The business side of photography
Almost everyone exhibits some degree of “optimism bias.” This means we tend to underestimate the time, cost and effort needed to complete a certain task and we overestimate our chances of success.
Optimism is great, it helps us move forward. But optimism doesn’t wait for all the facts to come in. So sometimes you need to be aware of possible optimism bias.
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1) How much would you pay me to take a photo of you?
2) How much would I have to pay you to model for a photo?
Are your two answers the same? Shouldn’t they be the same since the outcome – a photo of you – is the same?
I bet your answer to the second question is much higher than the first.
The first question was about me, the second question was about you. Everyone values their own time more than someone else’s. This applies not only to individuals but also to businesses.
A photographer has to understand that many corporate clients tend to value their time more than their money. These clients know that any money spent on photography will be earned back but any time that might be wasted (on a photo project) is gone forever.
This means that marketing low price is the wrong approach for a corporate photographer. Instead the photographer should be showing that they value the client’s time as much as the client does. How will the photographer save the client time and effort?
For many corporate clients, it’s about the results. This means that a photographer gets paid for bringing value, not low price, to the client. It’s not usually about price unless the photographer makes it about price.
And when a photographer makes it about price, they shoot themselves in the wallet.
A jack of all trades, a master of none.
When a photographer tries to be a jack of all trades, they may actually harm their business.
The Dilution Model [link to PDF] suggests that when a business tries to do too much, customers will have a lower opinion of that business. Or to reverse that, when a business specializes, that business will be considered to be an expert.
Which is the better inkjet printer: a machine that’s only a printer or one that’s a printer, a scanner, a copier and a fax machine?
Which has the best pastry: a bakery that sells only pastry or a store that sells coffee, soup, sandwiches and pastry?
Which is more knowledgeable about bicycles: a department store, a sporting goods store or a bicycle shop?
As a photographer, you have to do multiple types of photography to stay in business. But if you spread yourself too wide or if you’re just vague about what you do, you will reduce the perceived value of your photography.
A customer’s perception of your business directly affects how much they’re willing to pay for your services.
A lot of folks are either having a good laugh or scratching their head over the $500 bridal selfie stick that was shown at a New York fashion show.
The boutique clothing designer said the selfie stick wasn’t just a fashion runway prop but that it’s a real product. She even claimed the product was already out of stock. (Out of stock even before it was in stores?!)
A bride could easily buy a cheaper selfie stick and decorate it themselves but they won’t have a “designer” selfie stick. Of course, no one should have a selfie stick or even a pair of selfie shoes ;-) but that’s another post.
Who would buy a $500 selfie stick? Someone who thinks it’s worth $500.
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Photographers are often told to sell value rather than just pictures. But when it comes to value, there can be a disconnect between photographer and customer.
A photographer generally tries to sell future value: how the photos might be used and enjoyed in the future.
But a customer often sees only the immediate value: the cost of the photography today.
If cost is greater than perceived worth then the customer won’t buy.
It’s difficult for any business to sell the future because we only see the present and we only know how we feel today.
A solution is that you have to realize that it’s not about cost, high or low. It’s really about worth or the lack thereof. If a customer sees little perceived worth today then your only option may be to lower your price and even that may not be enough.
Having to discount your prices is proof that your current marketing has failed.
Once you understand that worth is related to trust, then perhaps you’ll change your marketing to build trust rather than to promote low prices.
Customers can, and want to, feel trust today.
There are nine take-out pizza stores within a one-kilometre radius of my home. How did they know I like pizza so much? More importantly, how much pizza do I and my neighbours have to eat to keep all those stores in business?
If you were the only photographer in town, you’d probably be quite busy with work. If a second photographer arrived in town, would the total number of photography customers double or would the existing number of customers be somehow split between you and the other photographer?
What if the number of photographers in your town went up by a factor of ten, fifty, a hundred or more? How would that affect your business?
It’s said that competition is good for business (and good for customers). More competition can increase customer awareness of your products and services which then might increase demand for your business.
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With many other photographers in your area, all using the same equipment as you and perhaps offering the same photography as you, how do you set yourself apart? After a few clicks of their mouse, a potential customer may think that all photographers are the same.
What can you do about it? Get a fancier web site? Offer more price discounts? Buy some gimmicky photo background or trendy lighting accessory?
None of those are long term solutions.
Instead, you have to know the customer more. Know what they’re really looking for when they search for a photographer, know their concerns and business constraints when they hire a photographer, know what they want when they work with a photographer, know how they can best use the delivered pictures. None of these have anything to do with shutter speeds, pixel counts or focal lengths.
This isn’t about customer service but rather it’s customer experience (link to PDF) and the two are different.
The short explanation is that customer experience is what a customer takes away from a business transaction. For a photographer, that transaction usually starts when the customer first visits the photographer’s web site. Customer service, which can be part of the customer experience, is what a business does to or for the customer.
Improving your customer experience by more thoroughly understanding the customer’s business can make you the photographer of choice more than any new equipment you might buy or any price discount you might offer.
