I previously wrote about “How to create a Successful Business Plan for Photographers” and received a great response from it! Many of you wanted to know a little bit about how to determine your prices and evaluate your competitors. There are a few easy steps that we can take to better understand this section of the business plan.
Step One:
First of all, it’s important to note that you should NOT determine your prices based on your costs! Of course you want to cover your costs; and the more money left over in the end, the better. This is called profit margin. But if your prices are not comparable to your competitors based on quality and reputation, then it doesn’t matter if you are covering costs or not because you will have no customers.
Background Research:
The first step you will want to take is to get a lot of background research. Try to find “ALL” of your competitors or at least 25-50 and list them in an excel spreadsheet. Get a general idea of their prices, quality, location in proximity to you, etc… The more information that you have, the better off you are. Here is a basic graph that I made comparing Photography companies.
**Take some time to truly evaluate where you should be positioned in this map! Ask friends, customers, mentors, etc… to give you a true assessment.
What does this graph mean?
This graph is a basic comparison of you business versus your competition based on your quality and prices. The dotted line represents an “average” or “fair market value”.
If you are to the right of the dotted line, you are offering your customers a better “value” based on price and quality alone.
If you are on the dotted line, you are offering a “fair” market value.
If you do not know your prices yet, determine where you stand in regards to quality and start on the dotted line. If you are able to go down on price and maintain the quality, you should see an increase in business as you are offering a better “value”.
Due to a changing industry and your changing skills, you will want to re evaluate this periodically.
With over 13,000 photographers using PhotoBiz, we realized that there is an abundance of talent and knowledge here. The goal of our blog is to share our news, share industry news, and educate. With that said, what better way to educate than to utilize some of the best photographers in the world.
For 18 years I was entrenched in corporate America. It was a great thing because I gained invaluable business knowledge. I had no idea it would lead me here. After my last days in the twisted circle of working for the man I walked away. Not because I wanted to but because I experienced a divorce after 13 years of marriage. I was awarded sole custody of my 3 kiddos so it was “what do I do now” mode for me. It has all worked out for the better as most things do. I’ve always been a very artsy person by nature. I guess. I’m half right brained & half left brained so at times I have conflicts about this and everything else. The point to all of this is that many of you are venturing into business for yourselves because of similar situations. Maybe it was a corporate downsizing, a desired career change, etc. Whatever the reason, I’m here to help you feel more comfortable about the transition.
At one point I was a corporate trainer. I helped newcomers understand the why and how. I also helped them to apply the things that were being taught so that they too can experience success. So, this is comfortable territory for me and I love sharing this wealth of knowledge and am excited to do this for you!
Welcome! I couldn’t resist taking this great opportunity to share some of the things that have been instrumental in my growth as a photographer. I just feel a strong obligation to give back and be thankful for the wonderful things that have come my direction since going into business for myself. It isn’t that you have to run right out and do exactly as I have done because we are all different and the things I practice won’t work for all of you. So, please take a few pieces that you feel may work for you and give it a go. You have nothing to lose by trying and being open minded. As a business owner if you are to remain successful you have to be willing to change with the times. Something many photographers just aren’t willing to do. I promise this…if you think outside of the box in your business ideas you will be rewarded for much of it. Man…I just watched the movie Yes Man! Great story about coming out of your comfort zone and attracting things you deserve! Of course, I love Jim Carrey! Start attracting what you want!
So, since you’re in this business to be a professional photographer then my hat is off to you! It’s a fun business and can bring so many wonderful rewards into your life. BUT! It’s going to take MORE than just following what everyone else does so try and grab something from this little blog. I’ll begin with saying “I love the idea of the zero budget marketing.” It works for me. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE PAID FOR ADVERTISING AND REAPED NO RETURN? Most of you that have tried “advertising” have I’m certain. Here’s my take…”I don’t believe in advertising.” OK. Got that out there now. Yeah yeah yeah, LP is tight, he’s stingy, he’s not the norm, say whatever…..I’m not giving in. I’m sorry, I just CANNOT bring myself to spend “net” earned dollars on advertising in a magazine or newspaper or yellow pages etc. What the heck is a phone book anyways?
I guess if I were a larger corporation that needed advertising impressions all day long…maybe I would get with an ad agency but certainly not as a small independent business owner. Your creative ideas should be more than enough to get that ball rolling and if your work is INDIVIDUALISTIC then that will close the gap tremendously on getting more bookings. YOU HAVE TO HAVE some level of ability to come up with ideas on your own or your chances of success dwindle tremendously if you have no arsenal. I AM SAYING that you need to have a moderate level of creative ideas and the STRONG WILL to put them into motion. Ideas that have been played out make you just like everyone else and they may not even work for your business structure. So, it isn’t as simple as taking those things that work for others and think they will work just as well for you. Spend some time and analyze your business, your demographic, how to reach multiple people rather than just one or two here and there. Then you can begin to work towards those creative out of the box ideas that will bolster your business. It’s NOT good enough to just call yourself a photographer these days. Am I making sense so far?
