The level you set your prices at is crucial to your business, of course, but so is the perception of your brand. One issue many photographers overlook, however, is how their prices impact the perception of their brand. This excellent video examines the topic.
Coming to you from our friend, Pye Jirsa, with SLR Lounge, this excellent video discusses the important topic of balancing brand and price. In it, Jirsa discusses how charging your clients too low a price can actually undermine the value of your brand. Obviously, in a literal sense, charging less results in lower levels of income for you, but on the other hand, it also lowers the perceived value of your brand. After all, think about when you shop for some specific item — a television, for example. While we all look for a deal, we tend to associate higher prices with higher quality and vice versa. The same applies to customers looking at your photography brand; if you price yourself too low, you risk creating the perception that you are a lower-quality photographer. It is an important balance to consider in crafting your own brand. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Jirsa.
Best thing I did for my business and personal life was to raise my prices. The thought of doing it was difficult to stomach and very nerve wracking. But I, just as many other creatives, burn ourselves out by trying to replace price with volume. Perpetually chasing a high volume of budget work to get bills paid. It is not a sustainable long term strategy.
If you do Apple -brand level photography product sure, this advice is sound, but in that case you would already know that and would charge more for sure. The thing is Apple is ubiquitous and familiar, so many forget how outstanding it is. Try closest competition, it is alike but not the same thing or a better thing, by far. So in order to charge more start to become more.