What I Now Know about Pricing That I Wish I Knew at the Beginning of My Photography Career
The other day as I was cleaning out my storage room, I found a box of photos I had printed from the beginning of my career. As I was looking at the pictures, I was surprised at how beautiful they were.
At the time I took those photos, I was so full of self doubt and I remember thinking my work wasn't good enough. Looking at them the other day made me feel proud and got me thinking about how things might be different if I had known at the time how good my work actually was.
Am I good enough?
One of the ways my insecurity in what I did really manifested was in not knowing what to charge. In fact, I was really under charging. I wasn't even earning enough to cover my costs. I had so many concerns because I simply didn't know where to set my rate, and I worried how people would respond to my pricing. I think a huge reason why I was charging such a low rate was because I was new to the industry and felt that I hadn't earned the right to charge more yet.
I guess this way of thinking makes sense, because it really does work this way in other professions. But when you're in business for yourself, there is no set pay scale, so setting pricing actually boils down to confidence.
We get people asking about pricing in our Beyond Natural Light Facebook group all the time. I believe they're really asking, "Am I good enough?" Is my work worth the rate that I need for it to be profitable? Am I ready?”. Sadly, in our industry, we don't have systems set up to answer those questions for us, and I think that keeps a lot of people stuck.
As artists and business owners, we have to manage a lot and mastering our craft is just the start. Knowing how to manage the business side of things is a whole other story, and I don't want it to keep any more talented photographers from pursuing their dreams.
This is one of the many reasons I'm creating my Certification Program. To learn more about Certification and join the waitlist, click here!
