Newbie to the business......

[garfield]

Hi everyone. In the past 8 months I have started a small, home-based photography business. I have always loved taking pictures and decided to try turning my hobby into a small business.

I am just starting out and have created a website. I know my prices are way low but I feel that I can't justify higher prices until I have a larger portfolio of work.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated. I am always looking to better myself.

I currently use a Canon EOS 7D and for my studio shots use paper backgrounds with soft boxes set up in my living room It seems to be working well so far and if things take off I will look into a more permanent studio space.

Thanks in advance for your input!

My website is DexheimerStudios.com

 

[tirediron]

I like your website. It's simple, clean, and loads quickly. I'm not sure about the colour choices; there seem to be a lot more dark colours than I would choose. Perhaps having your navigation table in a lighter colour to make them stand out more?

As far as your prices go, well, they're a LOT lower than I would charge, but if it works for you, that's good. Just make sure that you don't price yourself out of work. That is, if everyone else is charging $300 for what you charge $100, the only work you're likley to get are those people who want to spend the absolute least amount of money and who are going to haggle you to death. It also makes it a LOT more difficult to bring your prices in line with others in your area when you decide that you want/need to.

 

[shootermcgavin]

Now that's big time spam ^^^^ I second the website being too dark, I think people will shy away from it because of that.

 

[BastiaanImages]

The website is to dark to me and maybe the example pictures could be shown a bit bigger.

 

[MLeeK]

I actually like the website-if it were marketed at seniors only. Being as it's not, it's really aimed towards that age group... Be careful in your work as you are blowing some color channels in a couple of your images. You need to be more aware of your composition on a lot of your images. You have some crops that really jump right out-in the middle of hands that are important and things like that. Otherwise I think you are doing a great job for as long as you have been at this. Very nice job!
Your prices aren't nearly as bad as I usually see by most who make this same post. They are low, but you aren't selling an 8x10 for $5 either.
Just make sure you have done all of your homework, covered your legal bases and know your CODB including COGs. If you haven't done a full cost of business I have a tutorial I just sent to one of the girls here and I can fwd it to you. Just send me a note.

 

[garfield]

I actually like the website-if it were marketed at seniors only. Being as it's not, it's really aimed towards that age group... Be careful in your work as you are blowing some color channels in a couple of your images. You need to be more aware of your composition on a lot of your images. You have some crops that really jump right out-in the middle of hands that are important and things like that. Otherwise I think you are doing a great job for as long as you have been at this. Very nice job!
Your prices aren't nearly as bad as I usually see by most who make this same post. They are low, but you aren't selling an 8x10 for $5 either.
Just make sure you have done all of your homework, covered your legal bases and know your CODB including COGs. If you haven't done a full cost of business I have a tutorial I just sent to one of the girls here and I can fwd it to you. Just send me a note.

Thanks for the info. I would love to see the CODG tutorial you have. Anything helps! I've seriously considered getting rid (or not pushing) the option to buy prints. I know several people simply just sell a CD of the images. I know this compromises my ability to control how the prints are used but I find myself running ragged getting orders, ordering them from the lab, designing cards (little profit), designing bragbooks (little profit again) and such. Any suggestions there? thanks!

 

[mwcfarms]

I actually like the website-if it were marketed at seniors only. Being as it's not, it's really aimed towards that age group... Be careful in your work as you are blowing some color channels in a couple of your images. You need to be more aware of your composition on a lot of your images. You have some crops that really jump right out-in the middle of hands that are important and things like that. Otherwise I think you are doing a great job for as long as you have been at this. Very nice job!
Your prices aren't nearly as bad as I usually see by most who make this same post. They are low, but you aren't selling an 8x10 for $5 either.
Just make sure you have done all of your homework, covered your legal bases and know your CODB including COGs. If you haven't done a full cost of business I have a tutorial I just sent to one of the girls here and I can fwd it to you. Just send me a note.

Thanks for the info. I would love to see the CODG tutorial you have. Anything helps! I've seriously considered getting rid (or not pushing) the option to buy prints. I know several people simply just sell a CD of the images. I know this compromises my ability to control how the prints are used but I find myself running ragged getting orders, ordering them from the lab, designing cards (little profit), designing bragbooks (little profit again) and such. Any suggestions there? thanks!

Well you could raise your prices lol. Its hard in today's market to compete with the CD sellers. A lot of people I know sell it bases on an image file. The more files you buy the cheaper they become. In the city some people charge anywhere from $50 a file to $150 a digital negative file. Not sure if that helps but its an alternative.

 

[garfield]

True. After the first of the year I'm going to do SOMETHING. I'm not sure what. I'm not convinced that my work thus far justifies a price increase for prints. I rarely sell digital images but I can see the appeal of not having to deal with ordering products as well. It's a toughie.

 

[MLeeK]

Selling CD's also compromises your ability to profit beyond the basic what you NEED to make. You need to first and foremost insure that you are making your minimum and then find ways to profit beyond if you want to make some real money off of it.... It does work, but you have set a ceiling.
Send me a private message so I don't forget. I have to shoot now, but I'll be back later.