I’m sure we’ve all experienced getting an inquiry, sending over our pricing and hearing nothing in return. So we hop over to a Facebook group and ask why this keeps happening. And well-meaning photographers from all over the world will jump in and say something along the lines of you not showing enough VALUE before you give them the price. I’m quite sure I’ve even said that on this show!
But what does that mean to show the potential client the VALUE of your services so they actually see you’re worth your prices (or more?)
And no, I’m not talking about making a long Facebook post sharing how expensive your gear is or how much you paid in education or how much your Adobe subscriptions are – let’s be honest – your clients don’t care.
So how can you show your value without talking about expenses? Let’s look at 7 specific ways you can show your value to hopefully make price less of an issue for your inquiries.
7 Ways Photographers Can Show Their Worth
Show value online with consistent, high quality images
One of the best ways to show your value is by consistently producing high-quality images that demonstrate your skill and expertise. This means if you’re a birth photographer, you’re not sharing wedding images. And if you’re a baby photographer you’re not posting senior photos.
You show your value by sharing quality images in a specific niche!
When clients see the quality of your work AND that you’re the specialist in a specific niche, it’ll be much easier for them to understand why your prices are what they are and they’ll be less likely to shop around.
Think about it like a sushi chef – you go to them for sushi not pasta or burgers. And they might be more expensive but you’re willing to pay more because that is their thing, right?
I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had over the years who told me they hired me, even though I was one of the more experienced that wasn’t why they said they hired me – it was because of my photos and the fact that I knew a lot about birth and newborn photography.
In fact, just recently, I had a repeat client come into the studio for a newborn session and she said, “Tavia I have to confess something to you.” And I was like oh gosh what’s about to happen! And she said, “We hired someone else for maternity photos.”
And I was like “That’s totally fine, how did they turn out?” And she said, “Well…. Let’s just say we only liked 4 of them.”
And of course I hate that for them, but at the same time it proves my point here that a solid way consistently to show your value isn’t necessarily through flashy new marketing or salesy strategies but it’s just good ol’ quality photos and quality service!
Have important people in the community refer to you
Another specific way to show value so that price becomes less of an issue in the mind of your potential clients is to have important people in the community refer to you – people like midwives, doulas, past clients, and other businesses aligned with yours.
Having these important people speak highly of your work not only shows that your service is good, quality and reliable, but also that you have a great reputation in your community with people that your clients trust.
When potential clients see that people they trust have recommended you, they are more likely to trust you as well, and feel they are getting their money’s worth – which is another great way to show VALUE.
All referrals are not created equally! Someone who hasn’t ever worked with you referring you from a Facebook post is a lot different than a midwife telling their clients that they’ve personally worked with you 20 times and highly recommend you, right? So valuable!
Now, you might be thinking, how do I establish these relationships or maintain them so they’re referring to me more often? The key is building intentional partnerships with specific vendors that’s a win/win for both of you.
If you’re a student inside Marketing School for Photographers we have an entire module dedicated to specific ways to build partnerships with vendors.
Share testimonials
There is another way to show value that I think a lot of photographers are sleeping on. It’s one of those things we know we SHOULD do but we rarely do it. But honestly it’s one of THE best way to show your worth and value to potential clients.
That is by sharing testimonials of people that have worked with you so that potential clients will be more likely to trust you and hire you – regardless of your price.
A mistake I made for years in my photography business was just having a page called “reviews” where I shared massive blocks of text of what clients has said about working with me. Now, that’s better than nothing, but you’re missing out on a lot of opportunity if that’s the only way you’re sharing testimonials
You can put them in your Instagram stories, in highlights, you can sprinkle them throughout different pages on your website, create a reel with back to back testimonials, and sooo many more ways! The key is to pull out the interesting parts of the testimonial, not just share everything they said.
Remember: people have short attention spans!
Highlight the experience (in the inquiry email, website, social media)
The next way to show value to potential clients is to talk about more than just the price. For some reason, that’s what a lot of us default to – “Oh they just want to know the price,” but…that’s not always the whole picture.
Your ideal clients are often looking for value beyond the dollar sign. They want to know how your service or product can solve their problems, improve their lives, or simply make their day a bit brighter.
I’ll give you some examples: at Tavia Redburn Photography, we have a hair and makeup artist for every single mom for the newborn session because I saw what a struggle it was for moms to get out the door, get everybody there, and get themselves ready. And so I’m just going to do one thing to help them have one less thing to think about.
We also have a client wardrobe for maternity sessions and newborn sessions and that’s becoming more common, but I still think that it’s worth highlighting, so that your clients know we have beautiful gowns available for you and you don’t even have to think about what to wear.
Other things to consider is your turnaround time. One of my friends used to offer a really fast turnaround time. Her turnaround time for photos was like 24 or 48 hours after the session, she guaranteed they would have their photos. That is an incredible experience.
If you have the capacity to offer something like that, highlight that whenever you’re talking to potential clients as a birth photographer.
Do you do anything that’s above and beyond? Are you also a Doula? Do you meet before the birth to discuss their preferences? Do you have a lot of experience with their particular birth type to speak of?
When you really highlight the experience, it’s how you show value above the price.
If you’re not sure what’s unique about your experience or your process, do this: ask your past clients, just send them a quick text or email, “Hey! I’m working on marketing and I’m just curious – what was it about the experience with me that you loved or that you felt like was different from other photographers that you worked with?”
You could learn so much about what to highlight about your experience to potential clients just by asking your past clients that very simple question.
Be “everywhere”
Have you ever seen a product or service over and over and eventually you’re like, “Okay, I have to check this out!”
Maybe it’s a new restaurant in town. A friend mentions it to you and you see an ad on social for it, then you drive by and see it’s packed and when you search for a restaurant to try, it pops up in Google. And you’re like, “Dang, ok I guess I should check this out!”
That’s the power of being “everywhere.”
Whether people realize it or not, the more you see a company or brand or business, the more aware you are of it and the more you start to trust them and consider using them!
This is exactly what I teach my students inside Marketing School for Photographers because it’s what I found to be true for my own photography business. People would be like, “Oh you’re Tavia, I see you everywhere!” So I started to call this the “Be Everywhere” method to my students and it WORKS.
If you want to learn more about how to use this method in your business, jump on the waitlist for MSFP at thebeautyinbirth.com/waitlist
Education and credentials
One way to show your value to stand out and make your price a no-brainer is by sharing your education and credentials.
Highlight things like:
-Any photography courses you have taken (or are taking)
-Professional certifications you have earned, or
-Any awards you have won
Doing this demonstrates that you are not just a person with a camera, but a true professional in your field.
A lot of our students in The Beauty in Birth® use a frame on their profile photo sharing that they’re training to become a certified birth photographer or make a blog post sharing about it. In fact, some students say that when inquires find out they’re training to be certified it makes them more likely to get hired because the client sees they’re taking their craft and profession seriously.
I always share any awards I win or local awards like Best Birth Photographer in OKC or Best Newborn Photographer in OKC in my email newsletter and on the homepage of my website. It’s just another way to show your value to your potential clients and a way to stand out.
Personal Connection
What is personal connection? It is your personal brand, AKA YOU!
It sounds cliche but there is only one you. And there are people who will vibe with you and those that won’t. But have you ever hired someone for a service because you just liked the person? Like their work was good but you really just liked them or saw something of yourself in them? Maybe a hairstylist, a photographer, or a real estate agent, a doula, or even a mentor. You’re like I know they’re not the cheapest and I don’t know what it is, but I just want to hire HER!
That’s hiring someone based on the personal connection and their personal brand and it’s SO powerful.
How can you share more of you and share more personal connection content online on your website and blog and social media? One thing I like to do is pretend I’m texting a friend. I think about what I want to talk about or what I want to say and I think about how I would say that to a friend.
Share your life outside of photography! What interests you? What does a day in your life look like? What kind of behind the scenes content can you share? I know it might feel like your life isn’t interesting but sharing bits and pieces of your life is how you’re able to connect with people in your community and show your value through your personal brand.
If you need more help with identifying your ideal client and learning how to showcase your personal brand, you can listen to this episode!
Well friend, you made it to the end of another episode and I hope that you have a lot of ideas of how you can practically show value so that you’re not so worried about people booking you just for your price, but they’re coming to you for the right reasons because you’ve done these things to show the value of you and your brand.
And remember my friend, if you have a passion, it is not an accident. Not everyone loves birth photography or being a doula or whatever it is the thing that you love. Your passion is there for a reason. So what are you going to do with that passion? I hope that you will get out there and pursue it and make it happen.
Have a great week!
