How to compete with other photography

[ATphoto]

Hello, this is our first post on this site.

I found this site by asking around for some advice on our new Photography Business.

We have our Business license for the county and state, and in the processes of getting our Tax I.D.
Facebook fanpage, Business Cards, Flyers and have even paid for Ads on Facebook for the counties around us.

My question is, how do we compete with other people who are willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality?
Our image quality I feel is on the higher end or try our best to be after editing and spending time with it.

Thanks
kyle

 

[Overread15 3]

Don't compete with them.

You can't beat a "hobby"* which is earning a little pocket money and only calls itself a job because its got a facebook and maybe website page on the internet. Most of those will only be trading within friend's circles and only a very tiny number will ever actually try to function as a major company with prices that low (at which point they often find themselves working like crazy to make very little actual money - they also tend to skip on taxes which can leave them very open to trouble).

So they aren't the competition; they are servicing friends and people who can only afford a $15-25 product. So target your advertising and focus your market attention on people who can pay and who want to pay more for a higher quality product.


* in price

 

[ronlane]

Don't compete with them.

You can't be a "hobby" which is earning a little pocket money and only calls itself a job because its got a facebook and maybe website page on the internet. Most of those will only be trading within friend's circles and only a very tiny number will ever actually try to function as a major company with prices that low (at which point they often find themselves working like crazy to make very little actual money - they also tend to skip on taxes which can leave them very open to trouble).

So they aren't the competition; they are servicing friends and people who can only afford a $15-25 product. So target your advertising and focus your market attention on people who can pay and who want to pay more for a higher quality product.

^this is your answer. They aren't your competitor. Stick with your pricing and deliver quality results, this is the reason you will be able to justify the cost difference. Good luck.

 

[JoeW27 1]

Hello, this is our first post on this site.

I found this site by asking around for some advice on our new Photography Business.

We have our Business license for the county and state, and in the processes of getting our Tax I.D.
Facebook fanpage, Business Cards, Flyers and have even paid for Ads on Facebook for the counties around us.

My question is, how do we compete with other people who are willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality?
Our image quality I feel is on the higher end or try our best to be after editing and spending time with it.

Thanks
kyle

In this day and age, with the barriers to entry in to photography so low, there will always be someone who will be cheaper. That's true even if you are doing TF (b/c someone else will come around and offer to pay for the right to shoot that client...or they'll bring chocolate chip cookies to the shoot). So my initial advice is to not compete on price.

Second, what lots of research in lots of industries shows is that if you get business by being the cheapest or being on-sale, then there is no customer loyalty--those buyers won't be customers, they'll just go to where-ever is cheapest (and this time it was you). If you want people to come back (or spread your name word-of-mouth) or post great Yelp and Angie's List comments about you, you need to compete on other than price.

 

[Designer]

My question is, how do we compete with other people who are willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality?

You compete on image quality.

 

[Msteelio91]

My question is, how do we compete with other people who are willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality?

You compete on image quality.

This is the basis of it - find what is the other's are lacking, and do better on that.

 

[KmH]

What country/state is Cullman in?
Do you have a studio?

You under promise, and over deliver.
You compete on image quality, customer service, the 'shoot' experience, and the range of products offered.
However, many people are willing to forego image quality for price, but as alluded to above, those aren't the people you want as customers anyway.

Apparently you have started a business but did not research and write a business and marketing plan.
Otherwise you would already know your target customer is not looking for photographers "willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality".

To be successful in the retail photography business you need to service a niche market that is not being served in your area.
That way you have no competition.

You will also need to use more than just Facebook. You'll need your own web site, get published, enter contests and competitions, use direct mail advertising, issue press releases to newspapers in your region (100 mile radius), be involved in your community and get out and meet people, leverage social media with Flickr (or similar), videos on YouTube, Twitter, (learn how to use hashtags), and have a blog that you regularly add content to.

About 75% of your time needs to be devoted to doing business tasks.
Making and implementing promotion and marketing plans is important to maintaining and growing a retail photography business.

Here are some resources that you may find helpful:
Going Pro: How to Make the Leap from Aspiring to Professional Photographer
Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer's Guide to Sales, Marketing, and More
The Photographer's MBA: Everything You Need to Know for Your Photography Business
Profitable Photography in Digital Age: Strategies for Success

 

[JerryVenz]

Welcome to the forum!

