An agenda to write our goals into as it relates to photography marketing education — Image by: @contentpixie

Pricing has to be one of the most sensitive subjects in all of photography. It has a lot of mythology and stigma attached and it is saturated with our own beliefs and thought patterns that are seemingly impossible to break. Pricing seems inextricably tied to self-worth, and we often set prices and base our entire pricing strategies on our own money blocks and consumer tendencies, rather than our client’s preferences.

As Lawrence Steimetz, author of How to Sell at Margins Higher than your Competitors puts it: “Price is virtually always more important in the mind of the seller than in the mind of the buyer.” And this is the principle under which most of us erroneously create our pricing.

It’s especially hard when you see your clients as somewhat similar to you. It’s easier if there is a big gap. For example, service providers such as landscapers, pool maintenance companies, cleaners etc base their marketing on the clients they serve - let’s say for this example it’s people on millionaire row. If you’re an independent landscaper who makes small bucks and is very frugal, it won’t serve you well to apply your money philosophies to your clients who make a boatload more than you and have an entirely different money script from the one playing in your mind. In this clear case, you want to cater to the client’s preferences in order to win the business.

But in our world where we may mistake our ideal client as being similar to us, or they are similar in some respects, we’ll often impose our own preferences. If you’ve struggled with poverty or a frugal upbringing, if you heard messages that wanting money is greedy or makes you somehow disingenuous, if you want pricing all up front because you have a calculator at the ready, then we have a strong tendency to let that shape how we price and how we ask for money, even if our ideal client doesn’t share the view and may prefer to be served differently. But I hope you know, even if deep down, that it is not greedy to have a valuable exchange that meets both parties needs. You deserve a good wage for the very important services you provide, and when you’re compensated well, you will rise to the occasion and excel in your ability to serve. It’s not typical for anyone being paid badly to want to achieve in the job they’re being paid badly to do. I’ve spoken on this topic in more detail in this blog post.

At some point you may have been mistreated by a cheap client who has big demands, or found that you’re heading for the red at the end of the year and have finally decided to make a pricing change. Deciding is an important step that sets us on the right course of action, but sustaining that belief and truly changing it can prove to be more challenging.

Many books on the subject of forming habits state that for a new routine or habit to stick, it takes about 30 days of doing the thing. Like a habit, a new mindset also needs this consistent action. Is it 30 days? I’m not sure, but anything done repetitively, even if you’re not fully convinced, does seem to move the needle. So I offer this one way to help nurture your fledgling mindset of being deserving of more money, and that there are people out there who will happily pay you in exchange for the amazing and precious gift you give to them for that investment.

The Money Love Note

If you have a client management system of any kind, then it likely has a note feature where you can add a freeform note to the client’s record. If you don’t have one, then find a spot in whatever your favourite note app is, or in an excel spreadsheet or other tracking tool for your invoices. Anywhere where you can link the client and their payment with a comment.

You don’t have to change any pricing in this exercise; start where you are. If you’re invoicing for $50 or $500, the building of the habit is the same. We aren’t changing pricing in this post; we’re changing mindset. You ready?

When the client pays the invoice, create a new note and write out that you are grateful for this money coming in, and that this client loved paying you.

That’s it. But do it for every single invoice that gets paid from here on in.

Why is there power behind the Money Love Note?

It doesn’t introduce the stress of changing any pricing so it’s not intimidating. You are simply writing out 2 thoughts in one short sentence. It’s a baby step that’s so easy it doesn’t activate or trigger any money defences to sabotage you.
There is magic in writing. Industry experts seem to agree that writing out our goals helps them become more real. In turn, they feel more concrete and attainable and become more actionable. In this same way, you are subtly re-wiring a belief by writing out something that challenges that ingrained belief.
It plunges your body into the positive and affirming feelings of gratitude. Feelings are good feedback into our bodies and brains and our tendency is to want to continue feeling good feelings! These positive and affirming feelings counteract the tense feelings that come up with money and can eventually override them.
It introduces the idea that perhaps your client wasn’t cursing your name as they paid the invoice. That they didn’t secretly think that you’re trying to swindle them or that you’re greedy and looking for a money-grab. That they regret paying you and hate dishing out cash for anything. It introduces the idea that perhaps this person felt gratitude for what you did, that they wanted to spend money on their photography and that they are happy with their investment. Your mind can slowly come to a conclusion that there are at least 2 perspectives and that you may prefer to start believing the latter versus the former. Because the latter is a success for everyone involved - clients are happy to have their photographs, you are happy to receive fair and appropriate compensation for producing them.

You have absolutely NOTHING to lose by doing this and it literally takes seconds to do. But there is real potential to neutralize some of your money blocks and replace them with money love notes. Everyone loves a love note - isn’t that how we often refer to client testimonials? And don’t they boost you, and help in getting you more business? Write a money love note to yourself. Do it for the next 30 days or the next 30 invoices that come. Let’s see if at the end of the thirty days you may feel boosted, have different thoughts about your original mindset (like, what was I thinking???!!!) and then explore if you may be open to the idea of evaluating your pricing. Once the practice is habitual, you can continue to do it, because it never defeats and always elevates. Carry it on forever, and you can get even more fancy by thanking the client, or saying something that you loved about them and their session (bonus, this kind of stuff makes great content for all those IG captions that you blank on!) Tell me your results in the comments!