What do you do when..

When where you are at, No matter where you look, the "cheapies" are everywhere and it almost doesn't matter what you do to change peoples mind on whats cheaper and whats more quality. Do you catch? People seem to be FIXATED on how much more cheaper this one is than you are but when you look at photographer "A's" work.... your saying no wonder why they are cheap but you Know that your work is worth what you are asking.... How could I help put this into my marketing strategy? By explaining the HUGE differences there are between Photog "A" and Me? How do you go about this yourselves? Please say somethin people!? k thanks.

V

You really shouldn't have to explain anything.....your work should speak for itself. Present yourself as a professional business and show your value to your customers through your portfolio. If people are not able to differentiate between your product and someone else's cheaper product, then they will naturally go with the cheaper product.

I think the above answers are right on. If you aren't really doing something unique (yet) and are just starting out, then you'll probably have to compete on price.

montanagriz wrote in post #13365649
When where you are at, No matter where you look, the "cheapies" are everywhere and it almost doesn't matter what you do to change peoples mind on whats cheaper and whats more quality. Do you catch? People seem to be FIXATED on how much more cheaper this one is than you are but when you look at photographer "A's" work.... your saying no wonder why they are cheap but you Know that your work is worth what you are asking.... How could I help put this into my marketing strategy? By explaining the HUGE differences there are between Photog "A" and Me? How do you go about this yourselves? Please say somethin people!? k thanks.

V

no I do not catch.
eliminate the word "cheap" from your vocabulary
do not put yourself in the category of others
you needn't explain the difference but rather simply promote your quality.

what I think anyway

All good responses here... I don't think of my work as Cheap really. Im hard on myself most of the time and I feel Iam comparable to those who do stand out and can justify their costs as a photographer I just wonder why people continue to choose those of whom's work does stand out as "cheap" Do you really think that they are content with the quality?... I mean I have actually had a woman tell me she thought all photographers did was push the button on the camera and hand over a disc. I was just kind of thrown off by it but I guess I shouldn't be because it happens all the time.

montanagriz wrote in post #13366009
....... I don't think of my work as Cheap really. Im hard on myself most of the time and I feel Iam comparable to those who do stand out ....... I mean I have actually had a woman tell me she thought all photographers did was push the button on the camera and hand over a disc. I was just kind of thrown off by it but I guess I shouldn't be because it happens all the time.

I'm not surprised to hear you say that. It is very frustrating, and with the automation that's being built into dSLR's these days that's all that many are content with.

The IMPORTANT thing though is "How Did You Respond" to her simplistic comment? This was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how you differ from the rest - and I'm not talking about hardware differences. What did you tell her about your technique, eye, or talent? This is where many need, and sometimes want to be educated on how you stand out from the rest, and what sort of product AND service level you offer that the others do not .

montanagriz wrote in post #13365649
When where you are at, No matter where you look, the "cheapies" are everywhere and it almost doesn't matter what you do to change peoples mind on whats cheaper and whats more quality. Do you catch? People seem to be FIXATED on how much more cheaper this one is than you are but when you look at photographer "A's" work.... your saying no wonder why they are cheap but you Know that your work is worth what you are asking.... How could I help put this into my marketing strategy? By explaining the HUGE differences there are between Photog "A" and Me? How do you go about this yourselves? Please say somethin people!? k thanks.

V

High quality work and services will only be purchased by consumers with higher incomes. You need to focus your attention and advertising at a luxury consumer who buys Mercedes not the lower income consumer who buys a Kia. You can do this by neighborhood, upscale magazines, sponsor upscale events, trade services with high end vendors, luxury social and community groups, etc. There are a multitude of jewelers, decorators, restaurants, boutiques, florists, private schools, lawyers, doctors, builders, etc that all provide services to a high end consumer. What do they do well that you don't? What is your direct competition in your area?

It really helps to live or have a physical store in a high end neighborhood. A high end consumer expects high quality marketing-advertising, brochures, website, video. Facebook alone will never cut it.

