What’s your photography of choice? Is capturing memorable shots at weddings or special events your thing? Does getting that perfect landscape or nighttime shot give you a rush of adrenaline?
Or…do you love being creative with product shots and commercial photography?
If being a product photographer is your dream, but you’re not entirely sure how you’d make a career out of it, then I’m here to help! In this blog, I’ll talk about how you can increase your earning potential as a product photographer, so you can do what you love and make big bucks!
1) Use demand pricing
What’s demand pricing? Also called demand-based pricing or customer-based pricing, demand pricing means you price your services based on client demand. You keep your pricing flexible so that it can fluctuate along with your business.
Big companies like airlines use demand pricing; that’s why flying to certain destinations at certain times of the year are cheaper or more expensive! Disney does it so that their theme parks don’t get swamped with guests. Plus, they can expect more stable income from ticket sales if they adjust their prices constantly.
You can do the exact same thing for your product photography biz. When you’re busier and your services are more “in demand,” bump your prices higher to keep up! Clients who really want to work with you will pay more and even wait until you’re available.
Likewise, when you’ve hit a slump or business is slow, lower your prices to attract new clients! You’ll rake in more income and work with people who may have been hesitant to reach out to you before. You might also gain some pretty loyal clients if they’re happy with your work.
The goal here is to always be booked, whether things are busy or slow. Flexible demand pricing can help you stay booked and stay busy!
2) Upsell your services
Upselling your services is another pricing strategy that will help you increase your earning potential. One way to upsell is to offer tiered packages at different prices.
When you upsell your services with tiered packages, you might offer two, three, or more packages at different price points. Your least expensive package may cover all the basic stuff you know your clients want, like a certain number of photos or products. Larger packages that cost more will include extra services and more value.
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Offering multiple packages helps you maximize each and every sales opportunity. Remember to base each package on what your clients need, though! If you don’t take the time to understand your clients and tailor your packages to their needs, you’re wasting your time (and theirs).
Not sure how many packages to offer? When in doubt, stick to as few as possible. Limit your options so things don’t get confusing and you don’t look like you’re trying too hard to sell to clients!
3) Learn new skills
One tip I can’t stress enough for photographers and stylists? Keep learning new skills! Really, this applies to any small business owner or creative entrepreneur.
When you’re constantly learning new skills, you’re opening the door to offering possible new services to your clients. And that means making more money.
This doesn’t mean you have to go out and learn every specialized photography skill out there so you can offer it in your business! You might find that portrait photography is not your thing. Or maybe you gave aerial/drone photography a try and didn’t like it. That’s totally okay.
The key is to find new skills that you love to do and want to improve. The more you improve those skills, the higher quality your work will become. And that means the more you can charge for these new services!
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Pro tip: If you choose higher level services that require more time, skill, or specialized gear or knowledge, you can price your rates even higher. Examples of these would include video production or stop-motion.
Wanna find out my real numbers from my career?
I hope that these tips inspired you to increase your earning potential as a product photographer and/or stylist! Growing your business solo can be scary. If you’re like me, learning from someone who went through the same thing can be really helpful.
So, if you want to learn even more tips to increase your earning potential, and find out the real numbers from my career, register for my webinar!
How to Break into Product Photography is a totally FREE webinar that not only talks about earning potential, but also must-have skills you’ll need to launch your biz, how to get your first clients, and much more. Learn more and sign up for How to Break into Product Photography now!
