Standard pricing, websites & advertising
PhoenixOrion
Registered Users Posts: 19 Big grins
Hello, site newbie here. 
I've been lurking for a bit and this group seems pretty knowledgeable. I have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me answer.
To give some background, I've been a hobbyist for about 13 years. Other than a handful of paid events (weddings, mostly) I've done it for my own entertainment. Recently, I decided to try my hand in business. While it wasn't a snap-decision, I'm finding some holes in my planning.
To cut it short, I'm having problems coming up with a standard rate.
I've scoured the internet hoping to find helpful insight but I'm more confused now than before my search. Some articles say "there's no such thing as standard" while others suggest that those who "fly by the seat of their pants" in pricing, don't take their business seriously and must at least estimate. I've tried out various calculators online; considered various costs to actually run a business, etc. Like I said, I'm more confused than ever.
I know there isn't a concrete answer since photography is so broad and there are numerous aspects to consider. I've looked at price lists of those in my area, compared with those in different states and the businesses I consider my competitors. I'm not willing to "undercut" anyone since that doesn't work longterm and cheap prices suggest second-class work and/or service.
So I guess my question is, how would I price myself? My chosen field is events and portraiture. Not so sure I want to venture into weddings as a professional, though. Around here especially, that market is pretty flooded and I really don't want to be considered as just another "wedding photographer."
Further, I'm wondering what your opinions are on including price on websites. Do any of you have price lists you give potential clients?
The next problem is a good website. I have the name and design in mind but the majority of really good photo sites I've seen are flash. I have limited knowledge of SEO but from what I've gathered, flash is bad news in that area. Anyone have some insight on this issue? I'd like to go with a flash site. If done right, I think flash looks more professional for artistic sites than other types of sites. Plus there's an obvious concern for protecting my work (yes, I know there are ways around it).
The last thing is advertising. My husband happens to be a successful business owner himself and I've talked to him about this issue, but his business and mine are very different. And so, advertising means will greatly differ. I know advertising can be expensive but am at a loss for which direction to consider.
This has become very overwhelming. Any suggestions?
I've been lurking for a bit and this group seems pretty knowledgeable. I have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me answer.
To give some background, I've been a hobbyist for about 13 years. Other than a handful of paid events (weddings, mostly) I've done it for my own entertainment. Recently, I decided to try my hand in business. While it wasn't a snap-decision, I'm finding some holes in my planning.
To cut it short, I'm having problems coming up with a standard rate.
I've scoured the internet hoping to find helpful insight but I'm more confused now than before my search. Some articles say "there's no such thing as standard" while others suggest that those who "fly by the seat of their pants" in pricing, don't take their business seriously and must at least estimate. I've tried out various calculators online; considered various costs to actually run a business, etc. Like I said, I'm more confused than ever.
I know there isn't a concrete answer since photography is so broad and there are numerous aspects to consider. I've looked at price lists of those in my area, compared with those in different states and the businesses I consider my competitors. I'm not willing to "undercut" anyone since that doesn't work longterm and cheap prices suggest second-class work and/or service.
So I guess my question is, how would I price myself? My chosen field is events and portraiture. Not so sure I want to venture into weddings as a professional, though. Around here especially, that market is pretty flooded and I really don't want to be considered as just another "wedding photographer."
Further, I'm wondering what your opinions are on including price on websites. Do any of you have price lists you give potential clients?
The next problem is a good website. I have the name and design in mind but the majority of really good photo sites I've seen are flash. I have limited knowledge of SEO but from what I've gathered, flash is bad news in that area. Anyone have some insight on this issue? I'd like to go with a flash site. If done right, I think flash looks more professional for artistic sites than other types of sites. Plus there's an obvious concern for protecting my work (yes, I know there are ways around it).
The last thing is advertising. My husband happens to be a successful business owner himself and I've talked to him about this issue, but his business and mine are very different. And so, advertising means will greatly differ. I know advertising can be expensive but am at a loss for which direction to consider.
This has become very overwhelming. Any suggestions?
0
Comments
Not going to touch the pricing thing, there are far more qualified people than me here for that.
Website: depends on what you want it to do. The Flash ones look nice but get old quick. If you want to draw customers in organically, I'd recommend one based on WordPress or Drupal, so you can take advantage of the blog features in addition to the slideshow stuff.
Advertising: Get the other stuff in order first so you can project a professional presence once you start telling people who you are and what you do.
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
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http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/08/selling-yourself-10-traits-of-the-master-marke.html?utm_campaign=miscblog&utm_medium=link&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=mastermarketers
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
My Pictures | My blog
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I definitely want it to look professional and help protect my work. Chances are, the website wouldn't be a main tier in marketing. It would be there to showcase examples of my work/portfolio, have some info about me/the business, maybe feature some testimonials and include contact info. Other than that, I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on it. I'd rather be "out there" doing the leg work, meeting with ppl face-to-face, etc. As for blog/CMS software, been there done that. lol I've tried to maintain a blog in the past but failed miserably. There are times I may have something interesting to say, some advice or highlight of any given session but I run out of things to say and wouldn't have a clue what to write about every day or week. It's a chore for me.
I have a checklist of sorts to help in the process; I'm clear on what I need to do first. The problem I'm having is that I don't know what direction to look into further. I'm thinking specifically of means.
