[steelese]

So, this is the big question in sales. How do you close the deal. There are a few ideas. The first one, and probably the most useful, is based on a psychological theory called commitment bias. I understand that you are doing the sitting for free, but as long as you are doing that you should just expect to give away the digital negatives for free. People will be willing to waist their time, but rarely their money. Once they have spent the money, they will be in it for the long haul.

So what does this do for you? Well, you need to start charging. There are lots of good strategies out there, but I do the this. Once someone makes an appointment with me they have to get me a $20 non-refundable booking fee by the next day. If they don't, they lose their time. Even if you want the sitting that same day, I require the $20. the $20 mark has a special place in most peoples minds. You may be willing to give up anything less than $20, but rarely will you give up $20 or more. You see how I have financially committed them to the appointment. For weddings the down payment is a lot more, but for a small one location shoot, $20 seems to work well.

Once, you arrive at the location, I require check or cash, or they pay ahead of time by Credit Card. Now, they have committed even further to the price. They just spent money to get nothing, and they are going to spend money on the prints. What you charge from here on out is your thing.

Now, when you are starting out you do the freebie stuff all the time. After a while you need to limit it to just family and friends. If your work is good the word of mouth will spread and you just need to come up with a sitting fee. I know, you don't feel good enough to do that yet, but just ask for the money, take it and run.