Just so you know, the ONLY net expense I have that gets my work out there in front of people is ME and my photobiz site at www.larryperez.com. THAT’S IT! So, THINK BIG AND THINK WAY OUTSIDE! By the way I like Taco Bell. They think outside the bun. Whatever. Pfffffft!
Here’s a handful of ideas that have been successful in a HUGE way! Feel free to ask me more in detail because these are just bullet points. There is a TON more detail to these but maybe they will get your creative juices flowing!
1. Run a drawing at each school in March and give away a starter senior package. Give a small percentage back to the school PTA or Yearbook or Student Council or whatever. We had almost 300 entries and had more than enough to follow up with. This is when I was heavy into seniors back in 2006.
2. Have a bridal store provide their “potential” clients with a complimentary 1-hr engagement session with you. Costs you NOTHING! But…the way I have it set up I always end up making money or booking so please ask before saying “AWWWW HE GIVES HIS WORK AWAY.” I don’t unless it’s for a charitable reason. As a matter of fact I charge almost 3x more than 90% of the photographers in my area. There is a method behind it all and it isn’t to give things away.
3. Have a facebook photo session at your studio. Would you like to see your bookings skyrocket? So what, you charge $50 and you have 40 people show up. Just do a great job and you’ll see what happens. My facebook generates so many referrals its not even funny. I use it as a social tool and NOT to sell my work but to SHARE it. People don’t like to be SOLD.
I have a ton more ideas but these have put me in front of so MANY people at once and gave me a HUGE head start before the rest of the photographers had time to even think about getting the business. Little old me booked 49 seniors my first year right out of the gate. Talk about a return! My only expense was alittle time and 5 specially designed cardboard entry boxes and entry pads. MAKE SURE TO HAVE THE SCHOOL ANNOUNCE THE DRAWING OVER THE INTERCOM EACH DAY! I ALWAYS WANTED TO SCREAM INTO THAT THING IN SCHOOL!
OK…something to ponder: As a small business, advertising QUICKLY takes from your NET profit. For many of us, advertising may just be our single largest expense next to taxes. So, if you only retain say 35% of your gross revenue as your net profit then how much GROSS will it take to make up for your $1000 ad expense? Well, the answer IS NOT another $1000 gross sale! That’s what the advertising people tell you because they know most of us DON’T REALLY understand it! The ad lady says to me…”OH YEAH LP, YOU ONLY HAVE TO SELL ONE $1000 package each month to pay for your $1000 ad.” NOT TRUE! It’s more like I have to generate $2860.00 additional gross revenue to pay for that $1000 ad of yours. NO THANKS!
I’ll end by saying that my ideas don’t always work for other people. I can just share with you what consistently works for me. You have to believe in something for it to work. I’m not saying go out and dump all of your advertising but I am saying that if you want to put more into the mouths of your family….you will find a way to be more creative YOURSELF and do some of this on your own. The key is that you have to be able to reach MANY MANY people in a short period of time and it has to be a creative idea that everyone wins. What do I know. I’m just some rock and roll photographer dude shooting whatever I want to shoot and getting up late every day. It’s largely because I choose to not box myself in with the ad lady and maintain a high net profit retention.
Thank You,
Larry Perez
(Mobile) 913.360.9943
(Studio) 785.273.6900
With over 13,000 photographers using PhotoBiz, we realized that there is an abundance of talent and knowledge here. The goal of our blog is to share our news, share industry news, and educate. With that said, what better way to educate than to utilize some of the best photographers in the world.
About LP: For 18 years I was entrenched in corporate America. It was a great thing because I gained invaluable business knowledge. I had no idea it would lead me here. After my last days in the twisted circle of working for the man I walked away. Not because I wanted to but because I experienced a divorce after 13 years of marriage. I was awarded sole custody of my 3 kiddos so it was “what do I do now” mode for me. It has all worked out for the better as most things do. I’ve always been a very artsy person by nature. I guess. I’m half right brained & half left brained so at times I have conflicts about this and everything else. The point to all of this is that many of you are venturing into business for yourselves because of similar situations. Maybe it was a corporate downsizing, a desired career change, etc. Whatever the reason, I’m here to help you feel more comfortable about the transition.
At one point I was a corporate trainer. I helped newcomers understand the why and how. I also helped them to apply the things that were being taught so that they too can experience success. So, this is comfortable territory for me and I love sharing this wealth of knowledge and am excited to do this for you!
