Freedom Focus Photography - previously the Hair of the Dog Podcast

Business Pillar 4 - Pricing

July 13, 2021 Nicole Begley Episode 85
Freedom Focus Photography - previously the Hair of the Dog Podcast
Business Pillar 4 - Pricing
Show Notes Transcript

085 - We're on to the fourth business pillar this week, and it's one that makes joyful fireworks explode in the nerd-center of my brain: PRICING! 

Yep, this week I channel my inner CPA to help you sort through the numbers. Because if you want to be in business, you need to ensure that you're actually making a profit. There are pricing traps waiting to swallow up unsuspecting new photographers—and I don't want you to fall victim.   

What To Listen For: 

  • The single most important number to figure out
  • How to handle the digital file pricing conundrum
  • Suggested markups for wall art, albums and more
  • Nicole's favorite of the three common pricing strategies…
  • ...and why a "floppy" print never leaves her studio
  • The universal answer to the What should my prices be? question (!!)

You might want to listen to this episode twice. And for some extra guidance, you'll definitely want to sign up for my free 45-minute pricing masterclass! Download this FREE Pricing Checklist, too!

Resources From This Episode: 

GET YOUR FIRST BIG WIN WITH COMMERCIAL PET PHOTOGRAPHY - Join us here! 


JOIN THE PARTY:



1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,830
Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.

2
00:00:01,830 --> 00:00:02,760
I'm Nicole Begley.

3
00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:06,840
And today we are in the middle of our six apart

4
00:00:06,870 --> 00:00:08,550
business pillar series.

5
00:00:08,550 --> 00:00:10,980
And today is business pillar.

6
00:00:11,010 --> 00:00:11,970
Number four,

7
00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:14,880
all about pricing and sales.

8
00:00:14,940 --> 00:00:17,010
If you've missed our first couple,

9
00:00:17,010 --> 00:00:22,710
go back to episode number 79 on June 22nd,

10
00:00:22,710 --> 00:00:24,330
2021. And grab business pillar,

11
00:00:24,420 --> 00:00:25,290
number one,

12
00:00:25,290 --> 00:00:25,890
legal and admin.

13
00:00:25,890 --> 00:00:28,590
And then the following week we had business pillar,

14
00:00:28,590 --> 00:00:29,190
number two,

15
00:00:29,220 --> 00:00:31,950
branding, and then number three website today,

16
00:00:31,980 --> 00:00:34,980
we are on to pricing and sales for business pillar.

17
00:00:35,010 --> 00:00:36,330
Number four out of six.

18
00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:37,470
Stay tuned.

19
00:00:38,420 --> 00:00:40,760
Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.

20
00:00:41,030 --> 00:00:42,560
If you're a pet photographer,

21
00:00:42,620 --> 00:00:45,440
ready to make more money and start living a life by

22
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:46,280
your design,

23
00:00:46,430 --> 00:00:48,420
you've come to the right place.

24
00:00:48,420 --> 00:00:49,570
And now your host,

25
00:00:49,570 --> 00:00:50,790
pet photographer,

26
00:00:50,790 --> 00:00:51,790
travel addict,

27
00:00:51,790 --> 00:00:53,930
chocolate martini connoisseur,

28
00:00:53,930 --> 00:00:54,930
Nicole Begley.

29
00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:55,620
All right.

30
00:00:55,620 --> 00:00:56,920
Hey, Hey everybody,

31
00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,680
Nicole, here I am back for business pillar.

32
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:00,520
Number four,

33
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:01,130
you guys,

34
00:01:01,130 --> 00:01:02,890
this is my favorite pillar.

35
00:01:02,890 --> 00:01:05,650
It's not really a secret that at some point,

36
00:01:05,650 --> 00:01:09,860
when I thought about changing careers after being in the Zoologic

37
00:01:09,860 --> 00:01:12,080
panel training field for 13 years,

38
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:12,500
and I was like,

39
00:01:12,530 --> 00:01:13,760
oh, what can I do?

40
00:01:13,820 --> 00:01:15,410
I actually considered,

41
00:01:16,070 --> 00:01:17,900
possibly becoming a CPA.

42
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:19,610
I mean,

43
00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:21,050
nerd alert.

44
00:01:21,620 --> 00:01:22,670
I love numbers.

45
00:01:22,730 --> 00:01:23,690
I love numbers.

46
00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:25,010
I love pricing.

47
00:01:25,070 --> 00:01:29,210
I love looking at my students' pricing and making little tweaks

48
00:01:29,210 --> 00:01:32,990
that result in drastically bigger sales for them.

49
00:01:33,050 --> 00:01:36,620
It's one of my superpowers and one of my most favorite

50
00:01:36,620 --> 00:01:37,370
things to do,

51
00:01:37,430 --> 00:01:39,050
if you're an academy member,

52
00:01:39,110 --> 00:01:43,010
be sure to have me review your pricing during a laser

53
00:01:43,010 --> 00:01:44,810
coaching or an office hours.

54
00:01:44,870 --> 00:01:46,070
If you're an elevate,

55
00:01:46,340 --> 00:01:49,760
we of course will review that as well at any of

56
00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:50,390
our calls.

57
00:01:50,390 --> 00:01:54,410
So there is nothing I love more than looking at pricing

58
00:01:54,470 --> 00:01:56,930
and looking at pricing strategically.

59
00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,320
There is so much more to pricing than just a hard

60
00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,920
and fast four times a markup role or a 25% cost

61
00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:04,940
of goods sold rule,

62
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,240
or just charge X charge wide charge Z,

63
00:02:08,270 --> 00:02:10,400
put it together this way and call it a day.

64
00:02:10,430 --> 00:02:12,980
There are so many different ways we can put this together

65
00:02:13,130 --> 00:02:14,870
based on what we want to sell,

66
00:02:14,900 --> 00:02:15,770
what we want to make,

67
00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,100
how much time is invested and all of these other moving

68
00:02:19,100 --> 00:02:20,090
parts. Now,

69
00:02:20,090 --> 00:02:23,510
the first thing we really need to look at that everybody

70
00:02:23,510 --> 00:02:27,170
needs to know for their pricing is how much you hope

71
00:02:27,170 --> 00:02:27,800
to make,

72
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,780
because you can't just say,

73
00:02:29,810 --> 00:02:31,370
oh, I want to make more money.

74
00:02:31,460 --> 00:02:32,750
Okay. Congratulations.

75
00:02:32,750 --> 00:02:33,500
Here's a nickel.

76
00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:34,040
All right.

77
00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:35,350
That's not probably not,

78
00:02:35,350 --> 00:02:37,250
probably not what you had in mind when you said I

79
00:02:37,250 --> 00:02:39,800
want to make more money in my photography sessions.

80
00:02:39,830 --> 00:02:44,450
So we need to start with this intention with trying to

81
00:02:44,450 --> 00:02:47,300
determine what our actual sales goal is.

82
00:02:47,510 --> 00:02:49,010
Because if we don't have a goal,

83
00:02:49,010 --> 00:02:51,830
then we're really just shooting these darts at a wall that

84
00:02:51,830 --> 00:02:54,290
might not even have a dart board that we just don't

85
00:02:54,290 --> 00:02:58,580
don't even know what to build our pricing and collections and

86
00:02:58,580 --> 00:02:59,560
packages around.

87
00:02:59,620 --> 00:03:01,270
We don't know what products to offer.

88
00:03:01,420 --> 00:03:03,190
We don't know how much profit we need.

89
00:03:03,190 --> 00:03:04,810
Like this is important stuff.

90
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,170
The most important thing that you can possibly do for your

91
00:03:08,170 --> 00:03:12,670
pricing is to determine your target session average.

92
00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:14,200
Now, how do I do that?

93
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,110
How do I determine my target session average?

94
00:03:17,470 --> 00:03:20,290
Well, I just so happened to have a training that walks

95
00:03:20,290 --> 00:03:21,670
you through this process.

96
00:03:21,670 --> 00:03:25,060
If you go to hair of the dog academy.com/pricing,

97
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,120
you can register and it's complimentary,

98
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,720
it's a free 45 minute class that takes you through how

99
00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:33,520
to figure out your target session.

