Someone that's just starting i would say show your prices and as you build your brand and cliental i wind slowly change over to not showing your prices
@@MarchonC i would say the oppisite, when you’re starting thats when prices grow the fastest and you get the least amount of inquiries, but when you’re getting 100 inquiries a month and 75% are just seeing the price, then it would be better to show them and just get 25 a month
As someone that just made the switch from no prices to prices, and is tracking metrics. My inquiries overall went down about 82% from last January. Bookings went up by 5 additional weddings this January. I know it's not a true apples to apples comparison, but at least it's another data point. Basically, the switch resulted in less email, and more bookings. Average booking prices stayed about the same.
Out of the (correct me if I am wrong), four packages on your site, which do you find is being booked more after your change? Also, I know a few of yours include video (I have a similar model) which could move your couples from package to package when making a decision, right?
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. See folks this is exactly what I was talking about. Less inquiries but possible stronger leads. You're hearing it here first from an industry veteran as well (Sir Taylor Jackson has been in the wedding industry longer than I have. He KNOWS his stuff)
I show you my price and my inquiries have gone down but the quality has gone up. A happy medium I tell people is have a starting price. Great video my friend. Keep them coming.
As a person who also got married a while ago, showing your prices will be welcome avoids confusion and false expectations (we were paying for the wedding ourselves). Also, in some cases depending on your strategy, showing a low starting price can get you some hits, like car sales. In the other hand, showing your prices means that other photographers can see them too and undercut you. I depends on how saturated you market is, the type of customer you are reaching for and how much experience you have. Thank for the video.
same here. previously i had kept my price away from the website and I had to deal with many enquiries just doing a price check only to find out I am out of their price range (probably cause there's no reply after lol!). Really took time to reply each email too. So yes to showing pricing on the website.
Team show your price. I don’t understand what the secret is about. I never go to a restaurant unless I know what it cost. At least want to have a ballpark on what something is going to be to make sure that I am not wasting someone else’s time or my own. I believe in transparency. Thanks for another great video you’re the best!
Haha THAT IS THE POINT lol. I just put pricing on my socials and am about to make a square space. First wedding booked in march. Someone told me today I was foolish for putting my prices. They’re not high because I am new. But geez folks love to tell us how to do stuff when they don’t do it on the daily. I said I’ll get my info from John branch lol
John, thank you, thank you, thank you SO MUCH for all the valuable information and education you put out. Learning from your experience in the field and in the industry is amazing to say the least.
I have recently started showing a "prices starting at.." displayed on my website(recently changed from showing three-tier packages for coverage). Can you show the largest value version of a wedding photography day as an option for them so they can take away items, that they don't need, and be customisable on a enquiry appointment? Or show all three coverage levels on offer on the website upfront and help decide the best option to fit the couple's wedding day timeline one value option(in an enquiry appointment together).
That would be an awesome video. I actually ended up switching to not having packages anymore. I basically just have one price and then couples can add what they need or take away what they don't on it. Makes the process so much more simple.
I got to many inquiries asking what my price was and then ghosted. Now I add my price to my site. I only have one package and it’s on my site and I find I book more than ever before. Less inquiries but more bookings when they do. It’s working for me :)
I am team Show Your Price. I put up the breakdown of how I came to my price as well. This helps me because people know exactly how much they would be charged for specifically what they need. They can do the math themselves, if they would like, or inquire and get an answer from me. I use a simple formula to make sure pricing is fair and equal for everyone. Fewer inquiries, yea, but the folks that do inquire, the price explains itself.
Culture plays a role here too. In our country, not showing your pricing on your website means that most people will Google for someone else. Easy as that. #teamshowyourprice :) On our website, we make it very clear what the price will be. Even better: our pricing is a USP in our market. We have a fixed price, for all-day photography, two photographers, anywhere in the country. No surprises, no "add-ons", nothing. So mentioning our price is one of the key things because on that same page, we make it about *value* . We list everything they'll get for that fixed price. This approach gets us only inquiries from couples who a) know what the price will be, b) like what they read about the price and the value of our services, c) like our portfolio and all that means that almost every inquiry leads to a booking.
