247 - In today's episode of the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast, we're diving into the art of raising your prices in your portrait photography business without losing your clients.
Whether you're just starting out with a low-cost all-inclusive model or you're already seeing high sales and aiming to break into an even more luxurious market, we’ve got you covered.
Join us to explore the journey through different business levels, the importance of transitioning to product sales, and how to introduce signature products to elevate your offerings.
What to listen for:
Resources From This Episode:
JOIN THE PARTY:
247 - In today's episode of the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast, we're diving into the art of raising your prices in your portrait photography business without losing your clients.
Whether you're just starting out with a low-cost all-inclusive model or you're already seeing high sales and aiming to break into an even more luxurious market, we’ve got you covered.
Join us to explore the journey through different business levels, the importance of transitioning to product sales, and how to introduce signature products to elevate your offerings.
What to listen for:
Resources From This Episode:
JOIN THE PARTY:
In today's episode, we are talking all about how to raise your prices without losing clients. So, age old question, important information. Stick around. I'm Nicole Bagley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses.
I believe that achieving two to $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six figure businesses. That any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full time passion or a part time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place with over 350,000 downloads.
Welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography podcast. Hey everybody, Nicole Begley here. Welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography podcast. I am excited today to talk about some pricing. It's just me. Sorry, no guest. So you're stuck listening to me ramble on in your ears for a little bit, but I hope you find the topic interesting and helpful. And what I wanted to dive into today was how to raise our prices without losing our clients.
Now, before we actually get into that, I do want to give you just a little quick overview of the levels of business that almost every single photography business goes through. That is starting with level one, our low cost, all inclusive business. You know what we usually do when we're just starting out because we're still trying to learn how to make our camera work. And so we're doing kind of all inclusive low cost because again, we're focusing on learning the camera pieces of it, that it's really hard to learn that and learn how to run a business all at the same time.
So that's usually the first place that we start. And by the way, if that's where you are now, I want to let you know that it's okay. You're going to hear a lot of other educators in this space saying that you're ruining the industry. I don't think that. I think that you are just starting your business out, and I would rather see you get paid in an easy, approachable way that you just make sense for you.
That's easy for you than for you to be stuck in this business building and never actually get there and never actually start to make money in your business. Now, I do want to throw a caveat out here that if you are currently at this level, this level often will not be profitable long term. So it is really a stepping stone as you get your business off the ground, as you're finalizing your craft and learning to master your craft and getting it to the point where you can create consistent images for your clients, then you should move on to step two, or level two, which is where we start to introduce products into your business, because it's really, really difficult to make that level one, all inclusive, low cost digitals to be something that can be sustainable long term in your business.
So anyway, just wanted to get on that soapbox for a minute and say it's okay if that's where you are currently, but you are going to want to have a plan to move up through these levels, which it's a good thing here because that's exactly what we're talking about. So anyway, so that's level one. Level two, like I mentioned quickly, is where photographers will start to include products into their services.
So maybe they're starting to offer some wall art or some albums. Generally, they're going to go to some of the major labs in their market. You know, in the United States, it might be Miller's or Bay photo or pro DPI or White House custom color, different labs like that that are kind of big standard industry labs. A lot of them have very similar products. And so they're going to be offering similar products to a lot of other photographers.
That's okay. At this level, what your goal is, is to start getting comfortable printing your work, starting to get comfortable selling actual products, and you're starting to change your pricing a little bit to include those products. You're starting to change your messaging a little bit to talk about those products because you're no longer just selling digital files at this level. At this level, too. Generally, price points that people are getting with their business is the maybe even up to closer to $2,000.
But generally that one thousand dollars to one thousand five hundred dollars average sale. And I believe so strongly that every single photographer, if you have the basics of photography, if you can create technically correct images, there's no reason that you should not be at a minimum at this level. I think, honestly that you could be at level three. As long as you're making, again, technically correct images. They don't have to be the best images in your state, in your market, in your country.
