The real thing Photographers should be scared of when worrying about losing clients with a price increase
Image by: @alexagorn
Losing the photography business dream is scarier than losing a few poor fit photography clients
The Catch-22 cycle of photography
New photographers typically start out with lower prices, partially out of a lack of confidence in their work and partially out of lack of knowledge of how to properly price out their work. Either way, the low prices will attract a sub-set of the population who values their money more than they value the work, and will opt for lower prices even if they must compromise on quality or the experience. We all have our own value ladders of where we spend and where we save. A low photography price appeals those who would prefer to save when it comes to photos, and spend elsewhere.
At some point, the newer photographer will realize that they aren’t bringing enough money in relative to the effort that they are expending. Or, they are finding that low-priced clients are also some of the most draining clients. They are excited about their passion career and wish for all the things: props, lenses, mirrorless cameras, lighting. And those things cost money. There is usually a tipping point where a photographer understands that they must raise prices, and that’s where they run into their greatest enemy: FEAR.
What is fear?
Fear is a natural reaction to something that intimidates or frightens us. It is an alert system that signals we must act. It is a primitive system that kept us humans alive in face of physical danger. Nowadays, we mainly face daily dangers that live in our minds rather than existential ones. They keep us in fear when technically no real threat exists. We fear rejection, failure, being accepted, judgement and the list goes on. They exhaust and deplete us, being turned on constantly instead of being activated only when needed to act in face of imminent threat.
Fear signals to us that discomfort may be imminent. And this is where the issues start. Facing discomfort (or the unknown) we allow fear to stop us, to shut our progress down. But that’s not what it’s meant to do. Fear informs us of the uncomfortable road so that we may prepare for the walk, not to stop the walk! It tells us to pay attention, to learn, to allow growth, to take an action. Without discomfort there is never an impetus to grow, and all in this life is meant to grow. Plants, trees, vegetables, humans. None of us stop growing from the time we come into existence. And yet, we have developed a stop reflex in our minds in the face of fear. Have you ever observed what happens if we stop growth elsewhere? Tree roots, vegetable or plant vines try to find a way despite obstacles. If the path isn’t clear, they will seek another path. Essentially, we cannot stop growth, but we can stunt or block it, and that can cause poor or maladapted growth. In nature a plant may distort in its structure, or even grow inwards into itself, becoming weaker and more vulnerable to external factors and new threats. Imagine this process happening inside your own mind.
Re-framing to fear the true threat
When we evaluate fear, we realize that we focus on the negative or scary things to us at this moment. This causes us to try to quell fear by stopping our advancement in those areas (to ease the discomfort), and photography pricing is one of those key areas. We have booked some clients and now in the light of understanding that we must raise price, we fear the loss of those people who gave us a little bit of their money. When this fear kicks in, it causes us to stop growth - meaning we don’t raise the prices, and we stop advancement. We stunt our natural business and artistic evolution, and that causes maladaptations like feeling low self-worth, defeat and resentment, outlets of poor growth such as heavy discounts and making exceptions and restrictions such as not being able to upgrade old or outdated equipment.
Instead of fearing the things that are scary to us at the moment, let’s reframe and fear the true threat: the non-materialization of the longer-term, positive outcomes that we are striving towards. Meaning, instead of being scared of losing a low-paying client right now, let’s fear never finding the client that will pay us well. Instead of being scared of not being good enough right now, let’s fear never becoming the artist we dream of. Instead of being scared we won’t make it right now, let’s fear never being the confident business leader we believe we were meant to be.
In the natural world, growth is towards an outcome. A seedling becoming the majestic tree. The seedling will set roots, look for the light, soak up water, fight off predators through its natural defense mechanisms, and basically try to find ways to go on despite any block, towards its goal. Because the biggest failure wouldn’t be any temporary obstacle, it would be to never realize itself as the majestic tree. The challenges along the way aren’t reasons for it to stop, but rather reasons to work harder or more creatively to achieve the end result. Even if it’s crooked, grown in on itself or weakened, it goes on. But it risks being vulnerable when new obstacles present and the path to growth can become very difficult, if not impossible.
Don’t fear the loss of current low paying clients; this is a natural step in your goal of becoming your own majestic self as a photographer and business owner. Don’t allow any “right now” fears to cause maladaptive reactions in your business because the fact is, the obstacles aren’t often from external sources but from our own selves. Once we understand that fear is the signal towards growth, we can embrace it because it prepares us for next steps even if it doesn’t feel good. That’s on purpose, because when we feel good we aren’t motivated to move! There needs to be some kind of stimulation to trigger movement. Decide to prepare for that movement or journey into your next natural evolution, rather than have it cause you to stagnate or stunt when feeling the discomfort. You will find rewards just beyond that discomfort, the same way that a mother finds immediate and intense joy and love for her baby right after a painful labour and delivery, and the same way that a rainbow appears after the rain when the sun comes out. As Dr. Joe Dispenza says — and I paraphrase — what if the challenges are preparation rather than punishment?
Join the Facebook Group with over 6,000 like-minded members to chat with others on this topic, and more!