Pricing, getting started

[istephallard]

HI everyone, I"m just trying to launch my photography business. I would say I've been working on my portfolio for about a year I've decided it's time. I launch my web sight and am still in need of making business cards, and promoting etc... but my primary concern is, am I asking too much for the quality of work I produce? My web sight is www.smilesfamilyphotography.com, also on FB as Smiles Photography. I have my packages starting at $200 which includes sitting fee 60-90 mins and a digital collection of 30-60 images. I try to keep my editing to 2 hours total for a normal shoot. So I'm putting at most 4 hours into a session for $200 plus if they decide to do prints with me. I am new to the business and I feel like these prices are fair for what you get if not in the clients favor (which to launch my business is my goal so I can attract people that like my work and I can be choosy about my clients, as interest/my level of skill increases so do prices). Does this seem reasonable. Please help! Thank you. I've added just a pic of a more recent shoot that I've done just to give you an idea of the quality of photos I do.

[Ambrosia76]

Pricing is really subjective to the area you live in, what you think your skills are worth, and many other factors.

Your photos are good and seem to have a consistent style to them. What you need to figure out is what is the average that photogs with your same ability and style charge in your area, How much your time and skill are worth to you and what people who are seeking out your type of work are willing to pay.

[OsmosisStudios]

2 things

1: It's a "website" or "web site". Seeing "web sight" almost made me want to ignore you.
2: $200 for 4 hours of work isnt too bad, but you're also giving 30-60 images, presumably on a CD. What kind of licensing are you offering? And how sure are you of the "max 2 hours of post work"? I know that for 30-60 images, it'd take me more than that. Not to mention, 30-60 images in 60-90 minutes is a LOT of photos. If you're going for a session fee like that, in an hour, you'd be good to get 10-15 images. 30-60 is lofty, at best.

[Biomech]

You look hot

...oh, and y u price solo?

Originally Posted by Biomech

You look hot

...oh, and y u price solo?

lol...looking for a rebound?

And back to the subject, pricing is very subjective. My advice is to start low to build business, and then slowly increase prices if you feel you're too busy.

[Biomech]

lol...looking for a rebound?

lol, I'm open to offers :P

[baajero]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

lol...looking for a rebound?

And back to the subject, pricing is very subjective. My advice is to start low to build business, and then slowly increase prices if you feel you're too busy.

That's not always true... The price you start at is part of the image you will build for your business... I think your picture are good enough to convince you are a high end photographer... but i'll be honest... your website design and colors do not match the quality of the photographs don't be sad though that's an easy fix

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by baajero

That's not always true... The price you start at is part of the image you will build for your business... I think your picture are good enough to convince you are a high end photographer... but i'll be honest... your website design and colors do not match the quality of the photographs don't be sad though that's an easy fix

The pictures are not good enough to convince people that she's a high end photographer.

If you had spent a year developing your portfolio, it should be much more expansive than it currently is - it seems to feature less than a half dozen shoots. Currently it's too small and too repetitive to convince anyone.

Your portfolio does more than show people that other people have bothered to work with you, it shows you are experienced and also consistent in quality, with an ability to be flexible....are you consistently producing high quality that most others cannot attain?

The website, as mentioned elsewhere, does not look good. It looks exactly like what it is, which is something homemade.

Pricing I can't particularly comment on given I don't know what your local market is. One assumes that you've done the relevant research and placed yourself appropriately, and have run a cost assessment and balanced the two.

[OsmosisStudios]

Oh my. I hadn't seen the website. I... well, I said my piece...

/shuts up.

[AndyM2020]

Well, a person could spend years developing a portfolio to go into business. So you have to go for it at some point.

Going by your photos and as you are starting out, I would start out at the lower end of the "proper" (not fauxtographers who undercharge) photographers in your area, offering prints and digital versions at a proper price.

As you become busier and better, you can raise your prices - and at times in significant jumps.

If you don't mind me saying - I would advise losing the "sMiles_Photography" in the URL to your pages as it makes it harder to type/write/speak links to a specific page. Folder and file names should be in lower case - upper and lower case words are "different" on most web server file systems and most people will type it in lower case, which will result in a "file not found" error. And don't put your text as an image file (which you have in several places), but keep it as actual text - Google and other search engines can't read it and it could hurt your search engine rankings as a result.