Your worth...

"Your VALUE doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see your WORTH."
- Unknown

I have seen this quote around quite a bit. It applies to a lot of things in life, but I thought it applies to those of you who sell your photography services as well.

"The value of your PHOTOGRAPHY doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see it's WORTH."
- ME

For me, it just reminds me to not sell myself short. Yes, the value of your services depends on a lot of things, including the current market value in your area and your experience/skills. But don't sell yourself short. If you have done your research you KNOW what your product is worth. Most potential clients have done their research as well (for the most part anyway) and they know your true value. So don't lower your prices below your value. Know your value, price accordingly, and stick to it.

That's the short of it for me. Feel free to expand on this or respond with your own personal meaning or interpretation.

If I can do it, anybody can do it.

"FINANCIAL VALUE does decrease based on someone's inability to see your WORTH."

"The FINANCIAL VALUE of your PHOTOGRAPHY doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see it's WORTH."

If people won't pay at the prices you set... they won't pay. Financially speaking you're only ever worth what the market will actually pay for your wares. No sales = no financial value. There is cold hard truth to be found in a profit and loss statement

We can put our own numbers on things all we want... but they are just numbers we've assigned to those things... an e.g. my photos are worth 1 million dollars each to me... the general public however will only part with a couple of hundred per picture... their value.

I knew someone like you would say exactly THAT. That's why I said to do your research and know your value and stick to it.

I wasn't referring to the market's ability to see your photography's value. I was referring to a single person's inability to see your photography's value. If you have done your research and you know your value don't let those few jerks , who don't want to pay you what you are worth, haggle you down. Some will see your value but others just don't see the value in photography yet still seek to hire a photographer.

Having done your research to find your value, you will set your price at what the market values your service. The market set your value, not you. Now you know your value, stick to it.

BlakeC wrote in post #17875599
I knew someone like you would say exactly THAT. That's why I said to do your research and know your value and stick to it.

I wasn't referring to the market's ability to see your photography's value. I was referring to a single person's inability to see your photography's value. If you have done your research and you know your value don't let those few jerks , who don't want to pay you what you are worth, haggle you down. Some will see your value but others just don't see the value in photography yet still seek to hire a photographer.

Having done your research to find your value, you will set your price at what the market values your service. The market set your value, not you. Now you know your value, stick to it.

What happens if your competition comes in lower than you for an equivalent product...still stick to your guns...and for how long?
You also need to understand your competition and what they charge...

research? not sure if i said that yet

Worth is what people are prepared to put their hand in their pocket and pay for THAT photographer. Why are do many crud photographers doing great in business and so many great photographers tanking? Why... because it comes not down to just their work but their perceived value.

No amount of "research" into OTHERS will give you YOUR perceived value. Peter Lik has a high perceived value for some of the general public. His work is only worth what it is because there are people out there who will buy it at those prices.

This is all about the disconnect most photographers have between what they think their work is worth financially and what it is actually worth. The whole notion that they are worth what they think they are worth smacks of entitlement and is why so many photography workshops these days are geared around dealing with depression, rejection and failure.

Minimum pricing is based on the numbers. The minimum you can afford to charge to cover costs, pay taxes and receive and acceptable wage. As for maximum you keep increasing that until demand starts to drop off. Then you know where you sit in the market.

You can "control" the minimum in that you can cut costs, run efficiently, increase capacity (thus sales volume) or reduce the amount you are prepared to earn.

You can't control the maximum but you can influence it by creating a higher perceived value for the buying public.

Regardless though the actual value is determined by the cash register chiming.

It has nothing to do with being haggled down and sticking to your guns. It has everything to do with understanding that if people aren't buying at the price points you set there is a reason for that. FIND THAT REASON and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT... don't just sit around thinking to yourself "but I'm worth it".

I believe a few folks might be looking at this in a different way than the OP intended. A couple of the responses have summarily said "if the market won't pay your prices, then there is no value in your photography". This is a true statement, but this statement by those who responded is built on their assumption that there is zero business coming in the door due to pricing that doesn't match the market. I don't think that's what the OP was saying.

