Many professional photographers do business headshots. A quick web search shows:
• One Toronto photographer charges $29 for business headshots. One wonders why he even bothers to charge anything at all. In the end, $29 is the same as $0 to his business.
• Another Toronto photographer, who claims 18 years in the business, charges $60 for headshots – cash only, please. Many of the sample photos on his site were stolen from other photographers. Using Google, it’s easy to trace the pictures back to the original sites. In this case, buyer beware.
• A Toronto-area photographer, charges $1,000 for “unlimited” business headshots. The fine print says that, for $1,000, he will come to your office and shoot as many portraits as you want in three hours.
This guy states that he once did 84 headshots in three hours. He even brags on his web site: “that’s one headshot every two minutes!” If you do the math, that’s about $12 per portrait.
• Some photographers in Toronto charge $75 to $150 and the price includes many retouched images. Again, one wonders why. At this price, the photographer is losing money with each customer. Work more, lose more.
• Several photographers offer headshots in the $150 to $300 range which often includes a disc full of retouched pictures. Although, some photographers use the word “retouched” very loosely. Unless the photographer is shooting a large volume of portraits, this isn’t a money maker. Presumably, these photographers have lots of other work to subsidize their business portrait prices.
My point is that most photographers leave a lot of money on the table when they underprice and undervalue their work. When it comes to business portraits, many photographers fail to understand that they are *not* selling pictures.
Everyone has a camera. Everyone can take pictures. So a commercial photographer should be selling a custom service that produces effective business tools for their customers’ marketing needs.
Sell value not digital files
Price is about the photographer, value is about the customer. And customers always want to hear about themselves. What’s in it for them?
A commodity (e.g. a photograph) is about utility. A custom service is about value. People will always pay more for the latter.
Last week, I received a request for a business portrait with two looks. I quoted $900 which was readily accepted. I think I may have undercharged.
I got $900 not because I’m a better photographer but because I knew the value of the pictures to the customer. Instead of selling my time (i.e. charging by the hour) or selling a couple of digital files, I helped the customer with their marketing needs for the launch of their new web site.
The customer, a small Toronto business located in a very prestigious location, understood that quality photography can create a strong first impression. They wanted photos that would enhance their professional presentation.
This business needed to make a statement about itself and attract a certain clientele. This meant that the business understood the value of presentation.
The customer was looking for a “good” photographer and, like all of us, they associated “good” with “expensive”. Or to reverse it, low prices scare away well-paying customers. If the price is too low, something must be wrong.
Use Price to Qualify Customers
Not including volume discounts, my business portraits range from $460 to (now) $900. Sure, this price range isn’t for everyone and I lose many customers. But that’s exactly what I want to happen. Why would any photographer want low-paying customers? What photographer can afford to have low-paying customers?
The financial level at which a photographer begins a business relationship with a customer is the level at which they will stay.
If a photographer thinks that they will convert a low-paying customer into a high-paying customer, they are fooling themselves.
Corporate customers do not reward a cheap photographer with more expensive work. The cheap photographer will always get the low-paying jobs and the “good” photographer will always get the expensive work.
Of course, all of this is not to say a photographer should engage in price gouging. It means that pricing should be based on value to the customer rather than on the time it takes to produce the photos. Value to the commercial customer is usually defined by usage.
It also means that when a photographer charges more, they must deliver more. A photographer has to help the client get the pictures they really need rather than just shooting what they’re asked for.
Added June 2016: There’s a US photographer who offers $15,000 business portraits. This includes a makeup artist, hair stylist, clothing stylist, an image consultant and a full day of shooting. The customer gets two dozen finished photos.
Good article
These I charge $300 for my headshots. I calculate that it pays me about $75 / an hour. Not bad not great.
I differentiate myself by offering masking and layout services. It seems to work for me; I am fairly busy with the headshots. Most of my competitors who are wayyyy less expensive than I certainly dont have my volume of work.
As I am not in the “big city” I must charge less. I am in Oshawa and have to price accordingly. I currently charge $200/person with discounts for larger groups. I am one of the better, if not the best in this city and still get people say “$200!?”, and go somewhere cheaper.
Photographers: you are misreading this post. It’s not about what you charge for headshots. It’s about the fact that you can’t charge for what you don’t do.
If your competitors charge way less than you, then why are they your competitors? Your real competitors should be those who charge more than you (assuming you want to move up, not down).
A photographer friend of mine lives 85km north of Toronto’s airport. The nearest big town (Orangeville) has a population of 30,000. His *minimum* daily fee is $1,600. He does corporate work and business portraits. Your location is a small factor in your pricing.
If you want to charge more, you have to do more. Of course, not all customers want more. But there are those who do want more and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find them. These customers aren’t hiding, they’re just not convinced about what you’re offering.
You’re correct, I didn’t fully understand you’re points, I get it now. Thanks. I really need to figure out my marketing strategies to make this happen.
You are soooooo right! Small town location should mean you can charge more, because you’re a scarce commodity and your offering more than anyone else can offer.
Warren, when I first read the “$900 Headshot” I thought you lost your marbles – until I saw where you were really going with this. This was a real wake up call for those that feel they are in that “professional” market. If shooters keep trying to compete at these really low levels, it becomes a race to the bottom. Photography is becoming a commodity only because we allow it.
I have to two friends, remarkable photographers that both charge really high fees and their work is a reflection of it – I have a few others charging $50 and can barely keep the doors open – do the math people. Give customers an extraordinary experience and they’ll pay for it.
I totally agree with the article. As a photographer i want to create art and not just another pic. I would not want to be known as the cheap photographer even if my photos display art, and create value for the client. And, certainly would not want a client that thinks of themselves worth $50 and 15 pictures, I want the client that thinks of his/her self as worth $1,000 for one picture that represents him/her and the business value he expects.
If my work deserves $500 then it will attract the $500 client. If my work deserves $50 then i will get the $50 client. What kind of client are you? and more importantly, how much do you value yourself as an artist? cause as a photographer you can charge $50/hr and shoot for an hour and retouch for another 2 hours and now you are only worth $16.60./hr
I totally agree with your point. But nowadays it is so hard to find the “good” customers who are willing to pay a decent price for the photographer. I am still trying hard to maintain my reasonable charges. Thank you for sharing.
Once one comes in at a low rate, it is almost impossible to go up.
Starting high, and pushing delivery of quality helps get you there.
If you must give your service away, try working for a busy photographer, you will most certainly be paid more to learn from someone who knows than you could get giving your work away to a largely unappreciative public unwilling to pay for your talents.
Thanks for good post ! Better job means better money , it’s right.
Great article.
My rates are typically $450 USD currently, though I have a $179 USD rate for those on a budget. You get what you pay for, certainly. The front page of my website explains what you get for each level of service.