Pricing Your Portraits

Portrait photographers agree that one of the most important yet shrouded aspects of running a successful business is accurately pricing your products for profit. Some charge too little, then scramble to photograph and edit photos for throngs of clients, only to become overwhelmed and burn out. Others price too low initially, just to get people in the door, but soon mark up their prices and lose clients to new photographers who charge rock-bottom prices. There are still others who price themselves out of the game right out of the gate. Jeff Smith, owner of two thriving portrait studios teaches you how to tackle one of photography’s most vexing problems—working out a pricing structure that allows you to cover your costs and clear a profit that you can live comfortably with. Smith begins by showing you methods that he—and countless other pros—have used in a misguided attempt to reap a great cash flow, helping you avoid time-and-revenue-burning missteps. Next, he walks you through the process of figuring out where your money goes—How much should you shell out for new equipment? What falls into the category of “overhead?” How much do you need to pay your staff and yourself?—and then moves on to show ways to cut costs, price individual prints and packages, maintain your desired business volume, retain existing clients, and delegate tasks in order to work smartly toward profitability—all while enjoying your work and achieving professional and creative satisfaction.

Portrait photographers agree that one of the most important yet shrouded aspects of running a successful business is accurately pricing your products for profit. Some charge too little, then scramble to photograph and edit photos for throngs of clients, only to become overwhelmed and burn out. Others price too low initially, just to get people in the door, but soon mark up their prices and lose clients to new photographers who charge rock-bottom prices. There are still others who price themselves out of the game right out of the gate. Jeff Smith, owner of two thriving portrait studios teaches you how to tackle one of photography’s most vexing problems—working out a pricing structure that allows you to cover your costs and clear a profit that you can live comfortably with. Smith begins by showing you methods that he—and countless other pros—have used in a misguided attempt to reap a great cash flow, helping you avoid time-and-revenue-burning missteps. Next, he walks you through the process of figuring out where your money goes—How much should you shell out for new equipment? What falls into the category of “overhead?” How much do you need to pay your staff and yourself?—and then moves on to show ways to cut costs, price individual prints and packages, maintain your desired business volume, retain existing clients, and delegate tasks in order to work smartly toward profitability—all while enjoying your work and achieving professional and creative satisfaction.

In this practical guide, photography pricing guru Alicia Caine takes the anxiety and drudgery out of the pricing process for portrait and wedding photographers, showing how to keep the process as simple and painless as possible. Alicia starts by breaking down such daunting topics as managing your budget and expenses and determining how much work you can take on, and then explains the importance of understanding what your client wants and researching the marketplace. She shows how to reverse-engineer your pricing, create a pricing sheet, and present your pricing to your clients. Focusing mainly on portrait pricing, she also explores how to achieve consistent pricing across your photography services, with a chapter on specialty sessions that covers the particularities of pricing weddings and mini sessions. Along the way, you’ll encounter nearly 20 worksheets designed to help you move from learning the necessary steps and tasks to actual implementation, a key obstacle for many photographers. As an added bonus, Alicia provides an “Expert’s Guide” on how to get paid what you’re worth based on your expertise in a particular niche, which can potentially increase your value in the marketplace. In this special section, you’ll learn how positioning yourself as an authority on a particular topic can help you bring in more potential clients. Features the friendly, approachable voice of photography pricing expert Alicia Caine, whose mentoring and coaching have endeared her to thousands of photographers. Includes worksheets and a gross earning calculator (also available via download) to help you with key steps in the process, covering such topics as how to determine your hourly value, how to think about and set up collections and specialty products, how to figure out your costs of goods sold, and much more. Incorporates lightness, fun, and compassion to help photographers more easily approach the challenging and often mundane topic of pricing.