100
00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,930
Average. Really the basis of it is figuring out how much

101
00:03:37,930 --> 00:03:40,060
money you want to make for profit,

102
00:03:40,090 --> 00:03:43,930
calculating how much of money it takes to run your business,

103
00:03:43,990 --> 00:03:46,600
and then how much money you would need to have to

104
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,350
cover the product costs for the profit that you wanted to

105
00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,500
make, as well as any taxes and things like that.

106
00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:55,750
And then looking at the number of hours you want to

107
00:03:55,750 --> 00:03:56,710
work on your business,

108
00:03:56,710 --> 00:04:00,010
the number of hours it takes for you to take a

109
00:04:00,010 --> 00:04:04,420
session from original inquiry all the way through to delivery and

110
00:04:04,450 --> 00:04:06,940
how much time you're working on the admin of your business.

111
00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:10,510
So it's putting all of these numbers into a formula and

112
00:04:10,510 --> 00:04:14,020
it's coming out with a target session average of saying like,

113
00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:17,890
okay, I want to shoot 50 clients a year and I

114
00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,010
need my target session average to be $1,500.

115
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,320
So I'm going to save you a whole lot of math

116
00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,340
right now and tell you that as a general rule,

117
00:04:27,550 --> 00:04:30,460
I've seen so many photographers do this calculation.

118
00:04:30,460 --> 00:04:32,380
And if they are looking to earn,

119
00:04:32,470 --> 00:04:33,070
I don't know,

120
00:04:33,070 --> 00:04:35,170
50 or $60,000

121
00:04:35,170 --> 00:04:36,670
of profit in their business,

122
00:04:36,730 --> 00:04:39,940
then generally it's about 50,000

123
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:41,440
or 50,000

124
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:42,490
clients. That would be a lot.

125
00:04:42,490 --> 00:04:43,510
We'd be really tired.

126
00:04:44,350 --> 00:04:48,610
It's usually about 50 or 75 clients at about a $1,500

127
00:04:48,620 --> 00:04:50,590
average, 1500 to $2,000

128
00:04:50,590 --> 00:04:54,880
is generally the ballpark that most people end up wanting to

129
00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:55,480
be in,

130
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,590
to hit the numbers that they want to earn based on

131
00:04:59,590 --> 00:05:01,750
the number of hours they want to work in their business

132
00:05:01,750 --> 00:05:04,330
and the number of hours it takes to go through a

133
00:05:04,660 --> 00:05:06,670
client session from beginning to end.

134
00:05:06,730 --> 00:05:08,350
So that is by far,

135
00:05:08,350 --> 00:05:10,930
the most important number to figure out though,

136
00:05:10,930 --> 00:05:14,320
is to have an idea of what you want to make.

137
00:05:14,350 --> 00:05:16,990
Because one of the challenges that I think a lot of

138
00:05:16,990 --> 00:05:19,450
people have when they first get into this industry.

139
00:05:19,450 --> 00:05:20,620
And I did the same.

140
00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,680
I remember I was at my sister-in-law's house,

141
00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:24,580
New Jersey.

142
00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:26,320
I was still working.

143
00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,180
I think I was still working at the aviary.

144
00:05:28,210 --> 00:05:30,190
I can't remember if I had left that job or not,

145
00:05:30,190 --> 00:05:32,680
or I might've been on maternity leave and thinking,

146
00:05:32,710 --> 00:05:33,310
you know,

147
00:05:33,340 --> 00:05:34,690
what do I want to do next?

148
00:05:34,750 --> 00:05:35,650
Anyway, regardless,

149
00:05:35,650 --> 00:05:37,630
I was very early in my photography journey.

150
00:05:37,870 --> 00:05:39,640
I don't think I was in business yet.

151
00:05:39,730 --> 00:05:41,890
And I remember her telling me about somebody that was doing

152
00:05:41,890 --> 00:05:45,070
mini sessions at their local park for like $50 each.

153
00:05:45,070 --> 00:05:47,020
And just doing a whole bunch of people from this moms

154
00:05:47,020 --> 00:05:47,830
group. I was like,

155
00:05:47,860 --> 00:05:49,210
oh wow.

156
00:05:49,540 --> 00:05:49,960
You know,

157
00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:54,490
I can charge like $175 per client to do a full

158
00:05:54,490 --> 00:05:58,040
session. I'm making like $175 a day.

159
00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,710
Wow. I would've been making so much money if it's just

160
00:06:00,710 --> 00:06:03,890
digital files and don't really have any cost of goods sold,

161
00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:05,510
I'm going to be making so much money.

162
00:06:05,540 --> 00:06:08,000
So this is a trap that many of us fall into

163
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,750
when we're first starting to explore this world of photography and

164
00:06:11,750 --> 00:06:12,740
portrait photography,

165
00:06:12,740 --> 00:06:16,040
whether pets or families or newborns or whatever John HRA you

166
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,450
are photographing is we look at this all-inclusive model and we

167
00:06:20,450 --> 00:06:22,640
look at these digital files and we think,

168
00:06:22,670 --> 00:06:23,060
oh man,

169
00:06:23,060 --> 00:06:24,080
that's all profit.

170
00:06:24,140 --> 00:06:27,650
Yeah. It's not turns out it is not because there's a

171
00:06:27,650 --> 00:06:29,690
lot of time invested in that.

172
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,980
There is a lot of business expenses.

173
00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:33,260
I mean,

174
00:06:33,260 --> 00:06:35,930
just add up how much all your photography gear costs,

175
00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:37,280
how much your computer costs,

176
00:06:37,310 --> 00:06:38,720
how much education costs,

177
00:06:38,750 --> 00:06:40,160
all of these different things.

178
00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:41,390
Taxes just,

179
00:06:41,420 --> 00:06:42,140
there's so much,

180
00:06:42,170 --> 00:06:42,950
there's so much.

181
00:06:42,950 --> 00:06:46,130
So it actually costs quite a bit of money to run

182
00:06:46,130 --> 00:06:47,630
our business properly.

183
00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:52,490
So working in a situation in which you're charging just a

184
00:06:52,490 --> 00:06:54,470
couple of hundred dollars for a session,

185
00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,320
unless you have a very high volume business,

186
00:06:57,500 --> 00:06:58,430
which can be done.

187
00:06:58,430 --> 00:07:00,200
But the way I was looking at it was like,

188
00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:01,520
oh, I'll meet a new client,

189
00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:01,760
you know,

190
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,160
maybe three days a week because here's the other thing you

191
00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,100
can't be shooting every day because you need time to run

192
00:07:07,100 --> 00:07:09,830
your business and edit those images and do all of those

193
00:07:09,830 --> 00:07:12,200
things. And maybe a day off every now and again,

194
00:07:12,890 --> 00:07:13,760
and weather delays,

195
00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:14,450
things like that.

196
00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,890
So having a client every single day is often not scalable

197
00:07:18,890 --> 00:07:22,340
unless you're a studio shooter and you're going for that high

198
00:07:22,340 --> 00:07:23,570
volume. Like I said,

199
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,960
it is possible to have a high volume model that is

200
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:28,250
very, very profitable.

201
00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:29,720
But most of us in general,

202
00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:31,880
in the hair of the dog community are looking to create

203
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,910
more of a boutique business experience with having less than 100

204
00:07:34,910 --> 00:07:35,840
clients in a year.

205
00:07:35,900 --> 00:07:39,020
In which case we need to make more per client to

206
00:07:39,020 --> 00:07:44,510
reach our financial goals and to not make ourselves crazy by

207
00:07:44,510 --> 00:07:47,360
working all the hours of all the days and nights and

208
00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,000
weekends and holidays and all of the things.

209
00:07:50,030 --> 00:07:51,170
So again,

210
00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,080
this is where that target session average comes into play.

211
00:07:54,110 --> 00:07:56,900
So for the sake of moving forward here,

212
00:07:56,900 --> 00:07:57,740
let's just,

213
00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,080
let's just estimate that we want a $1,500

214
00:08:00,100 --> 00:08:01,160
target session average,

215
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,240
because I think that probably is one of the most common

216
00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:06,440
between there in 2000.

217
00:08:06,530 --> 00:08:07,760
So that's our first step.