For example; paying for space to place brochures vs. posting flyers on bulletin boards. One would ensure professionalism but the other would be more practical.
Referring back to the article you posted, I've put myself in the buyer position and asked myself if I could take a photographer seriously if I saw their flyer posted on the bulletin board near my mailbox. My answer? It depends on the type of photographer and quality of the flyer. So, not an absolute no. But I'd take a brochure over a flyer any day.
While I would like for my name to be recognized as professional (not just in talent or skill but business practices as well), I don't want to be so distant that I gain a bunch of short-term clients but gain no longterm relationships for repeat business. This is also why I'm having such a problem pricing myself, as I refuse to "undercut." That doesn't work longterm, among other things.
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
My Pictures | My blog
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Don't be so quick to dismiss the role of your website in your marketing stategy. I, like you, initially intended for my website to be simply a brochure of sorts that I could steer people to so they could see examples of my work and get some basic information. As it turns out, besides word of mouth, the majority of my business comes from Google searches for photographers in my area. By tweaking your site to position higher in web searches, your site can become the most effective way of reaching a target audience. My site is simple, and I (who am no computer genius) can add, change, & update info & images very easily. I don't blog (yet) so it is a very low-maintenance tool to reach potential clients.
Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
I chose to go the hosted wordpress route. I bought the domain I wanted, got a hosting service, bought a wordpress template for my site. Spent under 100.
I'm still building out my site. Like you, I'm not sure what to put about pricing nor what to write about myself. I'm a professional writer, but I can't write about myself
Wade
North San Diego County
Wade Courtney Photography
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Whatever your niche you will need a web site. I use a standard package called Rapidweaver (Mac), chose my own hosting provider and register my own domain names via them. This means I am more flexible in future and not tied to a particular hosting provider - although in reality I have stayed with the same one for 10 years.
Well stated. I wanted to say the same thing, but would have come of much more harshly. I don't do any advertising right now, all of my business is word of mouth or organic via the web, and things are going well.
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
My Pictures | My blog
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Ditto.
Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
All the images are hosted and maintained on smugmug, just wrote a little api to handle the updating from my own backend.
Flash is cool, but can get old fast... there's a lot of things that can be done nowadays with Jquery and Ajax that nullifies the use of flash.
Also, making your site higher on search engines will definitely impact your business. probably more than word of mouth to acertain extent due to the amount of people exposed.
Joi Cohen-Haroun
Website :: Facebook :: Twitter
As a web/UI designer, it's very interesting to see a use for horizontal scrolling.:D
Nice site and nice photos. I can't wait till I get to take pictures of hot girls.
North San Diego County
Wade Courtney Photography
Be my Fan on Facebook
Top 20 By Interestingness
Most Recent Captures
Something Completely Random
Basic rule of marketing is to charge what your market can afford. We are all glad of a bargain and we all like to go away with a good deal grin, however rich we are.
There are no rules for photography pricing. Buying a photo is generally discretionary spending so, unless you service a market for which professional photography is a must, you will be competing NOT with other photographers but with other ways the customer could be spending their surplus cash.
People selling snaps at massive events compete with the hot-dog vendor and the souvenir stall. Low prices and volume are the keys. Wedding photography is a different market; it is a special event and only happens occasionally. High prices and low volume are the norm. If I wanted to cover weddings I would check the prices for the dress, the reception, the honeymoon, and other big-ticket items.
The mistake most people make is to focus on their costs. Focussing on the needs and expectations of a particular type of customer is likely to be more profitable than thinking about a particular style of photo. Charge what your market will bear and spend your time thinking about the needs of your target customer - your niche.
I decided to go with a html site and just include a flash gallery. I chose a design that will 'cater' to my target audience and am reading up on the SEO aspect. Any suggestions for the 'about me' section? Speaking of writing about ourselves, I'm terrible at it. lol I've attempted it three different times but it ends up seriously dry or cliche.
In pricing, I'm considering my own costs and adding a fee for my time.
And advertising... Still kind of up in the air on that one. I have a page on fb and so far, 75 people have "liked" it. However, only a handful has interacted with me. Granted the page has only been up a few weeks, 3-4 out of 75 seems very low. I keep posting on the wall and have two albums up but very few seem genuinely interested. I've asked a few people what they notice the most on fb and all said the ads are hard to miss. I'm wondering if any of you has tried that route and what the result was. I tried myspace but that one is useless. It's too time-consuming and offers very little exposure compared to fb. Twitter is very new to me. I don't spend too much time on it, personally, and am unsure of how to market there w/o spamming. Seems it would be very easy to get carried away on that site.
I've also been talking to my husband about flyers. He thinks it would project an effort on my part to potential clients in terms of putting myself 'out there' and doing the work to gain business, rather than submitting my name to different companies (yellow pages, SE, etc) and just waiting at home for calls. Thinking along those lines, I am considering using flyers for promotion (i.e., booking early for the Christmas season = discount on select prints).
We've been discussing business cards as well as vehicle decals. Business cards are pretty obvious, right? Question is, do I go simple w/ just my contact info or include services offered too? I'd like to get a decal for my back window too, but don't want to include my name. So that leads to yet another dilemma...what do I put on my truck?
Have I made this complicated enough yet?