Why having a pricing page is important for your photography business

There’s much more you have to do today to position and truly differentiate your business in order to stand out among the crowd. A well-thought pricing page is a great means to do that. In today’s article we will talk about the 3 main reasons why having a pricing page is important for your business growth and development.

The truth is: talking money is intimidating and can be scary. You might be new in this industry and are still not sure about the value of your talent. You might be a seasoned photographer, who is concerned that presenting openly your options will scare away some of your clients, with whom you otherwise can connect through an initial call. You might not want to focus on the transactional aspect of your services, especially when you attempt to create a brand experience based on connection, emotion and love. However, the transactional aspect, whether communicated or not, can be a decisive one.

3 Reasons why you should consider creating a pricing page to grow your business

You set your value

When you start off, you are craving for as many shoots as possible, as you are shaping your style, trying to figure out what is your type of client, what type of settings makes you feel most comfortable to express yourself as a creative, etc. This period is defined by rarely saying “no” to inquiries, and often adjusting to meet client needs/perspective, sometimes even to your detriment. Those initial sacrifices of time and resources are worth it in the long run, as your brand matures. However, once you shape your business model, and figure out your overheads, lifestyle needs and business growth needs, you are ready to be up-front about your offerings and provided services.

What most people don’t get is that a pricing page is really about your value as a service provider rather than the cost of your services. Laying out all of the benefits of hiring you before mentioning costs is one of the strategies to focus on in order to achieve the value vs. cost mentality.

There are different types of information that you can use on your pricing page to establish your value: including a list of benefits, your process, your brand promise, as well as a list of past client testimonials and press features. Trust us, once you focus on your value and what you have to bring to the table, you will feel less awkward mentioning the price-tag for your services.

You position your brand

Let’s be honest, not every client is YOUR client. And that’s OK. With an oversaturated market, having dozens of photographers offering similar style, photographing in the same geographical location - positioning is vital. At this stage, you need to put effort into your communication, visual and verbal, and invest in brand design and online presentation. Your pricing is part of your brand communication and positioning on the market. It is also one of the aspects that allows you to solidify your niche. Think about it this way: a high end client won’t be looking in the middle. Their expectations will most likely be higher than the average on the market. Meanwhile their world views will relate to specific language and visuals - and it’s up to you how you communicate that in your positioning, including through your pricing. On the other end, you can have an outgoing, boho style client, who is DIY-ing their wedding props and ceremony. The language you use for this type of client, and the pricing range will vary from the high end client mentioned above.

You save time and filter through your leads

Did you ever spend time emailing back and forth with an interested client till you shared your pricing and turns out you are out of their budget? Or worse: they just stopped replying to your messages? Having a pricing page will not only filter through the people who are just fishing around prices, but also save you time writing out your offerings, your add-on options, expectations, etc. All of these can be covered in a pricing page. Most importantly, if you are not ready to openly have your pricing page visible on the site you can always share it privately for those who inquire. A beautifully designed page with images and a well-thought structure is much more compelling and visually pleasant than an email with bullet points.

The point for your pricing page is to cut down time spent on clients that are not ready to hire you, and focus your attention on your ideal client & prospects, and on your business growth. On the other hand, you don’t want to lose through the cracks the prospective clients who have not reached out because they’ve assumed you are too expensive.

Conclusion

No matter what you decide, it’s important to stay true to your brand values and do what feels right. Take it slow - if you don’t feel comfortable showing all your packages first, show starting prices and then adjust your page as you go. It’s an ongoing process perfected through iterations. And please stay tuned, as in our next article we will cover a few tips on how to build a powerful pricing page on your Squarespace, from the planning stage, all the way to implementation.

If you need help with building a neat, elegant pricing page on your Squarespace site, it just so happens that you can use our ready-made Pricing Kit. It comes in a variety of options (9, to be exact) - classic and charming, fresh and delicate or modern and daring - whatever best suits your brand personality. Check all the available styles here. Also, don’t miss the awesome deal: get a Style Bundle and buy 2 Pricing Kits + 1 free.