They just need to be technically correct. Now, don't mishear me. We should always be striving to improve our craft and get better. I'm not saying that, like, I, oh, we don't care if, you know, don't worry about your craft. Don't worry about getting better with your photography. Of course, of course we're always going to be growing that. But I see so many photographers that feel like they aren't able to charge yet.
Meanwhile, I'm looking at their work and their work is beautiful, but they don't see it because they just see the gap of where they are and where they want to be. So if you're not sure where you want to be, ask someone. Ask someone in the industry that can give you an honest answer and let you know, like, hey, all right, no, we need to work on your exposure and your white balance and your focus.
And like those general basics, the pieces that make it technically correct, which in my book is white balance, exposure, focus, and then expression is like the icing on the cake. And if you can get those couple things, then, yeah, I think you are ready to add those products into your business and work your way up to level three, which is what I believe is the bread and butter of profitable photography businesses.
That is when you're starting to have the two to $3,000 average sale. And again, if you're making technically sound work, this level is available to you. Now, there is one more level above this. And this higher level does require that we start to really dig into a unique style, a unique offering, unique products. We could talk about. Actually, we are going to talk about how you move from one level to the next in this episode.
But that level four is generally where people are starting to get three thousand five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars or more per session average. And again, that just requires a little bit of thinking a little bit differently and really diving into and elevating our products that we're offering and the craft that we are delivering. So those are our four levels. I have seen pretty much every photography business that I have ever seen has moved through those four levels.
You don't have to stay at any particular level for a long time. You can move through them very quickly, but they are really those levels that you need to move through because you need to learn to walk before you learn to run. So a lot of people start this business and they're like, oh, my gosh, I just want a six figure business. But if you had just started your photography business, like, let's just say you picked out a name, you grabbed a website and you got online, and then all of a sudden your inbox was flooded with inquiries and enough clients to have a six figure business.
I'm guessing you would probably crash and burn because you don't have the systems or the experience set up to handle that many clients at the level of service that they would expect at that price point. So that's why moving through these levels is not only to be expected, but actually beneficial. Because at each level you're learning new skills. At each level you're starting to build different elements of your business, different foundations of your business, so that when you get to level three and level four, which are the two most sustainable levels, you have built this great foundation and then you are ready to serve the heck out of your clients at that level.
So let's start talking a little bit about how we can start to actually raise our prices, because you'll hear this a lot. Let's talk about actually some of the reasons that people will say that you should never be all inclusive, low cost. Number one, they'll say you're ruining the industry and you're making it too hard for anybody else. I think that's B's. I don't subscribe to that. All of my clients want the level of service that I'm providing.
So of course there are all inclusive, low cost people in my market, but I still have clients choosing me because of the level of service that I provide. So just like there is always room in every market for a Ruth's Chris or even nicer, a really high end steakhouse. And then like the Ponderosa or, you know, just think about those levels of steakhouses. You've got, like the Ponderosa or my gosh, we used to have a steakhouse in Pittsburgh called hosses.
It was like, oh, there's another. There's another one that has this big giant salad bar. And it's not just salad, it's just like this giant buffet. And then you get a steak. Now, the steak is not high quality, but the buffet was dope. I remember going there as a kid and a teenager and it was awesome. So, yeah, so that would be our level one maybe, right, in terms of a steakhouse.
And then level two would be kind of the outback and the lone Star. Like, we're starting to have some nicer steaks. They're going to be pretty darn consistent in all the different places. You're going to get like a baked potato and some veggies. Nothing too crazy, nothing too special. It's just. It is what it is. It's good, it's fine. Similar is our level two. And then you start to get to, like the level threes, which might be more kind of a Ruth Chris or maybe independent restaurants that serve a really good steak.
And then, of course, you get to like a level four, which would be maybe like a Michelin star restaurant. So photography businesses really are the same way. I mean, you could look at almost any industry and there are going to be these different levels and they all coexist. So the different levels of photography businesses can also coexist in your market. Hotels, same. Same thing. Cars, same thing. Really?
