Photography Friends:

How many photography price lists have you made? Adjusted? Thrown away? Reconfigured? Yep, me too. I also have bartered and heavily discounted sessions just so a client wouldn’t walk away because I thought I needed the business. I’ll save my speech on ideal clients for another day because I could totally start in on that right now, but we need to talk about setting your price, staying consistent with it, and the difference you will ultimately see in your bank account.

Once you have decided on your price points for your financial goals…stick to your decisions and don’t let others haggle your profit away! Setting price points can be scary for small business owners because it is hard to let a potential customer walk out your door. However, once you’ve established your price lists with due diligence (with available add-ons of course), it is essential that your customers understand that your packages are non-negotiable.  Once you give a client a discount, you are doing part of the work at your own expense. In general, there’s a lot of knowledge, time, energy and other resources that you need to invest in your work in order to be able to guarantee a certain level of quality, dedication, and continuity to your clients.

So… offer your time, energy, talent, and expertise to whoever sees the value inherent in what you do! That is being a wise businessperson.

Standing firm on your price points and packages means you are moving in a positive direction in your business, and that you are gaining the confidence that you need to continue to grow.  Once you have that confidence then you will better understand your ideal client and then you can market to and attract those clients who are going to pay you what your business needs to be profitable and sustainable, i.e., what you are worth!

Yes, you will always have price shoppers come along, that’s the nature of any business. So, think bigger-picture, future investment, stay consistent, and stand firm! I can assure you that it will pay off once you continuously practice these tips. Now, go forth and be confident!

Magan Ward

Magan Ward is a photographer, wife, mom of 3, and educator to fellow photographers. She has an unhealthy obsession with Chick-Fil-A mac and cheese, and has a bit of a love affair with dry shampoo – something she tried to avoid for years until the pandemic of 2020 occurred rendering her dependent upon the waterless revelation that saves her time, something now used to instead apply nutella to waffles for tiny humans.

Putting that Masters in Education to good use, Magan enjoys teaching her fellow photographers and online entrepreneurs the ins and outs of building a business that they love…and occasionally sprinkles in some encouragement for Mamas, because life with littles is just plum hard sometimes.

You can grab her free list of favorite tools for entrepreneurs here.