Getting vulnerable about your photography business is like being naked. Here are some clothes.
Topic: Client Relations
Time Investment: 11 Minutes
Suggested Product: BizRevamp®
Hey!
Few weeks ago I asked you how business is going and quite a few of you got real transparent and shared with us! Now it is time for me to touch some on these with a little guidance and push to help you along! While y’all did share publicly I’m going to safeguard your identities since I so appreciated the vulnerability displayed. Without these lessons and sharing together we can’t move forward as we’d like.
I think it is important to note that we all have freedom in our business choices, what works for some may not for others but there are foundational principles that apply across the board. So here are two main issues y’all mentioned that I wanted to address! Being vulnerable about something as private as running our business is like being physically naked. So here are some articles of clothing (advice) to help you get covered up some and move towards your goals!
Issue #1
You are not alone girl!
Many of us start the year with best intentions of staying on track – or have no idea how to being at all. I always recommend starting with writing out key aspects to the client tracking you want to include.
Plan of attack – Write out the following:
- What information you want from the client?
- How are you going to get this information?
- What are you going to do with information?
- What are clients saying that you’re not hearing? (or acting on?)
I also suggest carving out at least 2-3 hour block to learn and implement the management software. The fact that you’re even thinking about having a tracking system is phenomenal! You’re on the right path if you just block off this block on your schedule to get it implemented!
Issue #2
Oh man figuring out what to charge can be scary if lacking in confidence. I firmly believe getting your head around Costs of Doing Business paired with confidence increasing measures through how the business is run – client management, budgeting, and business planning. Once that is all in place – paired with proper market research – I think the confidence + pricing will definitely give way to moving towards success.
- Know your market & competitors– What can your market REALLY handle? And I mean truly handle. I hear so many people tell me their market is saturated with photographers. WAKE UP! Everywhere is. That doesn’t mean you can’t price appropriately. Remember, not every photographer in your geographical area is your competitor. Identify the true competitors and your target client.
- Know your target client – What are their demographics, occupations, socio-economic influences? Do you have a specific idea of who they are? Or is your marketing targeting a vague audience with hopes that your target client will walk in the door?
- Know your overhead– This is so crucial and pretty much one of the main reasons why you can’t simply look to competitors for their prices. Everyone has a different amount of overhead. In order to successfully maintain any business pricing should set so that even at the lowest sale you are breaking even. (I prefer a buffer, but as a general rule).
- What is your desired income? This also varies from photographer to photographer. Again, you don’t want to be working for free. Your time away from your every day life and family is worth something.
- Value yourself – People place more value in services and goods they cannot provide or create for themselves. Majority of your clients probably are not adept at photography, even if they are photographers, taking photos of themselves is difficult.
Follow this checklist before blindly making some pricing changes – as pricing triggers all sorts of psychological and business responses. Be informed on your decision to help you be as confident and successful.
I plan on answering some more of this by email and/or blog but I hope it can help for those that may have had the same thoughts but didn’t share with us. That is okay, The fact you’re reading this and taking it to heart is enough.
Thank you all so much for your support at CreativeLIVE this week! It was a phenomenal experience. Now time to truly focus on BizRevamp – the enrollment is about closed as space is filling – I do this to dedicate 1:1 to each of y’all that come through the course.
I am so excited checking out the students and the progress some are already making in Module 1 – all about business formation. We are going to embark on life-time access of constantly updated information on taxes, insurance, websites, client management, pricing, budgets, legal information (of course!!) If you want more information you can read here
Again, for each person who put themselves out there publicly to share their current business status – thank YOU. We are all going to learn from your bravery!
Talk to y’all soon,
Rachel Brenke
TheLawTog
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