This is my homework for you. Go look at some random industries and see what these different levels are like. I'm thinking for horse boarding stables, my horse is probably boarded at what I would call a level three horse sporting facility. There's like the level one, which is really just like a pasture board backyard. No barn. They're not feeding grain. Kind of, you take care of your horse on your own.
Level two might be kind of like a just general barn where they don't really have a lesson program. So you have a stall and board, and they feed them and take care of them and kind of do the basic hair and turn them out and everything like that. And then level three is, you know, kind of where I keep my horse, where we're at a show barn, but it's not like a high end, crazy show barn.
Like, you know, there's lessons, they care for the horses, but it's not, it's not a level four, which a level four is going to be one of those high end show barns where they're like, oh, I'm in Florida in the winter, and we're in New York in the summer, and your board includes training rides and you have to show and all of these different things that, you know, get really crazy and quite expensive.
So anyway, so those are kind of like the four different levels of equestrian barns as well. So this is my homework for you. I would love for you guys to take a look around at different industries that you're involved in and look and see if you can see this kind of tiering of the levels in that industry. And I would love if you would send me a DM on Instagram, a colebakelyofficial, and let me know what industry that you have looked at that kind of follows the same pattern.
Anyway, I digress. Sorry, I went off on a tangent. This is what happens when it's just me talking into a microphone and I don't have anyone here to keep me on task. So anyway, what were we talking about? We're talking about how to raise our prices. So, like I said, almost all businesses kind of start to work through these different levels. And one of the biggest reasons that you'll hear people saying that you shouldn't be an all inclusive low cost.
So that's how we got here, because I said that most people will say you're ruining the industry, but you're not. There's different levels of an industry, but they'll also say that you should never be all inclusive low cost because the clients you're attracting at that level are not going to be your long term clients. And you know what? They're right. They're probably right. Most of those clients will not follow you up into these different levels of your business.
But that's okay, because here's the option. Maybe you're just starting your business out. You have option a. Like, I'm learning how to use my camera. I'm starting out, I got my business, I'm, like, legally registered, I can collect sales tax. I have a really basic website. Let me start making some money that I can reinvest into my business. I can reinvest into education, I can reinvest into new lenses.
So you could do that. So then it's really easy just to be low cost all inclusive. Let's just start making some money while I'm building my portfolio so that I could build out this website. There is nothing wrong with that. And then the other option, which, again, there's nothing wrong with this option, too, which is more like, okay, I'm going to master my craft, then I'm going to figure out what I want my business to look like.
I'm going to build my whole business on the back end, and then I'm going to launch my business and start accepting money. There's nothing wrong with that. The challenge is you're waiting a heck of a long time to start making money in your business. And I have seen students get hung up trying to wait for everything to be perfect for years, not moving forward in their business, not accepting money.
And I hate that for them. I want them to start making money. So if you're looking at these two options and the one to, like, build out the business and figure out what products you want to sell and how to price it and how to do sales and how to build a client, product guide and XYZ and all these different things, if that's looking like it's a long path to get there, there's nothing wrong with saying, all right, how can I start making money now knowing that that is still where you want to go.
So anyway, as you start to transition, you might lose some clients. And this is actually one of the biggest things that I see people struggle with, where they are going to try to shift from this all inclusive digital to starting to have products. And that is they start to get really, really concerned about all these previous clients that they've had and they love, they love serving those clients and they think that there's no way they'll follow them here or they're going to.
Just like, maybe these clients can't afford to go here. Although be careful what you're thinking. People can and can't afford. Um, usually, generally people can't afford it if they value it. And we're going to talk about how to improve the value or, um, not improve it, but how to talk about the value and, uh, educate your client on what the value is as we go up through these levels.
All right, I'm just jumping back in here. I got a little sidetracked. So I apologize if there was a weird transition here. I was trying to remember exactly what I was saying and I, I don't remember, but I do remember what we were talking about. So anyway, so as you raise your prices, it is possible that you are going to leave some people behind. And that's what people are so worried about doing, is that say they're charging $500 and now they want to start to include products.
