In today’s blog post, we’re talking all about how to raise your photography pricing. Setting the right price for your services can be challenging for a photographer or business owner. It’s easy to fall into the trap of undercharging, but that can lead to burnout and a lack of sustainability. However, raising your photography pricing can be intimidating, especially if you’re worried about losing clients. The key to successfully increasing your photography rates is to communicate your value effectively. In this post we’ll discuss five steps for doing just that.

Mindset

The first thing you need to do when raise your photography pricing is to ensure that you have the right mindset to match. It can be easy to fall into negative beliefs around money and feel like you are not worth charging what you need to. To overcome these thoughts and beliefs, it’s time to dig into how you think about charging a certain amount and uncover what that means. Perhaps you’ve heard negative comments about money growing up, or it’s related to your self-worth and confidence. Addressing these issues will help you charge what you are worth and feel confident in your pricing. When you are confident in your pricing, your clients will take notice and see your value more clearly. After all, why should they believe in your worth if you don’t. What negative blocks come up for you and why?

Highlight Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) sets you apart from your competitors. It’s the reason why clients should choose you over someone else. Communicating your USP is essential when it comes to raise your photography pricing. Clients have no reason to pay more for your services if you’re just like everyone else. It’s essential to take some time to reflect on what makes you unique as a photographer. Your USP doesn’t have to be something big and grand or similar to what others are doing. In fact, the more personality behind it, the more relatable and unique you’ll seem, which then helps you stand out from others in your industry.

Your USP can be subtle, like playing music during sessions to create a relaxed vibe or helping plan certain things so your clients don’t have to. It can also be your informal approach, sense of humor, or love for Harry Potter; it can literally be anything that resonates with you and your clients. Once you’ve identified your USP, make sure to communicate it clearly to potential clients. Use it as a selling point in your marketing materials and during client consultations.

Understand what your audience needs from you.

Doing market research into your audience is essential in raise your photography pricing, branding, and marketing yourself in general. It’s time to start paying attention to what your audience wants and what they are frequently saying to you. We want to discover what your audience wants from you and why? What is a problem or pain point they are having right now that they are looking for you to solve? Some examples:

• A Mother is looking for a photographer to capture some family images but is SO stressed about having kids look polished and clean, getting them ready for the day and keeping them entertained and tantrum-free all day. Exhausting.
• A Bride to be is looking for an elopement photographer, but they don’t want to be standing around all day being posed and positioned; they want to have fun and enjoy their day.
• A new business owner is looking for brand photos for their new business but is confused about how they communicate their brand through imagery.
• A fun, offbeat couple wants sessions but wants them to be fun and candid and capture them and their personality.

When you figure out what it is that your audience NEEDS from you, you can use this language in your marketing and website copy to let them know that you understand them and can help them. Note: We love helping our clients figure this out when they invest in a custom website design, you can find out more detail about that here.

Focus on Results

Clients are not just paying for your time; they are paying for results. When communicating your value, focus on the outcomes you can provide for your clients. Instead of highlighting only the tasks you will complete, emphasize your work’s impact on them. This is where pain points come in handy because at first, you will need to establish the result they are looking for. And maybe it’s not just one, but a handful of results. Once you know what that result is that resonated with them, discuss the results you have created for past clients and back it up with testimonials.

For example, if you have a boudoir client lacking self-confidence and feeling nervous, and they want to use the session to aid self-love, their results would not only be pictures they love but also feeling at ease on the day, feeling confident and sexy and coming away feeling good about themselves. Go through all your sessions in your portfolio and explain how the client felt before, during and after and how you helped them achieve this. Don’t forget to back it up with a testimonial from the client. Demonstrating the results you can achieve will make it clear why you are worth the investment.

Show Your Expertise

Clients are more likely to pay higher rates if they perceive you as an expert in your field. One way to communicate your expertise is by sharing your knowledge with your audience. This can be done through blog posts, social media content, or speaking engagements. By sharing your expertise, you’ll build trust with potential clients and position yourself as an authority in your field. By educating clients and giving them quick wins they can achieve on their own, they know to trust you as an expert and will come back for more. When it comes time to discuss rates, clients will be more willing to invest in someone they already know and trust the value they can get from you.

We absolutely understand that raise your photography pricing can seem intimidating, but it’s crucial for creating a sustainable business. The key is to effectively communicate the value you bring to the table so that you can justify your rates and attract higher-paying clients. Remember to highlight your Unique Selling Proposition, focus on delivering great results, and showcase your expertise. Doing so increases your perceived value and positions you as a premium service provider.

And remember, for every person who won’t pay your prices, there is another person who will; we just need to position ourselves in the best possible way so that they can find us, and then resonate with us when they do.