Hey everyone! Wow. I get so caught up in reading these topics, hours fly by and I don't even know it!

Anyway, I have an important question.

How much did you all start out charging when you were brand new in the wedding photography business? I'm located in the greater Syracuse, NY area, and the average "cheapest" package of photographers around here is about $2000.

I have a half-page ad in the February/March/April issue of Syracuse Wedding magazine (the issue just came out), so I imagine I'll be getting calls soon but I am always going back and forth between what I should charge.

So what were your prices when you started out?

I appreciate your time and help so much! I hope everyone had a safe, happy New Year's Eve!

Thanks in advance!

Jennifer

I really think it depends on how great your stuff looks and what other kinds of photography you have done. I checked out your myspace page and the photos were nice. Definitely not enough work to really tell. Figure out what you feel comfortable with and set the price. Maybe look at what other photographers work looks like in your price range and see if you compare or exceed those people. I know some people may not agree with caomparing but that is what your clients will do. I am not sure which queensberry you are offering but $1,000.00 seems pretty low. Make sure you are considering all the time and effort to design the albums etc. You may also want to think about what your package will cost without an IPOD as a lot of people have them. I think you should keep it in the package because it's cool and brides will like the idea even if they have one and don't need it. It gives people something to talk about. You may also want to get an actual website so that people know you are really serious. Correct me if I am wrong but if I was a bride spending $2500-$3500, I'd want to feel like they were going to be around for awhile and a myspace page seems a little to temporary.

hope this helps

oh BTW, when I started doing weddings I had only done photography for a year (first class ever) so my first 2 weddings were an hourly rate of $75 plus cost of film at $35 a roll. I think they spent about $800.00 and then the next year I was about $1,000-$1500.00 with no albums and then $2000.00. I am here in Philly and the average wedding photographer is $3500-5,000.00. Cheapos do it between $750-1500.00.

my first 5 were free to get my portfolio and website together and develop my wedding style. (i still have many of those images in my portfolio.) from there my goal was to not look like a hungry newbie by underpricing everyone. i wanted to also gain respect from my peers by not underpricing everyone. i would tell people it was my first FT year, but tried to portray the confidence of someone in the business who has done their homework, works hard, gives great service and product and knows what their work is worth. (without saying that) i priced myself within the lower-middle range of my peers in the area. for this area it was $1000-$1500. (low was $600-900, high was $3000+) from there, once my books started to fill-up a bit i tweaked my packages and raised them every 3-5 months. (still do) i never wanted someone to book me because i was the cheapest.

best of luck to you. go get em!

I have to agree with Sofia on this point. My Space=doesn't want to invest in a real web site.

Rather than spend money on a magazine ad, a really nice Web site will take your money much farther. The My Space site is unprofessional and pegs you to a certain clientele that isn't going to be interested in getting that expensive, very high quality Queensbury album. Queensbury = top-of-the-line wedding album. You've got to back that up with a top-of-the-line Web site and killer images. Otherwise, save your money and offer a less expensive album, at least until you're established.

I poked around your site and read all about your packages, but didn't see any photographs other than the fall leaf one on the profile. A photographer's Web site needs to be all about the images, info on packages is secondary. You hook them with your great visual impact first.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I think you've got to address the Web site issue before you worry about pricing.

By the way, don't expect the phone to ring off the hook from a magazine ad. People hire wedding photographers based on word-of-mouth buzz (and killer Web sites).

And I agree with the iPod comment: VERY cool thing to offer, but be prepared to take it off the package and lower the package price because there will be lots of people who won't want that.

pricing.

first, you need to start with a plan, and do a little math. what does it cost you to be in biz? and i'm not talking JUST about how much you will spend out of pocket to deliver tangibles to your client. i'm talking about time, and skill and what your art is worth to YOU.

here is some info to think about when you are pricing:
http://www.bellissimadesign.info/
(look under the nov. 8th entry)

yes, i'm still working on getting things functional. i had a bit of a technical melt-down this past week. (but, i got a new FIOS line installed, so things are coming back to life)

Not enough.


Figure out where you want to be price wise in 2 years...and start from there. If you need to discount a bit to book some jobs, then go ahead and offer some relatively small price discounts but offer additional services such as time (i.e. "all day coverage instead of 8 hour coverage") -- that won't impact your profits as much as steep discounts or items that cost you more $.

I think one big mistake that new photographers can make is to start very low and then have a bunch of price increases as their business grows. One reason it's a mistake is referrals -- you want your happy brides to sing your praises all the time...not just in the next 2 or 3 months while she's still in that honeymoon phase. If you have a $1200 bride that refers you to her cousin 18 months later and you are now charging $4000...you're probably not going to book the cousin...or get future referrals from the $1200 bride. If you have a $3000 bride who refers her cousin and you've been implementing modest price increases...you'll likely book those referrals and continue to get referrals from the referrals (make sense?).

WOOHOO! Another Syracusan!

First - we should get together for coffee or hot chocolate sometime - just give us a date & hopefully we are free (so far days work much much better in January).

Second - I hooked up on your myspace! Looks great. One day you can teach me how to do that stuff.