They want to have a $1,500 average, but they're so worried about those past clients. Here's the thing. You can just choose to raise your prices because, you know, then in order for your business to be sustainable, you do need to get there. You don't have to get there right out of the gate at the very beginning, but that you do need to get there eventually if you want to be sustainable and you're doing a boutique model now, if you're doing like high volume type thing, that's different.
But most of you listening are thinking of like ten clients or less per month. That's a boutique model. It's really hard to be sustainable at $500 per session for that. So generally, of all the students, I mean, I've done this math for hundreds of photographers. Pretty much the bare minimum of an average sale that people need to reach their financial goals is usually 1500. Sometimes it's over 3000.
But $1,500 per sale tends to be kind of the floor of that boutique model where they can actually start to reach a sustainable business. So I hear you, you're not cold hearted. You want to bring those people along with you. So here's the options. Number one, you could just let them know, hey, I am really excited. I am starting to offer tangible products because I know how busy everyone gets.
And you know, those digital files, they end up just getting trapped on your computer. I have so many digital files from when my kids were little. Or, you know, talk about your experience where they're just on your computer. You know, they sometimes come up on your phone and you're like, oh, man. But wouldn't it be amazing to be able to actually see those images on a more regular basis because they get more valuable as the years go on.
So you can talk about how you're offering that and why you're offering that. And you might be surprised how many of your previous clients will see the value in that and be excited for this new endeavor and follow you along at this new price point for this new thing. You're not just raising your prices, you're not just saying, hey, my digital files are $500 now. They're 1500 for the same thing.
Maybe you are, but you're also adding products. So you're shifting the messaging of like what I'm offering is shifting and changing and here's how it benefits you. So that's option one is they're going to be excited to come along with you and they're just going to pay these new prices and they're going to be so thrilled to get products for their session. Option number two is that they are going to maybe not be able to follow you up to that new price point.
So you then have two options at that option too. That is number one, just accepting like, okay, I'm not here to serve everyone. I can't serve everyone. I'm going to focus on serving the people at this level I need to serve. Or if you have clients that you still love to work with that you wish you could still bring along with you, but they can't come make that jump for some reason.
You can still have some like vip past client mini sessions once a year where they can do a little low cost, all inclusive kind of mini session afternoon for some of those previous clients. So that way you don't have to have the guilt. It's not that you should have the guilt, but guess, you know, we're human, so we might. But it's a great way to still be able to serve those clients but still move your business to a place that it needs to be to be profitable.
So let's talk really quickly too, about what it looks like when you start to move from that level two that we're just talking about where we're about 1500 thousand to $1,500 per sale, we're starting to add in products and maybe we want to move to what I think is the bread and butter. The most important goal in a sales situation for most photography businesses is that consistent two thousand dollars to three thousand dollars sale.
Because I believe that is the fastest path to a six figure business because at you're talking 33 to 50 clients a year, just about every market can support that. So I like to think that that would be our goal, to get to that section as quickly as possible. Now, to move from that level two to that level three, what needs to change? Well, one thing that needs to change is we do need to make sure that we are improving our craft.
Because again, you don't have to be the best in the world, but you do have to be pretty consistently decent to be able to command those prices. And again, if you're not sure if you are, I've seen so many photographers think they're not when they definitely are, please, please, please ask a professional that you trust to critique your work. And a good professional will give you honest feedback and let you know, like, no, this is great.
You're ready to charge whatever you want for it. Or, oh my gosh, here's one or two things that we need to improve in order to be more consistent at that level. It's not to say you can't charge that, but to be more consistent, to be able to charge that more easily. Okay, so that's number one. The other thing that we generally need once we start to get to this level of our business is we need to start introducing a signature product.
No longer is it just offering a metal and a canvas and like, the basic options that most labs offer, really enough, because everybody else at that level two business in their market is also offering that. So if you can find something, a product that you really, really love, and that can be your signature product, then that gives you something to talk about on your website, on your social media, when you're talking to clients about, this is what you specialize in.
