Are the fees or prices you’re charging for your creative services too low? I bet they are.
Try doubling the money. You have to deliver the goods, of course, but that’s true in any work. Chances are that the clients you ditched needed ditching, the clients you carry forward and the new clients you land will pay those fees happily and will better understand the value you bring.
And I’m guessing you’ll be happier and much better off in the long run.
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(via Mark Anderson/Andertoons.com)
Chase, your article made me smile since it brought back memories of my mom & dad!
Mom was an artist working mostly in oils and with multi-media pieces. She was having trouble selling them. My dad was an electrical/mechanical engineer and totally color blind. He thought about her problem for a day or two, then told her to quadruple her prices! Mom thought he was totally wrong and many arguments ensued 😉 But she agreed to try it for a month at her gallery.
Contrary to mom’s artist driven price model, she started selling her pieces once she quadrupled the price! I guess if you don’t value your art enough, then buyers don’t value it that much either and would rather spend their money on something else! Thanks for the memories 😉
I love this.
Thanks Chase. I will keep this in mind and double my prices and see what happens.
Reading through a few of the comments I pretty much get the feeling that if you consider “those with iPhones” and “hobbyists” as your competition then it’s not your prices you need to re-consider, it’s your entire approach to your business. If you lose clients, so be it – you’re pricing yourself out of the “need someone with a camera” market, and none of us want to be there, right? That’s the “oh my mate takes some nice pictures, I’ve seen some of his photos on Facebook, I’ll ask if he can bring his camera” market.
I personally like the feeling of being hired because an art buyer/picture editor really appreciates my style and body of work – it’s a great feeling and the “coup de grâce” being when the project is signed off with a beaming smile from both sides.
Also, in my personal experience, I’ve lost a bid on a job because my quote was too high, I moved on and thought nothing more of it. A couple of months later, the same agency came back to me with a different (but similar) job at my previous quote price.
Oooooh it’s so tough putting a value on your work. How much do I think I’m worth? As a person I’m worth a million bucks (maybe more) as a photographer that’s probably not going to happen…. Although one can dream 😉 thanks for your blogs they have helped me so much. Especially the one on workflow!! It has made life so much easier!! Keep up the brilliant work 🙂
Right on time for me too, Chase! I am working on building a VERY Different pricing for my work and my clients and I’m scared to death. And just today I was thinking of backing out and not price things so highly… Thanks for pointing me in the right direction once again!
I always felt my prices were lower than most and perhaps I was doing it to seem “affordable” but I know I’m seeing that with my prices people are always trying to haggle etc. Maybe if I double my rate they’ll be like if he charges this much there must be a reason for it