Third - How you market Syracuse specifically comes a LOT from what type of work you do, how you want to market yourself and where you want to be. The range is anywhere from $600 to $6000. You'd be surprised who's charging what to start out. I don't think anyone "starts" over $3000 around here. That's us & Sauro. I know that middle $2k group is PACKED with talent - Eman, Laura Brazak, Mike O...

There are too many answers to "how much" so let's just chat sometime. I'm glad you're on the board! OH and there's a bridal show 1/7 at Driver's Village if you want to come check us out!

Matt

I think the biggest determining factor for pricing is in how comfortable you can make people feel. The more times they see your name and the more common place it becomes the higher the price you are going to be able to charge and the less work it will be to book them. As soon as you give a client reason to doubt you there is a good chance that she will go else where… the doubt can come in the form of prices that don’t make sense (a range of $750-$7,500), a website that doesn’t fit the idea of ‘their wedding,’ a conversation that doesn’t make them feel comfortable or anything else. By contrast, however, you can increase the amount that you can earn quite significantly by exceeding your clients expectations at every step along the way, read the two red sales books by Jeffrey Gitomer

An option to consider, since you haven’t done a lot of weddings yet, is to put up an amazing landing page with your one best image at whatever URL you are eventually going to develop. When people reach out to you, spin the focus to them, you, the connection between the two of you and why you two are the perfect fit. Make a very strong impression on everyone that you speak with so that they have no choice but to book you right then and there because they feel so comfortable with you.

I started doing weddings for <$1000 then increased from there every few months. Whenever I was getting too many calls, booking too many weddings or was getting the wrong type of clients I raised them.

Robin and Dan are both right, figure out what it costs to do a wedding while remaining profitable, it is probably more than what a lot of people in your area are charging. I also think there is value is charging what you want to make because it forces you to become better faster and you are never allowed to become complacent. From my experience in doing business and watching other people make business choices, clients seem to remember numbers more clearly than words, so if you start out at $800, then go to $1200, then go to $1800 then go to $2200 then go to $3000 and so on, it is going to seem like a lot of price jumps, however, if you start at, say, $2000 and add on a little extra product/service (value) to entice people to book you can slowly cut back on the product/service (value) as you become established to make the profit that you desire and need, once that happens you can introduce a more valuable package without losing your old referral base. Eventually you can raise your prices again and do the same thing

-for a starting price figure out what you need to make to stay in business then charge that
-add in a little extra product/service (value) to get people interested and slowly scale that back
-put up a killer landing page with very strong visual impact
-blow people away in meetings and on phone calls
-have a plan that says what you’ll charge, who will pay it, where they’ll find you, the circumstances in which you will discount, the circumstances in which you will raise your prices and what you will do when things are slow

Most businesses start out slow so don’t be discouraged if 2007 is not quite what you hope for, stick with it though and keep pushing forward and it will pay off

PS. depending on your risk tolerance levels there is a lot of value in being first and most... as in the first to start at a higher price than the rest and being the first to charge more than the rest. It is just as easy to fail at $1,000 as it is at $10,000. I can't say if that is right for you or not but it is something to consider

I read the link you gave and you're right. Great job explaining it.

Brady...

that was brilliantly explained.

Thanks *blushes*

Wow, that's a great point!

Over XMAS, my nephew's wife (married last year) and who's parents are very well off, said her parents had declined to re-hire the same photographer for her brother's wedding 8 months later.

The photographer had charged $8,000 for hers but said her prices had now increased to $10,000.

Even though the extra $2,000 (or even the $10,000) was peanuts to them, and they were very happy with the product, they got miffed and politely found someone else.


In practice - how do you implent your idea? Do you suggest annual increases? Simi-annual? Tell them your price is $2500 but they're getting a $1500 discount because _____ (insert excuse)? Then 1 year before actually increasing to $3500, offer at $3500 less $1000 discount for _____ (insert favorite excuse)?


Jennifer: I'm at the portfolio / reference building stage. I'm trying to imagine how you can get a professional wedding photography gig without a portfolio or increadible references.

Best of luck; I know you're probably scrambling to assemble a portfollio.

A lot depends on your market and where you want to be in the market. I was in the mid-low to mid range in St. Louis. I decided that wasn't enough for the work I was providing so I started bumping towards the mid to mid-high (between mid-low and mid-high in St. Louis is almost double...roughly $2K to $4K...$3K is average according to the wedding report). I've been bumping my prices twice / year in $500 increments. I'm also close to fully booked for this year (I'm a part-timer, for now...and I can't handle more than 15 weddings / year). So I've been sticking to my prices.

In my humble opinion...the best way to get your own gig is to 2nd shoot for others. And once you hang out your own shingle, it's okay to discount to get some people on the books...it's easier to discount a few weddings (esp. for off-peak time slots) than it is to start low and then try to move everyone up with you. Does that make sense?

You should try and find some other photographers to second shoot with that will let you use the photos for your portfolio....I bet someone on OSP will need a second shooter in your area


.....the other way to build a portfolio is to do a wedding or 2 for very low-usually a friend or family member or a friend of a friend...let them know the deal-tell them you want to use it for portfolio and swear them to secrecy on price

Timco did a great thing with touring and working with top notch photographers- they let him use the photos and he has built a killer portfolio all within a year...it helps he had raw talent

I did a few very low and then jumped from there....My brides were all happy to sing my praises and let people know they had to pay...they didn't brag about my low rate