It could be albums, it could be a wall art, it could be whatever you love. Now, this product that you love could still be a product that's sold by one of the regular labs. It doesn't mean you need to go out and find some like obscure vendor that nobody else sells. Like, that's not the point. The point is to find one particular item that you absolutely love, that you want to sing from the rooftops, that this is what you do, this is what most of your clients purchase, and this is what you're known for.
And that's what you kind of build everything else around. And that's how you kind of start to get to that level three. And then for level four, you're just taking that a little bit further. It's a signature product, but it's usually going to be really high end. Everything's going to be custom. Everything is going to be really just curated specifically for that client. And you're moving away from packages and all those things.
Once you get to that level four, that higher level, that $3500 to $5,000 per sale. But we're not really talking about that one here, really. It was talking about how to start to raise our prices throughout these different levels without losing our clients. So I hope that what we've covered so far gives you an overview of kind of what these different levels look like. And maybe you're starting to figure out where your current business is currently fitting in this.
If you do want to go deeper on this, come visit me@freedomfocusformula.com. on that website, we dive into all of these. We dive into these four different levels. Um, just, there's so many different ways I can help you there. So, um, would love to see you over there. But before we go, before we wrap this up, I do have one more thing that I want to talk about that is absolutely critical as we move through these four levels.
And that is, as we move from level one to level four, what we're selling changes. I. Okay, I hear you. You're still selling photography. Yes and no. You're creating photography. You are no longer selling photography once you get to level three and four. Hear me out. So at level one, we are selling photography. It is, hey, we're doing photos. Here's a great price. You're getting digital files. Yes.
And the consumer psychology at that point is, see photos, like photos. Great price point. Let's do it. Once you start to get to level two, this is where you're starting to talk about the features and the benefits and, like, why it's beneficial to have artwork or albums and how that's going to, you know, what that's going to be, what that's going to mean for your client 10, 20, 30 years down the road.
So you're starting to talk about that. You're really highlighting, again those benefits of these tangible products. So are you selling photography? Yes, sort of. But really, you're selling the benefits of those products, of. Of them being able to enjoy them many, many years down the road. Then when we get to level three and four, we're no longer selling benefits. We're no longer selling photography at that level. We are selling to the value and identity of our client.
Now, I'm not making this up. This is all based on the levels of marketing sophistication. If you want to dive a little bit deeper into this Google marketing levels of sophistication, or marketing sophistication levels, and it will kind of share with you how this goes. So, first of all, let's just. I'll go over it really quickly. Let's say I'm the first person to bring chocolate into the market.
I show up, I say, have chocolate. Taste it. Good. Here's the price. You buy it at level two. Other people start bringing them in. So now I can no longer just say, hey, here's price, or here's chocolate. If it's all the same, then it's all a commodity. It's going to be the lowest bidder. So instead, we start talking about, well, this chocolate's darker. The benefits of the dark chocolate are XYZ, or this chocolate is farmed here or there.
So you're starting to talk about the benefits and features of the chocolate, and you're trying to out benefit each other. And that usually correlates also to level two of our business, where it's just like, we're talking about the benefits and the features. And then you start to move into level three of marketing sophistication, which is your unique selling proposition. So maybe this chocolate over here is farmed with this special organic cocoa bean, or it is roasted in this special roaster.
Like, I have the secret proprietary method in the photography business. That would be something like, you know, I'm a pet photographer, and I also have a history of 13 years as a zoological animal trainer. So I'm bringing this animal behavior piece to our pet photography session. If you're a family photographer, maybe you used to be a preschool teacher, you have kids of your own, or XYZ. Like, what's your unique selling proposition that correlates to being able to market our photography business at our level two and a little bit of level three photography businesses, when you're at that, like, $1,500 selling products, and also when you start to move into that two to $3,000 ideal range.
But the key for being able to market and just remove all price objections. And the way you need to message your services when you are at that level three and level four level of photography business. So two to $3,000, average sales, $3500 to $5,000. Plus, um, is that we need to be selling to the identity and the values of our client. So if we go back to the chocolate, my identity is of a chocolate connoisseur.
