Economic Adjustments - in Wedding Pricing?

[hassy501]

For all of the FULL TIMERS, (not part timers who have some other career that pays the bills and you are not

COMPLETELY dependant on your photography income for survival), are you adjusting your pricing as a result of the

economic conditions ?

 

I have made some adjustments in some areas, but I worry about clients who are already booked at higher prices

seeing the adjusted pricing and wanting their prices adjusted. How do I handle that if they inquire ? Grant them

the adjustments ?

[sam_ellis]

nice clarifier there George :)

[gpjoell3]

George,

 

I usually increase my prices twice a year, however, this year I only increased them slightly. Now in the market

that I am in, our prices are not that high anyways. Also my prices range from $925.00 - $6500.00. Therefore, I

believe any Bride who wants us to photograph their wedding will find a package within there budget. To be

honest, I have not seen a fall off of bookings and I am not ready to panic yet... One thing I have noticed is

the competition is getting smaller and the calls are increasing. Hopefully I don't have blinders on. Since

everything seems normal, I am not going to rock the boat and do something drastic.

[savagesax]

I can't help you as far as clients inquiring, that is a hard question, because you are sort of getting into morals, business survival, and ethics.

 

Most of the wedding photographers I've known for the past 20 years are all hurting. Some have closed their studios and work out of homes now. Some studios now have their spouses and kids helping out instead of hiring office help. Sadly, a few very gifted wedding photographers have changed careers.

 

I think if you bank your future with just doing weddings only, most of us will need to get a second job. It's not a bad thing to have 2 jobs/careers, in fact it gives one some change from doing the same thing day after day. You are still a professional photographer yet you also may be a professional web designer, deliver pizza for Pizza Hut, a waiter, or something like that. It doesn't matter and no one can take away your title of being a professional photographer. The main thing is to pay the bills and not have to worry about when your next wedding client may call. With so many wedding photographers popping up everyday, booking weddings gets harder and harder. Craigslist is an example of your competition. The bride advertises for a student to shoot her wedding and offers nothing but a free meal and a chance to gain experience.

 

Times are changing fast.

[curt_kalkstein1]

Yes, keeping exclusive to weddings is a tough thing.

 

But, if a person signs a contract and you then dropped your prices, they're locked in, just as they would be if you raised your prices after getting the written agreement. I don't see how someone could possibly complain about that. If they lose their job(s) and can't afford to see through the remainder of the process, that's a problem, but I don't think they'd actually complain about the process that got them to you as their photographer. That's why I charge a sizeable retainer - so they don't walk away on a whim.

But, get other people's advice; my wedding business has been minimal for about a year and a half.

[hassy501]

Curt, excellent call on the price adjustments......thanks........it goes both ways.......I'm still getting inquiries but the brides that are booking are going with smaller packages than in previous years......many high school seniors are just opting for snapshots taken by friends and family.............business portraits are way down due to business closures, especially the real estate market where we used to do tons of realtor portraits...........corporate xmas parties..........gone...........we have ONE, and its just a shoot and post online job........1.5 hours.............in previous years we would have anywhere from 5 to 10 xmas parties..............

 

I guess i have to do what I have to do to survive just like my clients..........

[ibdnzgr]

I think the best solution is to NOT drop your price. On their contracts, write in the full price but then add booking discounts of any amount you need to meet the intended price. Also, when they tell their friends about you, they can quote the higher price but suggest they ask you for that same discount with no obligation on your part. Call it an economic stimulus discount or something.... suggest they use the money they save to buy prints or to book an extra service like a trash the dress shoot. Whatever your prices are, there are going to be clients that scream there is no WAY they can afford that.. and other clients that comment how reasonable you are!

 

Ian

[wedding-photography-denver]

If you are offering a new "advertised" price, then I would give the same discount to anyone who's contract is not yet fulfilled.

 

If you offer it after booking in some form of early booking discount, or such, then you can do what you like and hope they don't talk to each other.

 

Personally, I charge the advertised price for a service and were any discounts applied to anyone, they would be applied across everyone still in contract.

[steve_hovland]

Move your marketing up-scale. They are hurting some, but they still have more money than most people. Read "Marketing to the Affluent" by Thomas J. Stanley. He has other books on the same topic.

