are you lowering your rates because of the poor economy

[justlearning]

Maybe instead of just lowering your prices you could just run sales or specials? That way it wouldn't look like your work was of lesser quality of the next guy because your prices were lower and that way when the economy picks back up your prices would be good and no one would think you raised them just because the economy picked back up?

It was just a thought?

[thenimirra]

that's actually what I've been doing this month is offering discounts. I definitely feel better about that and I was thinking about offering special discounts every month....free 11x14 if you book a session, free photo book, etc. ect. every month.

[Jim Poor]

That's a more refined approach. A lot of photographers are against using the term "discount" as it lowers the value of your products. "Bonus" is a much better term that means the clients are getting something extra. It is pretty much a matter of semantics, but the effect is profoundly different.

For example, a while back, I wanted to raise the price of my lowest print package.
I chose to raise the price by 20% but added an additional 5x7 as a sort of bonus for pre-ordering the package before proofs are viewed. The extra 5x7 cost me about 50 cents plus the processing time which is really a wash since the that file would have been processed as a proof anyway.

[private]

I lik ethe word Bonus - I hope you do not mind if I use that - starting next yera... Hard to believe that is just a few weeks away...

[Jim Poor]

No worries. I have all these plans for "next year" but the realization that next year is just a few days away . . . ugh.

[justlearning]

Bonus is a great word to use! Everyone like to think they are getting something for free or a special. Hopefull after the new year things will start picking back up again.

[thenimirra]

yes I like it to!

[coreypotter]

I think too many photographers are taking the easy way out and just lowering prices. I think in a time like this, the important thing to do is convince the customer that they NEED to buy your product. If you cant do that with your current customers, start looking in a different area. Spend some money on advertising to higher end clients (if your work is good enough).

If you aren't confident enough to market yourself as a necessity, you should probably not be in business for yourself. There are SO many people out there who take great photos and have a nice camera. That doesn't mean all those people can handle the business side of being a professional photographer. If you're afraid of business, go to work for another photographer who isn't and you'll be making more money anyway.

There are still PLENTY of people who are willing to pay a premium for amazing products.

[JerBear]

Yep, with gas going for just under $5 a gallon a month or so ago and the other expenses creeping up, I just had to. If I am going to survive, I need to make enough to be happy with what I do.

Now, that being said, let's get real here. If you are selling a luxury item, than you better have a wider selection so that the client can determine just how much they can afford / want to spend.

With the weddings, I offer segments of coverage and post production. Without getting detailed, I offer just coverage of the wedding and how much time without an album. If they want to build on that, offer basic to very detailed albums and price accordingly.

Just like our old building blocks, you start out with one, then build on it.

Commercial is another matter. Although I do see a slow down, this is not so much a luxury item. The client needs this in order to market, so while I did raise prices on this as well, I comp more now to "help them" with these times.
I do not mean give away, just if I am doing a shoot and it is going to go into overtime a little, I will probably either comp it or just charge actual costs (if there are some).

Now that is the income side---YOU should be very aware of your expense side as well!

I found myself automatically renewing all of my subscriptions, web accounts, etc. and just spending like always. One example was my "GoToMyPc" account, yeah handy but I only used it approx 10 times last year, so out it goes and I save around $200. Well, I took a look and got rid of maybe 40% of that after reviewing what, if anything they contributed to my success.

As for Shows, I don't thinks they really help all that much in the long run. I paid my chunk years ago, then after a few, decided that after the hassle of putting together a display setup, dragging it in and out, the time and all, it just was not worth the price. Well, the organizer offered me a half price deal so that I would continue to come. This helped him sell other spots and me with a price reduction. That worked for awhile, but a few years ago, once the internet really started to take off, the shows are not what they used to be in turnout. He now offers free space if I would just come now, sooooo......, well I will think on that.

Just like the phone books Yellow Pages, I have not paid for any of that in over 10 years, yet I am still listed with an ad. You see, if a business were to see only the actual paid ads, they would probably not spend the money themselves (no one else is advertising in this book).

Goes back to the days when miners used to "salt their mines with gold" and then sell the mine to some other patsy.

Well I have run off at the mouth again, but hope you get something out of it.

Good shooting

JM

[Dizzle]

I am not lowering rates, I am doing things to lower MY overhead. I pay $150 a year to SmugMug. And While I can do a lot with it, I can't do what I want with it. Had to stop and think, I am a web developer by day, I should be able to build a site that does what I want...so that is what I am doing. It will eliminate the $150 to SmugMug, I can either drop down to their cheap $30/year for proofing galleries and printing or use my own proofing galleries and do my own printing (MPix or local) and save that $30. My hosting cost is only $30/year for 120GB of space...I can host my own proofing galleries fairly easily.

By cutting my own cost I am able to better handle the slower sales and bookings.