-Scott

Kjonnnn - thank you for that bit of "background" post for montanagriz. That gives a better picture of where she's coming from. There's a lot to comment on here, but this point caught my eye:

"3) I DO NOT own a really good professional site for my work at all yet, but I will be honest, I blame that on not having clientele to invest in my work for me to RE invest it into a good flash player website or Blog. (Then again I could always DUMP my own money, which theres not much of into it and HOPE people will start investing)"

Many of us have the same dilemma, lack of funds/gear to present yourself in the manner in which you would like to be seen. But you CANNOT blame that on your clients. That is not a viable or mature business model. It takes money to make money, and it took me years to save the resources for the gear I needed. I put MY OWN money into the love and pursuit of photography before I started making any.

As for websites - yes, you get what you pay for and some design work is pricey. I'm not sure if I would go with flash though. But BLOGS can be had for FREE. They may not be as polished as most websites, but some have pretty good layouts and are a decent platform for your work. Check out Blogger. It's FREE, does not requiring any coding skill, and you can be up and running in about an hour. I use it to feature current work, projects, and exhibit announcements.

Being a photography BUSINESS is very different from being a 'good' photographer. It requires specific business skills which are uniquely different from your ability to take a good photograph.

if you haven't figured out how to sell yourself, you may want to take some business classes at a local community college and get some understanding of not only how to market yourself but also how to operate the 'business' side of your program. A few classes now could save you lots of headaches later.

I haven't really marketed myself well in the past 5 years (my website was updated 3 years ago, and hasn't been touched since), but my business continues to grow because my work is being spoken about in the right circles.

You have to have something that shows your quality is better. If your quality looks the same, then why would someone book you?

What kind of assurances does someone have if they book you?

What is your backup camera?

Backup flash?

Do you have insurance?

I focus on service. There are a zillion technicians who are better than I am, but are they willing to do what I do? Most aren't. Heck they don't even have time with their full time jobs and kids.

You need to figure out who your client is, not try to change the minds of someone who will never be your client. Someone who's looking to pay little for photography, regardless of quality, doesn't sound like the person you want as your client.

And feel free to say this in your response to these sorts of inquiries. If they say "Photographer X is offering this for this much..." say something like "I think Photographer X is a better match for your needs and budget than I am. Thank you for your inquiry and I hope you have a nice day." Trying to convince them to spend more will fall upon deaf ears, no matter how good your arguments are and it's not worth your time. They aren't saying these things in order for you to convince them to pay more, they are trying to get your to devalue your product and bring it down to their level.

Instead, you need to figure out how to better reach the clients you want. If you keep getting comments and inquiries about this sort of thing it sounds like your marketing is not landing where it's supposed to. I went to a seminar recently and the photographer speaker was higher-end and she does most of her advertising by forming partnerships with high end boutiques in her city. The women who shop at these boutiques are spending $100 on a tee shirt for their child so they are probably more concerned with quality over price and they are the ones who see her name and advertisements and send her inquiries. If you are offering a mid or high end service for a mid or high end price you do not want to be advertising on Craigslist.

And yes, all that is a lot easier said than done! But whatever you do, don't devalue yourself in order to get work. Your clients are out there, you just have to find them!

I kind of disagree. You can get a lot of people who are ignorant of your extra service if you actually have extra service to offer and can describe it to them. If you don't have anything...well...then you're screwed.

cdifoto wrote in post #13368833
I kind of disagree. You can get a lot of people who are ignorant of your extra service if you actually have extra service to offer and can describe it to them. If you don't have anything...well...then you're screwed.

I think it depends on what their basic expectations are. Someone who is wanting to pay under $75 for a digital portrait package, regardless of quality and service, is not going to be convinced to spent $200 on a basic non-digital package. They don't care if you're insured or offer personalized services and never will, especially when they CAN get that for that price elsewhere these days. But someone who comes in with a budget of, say $150 or so may be convinced to spend a little more for quality and service because they've already placed some value on the product.

I don't think you can generalize like that. Regardless of what people initially claim they're willing to spend, I try to get them to see the long term value in my service.

A lot of people have no idea about the process of purchasing photography and they appreciate being educated when it's done respectfully.