218
00:08:07,790 --> 00:08:12,620
Number two step in determining our pricing is figuring out what

219
00:08:12,620 --> 00:08:13,550
we want to offer.

220
00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,560
Do you want to sell just digital files?

221
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,030
There's nothing wrong with that.

222
00:08:17,060 --> 00:08:18,470
For those of you guys that are,

223
00:08:18,500 --> 00:08:18,860
you know,

224
00:08:18,890 --> 00:08:21,290
want to sell and focus on digital files,

225
00:08:21,530 --> 00:08:23,120
there's nothing wrong with that.

226
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:24,380
But here's the challenge.

227
00:08:24,410 --> 00:08:28,400
The challenge comes and that digital files are often seen as

228
00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:29,030
a commodity,

229
00:08:29,030 --> 00:08:29,870
like a banana.

230
00:08:30,230 --> 00:08:30,740
You know,

231
00:08:30,830 --> 00:08:33,200
if you went to one store and the bananas were 40

232
00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,130
cents each,

233
00:08:34,130 --> 00:08:36,860
and then you went to another store and there are $2

234
00:08:37,070 --> 00:08:38,000
each you're going to be like,

235
00:08:38,030 --> 00:08:40,670
well, why the heck are these bananas so much more expensive

236
00:08:40,670 --> 00:08:42,920
over here than they are at that other store?

237
00:08:43,130 --> 00:08:45,770
Digital files are very similar.

238
00:08:46,100 --> 00:08:49,850
The general public does not necessarily see the difference in our

239
00:08:49,850 --> 00:08:51,590
work for why photographers,

240
00:08:51,590 --> 00:08:54,020
AEs digital files are $2,000.

241
00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:57,390
If photographer B's digital files are $200.

242
00:08:57,450 --> 00:09:01,140
So there in lies the conundrum when you're offering digital files

243
00:09:01,170 --> 00:09:04,410
only. And since we figured out our target session average,

244
00:09:04,470 --> 00:09:07,500
that means we need to be making at least $1,500

245
00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:09,960
per client for our sales.

246
00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,050
So it can be kind of challenging to have a digital

247
00:09:13,050 --> 00:09:17,580
file focused business and be commanding that much money for your

248
00:09:17,580 --> 00:09:18,270
digital files.

249
00:09:18,270 --> 00:09:19,140
It's not impossible.

250
00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:21,360
It's just one of the challenges I want you to be

251
00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:22,050
aware of,

252
00:09:22,110 --> 00:09:26,490
if you are considering focusing on selling digital files only now,

253
00:09:26,490 --> 00:09:28,110
if you want to do products.

254
00:09:28,230 --> 00:09:31,620
My favorite thing is products with digital files.

255
00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:35,100
So the clients get the digital files that they think they

256
00:09:35,100 --> 00:09:38,670
want. And they're also getting the products that they actually are

257
00:09:38,670 --> 00:09:41,760
going to love much more than the digital files over the

258
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:42,870
course of many years.

259
00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:46,980
And I'm creating artwork that fills my heart and my soul.

260
00:09:46,980 --> 00:09:50,280
Like there is nothing like seeing the photographs that I've taken

261
00:09:50,370 --> 00:09:52,020
printed on big,

262
00:09:52,050 --> 00:09:53,640
beautiful wall pieces.

263
00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,020
It's my most favorite thing ever,

264
00:09:55,020 --> 00:09:57,690
or a beautiful album or whatever products you love.

265
00:09:57,780 --> 00:10:02,970
So you can go ahead and combine those and either include

266
00:10:02,970 --> 00:10:05,280
those digital files with your products.

267
00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,680
You can have it as an add on lots of different

268
00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:08,220
ways to do that.

269
00:10:08,220 --> 00:10:10,410
We'll talk about that a little bit more in a bit

270
00:10:10,410 --> 00:10:12,120
when we talk about pricing strategy,

271
00:10:12,150 --> 00:10:15,060
but for here are step number two is determine what products

272
00:10:15,060 --> 00:10:15,750
those are.

273
00:10:15,780 --> 00:10:18,750
So I don't want you to go to your lab,

274
00:10:18,810 --> 00:10:20,250
open up their website and say,

275
00:10:20,310 --> 00:10:23,910
I need to offer all of these in 37 different finishes

276
00:10:23,910 --> 00:10:29,430
on my prints and canvases and metals and acrylics and holograms

277
00:10:29,460 --> 00:10:31,290
and all of the things because they offer it.

278
00:10:31,290 --> 00:10:33,870
So I'm need to offer it because my clients might want

279
00:10:33,870 --> 00:10:34,530
it. You know,

280
00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:35,760
that's overwhelming.

281
00:10:36,060 --> 00:10:39,150
I went to a furniture store when I was visiting friends

282
00:10:39,150 --> 00:10:39,870
in Boston.

283
00:10:39,930 --> 00:10:41,220
It's this giant furniture store.

284
00:10:41,220 --> 00:10:43,530
It's like six levels huge.

285
00:10:43,590 --> 00:10:45,380
And they have like this little ropes course,

286
00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:46,050
it was rainy.

287
00:10:46,050 --> 00:10:46,800
So we took the kids,

288
00:10:46,810 --> 00:10:47,610
do the ropes course.

289
00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:48,150
And I was like,

290
00:10:48,210 --> 00:10:51,000
great. I'm going to go look at furniture because I love

291
00:10:51,030 --> 00:10:54,150
looking at model homes and I love furniture shopping.

292
00:10:54,210 --> 00:10:56,820
So I took a quick spin around upstairs.

293
00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:57,600
You guys,

294
00:10:57,870 --> 00:11:00,600
I'm glad I wasn't actually shopping for a couch because there

295
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,450
were literally 17 rooms of couches,

296
00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:05,970
17 rooms of couches,

297
00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:08,010
and to make matters worse.

298
00:11:08,010 --> 00:11:09,600
They weren't even like in the same room,

299
00:11:09,810 --> 00:11:10,140
you know,

300
00:11:10,140 --> 00:11:12,570
because you could at least in the same room,

301
00:11:12,570 --> 00:11:13,200
look at two,

302
00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,360
kind of at the same time or sit on them kind

303
00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:16,500
of back and forth.

304
00:11:16,530 --> 00:11:18,810
But when you have to go through 14 or 17 different

305
00:11:18,810 --> 00:11:20,010
rooms to get to the other one,

306
00:11:20,010 --> 00:11:22,290
you forget what the other couch felt like.

307
00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,190
I couldn't imagine shopping for a couch at that particular furniture

308
00:11:26,190 --> 00:11:27,960
store. So what's my point here.

309
00:11:27,990 --> 00:11:31,290
My point here is that we should not offer so many

310
00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:34,320
products that we feel like a client shopping for a couch

311
00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,250
at that furniture store because overwhelmed minds are just going to

312
00:11:38,250 --> 00:11:39,060
say, oh,

313
00:11:39,090 --> 00:11:40,320
Nope, nevermind,

314
00:11:40,350 --> 00:11:41,070
forget it.

315
00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:44,430
Just give me the digitals I'm outta here or nevermind.

316
00:11:44,460 --> 00:11:45,510
I'm going to go somewhere else.

317
00:11:45,540 --> 00:11:49,770
So we want to have a streamlined product menu and it

318
00:11:49,770 --> 00:11:53,560
is it's okay to have one or two or max three

319
00:11:53,590 --> 00:11:56,230
types of wall art or three types of albums.

320
00:11:56,300 --> 00:11:59,800
But really you can start with one type of wall art,

321
00:11:59,860 --> 00:12:00,610
one album,

322
00:12:00,790 --> 00:12:01,300
some prints,

323
00:12:01,300 --> 00:12:02,320
some digital files,

324
00:12:02,590 --> 00:12:03,130
that's it.

325
00:12:03,370 --> 00:12:05,470
That's all you actually need.

326
00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:07,960
I would go so far as to say,

327
00:12:08,020 --> 00:12:11,050
you really could do a business with just one type of

328
00:12:11,050 --> 00:12:13,480
wall art and some prints,

329
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:14,290
digital files,

330
00:12:14,710 --> 00:12:15,160
that's it.

