I saw this ad on my local craigslist that a local photographer posted and I have no idea if these prices are low, average or high.
My wheels are slowly turning and I trying to figure out on how to start small on doing this to help raise my cash flow. From what I can see of the photos, I think I could produce something of near similar quality shots yet I know due to my inexperience my pricing would need to be on the low end. I just don
Your thinking of going pro or part time pro?
Your photography is much better than this Ashley Marie Photography. The prices seem on the low end and I am not sure of the photo CD for purchase. If it is for full file with copyrights it is way way too low.
Mark
Mark
Denise, I agree with some of the others, these prices seem to be on the "discount" or low end as is the quality of the photo. I am sure your work would be much better. As for the CD, I just don
Bob
It is on the low end from some of the ads i have seen, with the exception of the free ads.
Yes you have the skills to do as well if not better than this person.
If you are going to advertise on Craigslist to get work, you are going to be working cheap to get work. Craigslist is a place people go for discounts.
Take the first offer, maternity pics at their location for $45.00, if it takes an hour to get to there place, an hour to get home and say half hour to process. Lets say you end up with a total of 3 hours dedicated to this, you made $15.00 an hour. This doesn't include your expenses, of course the IRS will let you deduct mileage and if it is a very long trip to the peoples house it could be a bigger deduction than you make. At least you wouldn't have to worry about the taxes.
Don't get me wrong, I was not trying to discourage you. Just giving you some things to think about when you price your service. Figure what it is going to cost you, what you would like to make, and price accordingly. If your pricing structure doesn't appear to be working figure out a way to adjust it.
Count your non productive hours, misc expenses, your travel expense, the depreciation and upkeep of your equipment and compare it to what you think you should charge and adjust to what you need.
It is of no importance what other people charge, base your scale on what you need to charge.You will never be the cheapest unless you are free, you will never be the most expensive. Of course it helps to see how others structure their sales, but don't fall in the trap of being the most "reasonable" or "affordable" photographer. My philosophy in business is "work less...make more"
If you do go forward, post your first ad here. I am sure the forum members will point you in the right direction of how to word it.
Volume sales work if you are Walmart, but if you are offering a service it keeps you over worked and broke.
Good Luck, I know you can do it if you set your mind to it.
The session fees seem to be on the low end, but not too low for someone claiming to be
I work way too cheaply. And I still get very little business in my neck of the woods. It
I thought her prices seemed awfully low and I didn't think that main photo at the top was as sharp as it should or could be. I did like how structured her price list was though.
I really don't have time on my side right now to do it for free while I build a clientele base to get my name out there even though I know this would be the best way to start. My head is just spinning on ways to keep some sort of cash flow going and try to make up the difference between an unemployment check and what I was bringing home. But then again ...unemployment will go down as any income goes up so I can't win!
Plus, around here it would probably be about the same as Sean's neck of the woods even if I had years of experience.
One thing my daughter keeps bringing up that is true ...I still have a long ways to go with flash photography anyway. I wouldn't have a studio set-up where people can come in and I'm ready to go. I would go to "on location" shoots where they either live or play, etc! It takes me way, way too long to get my flash settings to how I need them to be on each one & only my daughter has that kind of patience with me!
Looks like another long night ahead at looking at jobs.com!
Originally Posted by ddt0725
In my state (Washington), any sort of entrepreneurial activity completely disqualifies me from all unemployment benefits. I would hope that other states are not so braindamaged.
Maybe ours is ...I haven
Sean
Don't take this the wrong way. But with your photography skills (being top of the line) I can only see two reasons you do not have enough work. The first would be your marketing approach isn't working as well as you like and needs to be changed, or second there is not a base large enough to support your business. The second is harder to overcome but one almost has to exhaust the first before he knows for sure the second is not there.
This is the problem, in today's world everyone has a buddy that has a DSLR. I know two people with far less skills than I and equipment far less than you or I that think they are now "pro's". This eliminates allot of clients that will settle for the mediocre. It limits your client base to those who want the "best", and it may be that there are not enough of those people around.
Years of word of mouth and time will help you, but building that reputation takes a long time and allot of work.
In the mean time it is still a fun hobby.......
Denise
Just because it seems difficult to start out as a photographer, you still have other options. Maybe you can find an established photographer you could help part time. A few extra dollars wouldn't hurt, and you still get to keep your equipment.
I wish you luck, over the years it has always seemed a job change always sent me in a better direction. I wish the same for you.
Rick
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