Let’s stop being surprised to be paid well
I’m part of several photographer groups on Facebook and I often see first hand the issues that many photographers face on topics of marketing and pricing.
Many are terrified to raise price; usually for fear of losing clients. They want to raise price because they aren’t being paid enough to sustain their motivation to put out effort to create art or to gain ground in becoming a profitable business. It’s actually a strange irony for them to be scared about letting the low-payers go! We all know what that’s about - the devil you know. Right? I’d rather put in the effort to find angels and that’s what I, and many others, advocate for.
Some find the courage to raises price. They return to the FB group return and say they did it and hear crickets (which is another blog post!). But others - they post something like this: Wow! I just booked a client that didn’t blink an eye at my raised prices and they paid the invoice right away! Omg I can’t believe that happened!
I’m not going to rain on anyone’s parade.
Especially if a photographer was terrified to do this, they did it! And they also successfully booked a client too - nothing short of amazing right?
I’m all for celebrating wins. I’ll woohoo and high-five them right through my screen. But the question I’ll still ask is “why are you so surprised to be paid well?”
The incredulity of getting a better paying client hints at an issue of self-worth. Indeed, that self-worth is the culprit behind the low prices to begin with! Why don’t we believe in ourselves so much that a client paying our price seems like such a long shot and why do we rely on that first amazing transaction with a stranger to validate us instead of validating ourselves?
There is an expression that change happens when the pain of making that change is less than the pain of staying the same. So while this principle causes some photographers to finally fight the fear and raise that price, it may not ultimately change how they feel - that they’re unworthy despite the anomaly of that first well-paying client. This is where imposter syndrome can really get bad. The photographer has anxiety that the client will find them out for the fraud they really are and want their money back after seeing the photos. I don’t know about you, but walking into that photo session would feel like an fear-inducing, anxiety-riddled nightmare. Self-inflicted of course. Can anyone do their best work with that mindset? Nope and then it can be a self -fulfilling prophecy.
I’d prefer to catch these price-fear demons before cheap pricing gets sent to any client, but many have already gone down the road. The only spot to intervene is usually after damage is done with realizations of burnout and financial losses. But it’s never too late!
If you’ve mustered up the courage to raise your prices and you booked a client, then the very next and immediate step (after a happy dance of course!!) is to give yourself some positive self talk and grounding: Of course I’m being paid this amount. My work is worthy of the price that I have set for it and I give value for that price. And then the next time? Don’t jump up and down like a maniac. Revel in it instead like the successful boss-photographer you really are. Those clients knew where it was at!
More than being surprised, we need to OWN it. We deserve to make a living and being paid for our time, talent and art. Once we own that space then the only surprise that will come is when we encounter someone asking us for a discount, where we can confidently and kindly reiterate our full price.
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