Real Estate Photography Pricing Guide and Tips
A benefit of running your own real estate photography business is being able to have control over how much money you make. Through setting your schedule and choosing your real estate photography pricing, you determine how much income you will bring in. But it’s not as easy as one might think, and there are mistakes that should be avoided when first pricing out your services.
Real Estate Photography Pricing – What Are You Worth?At the end of the day, your pricing will be determined by how valuable you and your clients think you are. Your knowledge, your time, your experience, your customer service… these factors all play in to how you price your product. It’s important to understand how much you are worth, or rather how much you value your time and experience. This will determine where you can price your products so you can maintain a successful real estate photography business.
Do NOT Price CompeteIt’s extremely easy to do, and I fell into the same trap when I first started my business. The majority of companies in my area, my competitors, had their real estate photography pricing posted on their website. I created a spreadsheet and listed each company with their website, pricing, and what they were marketing as their advantages over the competition.
I quickly found out that not only does pricing vary greatly between companies, but there are some companies that are charging basically nothing for a photo shoot! $49 for a photo shoot – are you serious?! The problem with basing your real estate photography pricing off what other companies are offering is that you aren’t finding what price point works for you and your business. They may have started their business at the low end just to get clients, but most likely if they are growing they may quickly have trouble maintaining that low-end price point.
When you look at a competitor’s real estate photography pricing, it’s very difficult to understand some of the things you need to know to determine why they are pricing the way they are. For example:
Don’t take my word for it! Head on over to the Small Business Big Marketing podcast #154. Hit play in the audio widget and advance to 23:00 to hear a successful pizza shop owner talk about what happens when you get involved in a price war and base your decisions off what your competitors are doing.
What Clients Do You Want To AttractRemember, your real estate photography pricing will often attract a certain client base. If you offer the lowest price, you'll attract budget clients who want something for nothing and it might create more work for you. The clients that do not value you and your services are usually the ones that are the most needy!
Factors To Consider When Figuring Your Real Estate Photography Pricing
You need to be able to cover your fixed costs, your costs of doing business everyday, costs associated with supporting yourself from your business and the cost of paying yourself a decent wage.
Don’t Give UpDon’t look at your extremely low competitor’s pricing and be let down. Respect yourself, your time and your work and adjust your real estate photography pricing accordingly. If you live in a big area like myself there is plenty of work for anybody who wants to be a real estate photographer at every price point. Decide who you want as your client: the higher-end client that appreciates the value you are bringing them, or the low hanging fruit who is always looking for a deal. Make your decision when you start your business and focus on attracting clientele that will keep your business running for years to come.
Real Estate Photography Pricing – What Are You Worth?At the end of the day, your pricing will be determined by how valuable you and your clients think you are. Your knowledge, your time, your experience, your customer service… these factors all play in to how you price your product. It’s important to understand how much you are worth, or rather how much you value your time and experience. This will determine where you can price your products so you can maintain a successful real estate photography business.
Do NOT Price CompeteIt’s extremely easy to do, and I fell into the same trap when I first started my business. The majority of companies in my area, my competitors, had their real estate photography pricing posted on their website. I created a spreadsheet and listed each company with their website, pricing, and what they were marketing as their advantages over the competition.
I quickly found out that not only does pricing vary greatly between companies, but there are some companies that are charging basically nothing for a photo shoot! $49 for a photo shoot – are you serious?! The problem with basing your real estate photography pricing off what other companies are offering is that you aren’t finding what price point works for you and your business. They may have started their business at the low end just to get clients, but most likely if they are growing they may quickly have trouble maintaining that low-end price point.
When you look at a competitor’s real estate photography pricing, it’s very difficult to understand some of the things you need to know to determine why they are pricing the way they are. For example:
- What type of service do they provide?
- What types of edits do they do to the photos?
- How much are the real estate photographers on the team being paid?
- Is the photographer retired and just doing this for fun and for play money?
- How much is the photographer’s time worth to them?
Don’t take my word for it! Head on over to the Small Business Big Marketing podcast #154. Hit play in the audio widget and advance to 23:00 to hear a successful pizza shop owner talk about what happens when you get involved in a price war and base your decisions off what your competitors are doing.
What Clients Do You Want To AttractRemember, your real estate photography pricing will often attract a certain client base. If you offer the lowest price, you'll attract budget clients who want something for nothing and it might create more work for you. The clients that do not value you and your services are usually the ones that are the most needy!
Factors To Consider When Figuring Your Real Estate Photography Pricing
You need to be able to cover your fixed costs, your costs of doing business everyday, costs associated with supporting yourself from your business and the cost of paying yourself a decent wage.
- FIXED COSTS
- COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS
- SUPPORT YOURSELF
- COVER YOUR WAGE
- LEAVE ROOM FOR DOWN TIME
Don’t Give UpDon’t look at your extremely low competitor’s pricing and be let down. Respect yourself, your time and your work and adjust your real estate photography pricing accordingly. If you live in a big area like myself there is plenty of work for anybody who wants to be a real estate photographer at every price point. Decide who you want as your client: the higher-end client that appreciates the value you are bringing them, or the low hanging fruit who is always looking for a deal. Make your decision when you start your business and focus on attracting clientele that will keep your business running for years to come.