Underground Journal

Digital Photography Studios

Grand Rapids engagement photographer studios are taking so-called e-sessions and bridal photography to the next level by incorporating the sessions into wedding packages and offering them as stand alone products as well.  While may studios are trying to strong arm clients into buying bloated packages by bundling services together and offering small “discounts”, others are moving away from that model and trying to bring their customers in on talent and ease of service.  By offering customers what they want and making pricing structures and packages easy to understand, studios are drawing in more clients than ever.

Part of this pricing and marketing approach begins with some actual business sense, something that seems to be rare in the photography world.  Most of the very successful Grand Rapids photographers will tell you that running your own studio means you’re a business-person first, and a photographer second.  That statement couldn’t be more true.  The greatest photographer in the world won’t stay in business long if they don’t know what they need to charge to pay the bills.  For example, there is a very popular photographer who is recognized around the world who has recently been in and out of court for various contract, business and cash flow issues.  Not good publicity.

So what goes into a sustainable pricing structure?  Simple: the rule of thirds.  One third of your price should be profit, one third should be reserved for taxes, and one third for operating costs.  And to figure out what this one third number is, the first thing you need to do is determine what it will cost to run your studio for one year.  That includes all your business and personal bills, training, equipment, rent, utilities, mortgage, and any other cash outlay that you will need to make.  After you know this number, conservatively estimate how many jobs you will shoot during the year, and divide the two numbers.  That is the base number you need to make per job after adding in print or album expense.

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