I love chocolate, and I love being able to taste all these different, like, small batch chocolate. Like, like, if I loved beer, I would absolutely love microbrews, because it's like, oh, my gosh, every single brewery has, like, their own beer, and we get to taste all these different kinds. That's how I am about chocolate. So that's an identity level. Another piece of the identity level and the value level, they're kind of intertwined is that I care about the environment.
I have a nonprofit, the hair of the dog conservation fund, that we support wild animal conservation all around the world. So for me, if there's a chocolate company that is talking about fair trade, ethically sourced, you know, that it's grown in a non destructional or non destructive way for the environment, things like that, that is going to appeal to me, and I am going to pay more for that chocolate than I would for, like, Hersheys or Reese's or whatever.
That's just, you know, the normal chocolate that's found in the store. So do you see how you can start to use this for your photography business? So if you're a pet photographer, not everyone that owns a dog is your market, right? Your market might be someone whose identity is, hey, it's the weekend. What are we doing with the dog this weekend? Not, hey, it's the weekend. Like, the dog's staying at home and we're going out to do whatever, you know, their identity is of a pet parent dog sleeps with them in the bed.
The dog is like a family member. The dog is like their ride or die. Like, you're starting to reach into those types of identities. Same thing if you're a family photographer. I mean, there are different types of moms, right? So, like, are you reaching to the identity of the mom who's like, the mom? She's stay at home mom. Her whole identity is around these kids and being a mom and serving them.
Or are you reaching for the professional working moms that are trying to balance it all? It's that kind of the values. It's not really values, but the identity that you're looking at there. Can you see how those are two very different people that you might speak to about your services differently. So the mom, that is, the working professional, and the stay at home mom, whose identity is purely, like, this is my mission in life, is to be here raising these kids.
They still both might buy your services, but you speak to them differently, so I can hear you. How do I know? How do I know how I should speak to them? I have a little simple question for you to ask. Every inquiry from now until forever, and that is, once I get my inquiries on the phone, I start to talk to them. I just make some small talk, ask them about who we're photographing, and then I ask them this question.
What's most important to you in this photography experience? And that right there opens the door for what they value, what they want out of this experience, and then you can speak to them at that identity, at that value level. For instance, if I have somebody that reaches out to me because I specialize in artwork and wall art, and I have had clients. I've had both of these clients reach out to me and be very happy with their sessions, but I talk to them during the inquiry process a little bit differently.
Client a reaches out and says, hey, yeah, I'm just. We're moving into a new house. I'm, like, redecorating. I would love to have some, like, epic, beautiful artwork over the couch of us and the dog. Awesome. Great. I'm going to talk to that client and say, you know, tell me about your space. What's your decorating style? What colors are the space? Are you envisioning, like, a really big environmental piece with you guys?
Smaller, just the dog, all you guys together? Like, we're going to be talking about the artwork in their space and how that all goes together versus client b reaches out and says, oh, my gosh, I've heard great things. I'd love to get art piece. But, you know, the main reason I'm reaching out to you is because I've had this dog since college. This dog has been by my side through, you know, marriage or divorce or this or that or all these life events.
And they're getting a little bit older, and I just wanted to capture these images together. I'm going to speak to that client very differently than I did that artwork client. I'm going to speak to that client, maybe bringing up my own experiences with, oh, my gosh, yes, I totally understand having a connection that deep with an animal. It's just, I wish they could live forever. And then I'll be talking about the experience of, we're going to capture these images and these relationship type photos.
And, yeah, we can definitely do an artwork piece, but, like, maybe also an album, because then we can really capture that bond. I'll be talking about that bond the whole time instead of the actual product of that artwork piece. Do you see the difference? This right there is the secret to bringing these clients with you up through these levels. And again, all you need to remember to do is ask the question, what do you most value about this experience?
Or what do you value most about this upcoming experience? Or what's most important to you about this upcoming experience? And then simply start to tell them how you can serve them there. That's it. It's not overly complicated. I hope you guys found that helpful. If you did, please let me know. Reach out to me on instagram. I love to hear how you guys have enjoyed these episodes. And in the meantime, we will see you soon, next week for another episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast.