In Person Sales vs Online Sales

There was a time in my life where I needed the simplest sales model ever for our studio. I chose all inclusive sessions and online sales, a form of shoot and burn, but I still was never a “here’s your digital files” kinda girl. I’ve always been passionate about selling prints to clients, but this was simple and easy for this phase of my life.

Online proofing and online sales worked fine for a while for my senior photography businesses, but I knew I was giving up income. When life settled back down I went straight back to In Person Sales (IPS) because I had seen the value and increased income from it before. This was the best decision ever for my session session sales!

As a photographer who has gone both routes, I can definitely say that there are HUGE benefits to In Person Sales, and I will never go back to selling only through online galleries for senior portraits.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of each method.

Online Galleries / Shoot and Burn Method:

Pros:

• It’s simple and easy (if you set it up well and get your money up front)

• Nice for introverts

Cons:

• Sales are capped because there is no opportunity to up-sell

• Clients can take FOREVER to get back with decisions

• Images are copied or stolen, sometimes printed or posted online with “proof” watermark, damaging your brand

• Full editing is necessary before galleries are released

• Client reactions to their beautiful images are never seen

• Quickest way to burn out

I could go on and on. There are just too many to list.

In Person Sales Method:

Pros:

• Full control of the sale

• It’s easy to up-sell

• Immediate feedback from clients

• You can help your clients decide which images will work best for them - for their wall galleries, albums, graduation announcements, etc.

• The sale is finalized that day, no more decision making

• Only minor editing is needed for the image reveal, final edits are on purchased images only

Cons:

• It can take some time to get comfortable running the sales appointment

• It does take another appointment for both you and your client

• There is a learning curve for overcoming sales objections

The Value of In Person Sales

You may not realize it yet, but there is so much value in offering this service to your clients. There is a huge difference in a client clicking an email to open a gallery on their tiny laptop versus sitting back to watch a beautiful slideshow unfold to soft music in front of them on a big screen. These are completely different experiences which can lead to completely different sales.

Your client will be overwhelmed and know nothing else to do with the images in her gallery other than to share them on facebook or instagram. Guiding her through the session premiere will help her envision all the possibilities and combinations of that artwork up on her walls.

In the Session Premiere you can compare the images side by side, help her decide which ones will look best together, what size will be perfect for her piece in the foyer and so many other things. This takes such a weight off of her shoulders because she trusts your expertise to help her make the right decisions for her family.

This is truly an invaluable service for your clients. If you want to give your clients a premium experience then choosing In Person Sales is the way to go. And because of this luxury service you can charge a well deserved premium price for your time and expertise.

Let’s Talk Real Numbers

Even when I had all inclusive senior sessions I wasn’t a “cheapo” mom with a camera. I had 3 collections way back then: $900, $1200 & $1500. Clients usually bought the middle and top collections. But I was stuck. Nobody ever spent any more than $1500.

Now with In Person Sales our senior collections start at $1250. Last year our senior average was $4250, and some of our top sales hit 7k. Not too shabby, right? Do I feel like I was tricking our clients? Selling them something they didn’t want? Absolutely not!! With IPS we can actually talk through what our clients want for their home. Our clients hire us (and I’m talking about ALL OF US) for our artistic vision. They trust us to create something beautiful that they can display in their homes and hand down to their children one day. If we just load their images to an online gallery we are doing them a complete disservice. We need to see them through to the very end of the senior portrait process, until those canvases are hanging on their walls.

If you are struggling with finding the confidence to charge what you are worth, do yourself a huge favor and read Worth Every Penny by Sarah Petty. It’s a game changer for every photographer out there.

Do you need help with pricing? Start Here With This Free Worksheet.

How To Transition From Online Sales To The Session Premiere - at your studio or in their home

The Session Premiere (Image Reveal, Ordering Appointment, whatever you choose to call it) is my 2nd most favorite day of the senior portrait process. It’s exciting to see our clients’ reactions to their images as they relive the session day and think about how much their baby has grown up. With online galleries all of that emotion is lost and rarely seen or even talked about.

When booking new clients this will be easy. You just explain to them the ordering process. For transitioning previous clients to your new method, it may be a bit of a challenge. But don’t worry. You got this! Talk to them about how much you’ve learned over the years and how you constantly want to improve and enhance their experience with your business. This is a new premium service you will now be providing for your clients. You may need to stand your ground with some clients, but it’s doable. Just let them know that this is the new direction you are going with your company. Remember, it’s your company. Not theirs ;)

Tools You Will Need For In Person Sales

You’ll need to get set up correctly to host your Senior Session Premieres. There are several options, and you can always upgrade software and equipment along the way. Here are a few things you might want to look into though.

Display Options: Some senior photographers like to display their images on a big screen tv in their studio. That’s what we do. Some like to go with an ipad that their client can hold. If you are going to your client’s home I would suggest a projector and portable screen that’s easy to set up because you never really know what sort of tv or connections they will have at their home.

Software For Sorting Images: I’ve used several software options over the years. A lot of photographers use ProSelect. I did for years and years until I finally switched to Fundy because I like the functionality a bit better. We design our albums with it as well. Lightroom or Adobe Bridge are also good options to use especially if you are just starting out.

After The Sale: A great hybrid approach would be to use ShootProof. Yes, it is for hosting online galleries. But it can be used for choosing favorites in the Session Premiere as well. We use ShootProof after the sale if our clients have purchased digital files. I wrote about all the reasons we use ShootProof here in this blog post, but in a nutshell . . . clients can order additional prints straight from our lab, from prices we set, have their orders shipped straight to their door and ShootProof never takes a cut of the sale. Oh, we also design our senior mobile apps through ShootProof too. I love this company!

Lastly, you are going to need a beautiful pricing menu. And of course, samples. You can’t sell what you don’t show. So, if you want to sell large wall portraits, be sure you have them! Most labs will have special sample pricing. Take advantage of it. Clients will want to hold and touch the products before they purchase them. This is not the place to go cheap!

I sure hope I’ve convinced you to give up the exhausting and sale stifling shoot and burn business model and switch to the premium service of In Person Sales. If you have any questions or need a little mentoring here please let me know. I’m happy to help :)

Want to learn my in person sales process for my senior photography sessions?

*** DON’T MISS THIS! ***

If you need somebody to come along beside you and help you do business the right way so that you can bring home a paycheck, spend more time with your family and save for retirement then you need Studio Secrets.  

The doors open November 4th for something very special for a handful of photographers who are ready to get laser focused on their businesses.  

Studio Secrets is a 6 month business coaching intensive where we dive deep into your business together.  It’s not a DIY course on one or two topics.  This is EVERYTHING you could ever need to know (and all the tools & resources) to run a senior photography business - branding, messaging, websites, pricing, sales, marketing, social media, senior model teams, systems, workflow, automation and SO MUCH MORE!  And bonus - you get me to lead you through it in our hot seal calls and a private community to bounce ideas around with.

If you’re ready to turn your expensive hobby into a thriving business be sure you are on the wait list.

Plus you save $500 on launch day - November 4th.  Woohoo!  I can’t wait to work with you! 

Related Posts:

Senior Guy Portraits: A Lost Revenue Stream

I was scrolling facebook because umm, facebook . . . And I ran across a conversation between a few senior photographers about photographing senior guys. There were different opinions on the topic, of course. But to sum it up, none of them ever counted on getting senior guys into their studios to photograph.

I was speechless. Thank goodness! I’m glad I didn’t comment because usually the first thing I think of is never the first thing that should come out of my mouth!!

But it got me wondering . . . why are we so afraid to photograph guys?

Why are so many senior photography business models built around girls only? I just don’t get it! Sure guys aren’t as excited as girls are about senior portraits, but their mamas sure are! They’ve been waiting 17 years for these portraits too. They’ve raised wonderful young men and want to celebrate them.

As a mom of boys I want senior portraits of my son just like any other mom would!

Guys are generally not going to ask their moms for senior pictures. So there needs to be a mindset shift when it comes to marketing. You have to market mostly to their moms, but you gotta show to the guys that it will be worth their time and not be lame!

So how do we do that?

Figure out who he is. What is he all about? You’ll do this mostly through having conversations with mom. Is he quiet and reserved? Is he the life of the party? What lights him up?

Photograph his car, truck, passion, his dog . . . but do it in a way that fits his personality. Don’t try to make him into something he’s not just for a cool shot. If you can get him comfortable you will get some killer images.

Do not pose him in a feminine way. A guy should look strong and not at all posed like a girl. Study posing if you’ve never photographed a guy. Here’s a great posing book by Lindsey Adler. She is the queen of posing and lighting!

Guys love to lean on things. They should look natural and not forced into a pose. It just doesn’t work and any awkwardness he feels will come through in his images.

Create classic and timeless images for him, not something gimmicky that he will be embarrassed by later.

Most guys will give you a serious look all day long, but if you can get a genuine smile, or better yet, a laugh, you will melt his mom’s heart. At the end of the day that’s all she wants really . . . natural expressions that she sees every day from her boy.

So, don’t be afraid to start marketing guy senior images. The moms are out there waiting for you to show up in your area! Be an expert when it comes to photographing guys. I’m shocked at the phone calls we get from moms who call me saying that there aren’t any other photographers around that even have images of guys on their websites. Wow! Just wow! Hey, I’ll gladly take those sessions though ;)

What’s it gonna be? Will you start photographing guys this year? Offer friends who have a teenage son you are comfortable with a small session to practice posing. Build a portfolio, get to work and add to your bottom line with this new offering at your studio!!

Ready to get your senior photography business profitable?

*** DON’T MISS THIS! ***

If you need somebody to come along beside you and help you do business the right way so that you can bring home a paycheck, spend more time with your family and save for retirement then you need Studio Secrets.  

The doors open November 4th for something very special for a handful of photographers who are ready to get laser focused on their businesses.  

Studio Secrets is a 6 month business coaching intensive where we dive deep into your business together.  It’s not a DIY course on one or two topics.  This is EVERYTHING you could ever need to know (and all the tools & resources) to run a senior photography business - branding, messaging, websites, pricing, sales, marketing, social media, senior model teams, systems, workflow, automation and SO MUCH MORE!  And bonus - you get me to lead you through it in our hot seal calls and a private community to bounce ideas around with.

If you’re ready to turn your expensive hobby into a thriving business be sure you are on the wait list.

Plus you save $500 on launch day - November 4th.  Woohoo!  I can’t wait to work with you! 

Related Posts:

Should I Offer Discounted Photography Sessions To Build My Portfolio?

Portfolio building can be tough.

When you are first starting out as an amateur photographer you will photograph anyone who will let you and most likely for free! I see no problem with that at all. You are just learning manual mode on your camera, you really have no idea what or how to get a proper exposure and you’re missing focus left and right! And guess what?! So did I! We all have to start somewhere. As my assistant always says . . . “everybody has a day one.”

Should you charge for portfolio building?

This is a tricky question. Depending on how much practice you are getting I would give it a full year before ever charging anyone. You need to hone the craft and perfect your style before you ever think about designing a logo or building a website. A service should be paid for when it’s worth being paid for, and I hope you don’t take offense to the next thing I’m about to say (I’m a straight shooter). But in the beginning you don’t know what is good and what isn’t just yet. I sure didn’t! When I look back at images I thought were amazing way back then I just cringe. Haha!

But when can I start charging for my work and how?

The first part of this question can only be answered by you. The second part I can help you with a little more here in this blog post. Before you can charge you have to know your costs. That’s a lengthy discussion that I will save for another time. But just know that selling digital files doesn’t mean there are no hard costs.

Here are some things to consider:

• Your time

• Print costs

• Marketing costs

• Studio rental

• Equipment wear & tear

• Editing time

• Childcare

• Liability insurance

• Taxes

• Internet & phone

• Mileage & travel time

• So much more

Let’s get back to the main question . . . should you offer discounted photography sessions to build your portfolio?

My thoughts on this one is yes, but only for a limited time. And that needs to be very clear to your potential clients. There are several ways to go about this. You will more than likely adjust your pricing as you go along. I did several times! Once you run a profit and loss statement and are hit with more loss than profit when you thought you were doing so well, you really start to pay attention to real numbers. From the beginning you need to run this business like a business, not a hobby!

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when portfolio building:

• Pricing yourself too low and trying to charge more to the same clients later. They will drop you like a bad habit!

• Not collecting a session fee. Hello no shows!

• Collecting too small a session fee. They never come back to order!

• Placing images online with a very small or no watermark at all. You’ll see those later on Facebook with absolutely no credit to you. Ugh.

Wanna know how I know all of that? I’ve made every one of those mistakes first hand. And I want to keep you from doing the same thing!

How To Discount Your Portfolio Building Sessions The Right Way:

Charge a session fee and get it up front. Make sure it is large enough to cover your time to drive back & forth to the session, cull down & edit the images, your time for the in person ordering appointment or online hosting for the gallery & the time you spend on the phone & email planning the session. So yeah, $25 isn’t going to cut it here. Ok? :)

Make sure your pricing is set to where you want it to be in the future. It should scare you and make you pretty uncomfortable. But don’t apologize for it. Own it!

You have 2 options at this point:

1. Let your clients know up front that this session is meant to help build your portfolio so you will be offering them a discount of 30 - 50% (you decide) at the ordering session or give them a coupon code to use for their online order. Most hosting platforms offer this option. I know that ShootProof does. They are my all time favorite for hosting galleries. The big thing to emphasize is that this is a limited time opportunity and pricing won’t be like this forever. Set expectations up front for when they come back ;)

2. Give them a gift certificate for a few hundred dollars (but please make sure your pricing is high enough to handle this option). I personally like this option the best, especially if you have packages or collections. These will bump the purchase up a bit because it tells them what they need and what “most people” purchase.

I sure hope that helped answer the question we have all asked when starting our photography businesses. Whatever you do, please do not release images without payment in full and do not even edit images with some sort of partial payment towards their purchase. That’s a topic for another day! See you soon friends :)

Related Posts:

Should I niche down in my photography business?

This decision to niche down in your photography business can be such a tough one, right? I’ve been there. You need the money to keep things afloat, but you don’t want to do work you don’t love. It’s quite a dilemma.

But here’s the thing . . . you can’t be great at all things.

The best restaurants are the ones who specialize in a certain cuisine. Why? Because they make the same type of foods and use the same ingredients day in and day out. The chefs know what their customers want and expect. They have honed their craft and are specialists in their field. Those are hands down the best places to eat!

The same goes for photographers. Yes. We need to niche down. Whether that means weddings, newborns, family photography or custom high school senior portraits. Find your passion and go with it.

Be the specialist in your area, not the jack of all trades.

This is the best decision I ever made way back in 2009. I made the switch to only photograph high school seniors. Our studio quickly became known as the senior studio in town and I was finally happy doing what I loved. Don’t be afraid to make the switch. I don’t regret it at all! My happiness and profits increased dramatically :)

At the end of the day, does it really matter?

I think a big fat YES is in store here! Wouldn’t you rather be serving your ideal client running a profitable business you love instead of just doing sessions because you need the money to pay rent? Think about it. You started this photography business to make money doing what you love and to provide for your family while fulfilling your dreams. Right? So, yes. It matters. For your sanity, for your peace of mind, for your bottom line, for you.

5 Steps To Niche Down and Specialize In Your Photography Business:

1. Go through your galleries. Which images move you the most? Which ones light you on fire?

2. Think about your sessions and past clients. Which ones are your favorites? List reasons why.

3. Once you have it narrowed down to where you want to be in the photography industry, start researching your area. Is there anyone else doing what you want to do? Are your styles similar? Know your direct competition, but don’t obsess over them.

4. If you don’t quite have enough image samples in your portfolio it’s time to start adding to it. This might mean a few discounted sessions, gift certificates or trades with a hair and makeup artist in the area. Perfect your craft with this segment of the market while beefing up your galleries. You have to show what you want to sell.

5. Once you have your galleries where you want them it’s time to own your new speciality! Market like crazy. Not in a cheesy used car salesman type way. But fill your social media feeds with what you want and love to do. The clients will come. You just have to show them why. You are now the best at what you do in your area ;)

What’s your passion? Have I convinced you to go for it? I sure hope so. It’s so worth it friends. Let’s keep in touch. Let me know how it’s going, and if you have any questions about niching down in your photography business. I’m happy to help!

Related Posts:

Why It Doesn't Bother Me To NOT Get The Job

It really used to frustrate me when I didn’t get hired, didn’t book the session, didn’t get the job. I use to make my case over the phone when a potential client called. I would try to tell them the difference between me and the shoot and burn photographer or the school’s contract photographer. I used to get angry when they just couldn’t see the value in the product and service I offered.

And then something clicked. The ones who didn’t need convincing, the ones who were ready to book because they had already fallen in love with what we do . . . they were my dream clients. And the ones who I just happened to be able to convince to book a session anyway . . . well, we ended up not being a good match after all. After this happened a few times and I saw a pattern develop, I changed the way I did business.

I stopped getting angry. And I stopped getting hurt.

I stopped running my business out of fear.

And I started running it with confidence that I was worth what I charged for my services and time away from my family.

If they said I was too expensive I understood and wished them the best. And I meant it! I stopped trying to convince EVERYONE that I was the photographer for them. Porsche doesn’t do that. Tiffany’s doesn’t either. They just served their clients and that’s what I set out to do.

I started serving my clients better. I made sure there wasn’t a question left unanswered and that they felt like they were the only ones who mattered on their session day. I served the ones who valued great work full of expression and light in their daughter’s eyes, work that they would proudly hang on living room walls and cherish because I captured their kid EXACTLY how they wanted to remember this stage of life. I served the clients who valued relationships and memories more than nice cars and handbags.

I figured out who MY CLIENT was and I loved on them like they were friends from the start.

When a potential customer calls and I get that feeling down deep in my gut (you know the one) that this isn’t going to work out I still care for them and we always have great conversation. I love these phone calls, because I’ve been in their shoes. I’ve lived through senior year with my oldest. And I’ll have to do it two more times! Ugh, my heart. We are all just trying to do this life thing together, and senior year is tough on any parent - physically, financially and definitely emotionally!! No matter what their budget is, they still deserve and get respect from our studio.

Remember the movie Pretty Woman when she went into the fancy dress shop on Rodeo Drive for the first time? Yeah. That’s not happening here! Just sayin.

I’m telling you all of this because I want you to know that it is ok to not be hired or to be called too expensive. We cannot serve everyone, and that’s ok too. Because if we did we wouldn’t have time for our own families. And if that starts happening, it’s time to raise your prices. Supply and demand baby.

So the next time you don’t book the session because you are out of someone’s budget, look at it as a blessing. And serve the ones who have hired you like they are your most cherished friends.

The right ones will always come along.

How To Replace Your Full Time Salary With Your Side Hustle

Running a business is hard to do.  Keeping it profitable is even harder.   

As creatives a lot of us have a hard time charging what we are truly worth for our products and services.

We forget to calculate one major thing into our equation.  And usually that one thing is the actual TIME it takes to get from inquiry to delivered goods.

We pour our hearts and souls into the work we create, right?  And while we love it, the bills don’t pay themselves.

So my goal is to get you to a place of profit in your business, a place where you are getting paid what you are worth for the amount of time that you spend on your clients and away from your kiddos.

Here’s a few things you need to sit down and figure out for yourself:

1. How much do you want to bring home?

2. How much do you need to contribute to your household?

3. How many clients or projects can you physically take on each month?

4. What does your average sale need to be? What is it now?

5. How much does it cost to deliver a finished product or service to your client?

6. How much does it cost to run your business month to month?

When you can answer these questions we can get closer to knowing how much you should charge for your creative products and services.  

Let’s get started! 

Step 1  |  How much do you want to bring home?

Before you can figure out how much you want to bring home, you need to know your household expenses each month.  You may already know this, but if not, you have a little more homework to do.  Once you know your monthly household expenses, decide how much you personally need to contribute towards those expenses.  Don’t forget savings! 

Let me go ahead and say it, you deserve a salary!  I went way too many years without one.  I basically had an expensive hobby.  I was not running a business.  Please don’t let this be you.  There are bills to pay and you want to retire one day, right?

Household Expenses:  _______________ (yearly)     _______________ (monthly)

How much do you need to contribute toward those expenses?  ______________

Let’s say you want to make $50k a year to contribute to your family.  That’s great!  But first, there are taxes and business expenses we need to talk about.  

Your sales do not equal cash in the bank money.

For the sake of plugging easy numbers, we will say your taxes are around 25% and your expenses are probably another 25%.  

Do you know what that means?  

That means you need to have revenue (sales) of 100k to bring home the 50k that you want.  Ouch!  That’s a little higher than you thought, huh?  And probably seems a lot tougher to bring in.  Let’s keep going and figure it out, ok?

Step 2  |  How many clients or projects can you take on each month?

We are all in different places in our lives.  Some of us have to make this side hustle work so that we can contribute to our families.  Some of us have spouses with adequate income and our side hustle is just for us.  Maybe your family isn’t dependent on it.  Even still, you don’t do this just for fun, do you?  If you do, it won’t be fun for long.

Maybe you have a newborn. That’s a tough time to start or run a business.  Maybe you have 3 kids elementary school age and younger.  Maybe you are taking care of your elderly parents.

I say all of this because I don’t want you to beat yourself up about what one person is doing versus what you can do right now.  There are so many different seasons of life.  Enjoy the one you are in to the fullest.  

Ok?  So now that we have that out of the way . . .

How much time do you really have to devote to your business each day / week / month?  Can you handle a 40 hour work week?  Or is it more like 20?  _________________

How many clients do you want to take on each month?  ________________

And how many hours does it take you to bring a client from inquiry to delivered product / service?  Be honest when you answer this one please!  _________________

If it takes you 10 hours per client and you can only work 20 - 30 hours a week, you can only take on 2 clients.  This is going to help you know how much you need to make per client.
 

Step 3  |  What does your average sale need to be?

 Every business is different.  I get that.  

Maybe you are a photographer and this number will be based on sessions.  Maybe you are a graphic designer and your sales goal will be per design client.  Maybe you’re a coach or even a seller on etsy and this number is what you need to sell your widgets for.  

This will work with any business.  But we need to know what your average sale is.  If you don’t know this number plug in what you would like to be making.  If you do know, be sure to be honest.

Remember that 100k that you needed in sales to bring home 50k?

What was your number of clients that you can take on each year?  Maybe 50?  That’s one client per week.  Is that doable?

100k / 50 clients = 2000 average sale needed

100k / 200 courses = 500 average sale needed

100k / 5000 widgets = 20 average sale needed

Play around with these numbers.  Maybe you could take on more clients so that your sale doesn’t need to be so high.  Or maybe you could get your sale higher and take on less clients.  That’s always the direction I want to go.

Step 4  |  What are your average COGS?

Please forgive me if I am talking down to you.  I am not trying to!  But COGS is Cost of Goods Sold.  Basically, how much does it actually cost you to deliver the goods or services?

You will never know if you are profitable if you don’t know how much your business is costing you!  I can’t say it enough.

Again this is different for every industry, but I like to keep mine (at our photography studio) below 15% of sales.

This would include my lab printing costs, physical products, packaging, shipping and outside services like editing and design work.  This is what it costs me to deliver my photography services and final portrait products.  

Knowing these numbers helps me price my individual products offered in the studio.  As long as I keep them under that 15% COGS I should be good to go.
 

Step 5  |  How much does it cost to run your creative business?

Hey real quick here . . . Not having a physical product doesn’t mean you don’t have any costs.  This is such a HUGE misconception and the reason why so many small businesses fail.  And the reason so many work from home creative moms are burnt out and resentful of their clients.  See my post on avoiding burnout here :)

Make a list of ALL of your expenses.  Here are some common ones:

• Bank / credit card fees

• Cell phone

• Client & vendor gifts

• Computer equipment

• Dues & subscriptions

• Forums & professional memberships

• Educational materials

• Insurance

• Marketing / facebook ads / welcome packets

• Office supplies

• Props

• Rent

• Software

• Travel & entertainment

• Utilities

• VA / assistant

• Website / hosting

Once you have this yearly total, divide it by 12 for a monthly cost of running business.  

You have to cover this number PLUS your salary needs each month!  Along with COGS and putting a little back into the business.

We know how much you need to bring home:  50k

We know how much your sales need to be:  100k

Your taxes around around: 25k

Your expenses are around: 25k (this should include your costs of goods sold)

We know the number of clients you can handle each year:  50 clients  

Step 6  |  So how do you price yourself to get to these numbers?

Let’s talk about 2 common mistakes in pricing yourself for just a minute.

• NOT setting your price based on real numbers, grabbing a price out of thin air.

• Setting prices based off what your competition charges.

• Pricing yourself based solely on your experience.  Yes, price should reflect your experience (to a point), but your pricing should not devalue the hard work of others in your industry.  

You need to bring home 50k.  Your AVERAGE sale needs to be 2000k.  Some will be higher.  Some will be lower.  But you definitely want to control the sale with your pricing.  I do this with having minimum orders and with having my collections (packages) start at a number I am happy with.  Now that collection does not have much in it (and it’s basically a la carte pricing) just to move them up to the next highest collection.  This is the one I really want them at.  Anything higher is just gravy :)

But how?

Generally, a good goal to shoot for would be pricing your products so that your product costs 25% of what you sell it for.

If something costs you $100 to make it, you need to price it at $400.  You will multiply by 4 or more to price your products.

How do you price your time?  

Please do not forget this part of the equation!  You are valuable!  Your time is valuable! 

A typical work week is 40 hours.  In a year that comes to 1840 hours.  Now, I gave us 6 weeks of vacation here, because umm, come on.  We are moms running businesses in a not so perfect world full of broken arms, stomach bugs and interrupted nap time schedules.  Right? 

So, 100k / 1840 hours = $54.35 an hour.  That is how much you need to charge per hour to create something.  But that is in the perfect world of every single hour being billable.  We all know that is not true.  It’s more like 50% of those hours you are doing actual client work, so I am going to round some numbers and say your time is worth $100 / hour.  

If something takes you 10 hours to complete and you have $100 costs of good sold in that product (website design / album / wedding / branding service / photo session with digital files) you would charge:

10 hours x $100 / hour = $1000 PLUS $100 COGS = $1100 for your product / service

If you want to determine what your hourly billing rate should be . . .  

. . . decide how many hours you think you will work in a year, and divide that by your yearly revenue goal.  This is a great place to start, especially for heavy service based businesses.

Pricing For Your Sales Goals:

If your goal is a $2000 sale but your most expensive product is $20 you are going to have a difficult time reaching that goal.  Be sure you have a variety of products that will make it easy for a customer to reach that sales goal.  You can do this by bundling several products or services into a collection.

Just be sure your collections are built so that your COGS is still where you need it to be.  If you overload your collections or underprice them, a $2000 sale won’t mean much.

Step 7  |  Income taxes, ugh.

I left this part out intentionally because everyone is in a different circumstance.  

If you file a pretty simple tax return you would need to simply multiply your gross annual income by your tax bracket to figure out your income tax before calculating your net income.

If your tax return is complicated like ours (multiple businesses, dividends, bonuses, etc.) you need to talk to an accountant to make sure you are on the right track with your numbers.

Conclusion

Know your costs girl!  You have got to do some heavy research, soul searching, goal setting and calculating to get your pricing set.  You can do this!  

Take the time to invest in this so you aren’t a burnt out and frazzled mama.  

Know your worth and charge for it!  You (and your family) are worth it!!!

*** DON’T MISS THIS! ***

If you found this blog post helpful, pin the image below and share with your friends on social media!

How Outsourcing Saved My Business and Sanity

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

I was at my wit's end.

You see, I can be pretty darn good at something when I focus on it.  We all can be, right?  When business was going great, the house was a horrible mess.  When the laundry was folded, dishes cleaned and dinner was on the table every night, I wasn't returning client calls quick enough and getting behind on processing orders.  

Panic and stress were getting to be the norm.  

I could rock one side of life.  But not both.  That's when I decided to get some serious help.  And I haven’t looked back since.  

So what sorts of things did I outsource?

For business the first things I outsourced were image editing and email.  

1. Image Editing.  As a photographer this is one of the toughest and most time consuming parts of the business.  I turned over my final editing to a wonderful company called Rebooku.  They have really fast turn around times and do great work!  I also let them do some album design and image extractions for custom sports work when I need it too.  Use this code: RefcM7k47li for 10% off your first order.  You will love them!

2. Email.  Ugh.  I hate it.  I had learned the art of email templates (we'll talk about that soon), but they weren’t getting sent out on time and sometimes not at all.  Yikes!  This does not make for a good client experience.  I knew I needed help to organize and automate my processes.  After lots of research I settled on a studio management system called HoneyBook.  I am head over heels in love with HoneyBook.  It has saved me over and over again because my poor little brain can only retain so much.  The good guys over there are giving my followers 50% off! Woohoo!

3. Help around the office.  Around the same time I did hire a part time assistant to help with client management and to assist on photo sessions. This was a blessing in and of itself.  If you can't afford to hire an assistant consider starting an internship program.  You could contact a local high school or university to easily fill a spot for course credit.

4. Social Media.  A thorn in my side and maybe yours too.  I do love it, but I struggle to find the time every day to write an amazing caption for my next post. Life is crazy, right? And we can’t be creative 100% of the time. Sure I have my client's beautiful images which I am always posting, but I love to post styled artwork too.  I love the styled images from Styled Stock Society. They offer so many different options for filler content when you need it! Oh, and Planoly is the bomb for planning out your Insta feed ;)

Who has time . . .

. . . to take Instagram-worthy photos when you’ve got a business to run?

OUTSOURCE IT Y'ALL!

Let’s talk about things that can be outsourced at home.

1. Cleaning.  Number one on this list has to be cleaning!  I hired a maid service to come in twice a month to do all the things I hate!  It would take me a week to do the things they do in four hours.  And there is nothing like a clean home to ease some tension and help you relax.

2. Meal Prep.  There are some wonderful meal prep services out today.  We love Dream Dinners and Freshly.  Thaw it the night before and follow the directions to cook your meal.  Is it a little pricey?  Yep.  But I didn’t have to plan the meal, shop for the groceries, wash and chop veggies or meat.  It’s all done.  And the meals are fantastic!

3. Grocery Shopping.  I can blast through the grocery store aisles like mad woman, but it’s so nice to see a big giant box show up on my front porch knowing I only had to click a few buttons to stock my pantry.  My favorites are Amazon Subscribe & Save and Thrive Market. Thrive is like a combination of Whole Foods meets Amazon.  It’s chock full of organic and non-gmo options if you are into a healthy lifestyle.  Get 25% off your first order here. 

4. Dry Cleaning.  I do not have the time or patience to iron my husband’s pants and dress shirts for work.  There I said it.  Haha!  Most dry cleaners have a pick-up and delivery service.  Check out your local ones if this is something you could easily sub out.  

Outsourcing was THE best thing I ever did for my business and family! I fought it for the longest time, thinking I could do it all.  But I would just become more and more frustrated.  Because guys, we can't really do it all.  And there is absolutely nothing wrong in admitting that!

I’m so happy I waved that white flag just as high as I could when I finally realized it.  Are you ready to let go of some things?  Have you already?  What am I missing out on?  I’d love to know where you’ve learned to outsource as well.

*** DON’T MISS THIS! ***

Related Posts: