This question came from a struggling portrait photographer in Ann Arbor, MI. My customers mostly buy small prints, mainly 5x7 and 4x6. I'm having a hard time getting them to buy 8x10s. What am I doing wrong? When I got this question I already knew the answer. I asked the tog what she charged and her answer confirmed my suspicions: $50 for 8x10, $25 for 5x7 and $15 for 4x6. The reason this tog is struggling is because her print pricing is designed to sell small prints! Why spend $50 for an 8x10 when you can spend the same amount and get two 5x7s? In marketing there's a term we call "climbing the ladder". To sell bigger, you've got to make your clients climb the ladder. If the ladder is too steep, they won't climb. This means that the larger print should be just a little bit more expensive than the smaller print, making the smaller print seem like not such a good deal (the corollary being that the larger print seems like a great deal). So if you charge $50 for an 8x10, try charging something like $40 for a 5x7 and $30 for a 4x6. Why buy a 4x6 if a 5x7 is just a bit more? And while you're at it, why not just spend $10 more and get the 8x10? That's what "climbing the ladder" is all about. I take this concept a step further with my own pricing. I make the price differential between my 5x7 and 8x10 really small. How small? Try zero! I simply charge one flat price for any size print 8x10 or smaller. My clients choose the size based on their needs, not based on price. In other words, I never make anything less than my full 8x10 price. Problem solved. We'll be discussing this and many more sales, marketing and pricing topics at my February 27 "Building a Profitable Portrait Business" workshop in Seattle. because every post needs an image:
Laurence Kim Workshops Building a Profitable Portrait Business - February 27 - Seattle WA: 2 seats left
Location Lighting 101 - March 20 - Vancouver BC |