331
00:12:15,190 --> 00:12:16,960
You don't need a gazillion things.

332
00:12:17,110 --> 00:12:19,900
Sure. Is it nice to find a beautiful new product and

333
00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:20,380
add it?

334
00:12:20,410 --> 00:12:21,220
Yeah, of course.

335
00:12:21,250 --> 00:12:21,550
You know,

336
00:12:21,550 --> 00:12:24,190
so, so we can definitely have things to offer our clients,

337
00:12:24,190 --> 00:12:26,140
but we just want to make sure we're not offering too

338
00:12:26,140 --> 00:12:26,800
many things.

339
00:12:26,830 --> 00:12:29,170
And the other point I want to make on products is

340
00:12:29,170 --> 00:12:33,250
that I want you to choose products that you love products

341
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:34,510
that you love,

342
00:12:34,510 --> 00:12:37,270
how they look with your word don't choose products,

343
00:12:37,270 --> 00:12:39,040
just because you think they're trendy,

344
00:12:39,100 --> 00:12:42,880
your clients will be attracted to your products and your artwork

345
00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:44,500
because you love it.

346
00:12:44,530 --> 00:12:45,790
Same thing with your,

347
00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:48,430
your craft and your art and the images you create.

348
00:12:48,460 --> 00:12:49,870
Don't just create images.

349
00:12:49,870 --> 00:12:50,350
Cause you're like,

350
00:12:50,380 --> 00:12:51,910
oh, this is what Marcel,

351
00:12:51,970 --> 00:12:53,890
no create the images that speak to your heart.

352
00:12:53,890 --> 00:12:55,930
And you're going to attract the people that also love that.

353
00:12:55,930 --> 00:12:57,640
So same thing with products.

354
00:12:57,670 --> 00:12:58,780
So here's our homework.

355
00:12:58,780 --> 00:13:00,010
Again, remember a target session,

356
00:13:00,010 --> 00:13:01,810
average, then figure out what products,

357
00:13:01,810 --> 00:13:03,730
just make a little list of what products you love.

358
00:13:03,910 --> 00:13:04,270
All right.

359
00:13:04,420 --> 00:13:05,620
So then number three,

360
00:13:05,620 --> 00:13:08,050
we're moving on to our pricing strategy.

361
00:13:08,050 --> 00:13:11,020
There are a few different types of pricing strategy.

362
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,050
We can have the good old fashioned collections and which is,

363
00:13:14,050 --> 00:13:14,500
you know,

364
00:13:14,740 --> 00:13:17,260
option a option B option C at different price points.

365
00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:18,760
We could have a bonus schedule,

366
00:13:18,820 --> 00:13:21,610
which is if you purchase a wall piece,

367
00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,460
you save 50% on your digital files,

368
00:13:24,700 --> 00:13:26,830
or we could do a create your own collection,

369
00:13:27,010 --> 00:13:28,870
such as choose something from here,

370
00:13:28,900 --> 00:13:29,950
choose something from here,

371
00:13:29,980 --> 00:13:33,340
choose something from here and save on your entire order.

372
00:13:33,430 --> 00:13:36,580
So those are the three main pricing strategies.

373
00:13:36,580 --> 00:13:38,590
There are pros and cons to all three.

374
00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:40,270
I have used all three,

375
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:46,030
my two personal favorites are actually collections and the bonus schedule.

376
00:13:46,090 --> 00:13:49,150
And I actually like to work with both of those in

377
00:13:49,150 --> 00:13:54,070
tandem together because one of the challenges with collections is when

378
00:13:54,070 --> 00:13:55,360
you have somebody come in,

379
00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:56,650
look at your collections and say,

380
00:13:56,680 --> 00:13:57,670
oh, I want all that,

381
00:13:57,670 --> 00:13:59,230
but can I sub this for that?

382
00:13:59,230 --> 00:14:00,310
Because I don't want that.

383
00:14:00,310 --> 00:14:01,630
Or can I change this or that?

384
00:14:01,690 --> 00:14:01,990
You know,

385
00:14:01,990 --> 00:14:03,280
that gets really confusing.

386
00:14:03,310 --> 00:14:05,530
So that's one of the downsides of collections,

387
00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:09,220
but the upside is that it's really clear for consumers.

388
00:14:09,220 --> 00:14:09,820
They come in,

389
00:14:09,820 --> 00:14:11,620
they see the collections,

390
00:14:11,620 --> 00:14:13,720
it gives them estimated spending points.

391
00:14:13,750 --> 00:14:15,100
They see what's included.

392
00:14:15,340 --> 00:14:17,140
They understand how it works.

393
00:14:17,170 --> 00:14:18,250
So I love them.

394
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,010
But if you work with those along with a bonus schedule,

395
00:14:21,220 --> 00:14:24,010
then you have an easy way to say when they want

396
00:14:24,010 --> 00:14:24,850
a sub thing,

397
00:14:24,850 --> 00:14:25,540
say, okay,

398
00:14:25,630 --> 00:14:26,980
I totally understand that,

399
00:14:26,980 --> 00:14:27,310
you know,

400
00:14:27,340 --> 00:14:29,110
these collections aren't right for everyone.

401
00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:32,500
So I also offer this bonus schedule so that you can,

402
00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:32,890
you know,

403
00:14:32,950 --> 00:14:34,360
get exactly what you want.

404
00:14:34,420 --> 00:14:35,710
And that bonus schedule,

405
00:14:35,710 --> 00:14:40,450
because so many consumers do want the digital files to have

406
00:14:40,450 --> 00:14:43,480
for their computer and their home and their archives,

407
00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:45,480
or to print some prints or a little calendar,

408
00:14:45,490 --> 00:14:46,300
things like that,

409
00:14:46,510 --> 00:14:50,800
that having those as the bonus works really,

410
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:51,260
really well,

411
00:14:51,260 --> 00:14:54,320
but it doesn't have to be your bonus schedule could be

412
00:14:54,350 --> 00:14:58,780
order a wall piece and get an album 50% off or

413
00:14:58,780 --> 00:15:02,920
order an album and save $400 on a 16 by 20

414
00:15:03,310 --> 00:15:04,000
or wall piece.

415
00:15:04,060 --> 00:15:08,710
Like you can create these bonus schedules based on what ever

416
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,380
you want to be selling.

417
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,400
So this is why that step before figuring out what products

418
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:15,850
we love,

419
00:15:15,850 --> 00:15:17,380
figuring out what products we want to sell.

420
00:15:17,650 --> 00:15:18,910
Well, it's very,

421
00:15:18,940 --> 00:15:19,870
very critical.

422
00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,600
Are you guys starting to see how it's next to them

423
00:15:22,690 --> 00:15:24,700
possible to come up with a pricing strategy?

424
00:15:24,700 --> 00:15:26,530
If you don't know how much you want to make and

425
00:15:26,530 --> 00:15:28,210
what you want to be focused on selling,

426
00:15:28,390 --> 00:15:29,560
I hear it all the time.

427
00:15:29,770 --> 00:15:32,650
Nicole, what's the most popular products for pet photography.

428
00:15:33,010 --> 00:15:33,400
You guys,

429
00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:34,240
it's what you love.

430
00:15:34,330 --> 00:15:38,260
I know photographers that sell mostly all albums.

431
00:15:38,290 --> 00:15:39,910
Their messaging is around the albums.

432
00:15:39,910 --> 00:15:41,080
They love the albums.

433
00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:42,160
They sell the albums.

434
00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,140
They have plenty of clients buying albums,

435
00:15:44,230 --> 00:15:46,660
right? Clients rarely buy albums.

436
00:15:46,750 --> 00:15:49,420
Usually clients are buying a wall piece and adding on the

437
00:15:49,420 --> 00:15:50,290
digital files.

438
00:15:50,380 --> 00:15:53,290
And you know what that's because I love selling wall pieces.

439
00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,750
I don't love selling the albums as much.

440
00:15:55,750 --> 00:15:58,750
I actually don't shoot for album sales.

441
00:15:58,750 --> 00:16:01,720
As much as I used to my sessions nowadays tend to

442
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,270
be a little bit more streamlined with a little bit more

443
00:16:04,270 --> 00:16:06,790
focus on creating a wall piece and then having a few

444
00:16:06,790 --> 00:16:08,350
extra digitals as well.

445
00:16:08,470 --> 00:16:12,130
So that all depends on how you want to work.

446
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:12,850
So anyway,

447
00:16:12,910 --> 00:16:13,900
sorry, little tangent there.

448
00:16:13,900 --> 00:16:15,820
And let's jump back to this pricing strategy.

449
00:16:15,850 --> 00:16:19,240
So those collections bonus schedule create your home collection.

450
00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:19,900
As I mentioned,

451
00:16:19,900 --> 00:16:24,220
is choosing something from different buckets and then they save on

452
00:16:24,220 --> 00:16:24,870
their whole order.

453
00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:26,770
So the challenge with that,

454
00:16:26,860 --> 00:16:28,030
I did that for,

455
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:30,220
for a while and it was good.

456
00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,660
I, the bottom line is all of these worked and all

457
00:16:34,660 --> 00:16:35,890
of these different pricing,

458
00:16:35,890 --> 00:16:41,800
strategist strategies resulted in approximately a very similar target sale for

459
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:42,910
me about 2,500

460
00:16:42,910 --> 00:16:43,600
to $3,000.

461
00:16:44,140 --> 00:16:47,230
And so they'll work.

462
00:16:47,470 --> 00:16:49,150
So I don't want to any of you to get hung

463
00:16:49,150 --> 00:16:49,570
up on,

464
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:50,440
oh my gosh,

465
00:16:50,470 --> 00:16:51,310
what am I going to do?

466
00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:51,880
Which one do I do?

467
00:16:51,910 --> 00:16:53,050
Choose just pick one,

468
00:16:53,170 --> 00:16:54,850
just pick one and try it.

469
00:16:55,660 --> 00:16:56,710
And you know,

470
00:16:56,740 --> 00:17:02,230
it will work because it's not that packaging pricing container that

471
00:17:02,260 --> 00:17:04,600
dictates our average sale.

472
00:17:04,690 --> 00:17:10,000
It's how we set it up and how we encourage people

473
00:17:10,030 --> 00:17:13,300
to do what we want them to do.

474
00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:18,100
So how do we do that by offering special incentives to

475
00:17:18,130 --> 00:17:19,390
continue down the path,

476
00:17:19,390 --> 00:17:22,900
you basically create a little path for them to walk as

477
00:17:22,930 --> 00:17:26,860
they go through their pricing as they go through the experience.

478
00:17:26,890 --> 00:17:27,670
So for instance,

479
00:17:27,670 --> 00:17:30,310
my current path is let's choose Walmart,

480
00:17:30,310 --> 00:17:31,450
we're shooting for Walmart.

481
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:32,290
I also do.

482
00:17:32,380 --> 00:17:33,970
I have a digital file option too,

483
00:17:33,970 --> 00:17:36,130
for people that are mainly interested in digital file.

484
00:17:36,150 --> 00:17:37,480
So let me back up here,

485
00:17:37,660 --> 00:17:40,060
basically the new way that I've been doing my pricing this

486
00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:43,600
year and I've been enjoying it is that I talked to

487
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:44,800
my client and I tell them,

488
00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:46,330
I basically have two options.

489
00:17:46,330 --> 00:17:47,020
Your artwork,

490
00:17:47,020 --> 00:17:48,310
your way is my tagline.

491
00:17:48,370 --> 00:17:52,020
And it is a file option or a Walmart option.

492
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,540
And the Walmart comes with a big,

493
00:17:54,570 --> 00:17:58,350
beautiful piece of wall art and two additional prints and digital

494
00:17:58,350 --> 00:18:02,040
files. So those three and then the digital file collection is

495
00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,400
an album block with 10 images and those 10 digital files.

496
00:18:05,490 --> 00:18:06,960
And so they can choose,

497
00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:08,370
or if they want,

498
00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,250
they can also do a create your own collection or sorry,

499
00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:13,470
a bonus schedule type thing where they choose a wall art

500
00:18:13,470 --> 00:18:15,390
and they can add on all the digital files too.

501
00:18:15,390 --> 00:18:17,640
So that way they kind of have the best of both

502
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:19,050
worlds, excuse me,

503
00:18:19,050 --> 00:18:20,280
which is what I actually named that one.

504
00:18:20,490 --> 00:18:21,090
So anyway,

505
00:18:21,090 --> 00:18:25,020
the art of that pricing is what really leads people down

506
00:18:25,020 --> 00:18:27,330
the path to get them to purchase exactly what you want

507
00:18:27,420 --> 00:18:30,210
and getting them to spend somewhere near that target session,

508
00:18:30,210 --> 00:18:33,300
average of what you need in order to have a sustainable

509
00:18:33,330 --> 00:18:35,790
business. We dive into gosh,

510
00:18:35,790 --> 00:18:37,020
more of that in the academy.

511
00:18:37,020 --> 00:18:37,800
Like I said,

512
00:18:37,890 --> 00:18:42,120
it is really my zone of genius to give feedback to

513
00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:46,020
people's pricing guides and help them make a couple tweaks that

514
00:18:46,020 --> 00:18:48,870
result in so much more sales for them.

515
00:18:48,870 --> 00:18:49,980
So remember,

516
00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:51,630
cause you guys are an academy member,

517
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,940
hit me up on a laser coaching or office hours.

518
00:18:53,940 --> 00:18:57,660
And I would love to give you feedback on your pricing.

519
00:18:57,690 --> 00:18:58,740
If you're an elevate,

520
00:18:58,830 --> 00:19:01,440
ask myself for the other coaches on one of our calls.

521
00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:03,690
And if you want information on either of those,

522
00:19:03,690 --> 00:19:07,800
just head on over to hair of the dog academy.com/academy,

523
00:19:07,890 --> 00:19:10,920
or hear the dog academy.com/elevate,

524
00:19:10,980 --> 00:19:13,260
we would love to have you in either program.

525
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,300
Alright, even though I've been talking a little bit about the

526
00:19:15,330 --> 00:19:17,670
art of photography pricing,

527
00:19:17,700 --> 00:19:21,000
I want to also speak to the science and I might've

528
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,330
gotten a little ahead of myself because the art usually comes

529
00:19:24,420 --> 00:19:26,670
in after you figure out the science,

530
00:19:26,670 --> 00:19:29,850
but I couldn't in good conscious do this podcast without mentioning

531
00:19:29,850 --> 00:19:31,200
the science of pricing.

532
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,140
And that is where we dive into our cost of goods

533
00:19:34,140 --> 00:19:36,810
sold. I know cogs a four-letter word.

534
00:19:36,810 --> 00:19:38,190
You guys are probably running away,

535
00:19:38,190 --> 00:19:40,140
like turning off the podcast now,

536
00:19:40,140 --> 00:19:41,190
like I don't want to hear it,

537
00:19:41,190 --> 00:19:42,720
Nicole, you guys so important.

538
00:19:42,750 --> 00:19:43,620
So, so important.

539
00:19:43,890 --> 00:19:47,910
This is where that 25% cost of goods sold comes into

540
00:19:47,910 --> 00:19:52,890
play. And that is an industry benchmark PPA professional photographers of

541
00:19:52,890 --> 00:19:58,770
America has done numerous studies of different photography studios across the

542
00:19:58,770 --> 00:20:02,700
country, retail based home studio based on location-based.

543
00:20:03,030 --> 00:20:06,360
And they have found that 25% cost of goods sold is

544
00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:10,470
really the ceiling of expenses for our products to have a

545
00:20:10,470 --> 00:20:12,150
sustainable business.

546
00:20:12,270 --> 00:20:14,760
Does that mean that everything has to be marked up four

547
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:15,720
times? Cause Nicole,

548
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,570
have you seen the price of my 30 by 40 acrylic?

549
00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:19,140
I get it.

550
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:19,710
I get it.