"This is the sixth edition of a classic reference on art marketing, which was first published in the 1970s. Straightforward, well structured, & extremely informative, it begins where books such as THE ARTIST'S MARKET...end. Simply put, the book has become a standard in its field... (It) discusses marketing methods such as organizing sales parties, exhibitions, adding that exhibitions built around a particular "theme" (especially when tied to a related public event) are most profitable. THE ART MARKETING HANDBOOK stems from Goodman's three decades of experience advertising artists & art dealers. In addition to explaining how artists can earn more from increased art sales, he also shares information about finding qualified prospects, selling to collectors & businesses, pricing art work ethics in the art market, publishing, promotion, contracts & proper documentation of sales, copyrights, & wholesaling .... Filled with specific examples from artists Goodman has worked with over the years, the book remains enjoyable reading as well as an extremely information & motivating resource." Laurie S. Hurwitz, Senior Editor, AMERICAN ARTIST. To order: GEE TEE BEE, 11901 Sunset, #102, Los Angeles, CA 90049 $60.00 plus $3.50 (S&H). Phone (310) 476-2622 FAX (310) 472-8785.

AM I PRICING RIGHT? Every business owner is haunted by this fundamental question. Expert pricing strategist Mark Stiving draws upon more than 15 years of experience in profitable pricing and delivers a practical plan to help you confidently answer. Price—it’s most powerful marketing tool you have— and the least understood. Zeroing in on the areas where your efforts will generate the greatest impact, Stiving breaks down critical pricing concepts and provides the blueprint to integrate proven pricing strategies into your growth plans. Be empowered to strengthen your pricing structure to withstand any conditions, dramatically elevating your company performance, position, and profits for long-term success. Learn how to: Set prices that drive your market position Correctly use costs to make profitable pricing decisions Implement value-based pricing to charge what customers are willing to pay Use price segmentation to leverage value and capture new business Cash-in on complementary products and product versions with portfolio pricing Prepare for changing conditions pricing strategically now Following in the footsteps of sited examples including Apple, BMW, McDonalds, Mercedes, and other market leaders, learn how to create a powerful price strategy that does more than cover costs.

A revelation for small business owners: creating a profitable business is possible without getting into a slash-and-burn price war with your competitors. Petty and Verbeck inspire you to live your passion and pass your enthusiasm on to your customers, without succumbing to the pressure to discount.

How to Price Your Art is a comprehensive guide that enables visual artists to price their work confidently and with profit in mind. Whether you are new to pricing your art or have been an artist for years and are simply wanting to develop a pricing strategy for your art business, this book will give you everything you need. You can absolutely learn how to price your artwork with confidence inside the pages of this book. And I'd love to show you how, especially if you're still pricing your art based on what you "think" it's worth and constantly second-guessing yourself. Knowing how to price your art means the difference between barely making ends meet and actually making money with your art. It enables you to build your art business, create income and have the impact you dream of as an artist. It's the difference between an expensive hobby and a profitable business. If you're like most artists, knowing how to price your art is a constant frustration which takes the joy right out of creating. Add to that the confusion of trying to understand how things like where you live, the type of art you create and your experience level fit in to your pricing and it can be downright overwhelming! Thankfully, pricing your artwork doesn't have to be a mystery, anymore! Inside this book, I'll teach you: 7 Factors that Determine Art Pricing An Easy Pricing Formula for Pricing Your Art How to Make a Profit on Every Sale 5 Keys to Creating a Pricing Strategy Why Fear of Raising Your Prices is All In Your Head My Biggest Pricing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Plus you'll be getting a copy of my Art Pricing Worksheet which will make pricing your art super easy for you. I'll also be covering important topics including: Why Uniqueness Commands Higher Prices How to Price for Retail, Wholesale & Consignment Perception Influences Pricing Accounting for Packing, Shipping & Taxes Where to Start If You've Never Sold Anything How to Create Multiple Price Points Knowing When to Increase Your Prices Should you list your prices on your website? Discounts & Bonuses Every day that goes by you're not pricing your art profitably is one more day that's costing you the time, money, freedom and impact you were designed to make in the world. The longer you keep doing this, the more money you're literally throwing down the drain.