, poor Alex is literally working for pennies at this point. $45 per hour for studio space, paying a hair + makeup artist, doing THE MOST for THE LEAST $$$$.

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Do you see the difference? Now it’s your turn! Apply this same logic and info towards your own pricing. Reach out to me if you have any Q’s! Alssoooo, shameless plug (since this is my blog and all) 😉 ya girl is having a kick ass Black Friday sale on my Power Hour with Lindsey calls! This is a 60-90 min call with me where we discuss your current pain points within your business and work to restructure your business into one that’s not just surviving but THRIVING!

Click here to sign up for first dibs on one of these LIMITED spots for my Black Friday sale!!