Pricing for profit: How to get paid what you’re worth

Have you ever said any of these things?

• “Every Saturday in 2021 is BOOKED!”
• “I shot 31 sessions in 30 days!”
• “I’m just shooting this for exposure”(ie not getting paid)
• “But my passion is photography, I’m not concerned about the money.”
• “How does she charge $300 for a mini session?”
• “Let me look at my calendar, no…I can’t go. I am shooting Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, and Sunday morning this weekend.”
• “I’m so exhausted and I don’t even care anymore.”

I’ve said all of those things! And when I look back at my business over the last 13 years, I’m so thankful I realized that I had to create a sustainable business that could pivot as our family seasons changed. Our girls were so little when I started and now they are all in college and grad school. The years go by so fast…and you don’t want to miss it!

In the coming weeks, my friend Melissa Pepin and I are sharing how we shaped our businesses to not only serve our clients and communities, but also our families well….REALLY well.

I recently had a photography friend say to me “I’ve had 31 shoots in the last 30 days! I’m not going to survive this!” I immediately wanted to hug her.

But I also wanted to ask her what her prices were. Because sister, it’s time to raise those numbers if you have that much demand! That amount of work simply isn’t sustainable & as a mom of older kids, I can tell you that if you have a family, spending time away from them every evening may not be good for your family dynamics.

There was a time when we first moved to NC that I was teaching all week, shooting Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, & on Sunday mornings. I literally would slide into the church pew with sand still on my toes from a sunrise beach session.

Friend, we all have to hustle when we are building…but living in a season of hustle is different from LIVING IN CONSTANT HUSTLE. It’s not sustainable.

So let’s chat about pricing. It goes back to supply & demand. As demand increases, prices should increase.

If you are in high demand, booking often & consistently….raise your prices. When we fear doing that, we are living in a scarcity mindset instead of an abundance mindset. Scarcity tells you that if you raise your prices, you’ll lose all your clients. Nope. You won’t. You’ll attract new clients, different clients.

I found ways to serve the clients I began with by offering family mini sessions twice a year. I can still serve my loyal families since I don’t shoot families very often as I have pivoted into Seniors & Branding clients.

Honestly, I let go of family photography because I needed weekends back with my own family. As business owners, we have to create businesses that serve our clients AND our families! Where are you in pricing for your offers? Snag our guide for pricing tips! I knew that I only had a few years left with our girls at home and I wasn’t willing to trade that time…even for money.

So I saw a hole in the market that I knew I could serve in and I revamped my entire business. I slowly raised my prices and as I did, I began to elevate my client experience and then I raised my prices again.

Let’s look at a quick example of how taking a hard look at the numbers can truly impact your bottom line and help you price for profit and get paid what you’re worth!!

Do you see how you can actually work less and double your income? You can shoot 16 sessions per month at $250 each and make $4000 OR you could shoot 8 sessions per month at $1000 each and make $8000. It’s so helpful to look at things on paper and have a bird’s eye view of what your business could look like. Often times, do you find yourself in the weeds of DOING business daily that you can’t even come up for a quick breath, much less find time to revamp or tweak things in your business? Yep…that’s where we get stuck!

So I’d like to know what your biggest struggles are? Pricing? Client Management? Scheduling? Boundaries? Investing in Continuing Education? Emails? Client Deliverables? ALL THE THINGS?!?!?! Drop yours in the comments below or DM me or Email me…I’d love to know where your hurdles are. Often times once we name, we can look for solutions or tweaks to fix it.

My friend Melissa & I created a FREE Guide that can help you do the same! It really walks you through great tips & strategies in evaluating where you are in business & where you want to go. The chart above is included in our Guide along with TONS of other GREAT tips for ways you can tweak your business so that you are working less and making more by pricing for profit and getting paid what you’re worth!

Head to the link here to download yours now.

It’s a great guide that has tips & strategies but also workbook style questions & white space where you can brain dump and crunch numbers to help you really look at your business with a bird’s eye view! I promise magic happens when we put pencil to paper and brain dump all that we know we can create!!

It’s truly time that you price for profit and get paid what you are worth so you bring back family time and time for self care and for dreaming up new adventures!

Blessings,

Corry