advice on increasing wedding pricing needed

I just raised my prices for 2008. By most pro's standards I know I am still in

the bargain bin. My concern is that I am still new to the market and I am not

spending a dime on advertising. All of my work is through word of mouth and a

couple of pretty vocal brides on the knot. I just finished my second season

shooting. My first year as a primary photog and I shot 26 on my own and

assisted at another 10 this year. All in all, I am pretty experienced for my

freshness but not that experienced compared to who my competition is. My whole

philosophy is I want to be better then the market (price point) I enter before I

enter it. Right now the money I make from shooting is about 80% my income. I

feel I need to go up one more notch to go full time. At the same time I know

that SO MANY brides price shop. There is assessment of good imagery but I would

say 30% are very critical. So I am also competing against the wedding mills

that end up being priced just above where I am at. Since a lot of my word of

mouth happens on the wedding boards online, and I have feeling the more of the

budget brides spend time there, that I need to stay in line with my competition.

 

My hope is that in 2009 I offer two prices, 2500-all inclusive, w/ out album,

and 3500 all inclusive w/album. But I am not ready to make that jump yet. My

money is too scared to risk losing business from price shoppers. And in

addition since I just raised my prices a week ago I am leery of doing it again

and upsetting what my clients have already seen. My thoughts are that I am worth

going up another 50 an hour, but I didn't realize this until my website was

finished. (about a week ago)

 

<a href="http://www.barclayhorner.com"

rel="nofollow">http://www.barclayhorner.com</a>

An interesting perspective on pricing came from a photographer based in Chicago who charges $19,650 for his top package (which includes an engagement session anywhere in the world).

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Quote from David Wittig on another <a href=http://www.flickr.com/groups/weddingphoto/discuss/72157603241728118/>forum</a>:

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<b>"....After I shot my first wedding for $600. I swore never to do it again because it was so much work. When a referral came to me from that wedding, I told them it would cost $3000 thinking that would turn them away instantly (I was a poor college student and $3000 seemed like a fortune). Instead, they hired me on the spot. I shot a few weddings in that price range and then went to a package system that ranged from about $1000-3600. I've tinkered with my prices a LOT through the years, so its hard to chart a straight line. But I went from a $600 minimum to a $6000 minimum in 8 years. There were a lot of bumps along the way, and lessons learned the hard way.

<p>

I can say that the biggest difference in my bottom line came from raising my minimum package price. It's tempting to leave that bottom package low as a safety net, but two bad things will happen:

<p>

1. You will eventually spread yourself too wide. People generally don't want to pay $5000 for a photographer that can also be had for $900.

<p>

2. You will loose money and time shooting cheaper weddings that are pulling you away from your goal of running a sustainable business. Every wedding you shoot impacts your future both because of referrals that come from it, and the images and experience it contributes to your portfolio..."</b>

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<a href=http://weddings.davidwittig.com/>David Wittig Photography</a>

>>> I am not spending a dime on advertising. <<<

 

Fine.

 

>>> All of my work is through word of mouth <<<

 

Excellent.

 

 

>>> My first year as a primary photog and I shot 26 on my own and assisted at another 10 this year <<<

 

Good.

 

 

>>> I make from shooting is about 80% my income. <<<

 

 

Good data for my comment.

 

 

>>> At the same time I know that SO MANY brides price shop. <<<

 

Well actually you do not `know`, that is your perception, based upon you experience: As you have not spent `a dime on advertising`, I will bet London to a Brick - On, that you have spent zip on market and customer analysis and their purchasing criteria.

 

 

 

>>> Since a lot of my word of mouth happens on the wedding boards online, and I have feeling the more of the budget brides spend time there, that I need to stay in line with my competition. <<<

 

It seems to me and from my experience, that the statement concerning the budget conscious Brides spend a lot of time web shopping (and posting notes) is true, but your analysis what your business should do about this is way off base: there are many more options for it (your business), I believe.

 

By definition you are competing head to head with the budget group by defining them as your completion and allowing them to dictate to your business what its prices should be.

 

IMO the business plan dictates price, not other people.

 

 

>>> My money is too scared to risk losing business from price shoppers. <<<

 

Understood.

 

Summary:

 

If you wait until you think your photography is good enough to jump out of the budget line and the budget line competition, then it will be more difficult to make that move the longer you stay and the longer the word of mouth referrals build your price conscious and price focussed business.

 

This is a key marketing point and I state as fact, and do nor resile in any way what so ever.

 

You have a simple business choice IMO:

 

Move your business to the next level: now.

 

Or understand the longer you stay fighting on a price point and relying upon word of mouth to fill those price point slots, the more difficult it will be to move from price point word of mouth marketing.

 

 

Easy for me to say from a distance, I know: buy you ask for forthright advice.

 

Given the statistics and data supplied, I suggest you double all your prices and work on a simple no cost or low cost marketing plan which gets you face to face with prospective clients and begin building the new business on word of mouth upon your experience, expertise, quality, creativity, personality and photography.

 

Get a business plan together to grow at the rate of inflation + 5% each year and have those price rises calculated two years out, so prospects know what next year`s fees will be.

 

Addressing the client you have already quoted, but have not yet booked, then write them a very nice letter explaining the revamp of you business which reflects extreme value for money, and give them a fee weeks to consider booking you.

 

To those who have booked you, honour the old prices.

 

You might like to have a grace period (very short, perhaps 4 weeks) where new prospects are offered the old prices at the sales interview, only.

 

From a business perspective: you have shot 26 wedding yourself, and that accounts for 80% of your income, in the next year you need to sign 13 Weddings at the new prices, 14 to do better, and that will leave you 50% more `work` time to be face to face and toe to toe with other prospects.

 

To me it is simple mathematics, and mathematics is one cornerstone upon which business is based, and you are either in business or not.

 

WW

This is a very interesting post. I can completely understand how you would get nervous when you have to jump up your prices. We currently shoot in what you might call the bargain bin, and I feel we deliver good quality. I will visit other photographers websites in our areas and find that they charge a lot more than we do, and deliver adequate photos. At that time I always want to raise my prices. But I always hold back hoping to do more shoots and gain more experience.

 

There is something to people being "snobby" about their wedding photographer. I think by having a higher price, people think you are a better photographer even if that is not the case. People don't know what a good photographer is they only know what you represent.

Read this:

http://photolovecat.blogspot.com/2007/11/getting-out-of-part-time-trap.html

anne, you are wonderful. I read your other post on osp and thanks for posting that. I just doubled my prices and I was a bit hesitant on it, but you make a great point that if you do this part time, NOW is the time to raise your prices....great perspective.