قیمت‌گذاری پرتره‌های شما: استراتژی‌های تجاری با سود بالا برای عکاسان حرفه‌ای

Portrait photographers agree that one of the most important yet shrouded aspects of running a successful business is accurately pricing your products for profit. Some charge too little, then scramble to photograph and edit photos for throngs of clients, only to become overwhelmed and burn out. Others price too low initially, just to get people in the door, but soon mark up their prices and lose clients to new photographers who charge rock-bottom prices. There are still others who price themselves out of the game right out of the gate. Jeff Smith, owner of two thriving portrait studios teaches you how to tackle one of photography's most vexing problems working out a pricing structure that allows you to cover your costs and clear a profit that you can live comfortably with. Smith begins by showing you methods that he and countless other pros have used in a misguided attempt to reap a great cash flow, helping you avoid time-and-revenue-burning missteps. Next, he walks you through the process of figuring out where your money goes How much should you shell out for new equipment? What falls into the category of overhead?" How much do you need to pay your staff and yourself? and then moves on to show ways to cut costs, price individual prints and packages, maintain your desired business volume, retain existing clients, and delegate tasks in order to work smartly toward profitability all while enjoying your work and achieving professional and creative satisfaction. 1 Profit 17 -- What Is Profit? 17 -- Pricing 19 -- Insecurity Leads to Underpricing 19 -- Money Buys Respect 20 -- Your Skill Level 20 -- Costs 21 -- A Repeatable Process 21 -- Fantasy or Nightmare? 22 -- Time Is Your Most Limited Resource 24 -- Volume 27 -- "More" Syndrome 27 -- Adapting Is Critical 27 -- New Businesses: Marketing to Manage Volume 29 -- Established Businesses: Pricing to Manage Volume 29 -- 2 Cash Flow 30 -- Planning Pay Cycles 30 -- Contracts 30 -- Payment Schedules 31 -- Sitting Fees 32 -- Problem with No Sitting Fee 32 -- Customer Isn't Always Right 35 -- Advantages of a Sitting Fee 36 -- Product Orders 39 -- Financing 39 -- Communication Is Key 39 -- Consider Delegating 40 -- When Problems Occur 42 -- Bad Checks 42 -- Late Payments 42 -- Extra Photo Requests 42 -- 3 Costs and Overhead 43 -- Time 44 -- Hourly Rates vs. Hourly Wages 44 -- Time Management 45 -- How Much Is Your Time Worth? 46 -- Equipment Costs 48 -- Cameras 49 -- Lenses 50 -- Lights and Modifiers 51 -- Make Purchases Based on Results 52 -- Learn to Use What You Have 53 -- Regularly Review Your Costs 54 -- 4 Elements of a Profitable Workflow 56 -- Develop a Style That Clients Want 56 -- Check in With Your Clients 56 -- What All Clients Want 56 -- Tailoring the Shoot to the Individual's Needs 59 -- Bigger Faces Mean Bigger Sales 59 -- Improve Your Communication with Clients 63 -- Collect Information 63 -- Implement What You Learn 64 -- Understand Your Unique Demographic 65 -- Learn to Be Consistent 66 -- Master Previsualization 68 -- Plan Your Portraits 68 -- Practice-But on Your Own Time 68 -- Know That Limits Boost Efficiency 69 -- Conflict Avoidance Is Not a Workflow Strategy 70 -- Communicate Your Policies Clearly 70 -- Bottom Line 71 -- Sell Immediately After the Session 72 -- Get It Right-In the Camera 72 -- Minimize Post-Processing 72 -- Control Imaging Casts 74 -- Select the Correct Lab 74 -- 5 No Simple Solutions 76 -- Profit Profile 76 -- Consider ALL the Variables 76 -- More on Sitting Fees: Practical Examples 77 -- Location Sessions 78 -- Family Portraits 80 -- Portrait Sessions 82 -- Weddings 82 -- Final Word 83 -- Did You Factor in Your No-Show Rate? 84 -- 6 Sales Models and Pricing 85 -- Print Sales 86 -- It Takes Guts 86 -- Total Control 86 -- Image Itself, Not a Piece a Paper 87 -- Learn to Love the "Business" 87 -- You Can't Price for Your Potential Clients 87 -- Perceived Value 88 -- Reality Has Nothing to Do With It 89 -- What Creates Perceived Value 91 -- Your Studio's Brand Identity 92 -- There Are Limits 93 -- Different Types of Sessions Have Different Perceived Values 93 -- Retail Markup 95 -- Don't Be the Cheapest 96 -- Selling Digital Files 98 -- When It Works 99 -- Why, More Often, It Doesn't 100 -- Pricing for Digital File Sales 104 -- Billing by the Hour 105 -- For Weddings 105 -- For Portraits 106 -- 7 Selling Your Photography 107 -- Selling Larger Portraits 109 -- Profit and Marketing Benefits 109 -- Right Decision for Their Home and Budget 109 -- Selling Is Serious Business 110 -- To Sell Large, Show Large 111 -- Shoot to Show 115 -- Sell Additional Products and Groupings 116 -- Develop a Sales System 116 -- 8 Are Your Prises Working? 119 -- Sales-Per-Clicnt Averages Don't Tell the Whole Story 120 -- Calculate Your Sales Per Hour 121 -- Less Is Actually More 122 -- My Top Two Rules 110.