I am team show your price, too! The time you spend getting back to couples just price shopping is costing you money. I also think that in general, if a couple has budgeted say $2000 for photography, they'll contact a photographer who is a bit more than their budget if they love his/her work. And this is your chance to talk about value. They might ask for a discount, and you can (and should) explain why you're worth the extra money because of the value you bring. It would result in an actual dialogue. But I think if a couple has budgeted say $1000 for photography and you don't show your price, and you're $3000+, I think the odds of you landing that couple is pretty low. Especially if the next form of contact is an email, where it's very easy to say no or not respond entirely. Though if someone asks about price, and rather than an email response, you meet in person....then that might work. However, that is quite the investment of your time if you do this with every couple. And yeah, telling a couple "no" is good advice. Even during the pandemic I told one couple no because I could tell this wasn't a situation that I wanted to get in bed with, so to speak. Like John, I meet everyone in person - or virtually if the distance is too far. Great vid, John :)
from a wedding couple POV… I usually don’t reach out to non-price showing websites since the process is so stressful and we aint got time to reach out to everybody. with price showing, at least we know we can reach out to photographers within our price range.
Exactly. It only makes sense. For me too it’s like, think how you would want to deal with a photographer. I know I’d rather know the general price range up front so I’m going to extend that to my couples.
I require during the inquiry stage that clients list their photography budget. What this does for me is shows me from the start if the client reaching out will be a good fit based on my pricing and I know whether my pricing falls within their budget to secure their date. This works best for me.
Thank you very much for your insight. Putting the price on your website makes much more sense! But I have one question: How do you actually find out, that you are the right photographer for the couple? You said, that you sit down and talk with them. I would like to know, what you are asking. :D
I think it wastes people’s time to at least not show a starting price. I see you include albums in your package. Do you do that through pic-time as well?
Team showing my starting price I have tested both the only thing I can speak to is, all markets are different. Here in St Louis, I think not showing all your prices works best just to weed out those who really don't want you.
That’s true. I feel like if you’re dealing with them or higher couple they understand pricing for the night is afraid of not having a pricing on the website. If you have someone who may be is looking is defined as a little bit harder I don’t have as much money in there on a budget it makes sense that they want to see the pricing upfront.
I booked a dream wedding in NYC having my prices on my site. Took them off and have so many price shopping inquiries. I'm now going back to listing the prices
I really do think showing your pricing on your site is the best way. It just gets more transparency overall which will give you a better relationship with your couples as well.
Show your price - I like to keep things simple. I've been married twice so I know how stressful and confusing things can be. I give them the information they want and if we get to the next stage, I sell myself. Purely subjective but I'm all good
Exactly. Half the time I really don't see the point of not showing. I like to at least give a couple a ball park so they can decide upfront if it's for them or not. Especially when it comes to money there's a lot to think about so I think its better for everyone overall. More trust between you and the couple rather than then feeling like you're nickle and diming them.
As someone who just selected our SECOND photographer (due to issues with the first photographer) it’s preferable from my perspective to have price listed. I don’t want to have to send out a bunch of inquires telling our story just to find out that the photographer is out of our price range. We opted to contact you because we like your photography, not to price shop. But if you’re unavailable and out of our budget why waste time? Of those photographers that didn’t show their price I’d say 35% of them were out of our price range. That tells me they are afraid to lose leads due to their pricing.
Great perspective! Thanks for adding this. Also, that's really interesting about photographer's being afraid to lose leads. I've always had the mindset that the couples that are for me will come to me regardless of my price so I'm going to show my price so they know what we'll be doing and we can make it more about a great experience for them rather than just about the price. And again like you said, contacting so many photographers just to have the be out of your price range is annoying.
I’m definitely team show my starting price. I’d rather they not waste time if it’s not in the budget & I don’t want them to think my pricing is SO high that they can’t afford it.
Yeah that's a good tactic as well. Again it really just depends on what you want your clients to see and how you think they'll respond to it. But I think anything is doable.
You go to Amazon and have to ask for the price of their goods? How about servicing your car, do you not see pricing for the most common services? Didn't think so. GOTTA SHOW THE PRICING!
Team show your price or Team don't show your price??
Save time and put your price on your website. It makes decision making faster
Not showing price, Until I start getting 2 or more inquiries a day, then change it to show price
Someone that's just starting i would say show your prices and as you build your brand and cliental i wind slowly change over to not showing your prices
@@MarchonC i would say the oppisite, when you’re starting thats when prices grow the fastest and you get the least amount of inquiries, but when you’re getting 100 inquiries a month and 75% are just seeing the price, then it would be better to show them and just get 25 a month
Show price
As someone that just made the switch from no prices to prices, and is tracking metrics. My inquiries overall went down about 82% from last January. Bookings went up by 5 additional weddings this January. I know it's not a true apples to apples comparison, but at least it's another data point.
Basically, the switch resulted in less email, and more bookings. Average booking prices stayed about the same.
Out of the (correct me if I am wrong), four packages on your site, which do you find is being booked more after your change? Also, I know a few of yours include video (I have a similar model) which could move your couples from package to package when making a decision, right?