[mt4x4]

Steve, I have that book on my bookshelf. It was "optional" reading for one of my courses, but I never really got into it and didn't get past the first chapter. I guess with current economic situation (and you are right on about the affluent not hurting as much, their spending habits have changed very little) I should consider taking another look at that book I didn't bother to read.

 

BTW, I'm not a Professional Photographer (which is probably very obvious) but I do work in Marketing and Sales. During this economic downturn, it wouldn't hurt anyone in any business to take a closer look at different customer segments and reevaluate how and to whom they are marketing their services. Especially if you have more free time than usual, due to business being slow. -Just a thought.

[steve_hovland]

A lot of wedding photogs seem to get new business from referrals.

 

The downside of this is that if you have been getting $1000 brides, you will continue to get $1000 brides.

 

Raising your prices doesn't change the flow of referrals unless you make contacts at the higher income range.

[mt4x4]

Yes, I have heard that most Wedding Photographers attain a large portion of their new business through referrals. And I agree that raising your prices probably won't bring new referrals! However, I don't necessarily agree that lowering your prices will bring new referrals either. It may turn referrals into contracts, but I doubt it will bring more referrals.

<br><br>

There are a couple of things I have noticed about this conversation. Number one, there is a large focus on price (well it was sort of the original post, so I understand).

<br><br>

I haven't really seen any suggestions on how to obtain new business, while NOT dropping prices. If there were, I apologize, I haven't read every response in full detail (I'm at work, okay?).

<br><br>

Here is how I look at it. If you drop your prices, you are taking money out of your pocket. Money that you COULD HAVE USED to obtain new business through channels other than referrals. This is money that you could spend to create a nicer website, buy radio ads, buy print ads. Hell, you could even use this money to buy T.V. ads (note: TV spots are inexpensive, its the production that is expensive.)

<br><br>

The point I was trying to make earlier, that I'll try to make again, is that while things are slow, you may want to reevaluate how you obtain new business, and who that new business is. If your business does truly come from referrals, wouldn't landing just a couple of high dollar weddings (through say a magazine or radio ad) be your foot in the door to more high dollar weddings? Of course, I'm sure this is easier said than done. But it doesn't hurt to keep an open mind and evaluate new things.

[steve_hovland]

It starts with knowing where the people with more money live in your town, then finding a way to reach them.

[cjogo]

We offer "free" services/prints :: for future use === knowing maybe 1% may take us up on a portrait session in 2011. We just have a base price and we "work" around their budget from there. Last year we simply excluded hours from their packages and thus saved us time & they were rewarded with a discounted price.

[hassy501]

I keep track or all my advertising dollars, how many inquiries we receive from print, internet and venue ads......if something is not working, i move on.....no use pouring water into glass with a hole in the bottom of it.

 

We have been in business since 1972. Most of our bookings come from referrals. I use associate shooters who shoot the smaller weddings. Those weddings have been fewer as the market is saturated with shooters willing to shoot for food and drink.

 

I do not market to the high end......it's just not in the cards. Diversifying to a wider demographic area is one key to more inquiries, but one thing i've also seen is that many brides are not willing to drive long distances to meet with a vendor........they prefer to stay within a reasonable distance of their home. It's the comfort factor. Location of one's business dictates client base for the greater percentage of bookings.

[jonathan_brown1]

We have decided to not change our prices and so far our number of bookings are up and our average booking is up for 2009. I do not say that to brag but to point out that you do not have to lower your prices to book weddings. We are still fairly new, 5 years in business with the last 3 full time. We are full time and this is our only income. I feel what has made us successful and allowed us to continue booking and growing is that we have done a great job of working our referral network and showing how we are different and unique in our market. Yes there are lots of photographers out there willing to shoot for almost nothing, or nothing at all, but if you look at their work most of it is sub-par. If you do a good job of showing how what you do is different then you can create a need for your services, create demand for what you do that is different than the masses and therefore create business for yourself.

 

We are one of the few husband and wife teams in our area, that sets us apart.

We are some of the few photographers in the area that have won awards in the area of weddings and publicize our success regularly, that sets us apart.

We are some of the only photographers in our area that use and publicize our use of off camera and directional lighting to control the light, that sets us apart.

We are some of the few photographers in our area that do extensive retouching and post processing to our wedding images, that sets us apart.