Welcome! I couldn’t resist taking this great opportunity to share some of the things that have been instrumental in my growth as a photographer. I just feel a strong obligation to give back and be thankful for the wonderful things that have come my direction since going into business for myself. It isn’t that you have to run right out and do exactly as I have done because we are all different and the things I practice won’t work for all of you. So, please take a few pieces that you feel may work for you and give it a go. You have nothing to lose by trying and being open minded. As a business owner if you are to remain successful you have to be willing to change with the times. Something many photographers just aren’t willing to do. I promise this…if you think outside of the box in your business ideas you will be rewarded for much of it. Man…I just watched the movie Yes Man! Great story about coming out of your comfort zone and attracting things you deserve! Of course, I love Jim Carrey! Start attracting what you want!
First things first! (Internet Presence)
In my opinion, this should have been step #1 for me after deciding to become a professionally paid photographer. Let me just say that in this day and age anyone who is anybody has a presence on the internet. Many of you have realized that in order to compete and be taken seriously you will need to have a level of “visual professionalism”. It’s true. Being in the visual business myself I know the importance of SEEING a great first impression. Anything less than professional looking and I’m GONE and onto someone else’s site to find what I’m after. YES, it’s that easy to lose a potential client. We’ve all done it. I still do it as a consumer. A site appears slow? I’m gone. A site feels hard to navigate? Yep. You guessed it! I’m outta there! Not to mention running across a site with a senseless 90 second “intro”. Yeah yeah….I can think of better things to do in those 90 seconds. Goodbye!
With all of this being said, now think about your personal business. It’s time to take it seriously and be so unbelievably particular about your presence. You may have the best product and the best price on the planet but who’s going to know it if your internet presence isn’t polished and working efficiently? What’s worse is that YOU will never know who you’ve been losing. I tell you, 3 years ago I was in search of the right solution for my business. I searched for 3 months solid until I found PhotoBiz. Now I enjoy a great relationship with the people who have made it easy for me to focus on my business and its development. Prior to finding PhotoBiz I did have an internet presence. I built it all myself and I thought it was something awesome until I realized that not only were people doing business elsewhere but I was spending very valuable time working on my website to make it better not to mention maintaining its complicated existence. Very bad! That double-edged sword could have done me in had I let it continue.
Above and beyond my photography gear my presence on the internet has been key number UNO. Seriously, if all I would have for gear is a 6mp point and shoot but my images were appealing, I believe I would have done a decent level of business. The point is not to try that but to understand how important it is for people to find you when they don’t otherwise know who you are. If THEY like your images & your message then you stand “a chance” of getting them to consider calling or emailing you if you have put the time into your presence on the internet. IT was wonderful when I figured this out because the minute I joined PhotoBiz I started realizing that more people were giving me an opportunity to do business as a professional. Why? For once, they took me seriously. My site was tidy and clean, easy to navigate, loaded fast and my message and product were as perfectly displayed as they could have been at that time. What a great feeling! I wanted more of it! All I needed to do was to continue making sure that the images I chose for my website showcased my best work at the time. It’s all been much easier since.
Lastly, lets talk about merchandising. I’m just going to give you a quick introduction on it and talk about it in more depth on the next blog! Hey! It’s vital to do this now that you have this brand new shiny website! Change your images. Change them often. Move them around. Keep your site updated with your latest and greatest. Question, do you want people to know you based on what you did 8 months ago or by what awesome stuff you are doing currently? If you are a photographer I would imagine that your work is improving by leaps and bounds correct? It better be! Back to the task….every now and then, change the look of your site. PhotoBiz makes it EASY! So easy a Caveman can do it! Hahaha! Don’t laugh, but I do it often because I have this OCD thing. Call it OCD about being successful and being recognized (btw my girlfriend would hate to hear the part about being recognized). If I didn’t have the OCD it may be a little harder for me to do so at the very least do it because there is great importance in “merchandising” your product. For now, it’s closing time so make sure to come back next week to read about why things should continue to change with merchandising.
Another great addition to our Full Screen Collection is “Bronx”. We just added this new template today giving us a total of 65 Flash Website Templates!! Take a look at some of the great features included with the “Bronx”:
Full Screen Capabilities
Changeable Backgrounds
Resizable Image Frames
Advanced SEO
Color Customization
Automatic Image Resize
Color Shifting
Unlimited Video
Unlimited Galleries
Free Splash Page
Along with many other great features, we have a team of web consultant experts to help you every step of the way by phone!
Everyone wants a unique and “different” website, right? Well now with PhotoBiz, you can choose any of our Full Screen Template designs and customize them even more! We are releasing two great new features for customizing the Flash website templates tomorrow.