The way I read it was if you have an established business and people are paying your prices for your services, but one day someone comes along and says, "Yeah, I want you to shoot my photos, but I'm only willing to pay you half of what your list prices are". Those are the people you show to the door or tell them to call someone else. It can be tough at times when things are slow. It can be easy to succumb to the temptation to take a half price deal just to have something on the books for the day, but it really hurts in more ways than one. One of the single most important lessons I've learned is that the client who demands the big discount up front is going to be your worst nightmare on the backend for deliverables, retouching, etc. Huge PITA's. That's the way I took it and I believe it to be sound advice.

I also believe that you should continue to bump prices as your business builds. There will always be a tick of a slowdown for a month or two following a price increase, but if you're providing good service and good photography, the inquiries will start coming in again.

STPimages wrote in post #17876240
The way I read it was if you have an established business and people are paying your prices for your services, but one day someone comes along and says, "Yeah, I want you to shoot my photos, but I'm only willing to pay you half of what your list prices are". Those are the people you show to the door or tell them to call someone else. It can be tough at times when things are slow. It can be easy to succumb to the temptation to take a half price deal just to have something on the books for the day, but it really hurts in more ways than one. One of the single most important lessons I've learned is that the client who demands the big discount up front is going to be your worst nightmare on the backend for deliverables, retouching, etc. Huge PITA's. That's the way I took it and I believe it to be sound advice.

I

I don't think it is that easy. From my perspective, every transaction is a negotiation. Time of year...wedding season versus off season has an influence on price. Sometimes some money coming in the door is better than none. This tactic works in every industry out there. Look at the airline or hotel industry. They know when their down season is and give good rates during those times. It's better to be getting some money coming in the door rather than none.

Being inflexible in business does not work. Working with the client so both parties get a win-win is the way to go.

If I did that to my full price paying customers (many of whom are repeat customers) and they found out about it, not only would they be angry, but I would likely lose them as repeat customers. New clients pay my list prices - period, end of story. I provide discounts, but very measured ones, ONLY to my repeat clients. They earned the discounts because they paid list prices at one point and continue to patonize my business by commissioning me to shoot more portraits for them. I would never provide a discount to a POTENTIAL client to earn their business when I don't extend the same discount to my best clients.

If being inflexible doesn't work then it must take a long to to become apparent. 8+ years of being inflexible here.

My prices are whatever they are set to be.

Hotels are service businesses with many direct competitors... a room is a room after all. Yes there may be niche markets but in the general sense they are just rooms. Also hotels have huge capacity which is more often than not, not filled...

I'm a luxury item based business... people can only buy me, from me, yes they can hire a photographer from elsewhere but they won't get what I see/take. I have very limited capacity.

Some photographers are consumable based services. Nothing wrong with that. But it is a very different business model.

For the luxury based businesses though they still have to have people willing to buy at the price points set... i.e. the market is the deciding factor in price.

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Hogloff wrote in post #17875611
What happens if your competition comes in lower than you for an equivalent product...still stick to your guns...and for how long?
You also need to understand your competition and what they charge...

You have a point.
Actual financial value of any product is primarily determined by supply and demand.
If the supply increases, all else being equal (and sometimes all else does remain equal), then the financial value will decrease.

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Hogloff wrote in post #17875611
What happens if your competition comes in lower than you for an equivalent product...still stick to your guns...and for how long?

YES. Because I have a day job and my kids are going to eat whether or not I book another paying gig in my life. Further, I want to be an upward force for market prices, not a downward pull--as can happen when someone desperate for work or craving the recognition of selling their art will stop at nothing to undercut the competition. I had a prospective wedding client who went with a friend (an Uncle Bob type) for less than 1/2 what I quoted him. C'est la vie. Even if he had tried to bluff/haggle me on that, I'd rather stay home and enjoy time with my family. No way, Jose.

Agree. Either I need to have particular brand name recognition (nowhere near being close to that yet), or particularly effective marketing strategy to charge significantly more than the market.