 

All of these things are part of our niche, what sets us apart, and what makes us unique in the market.

 

You need to find what makes you unique, what is your niche, what sets you apart from the rest of the photographers. I feel that is critical to the survival of photographers in the coming years, if you can not show your difference and deliver unique, consistent, modern, professional images then you will get lost in the crowd and lose bookings.

 

I hope I did not offend anyone with this post but I have been seeing a ton of these posts lately and the above is how I feel about it. It comes down to being a professional and delivering professional images versus amateur images.

[fotografz]

For the past 10 years I've been a part time wedding shooter while working at an Advertising agency.... a career I am retiring from as of Dec. 31st. So, 2009 will be my first year a a full time shooter. Because of

the economy, especially in the Detroit Metro area, I am diversifying out my photographic services so I do not have to count on weddings alone.

 

The competition is just to ferocious now days. I DID reduce my low end pricing but kept my high end. IMO, initial package prices are the leading indicator for Brides shopping for services and I'd rather talk one-

on-one with a Bride to hear their specific needs to customize their pricing. A Friday Bride is easier to strike a bargin with than a prime date Saturday Bride. Existing clients won't be disappointed because I kept

the high end pricing as is.

 

While I have ramped up certain advertising efforts in support of the wedding business, I've also started a pet photography company ... and a unique portrait company.

 

As I go into 2009 the main effort will shift to garnering commercial work where I can use my long career in Advertising to my advantage. So, if you have a skill, or hobby you have a lot of knowledge about or

expertise in, it may help to explore those "extra" avenues of photography.

[steve_hovland]

George-

 

1. Why would you expect brides to drive to meet you? Should it be the other way around?

 

2. Why would you write off marketing to the high end? Can you stay in business if you are always fighting it out with the bottom feeders?

[mt4x4]

I haven't heard anyone mention adding Senior Photos for graduating High School and College Seniors to the mix. The couple of wedding photographers that I know do well with this.

 

Is this something that most full-time wedding photographers would not want to do? Or has it just not been brought up?

[steve_hovland]

My assumption is that these days most young people get married because they want to have kids, not to legitimize their romance. So your bride, in any price range, is the opening to portraits throughout the family life cycle. Call them in a year to see if the family has grown :-)

[William Michael]

. . . Since 1972 is a long time to be in business - I guess the USA (assumed where you are) did not feel the bite in the early 80`s - here it was termed the ``recession we had to have``.

 

This time likely (hopefully) we here are slightly more shielded than in the USA - but none the less we are all hurting.

 

IMO it is simple business - making any adjustment which lowers the average sale price, in tight times, in a service slanted industry like W&P Photography is, frankly, not a viable option. Economic history proves this so.

 

Finessing the price points to make that area of the business more attractive to prospects is an option, but that might be less of a priority if most prospects are referral based. Other options include: reducing overheads; expanding the customer base; expanding the offer base; expanding the sales to each customer; niche product and service marketing.

 

To be blunt, from the information provided, and speaking only of the W&P business, I would first be placing under the microscope all these ``smaller Weddings shot by associates`` - and identifying exactly what the Net Profit is for each.

 

Then I would extrapolate, if those were not there, what overhead savings (including emotion and stress) there would be, and what the making predictions about the actual value of your exclusivity - as you mention that most of your work comes from referrals – obviously then, at the moment some of those referral do not get the main guy?

 

WW

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

Marc,

 

Best to Your Success in 2009 and beyond.

[fotografz]

Thanks Bill ... tough time to go full time. We'll see how it works out.

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

Just a thought Marc,

 

Give Rick DeLorme a call. He lives near Flint. He works full time out of a beautiful place with a building dedicated as

his showplaace/office/studio.

 

He has been involved in the photography profession full time for a number of years. I met him through Monte Zucker.

 

We need to help each other during these tough economic times.

 

Here is his web url:

 

http://www.delormephoto.com/

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

George,

 

Thought I would let you know that you need to learn how to spell Minnesota. We have a contingent of fortune 500

companies headquartered in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul. The folks who work at these companies are

important to my business. How many do you have in L.A.? Can you spell Minnesota? Maybe you should learn!

 

I get about 30% of my wedding from my up front fees. Maybe I know how to do the after selling.

 

Best to Your success in 2009 and Beyond.