Comments on: Thoughts on Pricing

By: Bethany

Bethany — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:10:09 +0000

I’ve bookmarked and constantly referred back to this post and Nancy’s post over at WeddingBee Pro. Thought you’d like to read something she posted recently: http://nancyliuchin.blogspot.com/2010/04/inspirations-from-trash.html

By: Ivona

Ivona — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:59:07 +0000

Nice…I got to your article from David Burke’s site. Thank you for writing about this topic! It’s definitely something that deserves a lot of thinking! Thank you!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:26:05 +0000

The wedding bee pro post along with your post was very informative and interesting. I think this post is important for clients esp. because they only see the bottom line….the cost on their proposal. They forget that tulips flown in from Holland cost $$$ and so does the prep for their florals. I took a floral design class to better understand that part of the wedding industry. Pretty expensive and very time consuming.

By: audrey

audrey — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:21:20 +0000

sean. nancy turned me onto your blog after our email chat today about her post. and after an hour or two reading your blog i am astounded at my need for you and this blog. thank you thank you thank you … for the perspective that i so long for and need in order to make my creative business successful. you now have yet another faithful follower!

By: Jubilee Lau

Jubilee Lau — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:22:36 +0000

Nancy’s post was such a great illustration on what you’ve been preaching to designers and creative businesses. Sean, thanks for doing a post to take Nancy’s point to another level.

By: Nancy Liu Chin

Nancy Liu Chin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:59:50 +0000

Dear Sean

You are a business mind reader. Wow – I am impressed with how well you know my business without looking at my books. Are you and my accountant friends? I’m truly smiling when I say that!

Still have so much to learn….

For 2010, I am taking that leap of faith and changing my approach. Thank you for sharing and inspiring. I’ll keep you posted!!! Stay tuned.

Nancy

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:11:07 +0000

While margin based pricing is at odds with most creative businesses, the notion of “educating” your clients is a bit of a misnomer as well- most use it as a euphemism for convincing another to one’s opinion and that generally falls flat.

Clients {generally} couldn’t care less about you or how much time your craft requires and their eyes bulge wide when faced with design or service fees, especially when it’s at odds with most of the market.

And that’s where the root of the problem lies- take away the supporting spouse or day job and perhaps upwards of 70% of the creative businesses would crash and burn. We are all too often in a subsidized market and the pricing effects are glaring. The days of talented artist-poor businessman are calling their last numbers.

By: Ben Vigil

Ben Vigil — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:05:32 +0000

Thanks for a great post Sean!

Here’s a similar scenario: other photographers are often surprised to find that I charge the same for all my different album types even when the costs are different. If you tell a client that you charge $4,000.00+ for an album because they are paying for the imagery (i.e. the art and artistry) and not the paper (the physical album), it seems somewhat disingenuous to try to explain why the retail cost of some “other album” is $500 less and why a 5×7 is only $14. There is a huge disconnect unless you are able to demonstrate the portions of the retail cost that are creative- vs product-based — almost nobody does that, at least not in wedding photography.

The trick of course is to either a) maintain a sufficient product price points to sustain the swing in costs or b) simply pass on costs to the client and charge sufficiently for your talent to make up for the lost profit on product margins. The one caveat in the case of “b” is that sometimes you give up some of the profits associated with the client who orders a lot of “product”.

Whatever the case, whether you decide to operate on margins or creative fees, your branding and pricing need to be sending a consistent message to your clients about what they are actually paying for.

I look forward to meeting you when you are in Atlanta.

–Ben
Ben Vigil Photographers

By: isha | isha foss events

isha | isha foss events — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:15:11 +0000

I loved Nancy’s post and this one. It is hard to charge a design fee when your peers are not doing it, but you have to stand firm. Educating the client does help, but takes time and effort. It is easier to sell when you are not the producer. Example: A client came to me to design her reception – linens, lounge, cake table, draping, etc. She already had a florist and a coordinator but wanted me to lay it out. She did not expect me to do this for free. When I am the florist and/or coordinator, the expectation is that it is somehow included. Au contraire, mon frere.

I have lost clients because of it, but I am more profitable….

By: Evan Reitmeyer - MyDeejay.com

Evan Reitmeyer - MyDeejay.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:27:34 +0000

Another great post Sean! Your presentation in DC got me thinking a lot about how we sell ourselves to our clients, and I totally agree with your presumption about the charging for your art/craft and not goods. To me, it’s much easier to make a “value” argument for higher pricing when a propect understands and respects that artistic aspect of what we do. Thanks for another thought-provoking post, and keep up the great work!