551
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,730
It means that the average of your markup needs to be

552
00:20:23,790 --> 00:20:28,320
25%. So what that looks like on my price list is

553
00:20:28,350 --> 00:20:29,700
that my lower items,

554
00:20:29,700 --> 00:20:32,730
like my 11 by 14 might actually be marked up five

555
00:20:32,730 --> 00:20:35,340
times. So it has like a 15 or 20% cost of

556
00:20:35,340 --> 00:20:39,420
goods sold where my very large framed acrylic might only be

557
00:20:39,420 --> 00:20:42,540
marked up three times because that's such a higher price point.

558
00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:45,210
I have plenty of profit on that only market it up

559
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,860
three times and how I choose that is to kind of

560
00:20:47,860 --> 00:20:51,010
make sense on the jumps on my price list.

561
00:20:51,010 --> 00:20:54,190
So I don't have like a $600 jump from one size

562
00:20:54,190 --> 00:20:54,790
to another.

563
00:20:54,820 --> 00:20:57,760
They kind of go up and some fairly consistent two to

564
00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,600
three to $400 increments depending on what the prices of those

565
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,020
are. But so the main takeaway here is that those smaller

566
00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:08,320
items might be marked up a bit more than those larger

567
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,870
items in terms of percent.

568
00:21:11,020 --> 00:21:13,750
So for your homework here is to take those products that

569
00:21:13,750 --> 00:21:15,730
we figured out and step to the products that you love,

570
00:21:15,730 --> 00:21:16,510
that you want to sell,

571
00:21:16,750 --> 00:21:18,610
figure out what sizes you want to offer.

572
00:21:18,730 --> 00:21:18,940
And then,

573
00:21:18,940 --> 00:21:23,470
then figure out what your costs are in that product and

574
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:25,990
test them out with a markup of four times that would

575
00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:28,090
give you a 25% cost of goods sold.

576
00:21:28,090 --> 00:21:31,270
So if this wall piece costs $150,

577
00:21:31,450 --> 00:21:34,630
then you would want to sell it for approximately $600 because

578
00:21:34,630 --> 00:21:36,610
that's one 50 times four.

579
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:37,660
And that works really,

580
00:21:37,660 --> 00:21:41,950
really well for Walmart where this markup strategy does not work

581
00:21:41,950 --> 00:21:44,400
well or albums or prints.

582
00:21:44,490 --> 00:21:48,810
And that is because albums have so many more images in

583
00:21:48,810 --> 00:21:54,150
it. And the time that you spend getting those albums ready,

584
00:21:54,150 --> 00:21:58,530
editing, all of those images in the album is significantly more

585
00:21:58,530 --> 00:22:00,060
than the time you're going to spend a prep.

586
00:22:00,060 --> 00:22:01,920
One file for one wall piece.

587
00:22:01,950 --> 00:22:03,720
So therefore albums,

588
00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:05,880
I have found generally,

589
00:22:05,970 --> 00:22:08,190
I like to see them at a markup of about 10

590
00:22:08,190 --> 00:22:11,790
times so that they have an actual 10% cost of goods

591
00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:14,100
sold. If you're looking at just those hard costs,

592
00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:17,790
because then it accounts for your time that you have been

593
00:22:17,790 --> 00:22:19,860
spending on that album.

594
00:22:19,890 --> 00:22:22,560
So Walmart mark it up times for albums,

595
00:22:22,590 --> 00:22:23,940
mark it up times 10,

596
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,600
and then there's prince prince syndrome files.

597
00:22:27,660 --> 00:22:29,130
And these are like the wild west,

598
00:22:29,130 --> 00:22:32,070
because I can't tell you how many times I see a

599
00:22:32,070 --> 00:22:37,500
photographer offering a print for $8 or $25,

600
00:22:37,740 --> 00:22:39,600
gosh, anything under 50,

601
00:22:39,630 --> 00:22:43,140
but really even anything under 75 becomes really,

602
00:22:43,140 --> 00:22:45,900
really challenging to have enough profit there.

603
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,410
And that is because the cost of goods for that print,

604
00:22:49,410 --> 00:22:53,190
the actual hard costs that you have to spend to get

605
00:22:53,190 --> 00:22:53,760
that print.

606
00:22:53,820 --> 00:22:54,000
You know,

607
00:22:54,030 --> 00:22:54,930
even if it's mounted,

608
00:22:54,930 --> 00:22:55,980
it's $10,

609
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,980
there's just not enough prophet marking that up times five,

610
00:22:58,980 --> 00:23:03,540
four, then you're only earning 30 or $40 on that print.

611
00:23:03,540 --> 00:23:07,830
And that doesn't even cover the time you spent to edit

612
00:23:07,830 --> 00:23:10,890
and upload that image image and package it not to mention

613
00:23:10,890 --> 00:23:13,650
the packaging and the delivery and the time to shoot food

614
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:14,940
and all of those things.

615
00:23:14,940 --> 00:23:18,600
So there is this minimum time,

616
00:23:18,630 --> 00:23:21,150
time component that we need to make sure that we get

617
00:23:21,150 --> 00:23:25,800
paid for which in my experience tends to be eight to

618
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:27,750
12 hours per client,

619
00:23:27,780 --> 00:23:29,760
if you're running a boutique business.

620
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,410
So if you're making 30 or $40 profit on a print

621
00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:38,160
divided by 10 it's like three or four or dollars an

622
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,570
hour before your taxes and expenses not going to be able

623
00:23:42,570 --> 00:23:43,410
to be sustained.

624
00:23:43,410 --> 00:23:44,160
But here in lies,

625
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:45,290
the challenge with prints,

626
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,420
those prints are one of those like banana,

627
00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:48,950
like commodities,

628
00:23:48,980 --> 00:23:51,830
where people kind of expect them to be a certain price.

629
00:23:51,860 --> 00:23:54,110
So one of the things I do in my book,

630
00:23:54,130 --> 00:23:56,110
this and this with prints is a floppy print,

631
00:23:56,110 --> 00:23:57,040
never, ever,

632
00:23:57,100 --> 00:24:01,390
ever under any circumstance ever leaves my studio because a floppy

633
00:24:01,390 --> 00:24:06,520
print is quickly equated to a print at Costco or Walgreens

634
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,560
or some other big box drug store.

635
00:24:08,710 --> 00:24:13,780
And when I only allow mounted prints with a linen texture

636
00:24:13,780 --> 00:24:15,850
and a UV coning to leave my studio,

637
00:24:16,150 --> 00:24:19,180
oh, all of a sudden clients can't compare that to the

638
00:24:19,180 --> 00:24:20,440
other things they've seen.

639
00:24:20,620 --> 00:24:22,480
So now it has more value now.

640
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,760
They don't know what it actually costs me.

641
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,010
And it's just inherently more valuable.

642
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,950
The other thing I do to protect myself from that print

643
00:24:29,950 --> 00:24:32,260
sale, because I never want to tell a client no.

644
00:24:32,290 --> 00:24:36,100
So when somebody calls and they are just looking for an

645
00:24:36,100 --> 00:24:37,270
eight by 10 print,

646
00:24:37,270 --> 00:24:39,340
maybe a big one of 11 by 14,

647
00:24:39,490 --> 00:24:43,420
I want to be able to steer the conversation and let

648
00:24:43,420 --> 00:24:47,740
them know what I offer without telling them no,

649
00:24:47,770 --> 00:24:49,060
without telling them,

650
00:24:49,060 --> 00:24:49,690
Hey, yeah,

651
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:50,590
I would love to do that,

652
00:24:50,590 --> 00:24:51,970
but you need to buy more than that.

653
00:24:52,060 --> 00:24:52,360
I mean,

654
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,940
you can have a minimum purchase requirement.

655
00:24:55,030 --> 00:24:56,260
I didn't really love that though.

656
00:24:56,260 --> 00:24:58,150
Like what if I went into a clothing store and I

657
00:24:58,150 --> 00:24:59,620
just wanted a pair of earrings,

658
00:24:59,650 --> 00:25:00,070
but they're like,

659
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,080
no, you have to buy a pair of jeans too.

660
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,730
Well, I don't really like your jeans.

661
00:25:04,210 --> 00:25:05,350
I just doesn't sit right.

662
00:25:05,380 --> 00:25:07,390
Well to me as a consumer.

663
00:25:07,390 --> 00:25:08,650
So I'm not a huge fan.

664
00:25:08,650 --> 00:25:09,580
There's nothing wrong with it.

665
00:25:09,580 --> 00:25:11,170
Some people do it very successfully.

666
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,320
The way I like to protect myself from the people that

667
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,060
might want to purchase one print or around Christmas time,

668
00:25:17,090 --> 00:25:20,290
want just one digital file for the Christmas card is to

669
00:25:20,290 --> 00:25:22,870
not sell single prints or digital files.

670
00:25:22,870 --> 00:25:23,470
Of course,

671
00:25:23,470 --> 00:25:26,200
if somebody comes in and they purchase a wall piece and

672
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,300
an album and they just want to print for their desk,

673
00:25:28,390 --> 00:25:28,710
you know what,

674
00:25:28,710 --> 00:25:29,950
I'm going to sell them a single print.

675
00:25:29,950 --> 00:25:30,580
That's fine,

676
00:25:30,610 --> 00:25:32,950
but I don't need to put in my product guide in

677
00:25:32,950 --> 00:25:34,930
my conversations with inquiries,

678
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:36,880
letting them know that I sell a single print.

679
00:25:36,910 --> 00:25:40,300
I can sell those in a minimum package of five,

680
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:43,990
which takes my cost of those up to at least $500,

681
00:25:43,990 --> 00:25:46,630
which for me is the minimum amount I need to make

682
00:25:46,630 --> 00:25:48,460
on a shoot to not lose money.

683
00:25:48,490 --> 00:25:49,060
You guys,

684
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:51,430
that's not even to not make money.

685
00:25:51,580 --> 00:25:54,220
That is to not lose money for the time that I

686
00:25:54,220 --> 00:25:55,000
have spent.

687
00:25:55,210 --> 00:25:56,620
And really at $500,

688
00:25:56,620 --> 00:25:58,270
I probably am still losing some money.

689
00:25:58,330 --> 00:26:00,550
It really needs to be at least a thousand dollars than

690
00:26:00,550 --> 00:26:02,950
I make on a shoot in order for it to be

691
00:26:02,980 --> 00:26:04,810
at all reasonably profitable.

692
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,740
So that is one way to protect yourself from that print

693
00:26:08,770 --> 00:26:10,210
digital file pricing,

694
00:26:10,270 --> 00:26:11,740
because prince,

695
00:26:11,770 --> 00:26:14,200
you can only increase and digital files.

696
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:17,530
You can only increase so much because there is that market

697
00:26:17,530 --> 00:26:19,060
pressure. Like those bananas,

698
00:26:19,150 --> 00:26:21,160
a little bit of a commodity people kind of know what

699
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:22,960
they might feel like they should cost.

700
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,200
So that is just something to consider.

701
00:26:26,260 --> 00:26:27,460
And then digital files,

702
00:26:27,790 --> 00:26:28,690
oh, digital files,

703
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:29,440
digital files.

704
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:30,550
People are always asking,

705
00:26:30,550 --> 00:26:31,690
what should my price be?

706
00:26:32,140 --> 00:26:36,550
And the real answer is whatever your price needs to be

707
00:26:36,550 --> 00:26:37,930
to encourage your clients,

708
00:26:37,930 --> 00:26:39,730
to do whatever you wanted to do,

709
00:26:39,730 --> 00:26:41,440
to get them to that target session,

710
00:26:41,470 --> 00:26:42,850
average and purchase the products you,

711
00:26:43,860 --> 00:26:44,760
there really,

712
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:46,140
isn't a formula here,

713
00:26:46,140 --> 00:26:49,380
pricing your digital files is really an art form.

714
00:26:49,650 --> 00:26:50,850
And, you know,

715
00:26:50,850 --> 00:26:51,840
for instance,

716
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,780
for my way that I like to price,

717
00:26:54,810 --> 00:26:55,890
which is okay,

718
00:26:55,890 --> 00:26:56,880
let's buy that wall art.

719
00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,860
And then you get like a bonus schedule by the wall

720
00:26:58,860 --> 00:27:00,660
piece and you save on digital files.

721
00:27:00,690 --> 00:27:01,860
Okay. I'll figure out.

722
00:27:01,890 --> 00:27:05,070
Most people get a 16 by 24 to a 20 by

723
00:27:05,070 --> 00:27:08,100
30 wall piece is kind of the average prices.

724
00:27:08,100 --> 00:27:13,320
So maybe that costs like 7 95 to 9 95 on

725
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:14,340
those two sides.

726
00:27:14,340 --> 00:27:16,890
And I want to make $2,000

727
00:27:16,890 --> 00:27:18,270
on a sale.

728
00:27:18,270 --> 00:27:20,340
I'm somewhere 1500,

729
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:25,110
2000. So I need to then have that digital file add

730
00:27:25,110 --> 00:27:28,170
on be at least a thousand dollars.

731
00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,780
So then I can look at okay to add on digital

732
00:27:30,780 --> 00:27:31,530
files for a thousand.

733
00:27:31,530 --> 00:27:32,640
Is that the whole session?

734
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:33,060
Is it 10?

735
00:27:33,060 --> 00:27:33,900
Is it 20?

736
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:35,070
You can make that up.

737
00:27:35,100 --> 00:27:37,230
You can figure out what it is that makes sense for

738
00:27:37,230 --> 00:27:39,510
your workflow and how you work and how much time you

739
00:27:39,510 --> 00:27:42,210
have and how many images you usually create a session and

740
00:27:42,210 --> 00:27:43,650
then double it.

741
00:27:43,650 --> 00:27:46,170
And there's your retail price for your digital files?

742
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,830
So my retail price for digital files would be $2,000.

743
00:27:49,890 --> 00:27:52,860
But if they purchase a 16 by 24 or larger wall

744
00:27:52,860 --> 00:27:55,230
piece, that starts at 7 95,

745
00:27:55,230 --> 00:27:58,380
they can get the digital files for half off.

746
00:27:58,470 --> 00:27:59,580
So you can do the math.

747
00:27:59,580 --> 00:28:02,790
That's actually less expensive than if they purchased the digital files

748
00:28:02,790 --> 00:28:03,570
on their own.

749
00:28:03,570 --> 00:28:05,100
Why on earth would I do that?

750
00:28:05,100 --> 00:28:09,720
I do that because it feels my soul to give them

751
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,200
this beautiful piece of art that they are going to love

752
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:13,980
forever and ever,

753
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,710
and they still get those digital files.

754
00:28:16,710 --> 00:28:21,330
It kind of moves them into a value seeking because instead

755
00:28:21,330 --> 00:28:21,870
of like man,

756
00:28:21,870 --> 00:28:23,700
$2,000 for those digital files,

757
00:28:23,730 --> 00:28:24,000
it's like,

758
00:28:24,030 --> 00:28:26,340
oh, well I can get this beautiful piece of art.

759
00:28:26,340 --> 00:28:28,260
And then look at what I'm saving.

760
00:28:28,470 --> 00:28:30,090
They become a value seeker.

761
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,330
So this is what I mean with the art of pricing.

762
00:28:33,450 --> 00:28:36,270
So to go over high level again,

763
00:28:36,270 --> 00:28:38,520
how we price those individual products,

764
00:28:38,610 --> 00:28:41,730
it is wall art times four albums,

765
00:28:41,730 --> 00:28:46,290
times 10 prints only collections of five,

766
00:28:46,410 --> 00:28:49,170
gosh, at least for like three $5,400

767
00:28:49,230 --> 00:28:52,590
and then digital files or making those up based on what

768
00:28:52,590 --> 00:28:54,360
our target session average is.

769
00:28:54,390 --> 00:28:59,010
So to recap this whole podcast today of how to start

770
00:28:59,010 --> 00:29:00,150
to look at your pricing,

771
00:29:00,180 --> 00:29:00,960
number one,

772
00:29:01,230 --> 00:29:02,640
we want to figure out our target session,

773
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:03,960
average, number two,

774
00:29:04,140 --> 00:29:07,650
we want to figure out what products we want to sell.

775
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:08,310
Number three,

776
00:29:08,310 --> 00:29:10,170
we want to price those products.