Why are you starting THIS business? Why NOW?

What is your UNIQUE SALES PROPOSITION? ( Your custom product )

What LIFE CYCLES are you going to service? (e.g. Weddings, children, high school seniors, etc.)

Who is your TARGET MARKET AUDIENCE? ( What demographics?)

What are YOUR CREDENTIALS or more importantly WHAT IS YOUR BACKSTORY?

These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself.

Oh, and please tell us where you're located and give us your website--I'd like to see your work!

 

[ATphoto]

Thank you KmH for the information. Cullman is in Alabama, USA.

We had a marketing plan before finding out that a few other photographers in the area where offering such low price for there hobby.

We have also talked about our own website but not to sure how to go about or understand making one. i know there are website hosting company out there. Do you recommend one that you have hands on experience with?

 

[ATphoto]

Thank you for your questions, considering the answers to them.

Why are you starting THIS business? Why NOW?

What is your UNIQUE SALES PROPOSITION? ( Your custom product )

What LIFE CYCLES are you going to service? (e.g. Weddings, children, high school seniors, etc.)

Who is your TARGET MARKET AUDIENCE? ( What demographics?)

What are YOUR CREDENTIALS or more importantly WHAT IS YOUR BACKSTORY?

These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself.
Oh, and please tell us where you're located and give us your website--I'd like to see your work!

Here is our site, www.facebook.com/aandtphotographycullman we welcome all feedback.

Our site has not been up long because getting our business license was our first priority.

 

[SpikeyJohnson]

Atphoto, I suggest you look into squarespace for a website. The $200 plan is great. It provides hosting, a domain name and a super easy editor which means no coding and all in one lacation no multiple payment solution. They have a 14 day trial and if you use the promo code frotube (from froknowsphoto) you will get 10% off the 200. I will probably use them as my website solution once I save up some money from my birthday. The $200 is the yearly price.

 

[Vince.1551]

Hello, this is our first post on this site. I found this site by asking around for some advice on our new Photography Business. We have our Business license for the county and state, and in the processes of getting our Tax I.D. Facebook fanpage, Business Cards, Flyers and have even paid for Ads on Facebook for the counties around us. My question is, how do we compete with other people who are willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality? Our image quality I feel is on the higher end or try our best to be after editing and spending time with it. Thanks kyle

1. Get some distinctions ... MPA etc

2. Work on your connections ... Market yourself !!

 

[astroNikon]

As everyone else has stated, don't be in a rush to compete on low price. The lower the price the less care and post processing normally is done.
And being on this forum, I've seen some really bad (can't emphasis that enough) wedding photos from low-quality photographers in complaints.

Improve your skills
price your product accordingly to your skills
and everything else mentioned
and have fun

 

[KmH]

We have also talked about our own website but not to sure how to go about or understand making one. i know there are website hosting company out there. Do you recommend one that you have hands on experience with?

Back in the day I taught myself HTML, CSS, DOM Scripting, and JavaScript so I could make my own web site.
With the Internet as it is today I would pay a pro to make a custom web site/blog for me.
I would also pay a pro graphic artist to design a logo for me because branding has become so much more important.

Hopefully you have done the math and understand how much you have to make from each shoot to cover your non-reimbursed business expenses, which include your salary(s).

https://nppa.org/calculator

 

[Steve5D]

Hello, this is our first post on this site.

I found this site by asking around for some advice on our new Photography Business.

We have our Business license for the county and state, and in the processes of getting our Tax I.D.
Facebook fanpage, Business Cards, Flyers and have even paid for Ads on Facebook for the counties around us.

My question is, how do we compete with other people who are willing to offer 15-25 Dollar mini sessions with very poor image quality?
Our image quality I feel is on the higher end or try our best to be after editing and spending time with it.

Thanks
kyle

The way you compete with them is to offer $10-$15 mini sessions instead of mini sessions priced at $15-$20. In short, if you want to compete with them, you can only do so by lowering your prices to match theirs, because they sure as Hell aren't going to raise theirs to match yours.

Or, better yet, don't try to compete with them. Set your rates where you believe they should be for what you provide. Don't be the most expensive guy in town, but there's no reason to be the cheapest, either.

As has already been mentioned, the people paying $25.00 for a "mini session" are those who would never pay a few hundred.

Ever.

They're someone else's clients, not yours...