Selling | Photocrati

Pricing Prints

Pricing fine art photographic prints is always a challenge, there’s a lot of costs involved, a lot of competition in the marketplace, and a lot of variation in prices out there in the marketplace. While I don’t have the One True Way of pricing for photographic prints, I do have a few thoughts on the matter for those of you considering your own print sales.

As a starting point, you first need to figure out your cost of goods. Start with the photographic print itself. If you own your own printer, that cost will include the cost of the ink, the paper, and the amortized cost of the printer itself, Mark Segal has a nice article explaining how to do this over at the Luminous Landscape. In my own case, I print through an outside service, so I know up front that the cost of one of my standard-sized prints (16×11 inches image size) is about $25, then I add to that a few bucks for shipping or my time/effort to pick it up. (more…)

Closing

I suck at closing.

I get a fair amount of appreciation for my photographic prints, and am usually able to manage a good turnout for my big photo exhibitions, but closing a sale can still be a challenge for me. (more…)

More on Value Propositions

In a previous article, I touched briefly on Value Propositions, and talked about how to develop one. I’d like to go into more detail, thanks to Joe Pici.

In review, a value proposition should focus on outcomes, and be result-oriented:

talk about outcomes not products and services
tie results to critical business issues
tie results to personal issues

(more…)

How many is too many?

I read somewhere recently that the fewer images you show your clients, the more sales you will make.

I think about this a lot. I think about it pretty much every time I’m putting together images from a session to show a client.

Let’s say that we shoot an engagement session together and from that session I have 200 images. On the first pass I’ll probably narrow that number down to about 80. On the second pass I’ll begin to drop images that are in the same style and the same pose ( there’s no reason to have 12 images of a couple sitting the exact same way.) By the time I’m done I might have 30 to 50 images left to show.

Is that too many? I think that if you asked a lot of photographers most of them would say “yes.” But, here’s my problem: I don’t think I have ever shown a selection of images to a client where the client didn’t pick out at least one image that I personally think is not good. (more…)

Selling for Photographers – Part 2

Preparing for the Sale

The next step is to actually make sure you’re ready for the approach, and the ultimate sale. Do you have business cards ready? Contracts? Your calendar? Nothing turns off a potential customer quicker than an unprepared salesperson. They are trusting you to take their money and deliver a product – and if you seem “off” or flaky in any way, they would prefer to not give you money.

You should develop scripts – for the phone, and for in person. You will stick with these scripts as much as possible. You will refine them over time, yes, but for now you practice them until the words roll smoothly.

“All the world is a stage “¦” – Shakespeare (more…)

Selling for Photographers – Part 1

If anybody asks you what you do, and you say, “I’m a salesman” (or saleswoman) – is there a teeny, tiny bit of shame, embarrassment, or even shyness that creeps into your voice?

I know that a lot of people have very negative attitudes about selling. The fact of the matter is, nobody gets paid until something gets sold. So, if you’re addicted to getting paid, somebody has to get good at selling. (more…)

Let’s make a deal…

218_retouched1 — Copyright Booray Perry Photography All Rights Reserved

Last week I was talking to a potential client who was wanting a portrait session for her baby. She wanted my full session and she planned to buy three 16×20 prints. When I told her the price she said, “Oh, that’s way too much money… especially in today’s economy.” (more…)