777
00:29:10,170 --> 00:29:11,280
And then number four,

778
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,280
we jump into the art of pricing in which we start

779
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:18,660
to look at the different ways that we can encourage people

780
00:29:18,660 --> 00:29:22,590
to get up to our target session average with encouraging them

781
00:29:22,590 --> 00:29:25,140
to purchase what we want them to purchase and giving them

782
00:29:25,140 --> 00:29:26,850
what they want as well.

783
00:29:26,850 --> 00:29:30,480
So that is where that art of pricing comes into play.

784
00:29:30,540 --> 00:29:32,580
Now, if you guys are like,

785
00:29:32,610 --> 00:29:33,150
oh my gosh,

786
00:29:33,180 --> 00:29:34,230
totally overwhelmed.

787
00:29:34,260 --> 00:29:34,800
Don't worry.

788
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:35,280
Don't forget.

789
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:36,660
I have that free pricing,

790
00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:40,530
training and hair of the dog academy.com/pricing,

791
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:41,320
jump on over,

792
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,570
feel free to join us lately free.

793
00:29:43,930 --> 00:29:46,900
And I also wanted to mention something else.

794
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,260
And these are the questions that determine if you need to

795
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:51,340
update your pricing.

796
00:29:51,370 --> 00:29:55,570
So you might be like me possible CPA one day,

797
00:29:55,570 --> 00:29:58,210
maybe in another universe nerd that loves spreadsheets,

798
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,900
loves numbers and playing with pricing is like one of my

799
00:30:01,900 --> 00:30:03,700
most favorite things to do in my business.

800
00:30:03,730 --> 00:30:05,200
So I get,

801
00:30:05,260 --> 00:30:05,620
I don't know.

802
00:30:05,620 --> 00:30:07,180
I want to change my pricing a lot.

803
00:30:07,210 --> 00:30:09,730
I get inspired to like test out different things when I

804
00:30:09,730 --> 00:30:12,580
see different ways of pricing or get some ideas.

805
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:14,320
And I just love to do that,

806
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,130
but not always the best business decision to be changing your

807
00:30:18,130 --> 00:30:19,150
pricing all the time.

808
00:30:19,150 --> 00:30:20,740
So if you are tempted,

809
00:30:20,740 --> 00:30:21,460
like I am,

810
00:30:21,460 --> 00:30:24,310
I have a couple questions for you to ask yourself to

811
00:30:24,310 --> 00:30:26,350
determine if you need to update your pricing.

812
00:30:26,530 --> 00:30:27,310
Number one,

813
00:30:27,370 --> 00:30:29,080
are you hitting your target session?

814
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:30,460
Average regularly?

815
00:30:30,490 --> 00:30:32,170
You won't hit it every single session,

816
00:30:32,170 --> 00:30:33,580
but has an average,

817
00:30:33,610 --> 00:30:35,380
are you hitting that target session?

818
00:30:35,380 --> 00:30:36,970
Average, number two,

819
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,910
are you selling what you want to be selling?

820
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,290
And then number three are your cost of goods sold averaging

821
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:45,610
under 25%.

822
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:46,810
It's okay if one sessions,

823
00:30:46,810 --> 00:30:49,150
30% and one sessions 20%,

824
00:30:49,420 --> 00:30:51,880
because that means you're averaging 25%.

825
00:30:51,910 --> 00:30:55,270
So make sure that your cost of goods sold are averaging

826
00:30:55,300 --> 00:30:57,340
under 25% per session.

827
00:30:57,460 --> 00:31:00,190
So if you can say yes to those three questions,

828
00:31:00,220 --> 00:31:01,600
your pricing is fine.

829
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,180
There is no need to go blow up your pricing and

830
00:31:04,180 --> 00:31:04,780
start again.

831
00:31:04,990 --> 00:31:07,120
And if you're getting started with your pricing,

832
00:31:07,180 --> 00:31:09,460
ask yourself these questions periodically,

833
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,920
have a client or two check in with those questions,

834
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:12,640
have another client,

835
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,110
or to check in with those questions.

836
00:31:14,110 --> 00:31:16,510
And then it is going to tell you if you need

837
00:31:16,510 --> 00:31:20,110
to adjust anything simply by asking these three questions.

838
00:31:20,110 --> 00:31:20,710
Number one,

839
00:31:20,740 --> 00:31:23,440
are you hitting that target session average regularly?

840
00:31:23,500 --> 00:31:24,070
Number two,

841
00:31:24,070 --> 00:31:26,080
are you selling what you want to be selling?

842
00:31:26,470 --> 00:31:29,980
And number three are your cost of goods coming in below

843
00:31:29,980 --> 00:31:36,040
25%. So that is my high-level cliff notes version of pricing,

844
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,760
man. I love some pricing.

845
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,770
Thanks so much for joining me again.

846
00:31:41,770 --> 00:31:44,230
Don't forget to jump back to episode number 79.

847
00:31:44,230 --> 00:31:46,420
If you want to listen to the series from the beginning

848
00:31:46,510 --> 00:31:48,190
and the next two weeks,

849
00:31:48,190 --> 00:31:52,630
we have workflow coming up next week and then pillar six

850
00:31:52,660 --> 00:31:53,920
is marketing.

851
00:31:53,980 --> 00:31:55,090
So stay tuned.

852
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,000
I can't wait to talk to you about those two pillars

853
00:31:58,000 --> 00:31:58,600
as well,

854
00:31:58,690 --> 00:31:59,920
have a great week everybody.

855
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:00,910
And I'll talk to you soon.

856
00:32:02,130 --> 00:32:03,900
You enjoy this podcast episode,

857
00:32:03,900 --> 00:32:07,290
go ahead and take a screenshot of this episode on your

858
00:32:07,290 --> 00:32:10,560
phone and post it up there on your Instagram stories and

859
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,070
be sure to tag us at hair of the dog academy.

860
00:32:14,190 --> 00:32:17,730
And we would just love to see how you're listening and

861
00:32:17,730 --> 00:32:18,870
a full disclosure.

862
00:32:18,990 --> 00:32:22,410
Sometimes we just like to give away a little pet photographer,

863
00:32:22,410 --> 00:32:26,250
swag in the form of hair of the dog t-shirts and

864
00:32:26,250 --> 00:32:28,830
sweatshirts. So what are you waiting for?

865
00:32:28,890 --> 00:32:31,980
Go ahead and share that screenshot of this episode.

866
00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:34,100
And don't forget to tag us at hair,

867
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:34,920
the dog academy.

868
00:32:35,130 --> 00:32:36,150
And while you're there,

869
00:32:36,210 --> 00:32:38,460
maybe you want to jump on over to our account and

870
00:32:38,460 --> 00:32:40,490
see what we're up to on the gram.

871
00:32:40,550 --> 00:32:42,140
We'd love to connect with you.

872
00:32:43,100 --> 00:32:45,380
Thanks for listening to the hair of the dog podcast.

873
00:32:45,380 --> 00:32:47,450
If you want to check out the show notes for access

874
00:32:47,450 --> 00:32:49,670
to any of the links that we shared in this episode,

875
00:32:49,940 --> 00:32:52,250
as well as any additional related resources,

876
00:32:52,370 --> 00:32:56,990
simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/

877
00:32:57,020 --> 00:32:58,760
85. Once again,

878
00:32:58,820 --> 00:33:00,850
that's www.hair.

879
00:33:00,870 --> 00:33:02,930
The dog academy.com/the

880
00:33:02,930 --> 00:33:04,490
number eight and the number five.

881
00:33:05,710 --> 00:33:08,680
Thanks for listening to this episode of hair of the dog

882
00:33:08,710 --> 00:33:11,080
podcast. If you enjoyed this show,

883
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:12,910
please take a minute to leave a review.

884
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:13,990
And while you're there,

885
00:33:14,140 --> 00:33:15,490
don't forget to subscribe.

886
00:33:15,550 --> 00:33:17,800
So you don't miss our upcoming episodes.

887
00:33:18,310 --> 00:33:19,000
One last thing,

888
00:33:19,420 --> 00:33:22,090
if you are ready to dive into more resources,

889
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:27,760
head over to our website@wwwdothairofthedogacademy.com.

890
00:33:28,090 --> 00:33:31,300
Thanks for being a part of this pet photography community.