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. See folks this is exactly what I was talking about. Less inquiries but possible stronger leads. You're hearing it here first from an industry veteran as well (Sir Taylor Jackson has been in the wedding industry longer than I have. He KNOWS his stuff)
@@jbivphotography except how to use forks, that he can’t be trusted with. Haha 😆
Oh let me check out your prices now, lol. By the way Taylor I love your videos too. They inspire me.
I show you my price and my inquiries have gone down but the quality has gone up. A happy medium I tell people is have a starting price. Great video my friend. Keep them coming.
Thank you!
I was team don't show but now I have seen the light and will be showing my prices.
As a person who also got married a while ago, showing your prices will be welcome avoids confusion and false expectations (we were paying for the wedding ourselves). Also, in some cases depending on your strategy, showing a low starting price can get you some hits, like car sales. In the other hand, showing your prices means that other photographers can see them too and undercut you. I depends on how saturated you market is, the type of customer you are reaching for and how much experience you have. Thank for the video.
I've tried both but I recently just went to the "starting at" route. I think it's a nice balance
same here. previously i had kept my price away from the website and I had to deal with many enquiries just doing a price check only to find out I am out of their price range (probably cause there's no reply after lol!). Really took time to reply each email too. So yes to showing pricing on the website.
Team show your price. I don’t understand what the secret is about. I never go to a restaurant unless I know what it cost. At least want to have a ballpark on what something is going to be to make sure that I am not wasting someone else’s time or my own. I believe in transparency. Thanks for another great video you’re the best!
Haha THAT IS THE POINT lol. I just put pricing on my socials and am about to make a square space. First wedding booked in march. Someone told me today I was foolish for putting my prices. They’re not high because I am new. But geez folks love to tell us how to do stuff when they don’t do it on the daily. I said I’ll get my info from John branch lol
John,
thank you, thank you, thank you SO MUCH for all the valuable information and education you put out. Learning from your experience in the field and in the industry is amazing to say the least.
I have recently started showing a "prices starting at.." displayed on my website(recently changed from showing three-tier packages for coverage). Can you show the largest value version of a wedding photography day as an option for them so they can take away items, that they don't need, and be customisable on a enquiry appointment? Or show all three coverage levels on offer on the website upfront and help decide the best option to fit the couple's wedding day timeline one value option(in an enquiry appointment together).
Can you make a video on how you built your packages
That would be an awesome video. I actually ended up switching to not having packages anymore. I basically just have one price and then couples can add what they need or take away what they don't on it. Makes the process so much more simple.
Can you give some examples of what are the red flags for you? What makes you not say yes to a client willing to pay you whatever you want?
Check his website most of his pics was look like shot by phone. No pro not poses
I got to many inquiries asking what my price was and then ghosted. Now I add my price to my site. I only have one package and it’s on my site and I find I book more than ever before. Less inquiries but more bookings when they do. It’s working for me :)
Exactly! That's about the same as me also. I love the one pakcage approach. It's really awesome.
I am team Show Your Price. I put up the breakdown of how I came to my price as well. This helps me because people know exactly how much they would be charged for specifically what they need. They can do the math themselves, if they would like, or inquire and get an answer from me. I use a simple formula to make sure pricing is fair and equal for everyone. Fewer inquiries, yea, but the folks that do inquire, the price explains itself.
Culture plays a role here too. In our country, not showing your pricing on your website means that most people will Google for someone else. Easy as that. #teamshowyourprice :)
On our website, we make it very clear what the price will be. Even better: our pricing is a USP in our market. We have a fixed price, for all-day photography, two photographers, anywhere in the country. No surprises, no "add-ons", nothing. So mentioning our price is one of the key things because on that same page, we make it about *value* . We list everything they'll get for that fixed price.
This approach gets us only inquiries from couples who a) know what the price will be, b) like what they read about the price and the value of our services, c) like our portfolio and all that means that almost every inquiry leads to a booking.
I am team show your price, too! The time you spend getting back to couples just price shopping is costing you money. I also think that in general, if a couple has budgeted say $2000 for photography, they'll contact a photographer who is a bit more than their budget if they love his/her work. And this is your chance to talk about value. They might ask for a discount, and you can (and should) explain why you're worth the extra money because of the value you bring. It would result in an actual dialogue.
But I think if a couple has budgeted say $1000 for photography and you don't show your price, and you're $3000+, I think the odds of you landing that couple is pretty low. Especially if the next form of contact is an email, where it's very easy to say no or not respond entirely.
Though if someone asks about price, and rather than an email response, you meet in person....then that might work. However, that is quite the investment of your time if you do this with every couple.
And yeah, telling a couple "no" is good advice. Even during the pandemic I told one couple no because I could tell this wasn't a situation that I wanted to get in bed with, so to speak. Like John, I meet everyone in person - or virtually if the distance is too far.
Great vid, John :)
from a wedding couple POV… I usually don’t reach out to non-price showing websites since the process is so stressful and we aint got time to reach out to everybody. with price showing, at least we know we can reach out to photographers within our price range.
Exactly. It only makes sense. For me too it’s like, think how you would want to deal with a photographer. I know I’d rather know the general price range up front so I’m going to extend that to my couples.
I require during the inquiry stage that clients list their photography budget. What this does for me is shows me from the start if the client reaching out will be a good fit based on my pricing and I know whether my pricing falls within their budget to secure their date. This works best for me.
It works best for us as a photographer but I don’t think as a client
Starting price only.
Thank you very much for your insight. Putting the price on your website makes much more sense!
But I have one question: How do you actually find out, that you are the right photographer for the couple? You said, that you sit down and talk with them. I would like to know, what you are asking. :D
I think it wastes people’s time to at least not show a starting price.
I see you include albums in your package. Do you do that through pic-time as well?
Team showing my starting price
I have tested both the only thing I can speak to is, all markets are different. Here in St Louis, I think not showing all your prices works best just to weed out those who really don't want you.
That’s true. I feel like if you’re dealing with them or higher couple they understand pricing for the night is afraid of not having a pricing on the website. If you have someone who may be is looking is defined as a little bit harder I don’t have as much money in there on a budget it makes sense that they want to see the pricing upfront.
I booked a dream wedding in NYC having my prices on my site. Took them off and have so many price shopping inquiries. I'm now going back to listing the prices
I really do think showing your pricing on your site is the best way. It just gets more transparency overall which will give you a better relationship with your couples as well.
@@jbivphotography absolutely.
Real talk your hair looks way better like that!! Great content as always!!
Thanks. Yeah it's getting long. Had to do something with it for now. Bout to have to cut it and start a new growth soon.
Do you take more than one booking on a day . What's your take on that kindly put up a video on that .🇿🇲{Weddings}
Show your price - I like to keep things simple. I've been married twice so I know how stressful and confusing things can be. I give them the information they want and if we get to the next stage, I sell myself. Purely subjective but I'm all good
Exactly. Half the time I really don't see the point of not showing. I like to at least give a couple a ball park so they can decide upfront if it's for them or not. Especially when it comes to money there's a lot to think about so I think its better for everyone overall. More trust between you and the couple rather than then feeling like you're nickle and diming them.
@@jbivphotography Yes - horrible way to start a transaction and relationship
As someone who just selected our SECOND photographer (due to issues with the first photographer) it’s preferable from my perspective to have price listed. I don’t want to have to send out a bunch of inquires telling our story just to find out that the photographer is out of our price range. We opted to contact you because we like your photography, not to price shop. But if you’re unavailable and out of our budget why waste time? Of those photographers that didn’t show their price I’d say 35% of them were out of our price range. That tells me they are afraid to lose leads due to their pricing.
Great perspective! Thanks for adding this. Also, that's really interesting about photographer's being afraid to lose leads. I've always had the mindset that the couples that are for me will come to me regardless of my price so I'm going to show my price so they know what we'll be doing and we can make it more about a great experience for them rather than just about the price. And again like you said, contacting so many photographers just to have the be out of your price range is annoying.
Love this man talk the true
I’m definitely team show my starting price. I’d rather they not waste time if it’s not in the budget & I don’t want them to think my pricing is SO high that they can’t afford it.
I always grew up hearing that "if you have to ask you can't afford it". I think let's not waste each others time.
Exactly. Why waste everyones time.
I know you have a second shooter, but in case that I don’t have one….how my timeline should look? Between 8 and 10 h?
I actually just made a video about that you should check out. ruclips.net/video/AXP0grc_Ngo/видео.html
What about a Starting Price or Range Between???? I think that’s fair.
Yeah that's a good tactic as well. Again it really just depends on what you want your clients to see and how you think they'll respond to it. But I think anything is doable.
Love your video's man! Keep going :)
Thanks so much! Super encouraging.
Yo this is random but that track you used during your ad read was fire. It was such a vibe. Drop the track name 👀
I'm super picky about the music on my videos. Honestly I probably spend most of my time trying to pick songs in the videos. lol. Glad you enjoyed it.
Can you do the videooo about not the pricing
I'll make sure to do that!
You made it again!! thank you so much!
You're so welcome!
Yeaaah please make that video about couples not wanting to pay for the price we charge not being true..
You go to Amazon and have to ask for the price of their goods? How about servicing your car, do you not see pricing for the most common services? Didn't think so. GOTTA SHOW THE PRICING!
I list my pricing
Awesome! I really think it's the best.